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Toren frowned. “And how do you know this? Did you have a vision? When was the vision?”
Jaren nodded before dropping his gaze to the floor and muttering, “Sorry, Alpha. I saw it about a week ago, and whenDuck said you’d found your mate, I knew my vision had come true. He was saying things about not believing you’d found your mate living next door. Alpha, he needed to be taken down a peg or two.”
Before Toren could reprimand the man further, he felt a hand touch his back, reminding him that they weren’t alone.
Reaching back, he took her hand and gently pulled her up to stand beside him. “Katee, I’d like you to meet Jaren, one of our pack members. He has the gift of sight and can sometimes tell things well before they happen.”
“Hello, Jaren,” Katee said, extending her hand.
Jaren looked at her hand, but instead of taking it, gave a low bow from his waist. “Welcome to the pack, my queen. While I’m not a soldier, I vow to protect you with my life if necessary.”
Jaren’s words surprised Toren. The seer had barely given such a vow to him when he’d taken over the pack, but he had just freely given a life vow to his mate.
“Um, thank you, Jaren,” Katee said, dropping her hand.
“He won’t shake your hand, dancer, because he knows I might tear them apart if he does. Only your mate is allowed the gift of casual touch.”
“Oh. Well, okay then. Thank you for your words, Jaren. I don’t think I’ve ever had someone offer to die for me before.”
Jaren gave another bow before leading the way into the dining room where the rest of the Waverly pack waited to meet their alpha’s new mate.
****
After watching Toren go alpha stern in the hallway, Katee wasn’t sure she wanted to see how the rest of the pack reacted to her sudden claiming by their alpha. At the same time, she was so turned on, all she wanted to do was drag Toren back upstairs and fuck him until neither of them could move.
Instead of adding to that urge, she took a deep breath andfollowed Toren into the dining room. Every person in the room suddenly standing up at her appearance had her take a step back toward Toren’s body.
Twelve men, as big or bigger than Toren, stared back at her as if she were a bug under glass. She stepped closer to Toren as she continued to fight the urge to run back upstairs to Toren’s suite and hide under the bed.
“Katee, this is the Waverly pack. We’ll get to individual names later.”
Katee wasn’t sure what to say or do, so she followed Toren around the table to where a large chair sat at the end of the table. There was an empty place directly to its right, which was where Toren led her. After helping her sit and pushing her chair in, he settled in the chair at the head of the table. Once they were seated, the rest of the pack returned to their chairs.
As if it had been choreographed, a door at the side of the room swung open and a tiny woman pushing a wheeled cart entered the room. She looked around, meeting Katee’s gaze. Her eyes widened in surprise before her gaze dropped to the cart. Silence continued as she pushed the cart around the table, stopping between Toren and Katee.
Katee watched as the woman stood trembling with her hands knotted together as Toren took each serving dish from the cart and examined it.
“It all looks delicious, Clarey. Thank you for another wonderful meal.”
Clarey gave a half-bow. “Thank you, Alpha.”
With that, she scurried to an empty spot at the opposite end of the table.
“Mate?” Toren offered her the first dish, waiting until she placed a piece of fried chicken on her plate. He then took two pieces and passed the plate to the man on his left. This continued with every dish on the cart. By the time the last platter of garlicbread started around the table, the chicken had arrived back to Katee’s right. Without a word, she accepted the dishes from the man beside her and returned them to the cart.
“Eat, dancer,” Toren encouraged once all the dishes had made their way around the table.
Turning her attention to the food, Katee took a deep breath. She licked her lips at the same time she sighed with pleasure. The smells of the food were amazing, and she could not wait to dig in.
She tried to use her manners, but after the first bite, she ate with almost as much gusto as the other men around the table, all of whom had taken twice as much food as she’d taken. She now understood why Clarey used the cart to bring the food to the table.
Once she finished what she could, she rose from her chair. When the men went to rise, she waved them back into their chairs before walking around the table to where Clarey sat nibbling at her lunch.
“Clarey, I want to tell you I’ve never had such a delicious meal in my life. Everything was amazing,” she said gently when the petite woman startled.
“Thank you, um, I’m not sure what I should call you.” Clarey looked up at her, seeming more than a little panicked.
Katee smiled and patted her arm. “Please, call me Katee.”
