“Come on,” he guided, voice slightly less irritated as we made the way back to his table.
“Have a good night, Elena,” Issac said quickly.
“Goodnight, Issac. It was wonderful–sitting with you.”
Benjamin growled as he continued to tug me along.
A few other alphas were there at his table on the other side of the room as well, likely his friends who leered at the sight of me. “Oh, look who Benny finally caught?”
Benjamin rolled his eyes, reaching out for me to sit next to him.
There was still plenty of lemonade and different plates of food on the table that smelled delicious. Certainly better than the blandness I could only ever smell coming from Benjamin and from… his cousin across the table.
I stared at him.
“Nice to see you again.”
I hummed.
Luckily, I could always play it off. It wasn’t polite after all in the Davinson household to speak to another alpha other than her own without permission.
His brother raised his brows. “Huh. You got her broken in already.”
Benjamin stared at me as if studying my motives.
I wouldn’t give him a single question though.
He gave a short, “Huh,” sound as if he couldn’t quite believe it either. “A minute ago she was practically cavorting with other alphas so I wouldn’t be so sure.”
Because though I hated Benjamin and thought he was the most awful person, it didn’t mean that he was stupid. And I couldn’t get my hopes up.
Not yet.
I sat at the table, my facade of compliance masking the storm of emotions raging inside me as I tried not to look around the rest of the room at wherever Issac may have gone or the other omegas who believed themselves to be falling in love with the alphas here.
Benjamin’s presence loomed over me, a constant reminder of my place in this rigid hierarchy.
I forced myself to focus on the food in front of me, picking at it delicately to avoid drawing any unwanted attention. But now and then, I could feel his gaze lingering on me, a silent threat that dared me to step out of line.
As the evening wore on, the tension in the room seemed to thicken with each passing minute. And unlike with Issac, no one else was going to swoop in and pull me away.
The pressure was suffocating, the weight of expectations bearing down on me like a leaden sky.
I stole a glance around the room, searching for a familiar face amidst the sea of strangers, as if maybe Issac would come back and save me, or Lucas somehow managed to sneak in, because my body ached and my nose itched as if searching for something.
“Come.”
I blinked. Benjamin was already standing.
“Come on.” He said. “I want a drink and you’re coming with me.”
I nodded. “Right.”
He huffed as I followed him across the room towards the bar. I don’t know what I expected from this evening, but from what I understood I didn’t expect courting to be so boring.
Even though I knew I wasn’t courting. If I was, it certainly wouldn’t be with Benjamin Davinson.
My nose itched again and I sneezed.