Page 92 of Alpha Reid

I laugh softly, shaking my head. She’d better get used to it fast- this is her home now. And though I’ll try to be respectful, there’s no way I can keep my hands off my mate.

“Hope you’re hungry,” Serena says to me, pointing the spatula toward the plate of pancakes on the counter beside me. I look down to see that there’s actually another plate that was hidden from view behind the first, also stacked high.

“Damn, Red, you planning on feeding the whole six-pack?” I tease as I take in the sheer amount of food she’s whipped up.

Serena rolls her eyes, pouring more batter into the pan. “I wanted to make enough for everyone.”

“Everyone in the pack?”

She whacks me on the arm with the spatula. “Everyone who lives here.”

“Did more people move in while I was asleep?” I ask playfully, reaching toward the closest plate to pick at the pancakes. Serena swats my hand away with the spatula.

“I thought I smelled pancakes!” Taylor chirps, and I turn to see her strutting into the kitchen with her daughter on her hip. She stops in her tracks when she sees Olivia perched on the counter, her brows drawing together in confusion.

“This is Serena’s sister, Olivia,” I offer, throwing a thumb in her direction. Then I turn to Olivia. “This is Taylor, my beta’s mate, and her daughter Sadie. They live here at the packhouse, too. And speaking of my beta…” I trail off as I look past Olivia to see the front door swing open, Cy stepping through. “This is Cy,” I supply, nodding in his direction.

Cy grins warmly toward Olivia as he makes his way further inside. “You must be the sister.”

“That’s me,” Olivia replies, a soft smile on her lips.

Cy gives her a little nod, then turns his attention to me. “Got your message, what time are we heading over?”

Serena’s head snaps up to look at me. “Heading where?”

I blow out a breath, raking a hand through my hair. “I was just about to tell you, the council is going to meet before Cole and the others head back to Denver. Totally up to you whether you want to come or not, I know you probably want to spend time with your sister…”

“Go ahead,” Olivia chimes in, hopping down from the counter. “Honestly, I feel like I could sleep for a week, and that bed is so soft it feels like sleeping on a cloud. I planned on getting right back in it after breakfast.”

“You sure?” Serena asks, stealing a glance at her sister as she slides another pancake from the pan onto the pile.

Olivia nods. “Definitely.”

Serena turns back to me, setting down the spatula and turning off the burner. “Then yeah, I’ll come along.” She eyes the heaping plates of pancakes. “Do we have time to eat first?”

“Of course,” I say, tucking her under an arm and pressing a kiss to her head. Even if we didn’t, I’d show up late so that Serena’s culinary efforts weren’t in vain. “Why don’t you ladies have a seat, Cy and I will bring everything out to the table.”

“And they say chivalry’s dead,” Taylor smirks. The three girls exchange conspiratorial glances, then head over to take seats at the table as Cy and I pull plates from the cabinets, silverware from the drawer, and juices from the fridge, bringing everything over to the table for breakfast.

I’ve gotta hand it to Serena- the pancakes taste as delicious as they smell. We all eat our fill, and a little over an hour later, Cy, Serena, and I are walking into the packhouse in Riverton for the council meeting. Brock and Astrid offered to host since Cole has been staying with them, and let’s be honest, nobody else was jumping at the opportunity to host this meeting.

The mood is somber as everyone files in and finds a seat in the large living room, Vaughn’s absence weighing heavily on all of us. His beta, Rob, is here, his eyes sunken and hair disheveled. He was close with Vaughn as only a beta can be- the poor guy is obviously going through it.

“Where’s Chase?” Gray ventures to ask him, and Rob presses his lips into a tight line, giving a shake of his head.

“At the packhouse,” he sighs, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees and dropping his head into his hands. “Didn’t stay there last night, but he showed up this morning looking like shit. Wherever he was, I don’t think he slept.”

Gray’s beta, Deke, leans forward from beside him. “Didyousleep?”

Rob picks up his head and looks over at him, shaking it again.

Theo walks over with Brooke, dropping down onto a couch and tugging her by the hand until she falls on his lap. “The warriors on patrol said Chase was out running around the forest all night,” he comments, shooting Gray a sideways glance.

Jax shrugs. “Probably good for him to let his wolf out and run for a while.”

“Unless he’s using it as a way to shut out his humanity,” Gray murmurs, his eyes haunted. He heaves a sigh. “When he gets past his initial grief and he’s ready to talk, I’ll be there to help him through this. I know the situation he’s in all too well.”

We all nod in understanding. The parallels between Chase’s current situation and how Gray became Alpha aren’t lost on any of us. I met Gray in those early days and helped him through some of it, but I could never fully understand what he went through. He’s come a long way since then, and Chase will be lucky to have him. The poor kid has a long road ahead.

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