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Her eyes widened at me, before she nodded and smiled a little shyly. The Sirena of old was one hell of an act if the new Sirena was anything to go by. She must have been honing it for years. I sensed relief now that she could finally drop it.
“Let’s get back in there,” I said, louder than I needed to. I rolled my eyes as Maia hissed, “They’re coming back,” followed by a slapping sound and Ava whispering, “Shush,” then a stampede of feet.
Sirena just laughed as we turned and headed back inside, while everyone pretended to be busy at their stations. I didn’t call them out. These women were their own kind of pack, and they had each other’s backs.
I knew they would have just been watching to see if we needed them to intervene or help. Or maybe slap some sense into us if we couldn’t sort our shit out. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
thirty-two
Therestoftheshift passed in a blur of activity. We were bringing the food trays back in when Maia ducked over to the guys to see if they wanted any more coffee before we took it away.
Sam was hovering around the food table, picking at things, as if he’d been waiting for me to come out. I said nothing, but I discreetly dropped my letter next to the last muffin and moved away slightly. Sam snatched it up, not even trying to be subtle in his haste, then looked around.
“I’m just going to the bathroom,” he said, loudly, to no-one in particular as he almost ran towards the door.
How the hell did he survive undercover all these years?The man had no poker face around me.
I heard Hunter and Dave tell Maia they’d like some more coffee, so she grabbed their mugs and refilled them before plonking them back down in front of them with a sweet smile for Dave and a kiss for Hunter. Leif grumbled that he should have asked for more coffee, so she gave him a kiss too.
As she was heading back over to me, where I was pretending to stack plates waiting for Sam to come back out, I heard a spluttered, “What the hell?” and turned to see Dave spitting out coffee and Hunter next to him wiping specks off his shirt with exaggerated care.
Maia just sang over her shoulder, “You know what you did.”
Dave looked completely bewildered. I arched my eyebrow at Maia.
“What? I may have momentarily gotten the sugar and salt confused,” she whispered.
“Remind me never to get on your bad side.”
A loud growl that came from the bathroom in front of us halted our steps as we headed back to the kitchen. Maia looked concerned, but I just grinned at her.
Sam came stomping out. “Are you okay?” Maia asked him. He just shot me a look so full of heat I almost melted, like a chocolate bar left in the sun. I was instantly a messy puddle of gooey cocoa and sugar.
As he stomped back to the table, it was Maia’s turn to raise her eyebrow at me.
“Girl chat. Later,” I said. Maia sighed loudly and dramatically, making me smile.
Once we’d cleaned up, the girls usually all came out and ate around a table together, even though they snacked plenty as we cooked. This morning, though, the other girls all headed back to one of their cabins to eat, leaving us the empty dining room for our meeting.
Maia, Ava and I headed out with our plates, but I hesitated when I realized there were eleven of us all sitting at a table meant for ten people. Max had ducked in to grab some food and rushed straight back to his security cabin, looking distracted and tense, while his mates eyed him with concern.
Ava took the chair next to Cary and asked sweetly, “Would you like some more coffee, Dave?”
Dave shook his head vigorously and Hunter leaned toward him to fake whisper, “Dude, never piss off omegas.”
Dave looked at me, confused, but I just shrugged and mouthed, “Sorry.”
Maia took the last chair, but instead of grabbing another one, I headed over to sit on Pala’s lap. His face lit up, and he kissed me lightly on the cheek, as Dio rested his hand on my leg from where he was sitting next to us.
“Anything I need to know?” Leif grumbled as he eyed my neck, then glanced at Pala’s.
“Yep. Meet Pala, my mate,” I said around a forkful of eggs. I was starving.
Leif just shook his head at me, but he was smiling. “Welcome to the family, Pala. We’ll have manly hugs after the family meeting.”
“I would be honored,” Pala said solemnly, as if he was being asked to join a sacred ritual.
“If the big guy hugs you too tightly, just tickle him under the arm, it’s like an off button,” Hunter said, rocking his chair back so far, as Leif tried to swat him, that Damon had to reach out and save him from landing on his ass.
