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My smile finally broke free. Everyone needed girlfriends who would take down a douche for you.
Not that I thought Dave was one, but there was definitely something holding him back and I was interested in seeing how he would react to Maia’s evil plans.
Maia and Dave sparked up an instant friendship from the minute he found her half starved and alone outside our fence. I knew he was almost as protective of her as he was of me, but more in a concerned, fatherly kind of way. Not the good girl, kind of daddy dom vibes I got from him.
I would intervene if it got too bad, though. Maybe.
eighteen
Thenexthourwasutter chaos as eight grown ass men tried to make and serve breakfast for a few dozen people. I eventually roped my team in. I figured if they were going to laugh at us, they could damn well help us. They just added to the chaos, though. Too many alphas in too small a space. Cary had looked like he was going to bolt. I eventually kicked them back out.
Despite the frustrated growling going on in the kitchen, whispered questions like “why is my batter so lumpy,” and Hunter and Dio getting into a light-hearted tea towel whipping fight that nearly ended up with Hunter’s ass in a bowl of eggs, we managed to serve up edible food. Every resource was valuable now, so there was no way we were going to ruin any food by being careless.
All the women thanked us when they came back in, for the morning off and the laughs at our expense. They’d completely forgiven us for our earlier fracas. They seemed happy with the sparkling state of the kitchen when we were done, too.
I looked around and realized the kitchen was clean, but we were all looking a little worse for wear. Dio had bits of pancake batter in his hair, but the giant smile on his face reflected on the faces around us in a way that lightened my heart.
These people were making the best of an awful situation and rallying together in a way that was rare. There was so much life happening within these gates, while so much destruction was happening outside.
Life here was still precarious, though. People outside were going to covet what they had. People who wouldn’t care about spilling a little blood to get it. I decided I was more than happy to spill a lot of blood to preserve it, though. This place spoke to me in a way I’d been missing for a really long time.
It hit me that this farm was Maia and Lexie’s home. I hoped that meant it would become my home, too. It had been too long since I’d had one. I wanted a home and family with a deep yearning, but I was equally terrified of fucking it up and getting myself banished again.
While everyone had focused on their tasks this morning, there was still a lot of tension towards Dio and me, particularly from Damon and Leif.
That meant I needed to resolve all the unanswered questions between us and Maia’s mates. I turned to Dave. “Can we arrange a sit-down with Damon and his mates now? There are a few things we need to discuss, and they can’t wait any longer.”
“On it,” was all Dave said before he spun away and started rounding up the guys. Dave was quickly growing on me. There was no pretense or bullshit. He was straight to the point. A guy you could count on to have your back. Despite the fact he was a good fifteen years older than me, he felt like a friend. To my beast, he already felt like coming home, the same way Pala and Dio did.
It scared me almost as much as Lexie did. I was tired of disappointing people I respected. Every father figure or mentor I’d had in my life had been wary of me and sent me away, eventually.
“Sam.” I shook my head and focused on the voice calling my name. Dave was standing in the doorway to the dining room, with Dio standing next to him, looking highly amused.
Dave was looking at me expectantly, like it wasn’t the first time he’d called my name. I looked around and all the other guys had left. I was standing in the kitchen by myself.
“You okay? You kinda zoned out there for a minute,” Dio asked. I could hear the laughter in his voice.
“Shut up,” I groused at him. He ruffled my hair affectionately as I passed him at the doorway. I pulled up short when I found everyone watching and waiting for me. I really needed to get my head in the game.
“I’ll go drop some breakfast to Nick, then go watch the treehouse from a distance, if you’re all going to be here,” Cary said as he hovered on the outer edges of our group. He seemed antsy and I don’t think it was just because Ava was gone.
“Cary,” I called out, halting him as he turned to leave. I’d been watching him and seen how uncomfortable he was around us when he wasn’t focused on protecting Ava. As if he was just waiting for one of us to pounce on him instead. He was Maia and Lexie’s friend and I wanted to reassure him that someone had his back.
“I just wanted to thank you for defending Lexie and Ava the other day, when the Palace alphas attacked.” I knew it wasn’t my place to thank him, given Lexie’s mate and brother were in the room, but I felt it had to be said.
“I think it was more Lexie defending me in the end,” he said with a self-deprecating shrug.
“Regardless, you could have taken Ava and fled when the farm was attacked, but you didn’t. You stayed and fought.”
“So did you. Maia was here, and knowing Ronan was after her, there was no way I was leaving.”
I nodded, remembering the panic of the moment I realized Maia wasn’t leaving. That I couldn’t get her to safety before the attack came. It still made me feel ill. “Yeah, I get that.”
“You defended Lexie and Ava during the attack?” Leif asked quietly. He’d only just resurfaced from Maia’s heat, and he and his mates weren’t up to speed on everything yet. Cary looked uncomfortable with us all watching him and just shrugged.
“Thank you,” Leif said. He moved towards Cary but hesitated, then pulled back when Cary tensed. I got it. Cary looked like any of our guy friends. He could be one of our team, just a highly attractive one. Yet I wouldn’t hug or approach an unmated female omega. Especially one that smelled as delicious as Cary did. It was confusing our alphas.
Cary nodded and turned away again, but that wasn’t all I had to say. “Before you go, Cary.” He looked at me over his shoulder and watched me a little warily.
