And I’d seen more than enough women come and go through my pack not to get too excited. Especiallyafter last time.
"I knew we'd find someone, Marcus," Cameo said, pulling me from my thoughts and back to the task at hand, setting the table. “Really, I’d always had her in mind. It’s like it was fate.”
“I think you’re getting ahead of yourself,” I hedged, moving through with some plates to help Cameo round off the place settings.
Our pack tended to gravitate towards the informal dining experience offered by the breakfast nook off the main kitchen, but when it came to family dinner, the dining room table was non-negotiable.
Maybe it was my experience in restaurants, but I'd always had a soft spot for a well-laid tablescape. I set a plate, lovely, vintage European china with black filigree that’d belonged to Cameo’s great aunt, at each seat. The flowers of the day, a selection made by Joon in a riot of pink that had no business being so bright, contrasted well enough with the black-on-blackembroidered table cloth, a selection of Indigo's. The floral design of the lace was subtle, difficult to make out in the purposefully low light of the dining room.
We were, above all else, not a 'big light' pack. Something that'd been declared by Indigo for as long as I'd lived with them. Though, if I was honest, it didn't make much of a difference to me. I kept my spaces preternaturally bright anyway, it was easier to see mistakes that way. Dirt.
Returning to the kitchen, I collected a few more dishes while Cameo continued to beat his current favorite horse to death.
“When she says yes, a bond with Joon won’t be far behind,” the alpha said smugly. “You know hehatesbeing jealous. I give it a couple of weeks before he comes crawling begging for a bite.”
I hummed non-committally, placing a large, sloped dish of caprese on the table and a bread basket, taking the time to look over my work. Family style meals always felt a little lazy, and, had I known that our new omega was joining us I probably would've opted for something a bit more elegant.
Not our omega,I reminded myself sternly.
Maybe I was spending too much time with Cameo and his delusion.
Or, maybe I was just looking for an excuse to show off.
Okay, that much was obvious. But what was an alpha supposed to do when it came to pretty little omegas with too much to say? Just… leave it alone?
I didn't only mean Eva either, Joon's preferences meant something to me too. A thought that I wished I could deny, but as I looked over my work—a traditionally Italian spread that'd become a bit of a staple since we'd moved far enough from Cameo's family that he couldn't regularly make his Nonna's family dinners—it was impossible to pretend that the addition of a plate of lovely, golden brown eggplant parmesans were anything but a placation of Joon's whims.
Even if it was a little insulting that he didn't trust me to cook anything else.
It wassupposedto be a simple meal this week, but seeing Eva again… it made me feel like I needed to put in a little extra effort. Which, of course, meant we’d ended up with more food than was reasonable for five packs, not just my own.
I continued to move plates from the island to the table, sighing. “Why don’t you use that mouth of yours for something useful and call everyone up for dinner?”
Cameo huffed, turning his nose up at me—ever the most princely of our pack while also being the most crude. “I’m always doing something useful,” he huffed, disappearing into the hall to call down the stairs, “Dinner!”
The alpha returned, taking his seat at the table just as I moved to do the same, footsteps pounding after him up the steps.
Indi appeared through the doorway first, offering a little salute as they took their usual seat.
Then came Joon, who was throwing some popcorn into his mouth with a loud crunch. All that remained in the bowl, which he sat on the end of the table before taking his seat, were the unpopped kernels. “Hello, alphas,” he said cheerfully, leaning for a quick kiss from Cameo as he settled.
I couldn’t help but suck my teeth. Both because he’d been snacking before dinner again, but also because he’d had the poor manners to leave his empty snackbowl on my beautiful dinner table instead of taking it through to the kitchen. In my entire life, I’d never come into contact withanyonethat’d managed to get under my skin the way this omega did.
At least I’d thought so. That was until Eva’s perfect, pink pigtails bounced into view, the omega hesitating as she spotted us all waiting for her at the table.
“Feels a bit like being called to the principal’s office,” she said with an anxious giggle.
“Want me to discipline you with a ruler for being tardy?” Cameo asked, without missing a beat.
Strawberries and matcha hit me like a wave, the scrape of my chair more aggressive than I intended as I forced myself up, offering Eva my seat beside Cameo.
“If no one else is going to havebasic manners,” I said with a stern look around the room, resigned to taking the next seat down. “I guess I must.”
I’d been so surprised to see her earlier, I hadn’t really paid her the attention that she deserved. But now? I took my time as she brushed past me to settle into the chair with a mumbledthank you, her skirt riding up against her thighs.
Perhaps my favorite thing on a woman. A short skirt was about as close to a free pass to my cock as you could get, and—like most alphas—my heart wasn’t far off from there.
I nudged her chair in, regaining my own seat with a sidelong look towards Eva that, arguably, was staring. Staring that she absolutely caught me doing.
