Noah stands behind me, his hand not leaving my lower back. The second introductions are done, Gabe interrupts us all. “Len, get your butt over here. Let’s eat.” Without a doubt he’s picking up on my awkwardness but can also probably hear my stomach grumbling from where he is.
Henley and Koda sit together, Ashton takes a chair down the other end of the table closer to Noah, and Reno and Bailey sit opposite us.
“Welcome to our home, Lennon.” Reno picks up his glass and everyone follows suit. “We’re all extremely happy to finally meet you in person. And to express our gratitude for everything you have done and continue to do for our beautiful Bailey. Thank you for being here, and you are always welcome in our home.”
“Thank you.”
And then the scenes switch, and everyone relaxes, including me. The food is nice, and I suspect Noah and Gabe had a big part in it because it is pretty much all the foods I like to eat. Conversation is light, no one talks about what we’ve been through, and Gabe keeps checking his phones. He excuses himself halfway through the main, and I go to follow him, but Noah clamps a hand on my knee.
He twists around, putting his back to the table. “Wait with me.”
“Where’s he going?”
“I suspect they’ve landed, so he’s no doubt arranging their safe travel here. But he’s probably letting Tony’s pack back in the house to save their sleeping baby.”
“Oh my god, I forgot about them.”
“Gabriel didn’t. He’s been watching them, making sure the child was safe. But now his focus returns to us.”
“I want to go meet them at the airport.”
“You are the reason they’re coming here, Lennon. Gabriel also wants to speak with his brother about using my apartment as our base, but only if Valak is confident in being able to secure the place better than us staying here.”
He reaches over and undoes Bailey’s knotting of my hair. Noah uses his long fingers like a comb to brush it out and then he cups my face, leaning in to kiss me. Slowly. Before whispering how much he loves my hair down. He pulls back, and his eyes are full of all the feelings he stirs up inside me, but in case I need reminding, he is very succinct in what he says. Of course, he also adds I need to finish eating because my pack is going to want to get reacquainted much the same way I needed Gabe and him earlier.
Sitting back, he restarts eating, a small smirk on his lips when he sees me shovelling the rest of the food in my face.
Henley has been getting more impatient the longer the evening goes on, and even with Bailey placating him, his mood drops. I suspect if the situations were reversed, Valak would have snapped by now and be holding a gun to Bailey’s head, demanding answers.
“What would you like to know, Henley?” I interrupt their quiet bickering.
“Why you won’t accept our offer to stay here?”
“You’ve done enough to help us. Bailey has two gruelling weeks of work starting Monday, and everything needs to stay as normal as possible for everything I want to fall into place.”
“And that includes?”
“A lot of moving parts. The first thing I need is the rest of my pack back. We need time to recoup and recover.”
“Stay with us here, Lennon,” Bailey says, talking over Henley.
“It’s not just my decision. If it were, I’d already be asking to borrow a car and leaving you alone.”
“Why won’t you stay?” Henley asks; his blue eyes are commanding. But they do nothing for me.
Noah picks up his glass of wine, swirling the liquid around. The action causes a brief pause in the mood, giving Henley the chance to control his protective instincts from getting out of hand and keeping me in check too.
“When you ladies were chatting… ” Noah starts.
“Are there ladies here?” Ashton asks, eliciting one of those cringy giggles from Bailey, but when she catches my look of horror, she dips her middle finger in the sauce on her steak and sucks it clean.
“Ashton,” Henley finally breaks and barks.
I hold my hand up, silencing everyone. “Clearly, you have something you need to say, Henley, so please…” I wave over the table, giving him the floor.
His nostrils flare as he takes a moment, and when his eyes flit over to Bailey, a part of his aggression eases. He uses her as his focus as he talks softly. “I understand how difficult it can be asking for help, but also when sometimes you see it being a risk for the people helping you. And while Gabriel and Noah have spoken with us about what’s going on, I needyouto hearmewhen I say that my pack will do everything to help you.”
“Because I capped the fake-nurse bitch that attacked Bailey while she was in hospital?”
