Joon rolled his eyes, and I couldn’t see the look Indi shot him, but he was quick to look remorseful. “Sorry.”
“Good boy.”
The preen was unmistakable, Joon’s grin stretching wide as Indigo adjusted me to lounge against their chest more comfortably.
It felt like I just watched someone tame a wild bear, the masterful way that Indi redirected Joon, leaving me wet and speechless.
I wanted to push back against them, see what would happen if I were the one who misbehaved.
Leaning over, I swiped a handful of popcorn from Joon’s bowl, stopping to give him a soft kiss, too. He hummed in response, holding me for another, deeper kiss that left me wondering how long it would be until I mastered dealing with Joon’s brattiness myself.
“I missed you,” I whispered softly, earning another tender kiss.
“Watch the movie, princess,” Joon said with a grin. “If you keep up with that, none of us will be on time for dinner.”
“I told you so,”Cameo said smugly, lifting a fork to inspect for water spots.
"Told me what, exactly?" I asked, only half listening as I set the cutting board into the dishwasher with a sigh.
I knew it was a mistake to indulge him when he was like this, but with Eva in the house I didn’t want to risk damaging his good mood. Cameo wasn’t the easiest person to get along with at the best of times, and since she was already feeling on edge with the recent vandalism to her car… I guess I didn’t want things to get worse.
The alpha’s returning laugh was laced with the special brand of condescension I'd only accept from Cameo. I couldn't imagine how I'd react if one of my staff tried the tone he used with me in the middle of service.
Oh, yeah I could.
It would result in a complaint to the labor board, if not the cops when I lobbed a scalding hot pan in their direction. But, Cameo waspack, and as close to a brother as I'd ever had. Therewere some quirks you tolerated for family that you sure as fuck wouldn’t for anyone else.
"That Eva would agree to my offer,obviously," he continued, buffing the tines of the fork with a microfiber cloth until he was happy enough with the shine to place it on the table. He repeated the motion several times, another quirk of the alpha's that was part of him as much as the tattoos inked into his skin.
Repeated movements, running thoughts, even stumbled words on a bad day.
It was just…Cameo.
He was fine, as far as managing his condition was concerned. But… It was still complicated. The lasting impact might seem small now, with the relatively controlled environment that the alpha spent the bulk of his time in. But, not for the first time, I wondered what it would look like when the baby arrived. How he would handle the disruptions in his schedule and the additional stimulation of nonstop crying.
If I had to put money on it? Not well.
But Cameo was insistent that this was the next step for our family, and once he made a decision there was little outside of an act of god that’d change the alpha’s mind.
This was Cameo’s world, we were all just afforded the privilege of living in it.
"Right," I said tightly, keeping my concerns tucked closely to my chest. It wouldn't serve either of us to argue with Eva in the house.
She was only just getting to know us, and it was a bigger pain than I wanted to admit that it was easier to let him have his way. At least if it wasn’t going to hurt anyone.
Besides, if Cameo’s smugness was meant to be taken as fact, she wasconsideringour pack’s offer.
A baby. A family… and then what?
In theory, it was attractive. Of course I could see why a young woman in her position might be interested in a lump sum being deposited into her bank account. But the lure of multiple zeroes wasn't the same thing as spending nine months acting as an incubator to a group of strangers.
Not quite strangers, I reminded myself.She's friends with Indi, and getting to know Joon.
At least that's what it seemed like, the pair of my packmates squabbling over the girl like a favorite toy on the playground.
I understood the draw.
In the mirror maze, I'd been the first to find her. It'd beenmethat she'd perfumed and panted for long before the rest of my pack arrived, and I wouldn’t be quick to forget it, but I wouldn’t let it force my hand either. At the end of the day, she was just a woman.
