Liam laughed, throwing his head back and just letting it out in a great belly laugh. “Okay, maybe you look like a snake who swallowed amouseright now,” he said, “but I still don’t understand where you put it.”
“Your daughter is hungry. You know that.” He said the words, waiting for Liam to understand what he’d just said.
Liam blinked, opening his mouth, but then he closed it again. “Our daughter? Really? Are you sure?”
“As sure as I can be until she is born, I think.” He ate his second sandwich, then started working on the bowl of pickles and cheese. He just couldn’t seem to get enough. He was so empty.
“Amazing, my love.” Liam got up and came over to kiss him on the mouth. “Mmm, pickley.”
Ryan moaned. “You guys are so gross.”
“You’re just jealous. You just wait until your wolf finds you.” Theo knew it would happen. “Then you’ll be caught.”
“I’m down for it.” Ryan kind of shrugged it off, but he was way too casual. And Theo could tell that he was feeling uncertain about things. He had a feeling that, unlike Rory and Liam, either one, Ryan really did want to be a wolf.
Theo wasn’t worried, Ryan would be fine, the wolf was in there.
“Wolves are tricky things, you know?”
Ryan looked at him. “What?”
“We’re tricky. We like to play games. I mean, I know that the coyotes are the tricksters, and the ravens, but we really do have quite a sense of humor.” He patted his belly, loving on their daughter. “Your wolf may just be playing with you.”
“I’m not playful,” Liam announced, being so obviously preposterous that it made him snort.
“Oh, no. That wasn’t you on your back loving on the dogs, was it? Couldn’t be you…” Liam did make him laugh.
“Nope, couldn’t be me. Must have been one of the other pack members.” Liam navigated another piece of cheese. “I am serious and sober. I’m the alpha of this pack, and I must be a strong and silent type.”
“Oh, absolutely,” Theo teased. “You are the soul of discretion, my love, and you would never, ever lower yourself to romp with a bunch of dogs or other wolves or squirrels or rabbits or any of the other things you chase.”
They all began to laugh, and it felt amazing.
Brant came peeking around the corner as if he was drawn by the noise, his gray eyes, curious, timid. “Do you need company?”
“We do. Would you like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich? I’ve had a craving. There’s also pickles and cheese and marshmallow treats.”
“Yum.” Brant crept into the kitchen. “I— would anybody like any meatballs?”
Theo’s eyes lit up. “I love meatballs.”
“I’ll make meatballs.” Brant got to work pottering around the kitchen like he knew what he was doing. Theo loved that for him.
They were such a pack now, and Brant was obviously an odd man out amongst the group who had showed up. He wasn’t attached, he didn’t have any babies, but he was a sweet omega.
Soon enough, the smell of meat browning with spices, onions, and garlic came to them, and they all sat and drooled. Even Liam, who he didn’t think had really been all that hungry when they first started all of this.
“Those smell amazing, Brant,” he offered.
Brant blushed and nodded to him. “Thank you. I like to cook.”
Oh, excellent. Good at cooking and like to cook all at once? Perfect. “You’re welcome to do it whenever you’d like.”
“It’s sort of Sara’s kitchen, isn’t it?”
Theo shook his head. “Sara cooks because she can. I don’t think that her heart would be broken if you liked cooking. She’s going to be very busy making rugs. I can tell. Besides—” Theo winked at Brant. “It’s sort of our kitchen. I like to cook too. And so together we could invent neat things.”
“I would love that,” Brant said. “I have ideas for all sorts of ways to preserve things. And I know that we have cold storage, but I would love to can some things that are easy to make into meals.”
