The dining roomlooks completely different at this time of the evening.
The overhead light catches the crystal of the water glasses and throws small prisms across the walls. The good plates are out, the ones I found stacked in the back of the cabinet still in their original packaging, and Odette filled the center of the table with a big pot of her bolognese.
I take the last bite of my pasta and set my fork down.
The bolognese is extraordinary.
Rich and slow-cooked and deeply savory, the kind of recipe that takes most of a day to cook and tastes like it. There's fresh parmigiano on top that Odette grated herself at the table, and the focaccia was still warm when we started eating, covered in rosemary and sea salt and an obscene amount of olive oil.
I ate more in one sitting than I probably have in my entire life, and I don't feel even slightly bad about it.
I lean into Perrin's side, my shoulder finding the warmspace between his arm and his chest. He shifts to hold me, his arm coming up around my shoulders, his attention still on the conversation moving around the table as I press my palm flat against my very full stomach.
On my other side, Raff reaches across me for the last bit of focaccia on my plate, and I let him have it because I seriously cannot eat another bite.
Across the table, Odette sits between Adam and Cliff, a wineglass in one hand and her silver hair catching the warm light of the room.
Her gray eyes move from Raff to Cliff. “You boys wash up, and I’ll break out the olive oil cake once you’re done.”
Raff sits up so fast his chair scrapes the floor. "Olive oil cake?"
"That's right." Odette cuts a look to the empty pot sitting in the center of the table, making her point without words.
Raff is already on his feet, the pot in both hands before anyone else has moved. Perrin smiles widely as he watches the alpha go.
Cliff stands, smiling as he begins collecting plates from around the table with his free hand. He pauses beside Odette and leans down, pressing a kiss to her cheek. "Thank you," he says quietly. "We really needed a good meal."
"It's important for omegas to be well fed after their system settles," she says as she leans into Adam’s side, making the omega smile. "Sal ate nothing but oatmeal for two days after his heats." She shakes her head, the memory moving across her face like light through water. "Then, for a solid week after that, the man ate everything in the house that wasn't nailed down." She looks back at Cliff. "So consider yourself warned."
Cliff laughs as he straightens up. "I’m good with that.”
"Go wash up," she says, waving a hand at him.
"Perrin." Cliff glances at the beta across the table. "Grab the breadboard on your way in."
Perrin turns to me before he stands, and presses his lips to my cheek. It's soft and warm and completely unhurried, like he has all the time in the world. I reluctantly release the beta, and he stands, stacking the last few dishes including my empty plate.
“I’ll help.” I push my own chair back.
"Sit down, sweetheart," Odette says, as she reaches for her wineglass. "The men can clean up fine on their own.”
I smile, then sit, watching as Perrin disappears into the kitchen with the dishes. And then it's the three of us. Me, Adam, and Odette, sitting in the warm light of the dining room with the last of the wine and the warm quiet that settles over a table after a good meal.
“So.” Odette turns in her chair, looking directly at Adam. "How are you doing with everything?"
“Good.” Adam immediately smiles brightly, but it’s a little stiff.
Odette doesn't say anything right away.
She simply leans in, her arm coming around Adam’s shoulders, pulling him toward her side. She's so tall that even sitting down she has to duck her head slightly to bring herself to his level, her chin coming to rest near his temple.
"You don't have to pretend with me, sweetheart," she says. "You know I won’t judge.”
I watch Adam's shoulders drop.
I adore this woman.
She is one of the most quietly intimidating people I have ever been in a room with. She’s six feet of composed, immovable authority, and then she does something like this and it completely undoes me.
