Twenty-Two
Lana
“Welcome to Blackwell Mansion,” a man called out, drawing our attention to him.
Everybody in the dining room fell silent, glancing over at the man dressed in a black suit. His head was held high, and with his commanding tone, he had all of us locked in within seconds.
“I’m the owner of this gorgeous mansion, and I’ve called all of you here because we have a connection. It is up to you to uncover what that connection is. You must use your deductive skills to find out. You cannot win if you do not know.”
His eyes swept over the room. There were only four other tables waiting.
“If you survive, of course.”
Excitement and anticipation ran through me as he started to speak again.
“Five packs are gathered here to find out who will have the grit, the integrity, the class to take over something as importantas this,” he said with a flourish. “But first”—he clapped his hands—“dinner.”
Servers swept out of the back room, all dressed in simple black uniforms. Instead of the name of the restaurant, the embroidery on their shirts simply saidBlackwell. They went all in for this, and I was loving every second of it.
The service continued to move around him, filling glasses with champagne or their signature beer. I took a sip of my drink, humming at the sweet, tart champagne. It was one of my favorites.
“Here’s to the first of many nights out as a pack,” Mason said, giving me a wink.
I clinked his glass with mine, my smile widening. This was starting to feel real.
My gaze danced around the room, taking in all the ways they’d decorated for tonight. This was simply the formal dining room, made to feel a bit more like a home than a restaurant with art on the walls and props.
Mr. Smith was back in the center, calling out for our attention again. “Now that you’ve been offered drinks, let’s continue. Outside of that door are the other rooms of the mansion. You and your pack will explore, but this is a friendly competition. Be secretive. Be smart. Be insightful. Donotbe a dick.”
Laughter burst out from half the room at his words. He was working the crowd and loving every minute of it.
I dug into my Caesar salad as he wrapped up the list of rules and liabilities. It was honestly one of the best I’d ever had. The shaved parmesan on top and the fresh pepper really made it.
They brought out loaves of fresh bread, which Cade took immediately, cutting it up and handing slices out to our pack. He didn’t even seem to realize he was doing it, but it was so sweet tosee him take care of not just me, but everyone. I never wanted a pack that couldn’t take care of each other as well.
Even among bonded packs, it wasn’t always like this. This pack was different on so many levels. There was something about them that made them seem so much stronger, as if they were fully in tune with each other.
“You look like you have questions,” Kieran said. I hadn’t realized he was studying me, but his intense green eyes were locked on me.
“Not necessarily a question,” I said. “I’m just… impressed with how close your pack seems to be.”
“Oh, that’s easy,” Cade said, patting a spot on his upper bicep. “We’re a bonded pack. We wanted to be strong for our omega when we found her. We’ve all seen too much chaos during mating and we wanted to be different. It might give us a bit of an advantage in hockey, but mostly because we can tell what the others are thinking. Outside of that, we just know how to work through conflict and can feel when one of us needs something.”
They were all watching me now, almost guarded, waiting to see my reaction. I wasn’t sure what to say. It didn’t turn me off or freak me out. This was just unheard of.
“That definitely explains it,” I finally said. “Unexpected, but I can see the benefits.”
Cade took a sip of his beer before talking again. “It was my idea. I wanted us to be the kind of pack that would make an omega proud. One that didn’t have to work through their differences once they found her. We knew we were a pack, and even if something changed, like she had a mate when we found her, at least we would be strong enough to withstand anything.”
“That’s kind of nice, actually,” I said. “I know firsthand what it means for a pack to not be on the same page.”
“This was our way of ensuring we always were.”
The unspoken thing was that if that were the case, then I was bonding with all of them. The first bite would bring me into the pack, and each bite after would only strengthen it.
Our next course arrived, and the conversation lulled for a minute as we dug in. I savored the incredible roasted chicken for a moment before telling them the good news.
“Coach approached me today with an official offer. Thanks to the good word all the players gave, and him noticing a difference in energy levels, they want me to come on full-time. I signed a contract today for a year with the Wardens.”
