Lake doubted he would be baking by himself, elaborate meals would only be fun to make if the other Omega was in the kitchen with him.
Caspian had such a bright outlook on simple things that it made Lake curious about the Omega’s past.
"You no longer work for Davian, right?" Caspian was the first person to divert from their light conversation about baking ingredients to something deeper.
Lake rinsed his hands off at the sink and dried them with a towel.
It was well past noon, the curtains were open, sunlight spilling into the kitchen.
"He didn’t kick me out," Lake said, fiddling with his neck tie.
The problem with having no one to talk to meant that when a well-meaning person asked a simple question, the dam came crashing down.
"It was just for the best that I stopped working at the mansion," He went on, trying not to think of the messy way he left the mansion, and Master Davian practically asking him not to leave.
"Is there someplace else you want to work at?" Caspian asked as he lined a muffin pan with paper liners, the liners were white with a red heart-shaped pattern.
Lake wanted to jump on the chance to work with Caspian but he still wasn’t sure about that path.
Working for Caspian would make it a little difficult to keep their friendship as it was.
"I don’t know yet," He shrugged, checking on the batter to make sure it was properly stirred. "I’m basically on a month-long vacation."
"Oh, I see," Caspian mumbled, focused on his task, his pale blond hair falling over his pretty face.
"You’re not from around here, are you?" Lake decided to ask, seeing as their conversation took a deeper turn.
"No, I was born in Moonstone." Caspian replied, showing off his preparation of the muffin pan for the batter.
"Looks great," Lake complimented, handing the batter over to Caspian so he could put it in the lined muffin cups.
"I’ve actually only been in Haines for a few months," Caspian went on, sounding just as surprised about it.
"Do you like the city?" Lake took the conversation on a lighter turn.
He had heard the rumors that went around about Caspian being sold at an auction. His appearance at the auction was more hush hush so he didn’t dig in too deep.
But it wasn’t unheard of for Omegas to be kidnapped to be sold off if they could bring in high returns.
And considering Caspian had two out of three Mafia Kings bidding on him, he could see why whoever kidnapped him chose to auction him off.
Lake didn’t need to be told that a topic like that was too sensitive to be spoken about unless Caspian was the one who brought it up.
Caspian made a face, "It’s got its perks," He said with laughter in his voice. "It’s my home now, so I’ve got no choice but to tolerate it."
Lake went a little quiet as he watched Caspian methodically put roughly equal amounts of batter into each muffin cup.
They hadn’t made a lot of muffin batter in case they fucked it up, but it had been going well so far.
Caspian words made him think about his decision to leave the Black Mafia completely. It wasn’t the best, but it was still his home.
And as Caspian said, he had to tolerate the only place he had known.
Or so he would have done if he hadn’t taken Matilda’s money to leave.
Did he regret it? Maybe a little.
It was the only place he had known after all, he felt like he was floundering at the moment, and there was no ground underneath his feet.
Sure, leaving had opened new doors of opportunities for him and the chance to live a different life.
But there was something so safe about familiarity that he didn’t want to let go of.
"Ever thought about leaving Haines?" Caspian kept the conversation going, taking the muffins to the oven.
Lake leaned against a counter, his dark hair tied back with one of the black hair ties he used around his neck.
"Haines is really big, so not really." He admitted honestly. "But I have been curious about what being in a pack is like."
Caspian gently closed the oven and straightened up, wiping his hands on his apron. "A different experience for everyone. Who knows? You might like it there."
Lake doubted it, if he couldn’t fit in the Mafia where the entire idea was having the most unlikely people make a patchwork family of sorts, he doubted a homegrown pack would accept him.
"I’m not curious," He disagreed, "I’d rather get a simple job in Haines here."
"That was my plan," Caspian said with a smile. "I ran away from my pack to start afresh in Haines. It didn’t go so great..."
The kitchen door opened then, Asher’s piercing hazel eyes taking the entire kitchen in like he expected it to be on fire.
"Pizza is here," He informed them, beelining for his mate. "Something smells good."
"Stop sniffing me," Caspian scolded fondly.
Lake was already hot-footing it out of there. He had never been a person to fantasize about a perfect mating like Avery liked to do.
But having it shoved down his throat made his mating mark burn.
He wasn’t jealous, just a little sad that he would never have the same happen to him.
Lake shook himself out of his despondent thoughts as he walked into the living room to find Jael with a slice of pizza in hand.
This was the downside to baking, he baked a single set of muffins and he was already thinking about settling down with an Alpha.
What had been in that batter?
"Don’t stop on my account," He said to Jael, his tone dry.
"Then I won’t," Jael said bluntly, digging in. "Where are they?"
Lake sat on a couch, uninterested in the freshly baked pizza. "Probably making out on my counter."
Jael snorted at that, nearly choking on his mouthful of pizza.
And as if on cue, Caspian and Asher came out of the kitchen then, the Omega’s face dusted a pale red.