Page 47 of His Treasured Mate

We all came together for dinner. It was served buffet style with people crammed everywhere inside and out.

“At this rate, you’re going to need a bigger Alpha House,” I teased Kyle.

“Just wait. Next year, it's your turn to host.”

My face fell. I had no comeback to that.

We didn’t always get together every year. We strived for every other year, but the girls were rallying behind an annual event as the kids were getting older. They were forgetting that Lily and I, as well as Elise and Patrick now, were still very much in the baby stages. Still, I didn’t mind it. I loved our combined families and was grateful that we were able to spend time together as one. I knew these gatherings would be cherished memories for our children.

With dinner done, all of us were shooed out by the grandparents and kids as they officially announced their sleepover was going to begin. Mom and Mary even volunteered to do all the cleanup from the evening.

I wasn’t going to argue with them. I knew Lily and the sisters declared it a ladies’ night and were heading over to Shelby and Ben’s house. That left us guys on our own.

Normally when Lily attended ladies’ night, it meant my girl was going to come home slightly intoxicated, looking to live out some of her wildest fantasies. Needless to say, I always encouraged ladies’ night.

But this time, none of that would happen, and I didn’t have the girls to watch after. It was truly a night of no obligations.

We all headed over to the bar in town called The Crate. I’d been there before, but never with quite so many of us. We caused quite a scene, yet somehow there was another rowdy group of men in there, even bigger than ours.

“Kyle!” the guys cheered when we walked in.

He went to say hello to them and as I took a closer look, I realized I recognized several of them as members of Westin Force, both Bravo and Delta teams.

Silas Granger stood and shook my hand. He’d been there watching my back the day Lily and I officially became Alpha and Pack Mother. That felt like a lifetime ago.

“Thomas, it’s great to see you.”

“You too,” I told him. “Painter, Walker, wow, all of you are here?”

“We try to get together once a quarter while the girls are having one of their nights,” Walker explained. “We just didn’t realize it had been marked as the same weekend you guys were having your get together.”

“I let Ben off the hook for it,” Silas said.

I grabbed Ben by the arm and dragged him into our conversation.

“You mean this Ben? Oh, you can have him,” I teased.

“I’m feeling the love in here tonight,” Ben dramatically said.

“Can you feel the love tonight?” a few of the guys started to sing.

I laughed. With four Disney-obsessed daughters, I’d recognize those lyrics anywhere.

“You are all insane,” Ben said with a laugh.

“Jesse, how about a round of beers for my brothers?”

“Sure thing, boss.”

“And do me a favor and cut these guys off. Clearly they’ve had enough if they’re resorting to singing Lion King.”

The bar went instantly quiet as they all stared at him with a mix of disbelief and fear.

“Kidding. Geez. You guys take everything I say so seriously.”

“Uh, Kyle, you’re the Alpha and that’s their job,” I reminded him.

It wasn’t every night people got the chance to roast the Alpha and live to talk about it. But my comment seemed to start a chain reaction that led to just that. At least he was being a good sport about it and no one took things too far.

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