My hands stilled, and I turned toward him, eyebrows raised. I couldn’t help but smile at the look of hope on his face. Grouchy, standoffish Mathan was looking at me like he’d just solved world peace, and if I’d just get with the program, everything would fall into place.
“She doesn’t want to date me, Mathan.” She’d been fairly clear about that. “Not until this danger has passed, but… maybenot even then.” My chest clenched as I put the extra food in sealed containers and stored them in the fridge. I then grabbed chip clips to seal the chips and put those in the pantry.
“I don’t know why, Alpha. You’re handsome.”
I slowly turned toward the table again, completely caught off guard. I hadn’t expected Alistair, of all people, to tell me I was handsome.
“You think?”
“Oh, yeah, Alpha. And you’ve got that Scandinavian Viking vibe that women like.”
I snorted, then couldn’t help but laugh when everyone else nodded seriously in agreement, as though discussions about how handsome I am were just normal conversations we had around the dinner table.
“He’s powerful, too. Women love that,” Matteo added, eyeing the cobbler.
“Don’t forget wealthy,” Alistair said, though his words had a slight bite to them.
I cleared my throat. “The Clan is wealthy. I am not.”
Matteo snorted. “Nice try.”
Alistair shook his head. “You should know better. I’m the Clan secretary. I know what assets are yours and what assets are the Clan’s.”
Uncomfortable now and feeling like I needed to get us back on track, I said, “Be that as it may, Piper has made her choice, and I’m abiding by her wishes for space and patience.”
There was silence for a bit as I sat and we all dug into our cobbler. I’d added vanilla ice cream to mine. Everyone knew it was better that way.
My officers around the table looked glum. “We just don’t want to lose Alanna,” Mathan finally said, pushing his half-finished cobbler away with a morose look.
“I know how you feel,” I said quietly. I decided to be brutally honest with my officers. “I don’t want to lose either of them.” I pushed my bowl away too, sighing. This conversation kept stealing my appetite. “But I can’t make her want to stay when she’s not sure she wants to.”
“You could try to persuade her,” Matteo suggested softly.
I ran my fingers through my hair in frustration, then hissed when I realized they were sticky and I’d just gotten it in my hair. I got up to wash them at the sink. After I dried them, I stood there, not turning back to the expectant faces behind me, staring at the wall and trying to fight the burning in my eyes.
“It’s my mate. I… want to be her choice because she wants to be with me, not because I had to cajole and convince her to stay.”
Alistair snorted. “Yeah, that doesn’t work in real life. I say we drug her.”
I turned toward him, fury burning through my body, the room filling with my power. Everyone’s heads bowed immediately, but Mathan was a strong bear and managed to slap a hand over Alistair’s mouth despite the alpha aura that made them unable to meet my eyes.
“Stop talking,” Mathan hissed, “or he’s going to kill you.”
I closed my eyes, reining in my anger. I knew why Alistair had made the comment, but it didn’t mean I didn’t want to deck him right now.
“I wouldn’t have hurt her,” Alistair growled, shoving Mathan’s hand away from his mouth and glaring at him.
It was in that moment that Piper walked in carrying Alanna.
My officers immediately stood, nodded at Piper respectfully, and started putting things away. Mathan then helped Matteo stand and moved one of Matteo’s arms around his shoulder as he quietly helped him out of the kitchen. Alistair disappeared just as quickly.
Piper blinked in surprise. “They didn’t have to leave.”
“We’d already eaten.” I turned back to the fridge. “Have a seat. I saved a plate for you.”
I got everything back out and laid it out on the table for her, getting out silverware and a napkin as well. Leaning against the counter, I folded my arms across my chest, trying to keep my heartbeat steady as I drank in my mate’s beauty while working to keep my expression blank.
Piper was stunning. And most of the reasons for her beauty weren’t even physical. So, though I wanted to run my fingers through her short, strawberry blond hair to see if it felt as soft as it looked, what I wanted most went much deeper than that.
