Page 102 of Alpha Jax

“Thanks,” Jax smiles as he strides up behind me, reaching over my shoulder to take Brooke’s jacket. She hands it over and he hangs it on a coat tree by the door, followed by Theo and Dad’s coats. The weather took a turn the past week and the nights have been cold.

Jax’s mom peeks her head out of the kitchen doorway, then steps out, wiping her hands on her apron. “Oh good, you’re here!” she says cheerfully, striding over to meet us by the door, Alpha Damian not far behind.

I swear, Jax’s mom is the kindest, loveliest woman. His dad’s not your typical alpha, either- the more I’ve gotten to know him, the more I’ve realized he’s actually laid back and likes to joke around, a lot like Jax. Both of his parents greet my family warmly, inviting them to come in and make themselves at home.

Damian takes Dad into the dining room to get him a drink from the bar cart in the corner, while the rest of us make our way over to the comfortable couches in the living room to hang out.

“Girls, come say hello to Quinn’s family!” Jax’s mom calls out as she retreats to the kitchen to finish getting dinner ready, and moments later, all three of Jax’s sisters appear at the bottom of the stairs.

This is only my third Sunday dinner, but I have a sneaking suspicion that the girls don’t typically dress up for the occasion like they have tonight. All three of them are in cute little dresses, honey-blonde hair curled and makeup done. Guess it isn’t every day that they have guests from other packs over for dinner.

“Theo, Brooke, these are my sisters,” Jax says nonchalantly, tossing a thumb in their direction and naming them off in order. “Jade, Jenna, and Juliet.”

“I totally see the resemblance,” Juliet marvels, her eyes flickering between Theo and I. “Jaxy, how the hell did you miss that?”

Last time we were here, I let Jax’s sisters in on how the two of us met. I left out the dirty details, of course, but they found our story hilarious, especially the part where we pretended not to know each other on that first day of training when Theo introduced us. They gave Jax shit about it for the rest of the night.

Jax shoots her an annoyed glare. “Jules, can we not?”

She holds up her hands, her mouth in the shape of an ‘o’. “Sorry…”

“You never should’ve told her,” Jenna sighs, rolling her eyes. “She’s like a dog with a bone, she’ll never let it go.”

“Am not,” Juliet scoffs, elbowing her sister sharply.

“Girls!” Jax’s mom interrupts, peeking out of the kitchen again and giving them a look, effectively ending their bickering. “Want to help me bring the food out to the table?”

“Fine,” one of them sighs- I’m not sure which one, but all three flaxen-haired beauties head off toward the kitchen.

Five minutes later, we’re all seated at the table for dinner, the most delicious scents wafting up from the platters of food that have been laid out. Good thing it’s a large table, because the ten of us fit around it with ease, and Jax’s mom cooked enough food for an army. There’s salad, chicken, three kinds of vegetables, rice, rolls… after we’ve all loaded up our plates, it looks like we’ve barely put a dent in the spread of food. And not only does it smell amazing, but it tastes just as good.

Everyone’s chatting happily as they start to dig into the meal, but I still haven’t heard a peep out of Jade. It’s a little bit funny, considering she’s the most outgoing of Jax’s three sisters- she keeps looking over at Theo and blushing, responding to him like a typical fifteen-year-old girl and quietly swooning.

“You two live up at the squad complex as well?” Jax’s mom asks, looking to Theo and Brooke.

Theo’s got a mouthful of baked chicken, so Brooke responds for the both of them.

“Yes, we’re both in the dorms. We’ve got a double room, though, so it’s not so bad.”

“We still need to get one of those,” Jax comments, turning to me with a little smirk.

His mom shrugs. “You two could always move to the packhouse.”

Jax blows out a breath. “Mom, I already told you…”

“I know, I know,” she says with a wave of her hand. “I’m just saying. Maybe once you’re back from Denver and all the excitement dies down.”

“Lyla has a tough time letting her baby birds leave the nest,” Damian chuckles, glancing over at my dad.

Dad offers him a smile in return. “I know how that is.” He gazes at me wistfully, and I feel a little pang of guilt for leaving him on his own. At least Cory and Ellie are living there now and keeping him company.

“Speaking of Denver, how are things going?” Damian asks, setting down his fork and reaching for his drink. “Didn’t some of the squad head down there yesterday?”

“They did,” Jax replies, swallowing a mouthful of chicken and rice. “About half of them. We’ll follow next week with the other half.”

“I’ve seen some of the Denver wolves around town,” Jax’s mom muses as she pushes a piece of asparagus around her plate. “Our pack is housing quite a few of them.”

Dad nods. “Ours too.”

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