Nick was pulled from his thoughts when a chunky ginger cat sprang onto the table and then onto Jaime’s lap, hissing loudly at Dante, who was opposite her. Nick looked down at the animal that always managed to scare the hell out of his dog. In Bruce’s defense…“That is one motherfucking ugly cat.”

Jaime gasped in horror while Dante nodded his agreement. Cuddling her cat close, Jaime turned on her mate, cursing him for being antisocial toward her pet. Gabe consoled her until she ended her rant with a huff, though he and Hope were chuckling to themselves.

“These disputes between them about her freaky pet are commonplace,” Gabe told Nick, petting Bruce, who had taken a liking to the male. “Dante gets jealous of the attention Hunk receives from his mate.” Dante didn’t deny it.

Although Nick had initially disliked Dante for warning him away from Shaya—in fairness, he had been merely trying to protect Shaya—Nick had come to like the Beta male. Over the past few months, Dante and Tao had taken it upon themselves to subject Jesse, Bracken, and Zander to the training given to enforcers. Nick knew why; they were preparing them to be enforcers for Nick. Yep, the Phoenix Pack was also taking part in the plan to make him an Alpha again.

As Shaya stood and leaned across the table to retrieve the bottle of ketchup from Kent, Nick couldn’t help but enjoy the view. “You truly do have the most perfect ass.” His mate merely smiled brightly.

“I strongly agree,” said Dominic, endangering his life once again. When Nick growled, he raised his hands. “Just kidding.”

Kent sighed at Dominic before turning to Nick. “I’d hit him for you…but look how pretty he is.”

Roni fingered the shirt Dominic was wearing. “Nice shirt. Can I talk you out of it?”

As everyone laughed at her teasing, Dominic pointed at her. “Stop doing that. If you’re not going to marry me and let us be filthy-minded together—”

“You stop doing it to mess with my brother, and I’ll stop doing it to you.” As usual, Roni and Dominic then began to quibble. Nick noticed that Marcus didn’t appear to like the byplay that often went on between Roni and the pervert. Marcus watched and flirted with Roni a lot, who just responded with blank looks. Unlike the other females here, she was resistant to his “charm,” which was a good thing because it meant Nick didn’t have to kill him. Sitting there now, Marcus looked confused more than anything else…like someone who felt as though he had lost his magical powers. And Trick appeared to find it hilarious.

When Grace took Nick’s empty plate and topped up his coffee mug, he gave her a nod of thanks. He had to admit, he’d miss her cooking. Like Lydia, she was also good with injuries; they had both been a great help to Taryn when many had been wounded after the battle. Hell, Tao and Dominic had come very close to dying. Eli, Trey, Marcus, and Trick had also been badly hurt. Taryn had been totally and utterly pissed with Trey about it, as if he’d wanted to get shot or something.

At the moment, though, the Alpha pair was perfectly happy, sitting together at the table, playing with their son and laughing as Kye frowned at Cam’s attempt to play peek-a-boo with him—as if the kid was offended that Cam thought such a game would be enough to entertain him. Nick felt a distinct pang of longing. He wanted that with Shaya one day. As if she sensed that, she smiled at him and placed a hand on his thigh. Her hand was nowhere near his cock, but it didn’t matter—like that, he was rock hard. “Can we leave now?”

She laughed. Yeah, she probably shouldn’t have found it amusing that her mate was in hell surrounded by people, or that she could make him hard that easily, but she so did. “Let me finish my cake and coffee.”

In truth, Shaya was eager to leave, because Nick was finally taking her to see the house he’d bought for them. He’d refused to tell her anything about it—not even where it was—and she wasn’t a patient person. Still, she wanted to enjoy this meal with the Phoenix Pack because she knew that after that day, things would be very different. She’d be an Alpha female.

Though Nick was reluctant about being an Alpha again, she knew it was a given. Unlike with many other dominant males, he didn’t have to showcase his alpha qualities, he didn’t have to actively work to gain people’s attention—he just was. And that was enough for people to notice and be inspired by him. He didn’t have to demand to be obeyed, or respected, or followed—those things happened for him automatically. It was kind of annoying when people often sought him out for help or advice and seemed to gather around him. But it was also kind of funny considering he had such an aversion to company.

“Wrap up the cake with a napkin and bring it with you.”

Grinning at the impatience in his voice, Shaya said, “No, I want to eat it now.”

“But…people keep smiling at me.”

“So smile back.”

“I don’t want to.”

“Just so you know: They’ll still be friendly to you, no matter how much you try to keep them at a distance. They’re determined to break down your defenses and make you one of their own.” Like Jaime, however, the guys also did it to irritate Nick. Yeah, the males of the Phoenix Pack—particularly Trick—lived to tease one another and everyone else around them. As Tao was so easy to provoke, he got it the worst. Ryan simply grunted in what looked like impatience whenever Trick tried it with him.

“Stop hogging my grandson,” complained Greta at Taryn as she held out her arms to Kye, clearly expecting him to reach for her—he didn’t.

“I think you mean hugging,” said Taryn sweetly, holding Kye closer. He giggled, playing with her hair.

Greta placed her hands on her hips, scowling at Taryn. The old woman had spent the past half hour insulting the Alpha female and didn’t appear to be done. “You know what I mean, hussy.”

Taryn sighed tiredly. “Greta, I think you’ve delighted us long enough. Why not go select some favorite hymns and poems—it won’t be long before the funeral. Have you put any more thought into whether or not you want an open casket?”

“Humph. I still have no idea why my Trey mated with you. Tiny, sarcastic, disrespectful—”

“Greta, seriously, careful your vile tongue doesn’t get your false teeth knocked out.”

Of course that made Greta ten times worse.

Nick turned to Shaya. “I really don’t think I can take much more.” These people were crazy. “You done yet?”