Page 31 of In Bellamira's Chains

“Ah!” Raylan cut in. “I have a video of the little Alpha slamming open a door when her plate was set down.” He patted his chest and legs, searching for his phone before pulling it out and finding the video.

He shared it with all of us, and it was just as he said. Lettie crawled across the room and shoved open the dining room door that was ajar before trying to climb up into her high chair, nearly knocking it and the food over. Adira ran over just in time to prevent a big mess and possibly a hurt baby.

Over the speaker, you could hear her and Nyla laughing as Lettie was placed in her chair and dug in before they could wrap a bib around her neck. “Please have an Omega next,” Adira joked in the video before Raylan turned it off.

“I still mean that. I don’t know how anyone handles an Alpha child with that much will in their body. Nyla is a saint, handling her all day. I would have hired multiple nannies by now…”

Everyone started to chuckle, but Hazelle let out a snort and turned bright red when we all turned to look at her.

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t—” She waved her hands in front of her body. “I, um, was just imagining

Mistress Belle and Adira as children together.”

“And that’s funny, my pet?” Mistress Belle squinted at Hazelle, their hands still joined.

“No? No, it’s—”

“Yes, it is. I was there for the teen years, but I’ve heard stories about when they were younger. Caera made sure I was well prepared before being sold to My Mistress.” I plastered a giant smile on my face as My Mistress and Adira glared at me. “Blame, Caera.” I shrugged. They should have known better. My sister knew them better than most people, even their parents.

“Oh, I do, and she will be hearing from me.” Mistress Belle rolled her eyes.

“Perhaps we make a surprise visit and make sure her Omega knows all the stories about her past as well.” Adira cocked her head while Nyla rolled her eyes much like My Mistress.

“We all know Caera is the blabbermouth of the bunch. I’d bet Winnie knows more about Caera and you two than anyone else.”

My Mistress and Adira’s nostrils flared, knowing what Farah said was beyond true. Where they were loud when needed and always protective and straightforward, Caera rarely stopped talking and couldn’t keep a secret. Actually the only person she didn’t spill about was Winnie unless she was gushing about how much she loved him or how proud she was of her Omega. She was the sunshine to his quiet broodiness. An anomaly in our world, but Caera was just as protective and it was far less expected when she started the fight.

“I’ll never understand her.” Adira took the last bite of her salmon and finished off her second glass of wine.

“She’s my best friend, and I don’t. There’s no hope for the rest of you. Besides maybe Elera.”

I only smiled. She was my sister. Of course I understood her like no one else would, but just as everyone else, I would never know her the best.

The plates were taken once again, but this time, so were our drinks. We were served coffee or tea with our dessert which was a rich, creamy, and tangy passion fruit and white chocolate cheesecake. No one said a word throughout dessert, and I didn’t blame them. Oscar truly outdid himself.

Adira, Nyla, and Lettie adjourned to a guest room where they set up a baby monitor and crib to put Lettie to sleep while the rest of us went downstairs to a freshly deep cleaned entertainment room to play some card games. If they only knewwhat had gone on in most of the rooms. I was sure they assumed, but knowing was entirely different.

Farah sat between Hazelle and me with Roe on her other side, then Raylan and My Mistress next to me. The others would be some time while they finished feeding Lettie and getting her down after a bath.

“What shall we play this time?” Raylan asked as he shuffled a deck of cards, bridging them at the end perfectly. “Rummy? Spite and Malice? Bullshit?”

Hazelle blinked at him, and Roe leaned into her. “Haven’t heard of any of them, have you?” She shook her head. “How about a round of Bullshit, and you can be on my team. You don’t seem the type to want to lie anyway. Am I right?”

Hazelle blushed and scrunched her nose.

“I’d try,” she whispered.

“Oh, even to Elera and Bellamira?” Roe joked and nudged her with his elbow, and she bit her lip. “Didn’t think so.” He laughed and addressed the group. “Is that fine with everyone? Bella?”

“I’m fine with this,” she said, but her eyes screamed that he knew too well what she’d do if he did anything to Hazelle that she didn’t approve of.

Everyone agreed, and it was a good game to begin with, easing us into the gaming headspace.

Raylan shuffled once more, cut the deck, and dealt. “Let the games begin.”

Chapter eighteen

Hazelle