Page 141 of Alpha Mates

“What kind of a favourite colour is white?” he asks with a look that feels offensive.

“What kind of a favourite colour is black?” I retort.

He narrows his eyes. “How do you know that?”

It takes everything in me not to roll my eyes. “You wear black more than funeral directors, Aiden,” I remind him with a gesture to his current getup. It tugs a chuckle from his lips that makes my stomach tighten automatically. “Okay, my turn,” I say as I shuffle closer to the table. “Do you have a favourite band or singer?”

“Arctic Monkeys,” he says without hesitation. “You?”

“I don’t have one,” I admit, toying with my napkin. “I haven’t heard much music outside of what the pack plays during celebrations. But these ‘Artic Monkeys’—”

“They can wait,” he interrupts, his eyebrows pulled tight. “You’re telling me you don’t have a favourite singer?”

“There are some songs I hear on the way to school with you,” I offer quickly. “I like those.”

You’d think I shot someone with the way Aiden gasps like a prima donna.

“When we get back, our first order of business is making up for the music you’ve been deprived of,” he says, and he’s so serious about it that I can’t help but laugh. “I’m serious, Julian.”

“Oh, I know,” I promise as my lips stay stretched apart. “I can’t wait.”

Pleased, Aiden nods before he asks, “Cats or dogs?”

“Wolves,” I parry with a smirk that he quickly returns.

The food arrives before I can ask another question, and we wait till they’re gone before we continue.

“Summer or winter?” I ask.

“Oooh.” He stabs into one of the circular rolls with a fork. “Do I have to pick?”

“Yes.” I pick up one of my own.

“Fine—summer.”

I gasp as he bites into the roll. “That’s blasphemy. What kind of werewolf doesn’t love the only season you can really let your fur down?”

“I know! I’m sorry,” he cries dramatically, reaching for another. “This shit is amazing by the way.” He groans as he chews. It is, and we clear an entire plate before he thinks up another question. “Okay, books or—”

“Books,” I answer before he finishes.

“You haven’t even heard—”

“Books, Aiden. It’s always books.”

I pop the next roll into my mouth, eyes fluttering shut. I’m holding one out to him before I’ve even finished my own. “You have to try this one—it has avocado.”

“I love avocado,” he murmurs, leaning in.

“I know.” I stretch my arm out over the small table, grinning.

Aiden meets me halfway. He hesitates for a moment before he takes the bite and falls back into his chair. I linger there, arm still stretched out while I watch him chew, before sense helps me sink back in my seat.

He swallows. “I like it.”

“Good,” I hum.

He clears his throat.