Page 44 of Forced By the Alpha

“What’s all this about?” Caleb asked, gesturing around the kitchen. “Not just an excuse for some of Jonah’s cooking, is it? He’s been down here for hours. Think there’s even a dessert.”

“There is,” Jonah piped in, setting a serving tray down on the table, then following it up with three more.

Devon thought he heard the table groan. The food was steaming. Golden-skinned chicken, plump rolls, heaping mounds of mashed potatoes, and a variety of roasted vegetables pulled from their garden.

Beth’s eyes were wide with wonder.

“This is your first Jonah feast, isn’t it?” Devon laughed.

It must seem incongruous, a king’s feast set down for the coarsest of men. But it was a way for Jonah to fit in, to be needed, where he might have otherwise been ostracized for his softer ways.

“You’re wasted on this place,” Beth said to Jonah when he sat down beside her, hanging his apron on the back of his chair. “You should be working at a fancy restaurant. I don’t think these men taste half their food before they swallow it.”

It was true. They dug in with gusto, tearing into the food like they only had five minutes to eat. Devon pulled a platter closer, where Beth could reach it without fear of getting her hand bitten off.

“Ah, but would a fine dining establishment always provide these high-drama shows?” Jonah asked, spearing an asparagus with his fork. “Besides, I’m not professionally trained. Just me with too much time on my hands, a lot of cookbooks, and this amazing kitchen that deserved to be used.”

“Don’t talk our chef into finding something better,” Caleb said, brows drawn together, “I can forgive you being a Rosewood, mostly, but I could never forgive that.”

Cries of “hear hear” rang out around the table. Jonah blushed, looking down at his plate to hide his pink cheeks.

Emma took her time sitting, leaning against the counter and downing her bottle of beer, grabbing another before sliding into the seat beside Caleb. Her eyes were fixed on Beth throughout, though Beth was pointedly looking anywhere but at Emma. Caleb squirmed in his chair.

“We could cut this tension with a knife, Em, maybe tone it down a little? Have another beer.” Caleb nudged her beer closer.

She took a long drink from the bottle and then flicked her gaze over to Devon. “Enough delay; what are we going to do? When do we attack?”

The table quieted. All eyes were on Devon now, and Beth beside him. He found her hand under the table and held it tightly.

“I want to clear something up first, though it shouldn’t have to be said. Rumors travel quickly in this house, and the false, the faster. Beth had nothing to do with this attack. She did not give information to the Rosewoods.” Beth’s legs were shaking. He couldn’t blame her. If they turned against her, things could get bloody. He went on, meeting the eyes of every man in turn. “As a precaution, to reassure all of you, she will be kept, once again, under guard until this matter is passed.”

Agreed upon or not, it made him sick to think of Beth as a prisoner again. His prisoner. Still, they had a plan, and he was going to stick to it. Emma looked at first mutinous, then delighted.

“I’ll stand guard,” she offered, holding up a hand.

The rest of the table chittered.

“And we will not be attacking the Rosewoods in retaliation, nor will we attempt to wrest control back of that territory. Not now.” Devon waited a moment for the uproar to die down.

“Dude, where are you going with this,” Jonah hissed, for only Devon to hear. He looked ready to leap to Beth’s defense. Good, they might need it.

“We will use Beth as bait to get the Rosewoods close, then as a hostage to make a deal.”

None of them had expected this. Silence fell over the table as the men shared looks. Emma was sucking on the inside of her cheek, looking down into the bottleneck of her beer. She would think it through faster than the rest of them.

“They’ll want her back,” Emma said, the first to break the silence. “And you’re going to give her to them, our luna?”

Of course,nowshe was their luna. Only when it suited Emma’s purposes.

“Obviously not. She’s mine, and I’m keeping her.” He gave a wolfish grin as Beth kicked him under the table. He had a part to play, and he might as well enjoy it a little. “We just let them think it’s going to happen, get them out of the territory, deal signed, then back out of it.

It wouldn’t be nearly that simple, but that’s all the pack needed to know. Hunched over Beth’s small bedroom desk, they’d worked out the plan repeatedly. He thought back to their quiet plotting and felt a surge of protectiveness for her, of affection. His good, sweet Beth could be devious when she needed to be.

“Do you think they’ll buy it?” She’d asked, biting the end of a pencil instead of her lip. He leaned over to kiss her, since the space was unoccupied. “They need, for this to work. They won’t just go along with a peaceful plan.”

“I think we can do it, but…” Devon had trailed off, hating to ask for it, hating to hurt her anymore.

“What is it?” Beth had caught his hesitance immediately.

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