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“Of course, I’ll cut up the chicken; if you’ll get started on chopping the vegetables.”
He gave me another of those dazzling smiles and went to wash his hands before coming to stand by me and beginning to chop up onions. We worked in comfortable silence while listening to the renovation show that Miles and Shae were watching. I sent a small pulse to Trevor in the bond to gauge how he and Theo were. Sometimes I wished the bonds were some kind of magic link that would let me speak to my mates. The fact that I could sense their emotions was already pretty magical, but we would have found Shae so much faster if we could have spoken to them or had some ability to track them through the bond.
“What next?”
Ethan was washing the onion juice off his hands, while wiping moisture from his eyes onto his shoulders.
“You can grate the parmesan while I cook the chicken. Then you can go relax until it’s ready.”
The cutest frown twisted his mouth as he began to protest.
“If you don’t want to go back into the family room, then sit at the island and keep me company.”
I’d already tossed the chicken with some oil and seasoning in a large cast iron skillet and stirred it around until I knew each piece was browned. Removing the chicken from the pan, I set it aside, adding the veggies in to cook down next. Ethan finished the parmesan, then walked around to the chairs on the other side of the island. Before he sat down, I tipped my head toward the one where I’d draped Theo’s hoodie. The corner of his eyes crinkled and a slight grin tugged at his mouth as he grabbed it, slipping it over his head and tucking the lower half of his face into the neck. As he breathed in Theo’s scent, his perfume filled the space. Not from arousal but because he was comforted. I noticed a slight furrow form in his brow and decided to try to distract him from worrying about Theo.
“What’s going on with your classes, with all the interruptions and everything?”
“They gave me another extension on my coursework, but I have to meet with my advisor as soon as I go back to campus. I gave up my TA position as well. It wasn’t fair to the professor or the students with me being gone so much.”
“I’m sorry, Ethan.”
“It’s okay, really. I only have one more semester after this one and then I can find a job.”
“You know my offer stands. Drake House would be happy to have you in the BullPen. And you can keep up your ‘volunteer work’ with our blessing. Maybe we can help somehow.”
“Is that an official offer or?—”
The trill of Ethan’s phone interrupted what he was saying and his brows creased unhappily as he looked at the screen.
“Ethan, are you alright?”
“It’s the police. I don’t know why they’d be calling me. But they wouldn’t call if it was something bad, would they? They’d come here to talk to me, right?”
His breathing was picking up and Miles peered over at us, noticing the subtle shift in Ethan’s scent which revealed his anxiety. I turned down the heat on the food for the moment and moved to where I could wrap my arm around his shoulders and soothe his nerves.
“Let’s see if they leave a message. I can tell you that everything is fine with Theo based on what I’m feeling through the bond." I left out that I could only feel Trevor’s emotions but he was steady and feeling amused, so I knew all was well. “Why don’t you text Aubrey to make yourself feel better and know that she and your mom are safe?”
Ethan nodded and opened his messages to check in with his sister. After hearing that she was fine and would call him the next day for an update, he relaxed and decided to listen to the message from the police later. I pushed my own concern over the call to the side. I didn’t want to think about what it might mean for our Omega—our pack—if it was bad news of some kind. We’d taken enough hits lately, and I didn’t want any of the people I loved to be hurt so soon.
I moved around the island again to finish our dinner and turned the conversation back to Ethan working for Drake House. I knew that Trevor and Cole both wanted him there, even if Trevor was still too nervous to talk to Ethan about it. I didn’t have any doubts or nerves regarding getting him into the BullPen permanently. Even if he wasn’t my Omega, officially, his abilities had proven to exceed every other person in Trevor’s department. I didn’t want those skills spent doing something that he wouldn’t love as much as he did working with Haven and for us.
“I was serious about the job, by the way. You’ve said before that you wouldn’t work full time until your degree was complete, and I respect that, but say the word and I’ll get an employment contract ready for you to review.”
Ethan was biting the corner of his bottom lip, but it didn’t hide the grin my words invoked. Warmth filled me—there weren’t many things better for an Alpha than knowing your Omega or your mates were safe and happy. I plated up four bowls of the creamy chicken dish with some biscuits that Miles' mom had left and called the other two into the kitchen to eat.
After we’d all stuffed ourselves, Miles and I set about cleaning up the kitchen and loading everything into the dishwasher. Shae groaned theatrically and rubbed their stomach.
“I think we need an elevator. Can someone roll me up to the nest?”
“I can carry you up. Are you not feeling well?”
“I’m teasing, Miles.” They turned to me and offered me a sweet smile. “That was delicious, thank you, Alpha.”
I smiled at them and winked.
“Ethan helped.”
“I chopped vegetables and ogled Jade. I don’t think that counts as helping.”
