Page 137 of Claiming the Pack's Omega

This meal is different than last night. The table feels full and complete with Stone joining us, but there’s also something about the food Theo chose to make that feels like something he’d serve the guys on a normal night. I mean, there aren’t even any forks at the dinner table tonight. That feels like the kind of meal they’d all eat together as a pack of bachelor alphas.

This feels like a normal Tuesday evening. My presence at their table feels normal.

I can’t help but smile as I look around the table at everyone. This feels right.

“Try a bite,” Theo says, leaning his elbows eagerly on the table as he watches me.

I reach down and pick up some of the ribs before taking a bite. The tangy sweetness of the barbecue sauce explodes on my tongue as I take a bite of the most tender barbecue ribs I’ve ever had in my entire life. The only barbecue meat I’ve had is the kind that comes from the frozen food aisle.

A sound that’s far too obscene for the dinner table escapes me. It’s caught between a groan and a moan.

The guys all freeze at the sound, but I just roll my eyes as I finish swallowing the bite.

“It was good, okay?” I huff. “Let a girl enjoy her food.”

Theo clears his throat and nods quickly. I don’t miss the way he shifts in his seat like he’s subtly trying to adjust himself.

“Yeah—yeah, of course. I’m glad you liked it," he says, continuing to nod like he’s a bobblehead.

Everything Theo cooked tonight is delicious. Throughout the entire dinner, I see Killian eyeing me. He doesn’t seem angry or irritated with my presence. I don’t know how he’s feeling, to be completely honest. I just know it feels like I’m under a microscope.

It makes me feel nervous for what I have to do.

“Here, let me take your plate,” Milo offers when I’m all done.

“Oh, no, it’s okay, I can help.”

“You can help by keeping Stone company while we take care of putting all this away, how about that?” Theo says from the kitchen sink.

I purse my lips as I fiddle with the napkin in front of me. It’s one of those fancy paper napkins, the ones with the embossed pressed edges.

I guess they do have napkins. Fancy ones too. I guess I forgot to ask Steve the robot where the pack kept these.

“Is everything okay, Wildflower?” Stone asks quietly, eyeing me almost as intently as Killian was during dinner.

Now it’s my turn to nod like a bobblehead. I probably look even more stupid than Theo just did.

“Fine, I think I’ve gotta go to the bathroom real quick, I’ll be right back,” I say, hurriedly standing up from my chair before he can stop me.

I didn’t actually have to go to the bathroom. I just needed a second to myself before everything possibly falls apart. But I do spend a ridiculous amount of time scrubbing my hands in the sink. I tell myself because I’d hate to be wiping away my tears during this upcoming conversation and smelling barbecue sauce, but I know I’m just buying myself time.

I stare at myself in the bathroom mirror and grip the countertop so hard my knuckles go white.

This is it.

I can do this.

I don’t want a pack who won’t accept me. All of me. Even the ugly, broken parts.

They’re good guys. They deserve to know what they’re getting into.

With one final breath, I step back out and make my way back to the dining table.

My steps slow when I see the four of them seated at the now clean dining table, all of their eyes landing on me as I make my way to them.

I lick my lips nervously.

“Why’re you guys all staring at me like that?” I say, letting out a huff of forced laughter that sounds more like a strangled exhale.