31- Dinner and dominance


    “It’s not a problem.” I say. I ce a hand over Bemy’s arm to reassure him that I can take care of this.


    She clearly meant no disrespect… to him. The hostesses eyes zero in on where I’m touching him.


    Releasing his arm, I push up the sleeve of my dress. It’s difficult since it’s fitted, but the fabric is


    stretchy so I manage to get it rolled up all the way so that my mark is visible.


    “Is this enough evidence for you?” I ask her, keeping my tone pleasant. While I would usually keep my


    eyes down, this time I am sure to make proper eye contact with her so that she can feel the full force of


    my unnatural eyes. I can see her difort as her eyes flit to the floor. I can feel the second she gives


    in. Her expression remains polite, but where she stood up straight before, she keeps her head bowed


    slightly. She also refuses to make eye contact again. as she mutters something about the evidence


    being sufficient and shows us to a table. She then leaves us to consider the menu and promises that a


    server will be with us shortly. I start reading over the menu but I can’t focus because Bemy is looking


    at me.


    “Why are you staring?” I demand. Bemy jumps slightly as if he had been deep in thought.


    “I’m not, of at least I didn’t realise that I was staring. I was just thinking. That woman, the hostess.


    She’s considered a rather dominant Shifter. Her older brother is one of the Betas.” I


    don’t really understand what he’s trying to tell me. Is he upset that I wasn’t nicer to her? Or maybe he’s


    interested in her. I don’t give voice to either of these thoughts. I just shrug my shoulders casually.


    “So?” I ask. Bemy smiles at me, so he’s not upset I guess.


    “So you had her submit to you in a matter of seconds. It suggests that you are quite dominant yourself.


    At least as much as her, probably more considering your friendship with my sister and the way you talk


    back to me all the time.” he exins. I frown, I’ve never considered myself a dominant person. Most of


    the time I’m quite shy, I keep my eyes to the ground and


    avoid conflict. Bemy notices my expression.


    “You disagree? I don’t see how you can. You took her down with just a few seconds of eye


    contact.” he points out. I shake m


    head.


    “That was out of character for me. Usually I avoid eye contact with everyone. My eyes are


    1/4


    weird and make people ufortable,”


    “Have you ever thought that maybe that it’s just that the eye contact shows your dominance. and that


    makes people ufortable? They don’t know how to react so they avold you. Bemy seems


    enthusiastic, like he’s had an epiphany and now needs me to catch up and reach the same conclusion.


    “What makes you sa-” I stop as a server approaches us. I didn’t really read the menu properly. so I just


    pick the first thing that looks good. Some pasta ravioli dish. Bemy chooses a steak. I wait for the


    server to walk away before continuing.


    “What makes you say that people avoid my eyes because I’m dominant?” I question. Bemy shrugs.


    This content provided by N(o)velDrama].[Org.


    “I like your eyes. I’ve never wanted to avoid them. Neither has my sister or Darrien for that matter. It


    would suggest that those who are your equal in dominance have no problem with your eyes.” He


    sounds proud of himself for his reasoning. I remain unconvinced.


    “I’m not even a Shifter.” I remind him.


    “That doesn’t matter. Everyone is more or less dominant in some way. Witches have covens and a


    hierarchy of elders, Oracles are ranked by their age, even Humans tend to divide themselves by the


    amount of power and authority they possess. All species do, it’s just more obvious with Shifters. We


    know what it means so we behave ordingly.”


    “If what you’re saying was actually true, it would mean that until I met you and Megan, I have literally


    never met anyone else who is more dominant than me. That seems a bit far fetched.” I point out.


    Bemy shakes his head.


    “Not really, you forget that I am an Alpha. There aren’t many people who are my equal in dominance. If


    you are nearly as dominant as me, then it’s entirely possible that you’ve never run into anyone as


    dominant as yourself before. Or if you did they might not have noticed your eyes or just chose not to


    say anything.” he argues. I shake my head.


    “This entire argument is pointless, because people don’t just avoid my eyes, I avoid theirs first. That’s


    hardly the actions of someone dominant. I’m not powerful.” Bemy shrugs at me again. It’s beginning


    to get really annoying.


    2/4


    “It would be if the dominant person is trying to blend in with people who are more submissive. I’m not


    sure why you would think you aren’t powerful, you’re one of the most powerful people I have ever met.


    You see fates, definite paths that people will take. Even Oracles only see potential futures. It’s a good


    thing you are such a kind person because in the wrong hands your powers could be used to do an


    awful lot of damage. Not abusing power is not the same as having no power. We can test thister.


    Shaun is assigned to be your night. guard this evening. When I take you home, I’ll ask him to see if he


    can hold your stare.” he suggests. I frown.


    “What would that prove?”


    “It’s basically a contest. First one to drop their gaze is the more submissive one. That’s not to say the


    more dominant one couldn’t look away first, but it would be basically just them agreeing to give in. Like


    I do with Megan sometimes. She stares me down but we both know that when ites down to it, I’m


    more dominant. Although just barely. It doesn’t work if you are significantly more dominant though, the


    other person submits before you have a chance to.” he considers a moment.


    “If Darrien is to be her mate, he must be more dominant than I realised, he should be her equal after


    all.” He adds as an afterthought.


    “Tristan is quite dominant too. I’m not sure if he is as dominant as Megs though. I doubt she’s ever


    tested him.” I’m relieved that the conversation seems to have moved away from discussing my


    supposed dominance. If I had known it would cause so much drama, I would


    have never taken care of the hostess, I would have just left it to Bemy. I didn’t know enough about


    this dominance stuff. Megan mentioned it briefly, but mostly just to exin that mates have equal


    dominance. When she showed me around thepound, I avoided. everyone’s eyes as usual so I


    didn’t notice if anyone reacted unusually. Megan asionallymented if a particr Shifter was


    especially dominant or submissive but I didn’t really pay a lot of attention to the information since I


    didn’t really know why it was relevant. Since I’m fated to be with Bemy, I must be as dominant as


    him. It’s that knowledge which is making it rather difficult to disagree with him. I had sort of assumed


    that maybe the whole dominance thing didn’t really apply to me as much since I’m not a Shifter. I could


    have been wrong I suppose. The server finally arrives with our food and wow does it smell good. We


    are both distracted from conversation for a few minutes as we dig in. Apparently awkward discussions


    with future soul mates and fights with bitchy hostesses really amp up my appetite. Who knew!


    3/4


    31- Dinner and dominance


    I’m about halfway through my meal (which FYI is amazing) and no longer feel like I’m going to starve to


    death, so I begin searching for a new topic of conversation while Bemy is still eating. If I can think of


    something appropriately interesting then hopefully he won’t bring the discussion back to me. I really


    don’t want to ask about his hobbies or anything too personal, it will make this feel too date–like. I


    initially nned to discourage all date–type behaviours, but the catty hostess (literally… get it? Catty?


    Hahahaha…. okay moving on) ruined that n. Suddenly my desire to stick it to her was more


    important than my desire to keep Bemy arms length. Well, there’s only one


    topic that I can think of that is anything close to work–rted.


    “So, about Tristan. Assuming that is isn’t actually in love with Megan and is trying to take advantage of


    her in some way, what is he actually trying to achieve?” I ask. Bemy shrugs.


    “It’s hard to be sure exactly but the usual motives I guess. Money, sex and power are usually what


    people plot for. Money is always a possibility. I’m sure you’ve noticed that my family isn’t hurting for


    cash. But there are easier ways than marrying my sister. Sex…” Bemy shudders.


    “I don’t want to think about that, but Tristan has a soul mate so I seriously doubt that’s his goal.”


    “Which just leaves power.” I conclude.