Maia smiled back, though her eyes had gotten glassy and strange.
I was fine.
We were going to be fine.
34
Dakota
Fucking Kent.
Fucking.
Kent.
Seth took his phone and his computer and sat down in the corner of the room, typing away, I assumed revoking all of Kent’s security access. After a moment, my phone pinged, and it was an urgent email from Seth. Sent to the entire company, in coded terms that even the human employees could read without being confused. Basically, it said that Kent had been caught committing corporate espionage and had been let go immediately. No one working for the company was to give him access to so much as a paperclip, lest he use it to hurt Crescent as a whole.
Clever.
So with Seth handling the technical aspects of Kent’s departure, it was left to me to handle the softer bit.
The soft, sad alpha, specifically.
I went into the kitchen and served myself a huge bowl of dinner, because if I tried to go to him without it, at best he’d worry, and at worst he would feel as though his work to provide was being rejected.
He wasn’t exactly in the state of mind to think things through logically right then, so I had to set things up perfectly, so nothing rubbed up against his abused nerves.
The pack had left a big empty space next to him, even as they had crowded into the room with their dinner, Maia going so far as to drape herself across the back of the sofa behind him with her food. When I took my seat next to him, the whole pack seemed to breathe out a collective sigh.
Like somehow the group being complete was a huge reassurance, even after this. Even Seth, in his corner, had a bowl of food in front of him, and his shoulders seemed to relax just a tiny bit.
We ate for a moment, me leaning into Jax, like I often did.
Unsurprisingly, it was delicious. I’d have said it was hard to screw up macaroni and cheese, but from scratch? I was firsthand aware that simply wasn’t true. It was possible to make a complete gluey travesty instead of dinner. Nope, Jax was just a skilled guy.
Ourskilled guy.
I’d been waiting for a moment to introduce words, but shockingly, Jax was the one who spoke up. “I just don’t understand. Kent never gave any impression he wanted to lead the pack. Even back when we first left Idaho.”
Jillian had a quick answer for that. “Kent couldn’t lead his way out of a wet paper sack. And what’s more, he didn’t want to.”
That brought Jax’s head up, and he took hold of his fork, stirring his dinner then loading the fork with pasta. It was a very good sign. “What do you mean, he didn’t want to? What else could he have been trying to do?”
It felt like the room held their breath, but the moment Jillian opened her mouth to answer, Jax stuffed the bite into his own, and we all relaxed just a bit more.
“He couldn’t win the pack that way anyway, babes. He was arranging for Grant to win his challenge. Clearly they have some kind of agreement. Grant gets the pack, and Kent gets something he wants.” She curled her nose disgustedly and shook her head as she shoved more food into her mouth. Still chewing, she added, “This is delicious, by the way. Good job.”
Normally, Jax would have given her shit for such terrible manners, but this time, he gave a tiny bit of a smile and ducked his head. “Maia finished it,” he mumbled.
Maia snorted from behind him. “Yeah, I took the finished pan out of the oven and set out plates. I am a culinary genius. Sweetie, everyone in this room knows I can’t cook to save my life.”
Babes. Sweetie. Every comment came with a little term of endearment. Nothing egregious, just a reminder that they loved him.
I leaned in and kissed his cheek. “You, my dear alpha, on the other hand, are an excellent cook, and the pack is always pleased when you choose to show it off.” He blushed, and I waited for him to take another bite before continuing back to the too-damned-touchy subject at hand. “It’s money, in case anyone doesn’t know. Grant definitely offered Kent money. Which is fucking pathetic, because everyone in this room should know that if they wanted money?—”
“Why didn’t he just ask for money?” Jax asked, turning to me with stunned, hurt eyes. “I’d have given him anything he wanted.”
“Because he didn’t just want more money,” Jillian answered. “And he didn’t want toaskfor it. He doesn’t want to be part of a group that has enough. He wants to have it all for himself.”
