Luna Tammy stumbled over her words, placing a hand on my chest. "Oh silly me, I should have taken that into consideration..."
She was doing a very bad job of hiding the fact that she had been offended by Asher’s words.
"...I’ll take you to your room right away," She smiled, a sugary sweet expression that didn’t touch her brown eyes.
Alpha Warren and Noah could only stand and watch silently as they followed after Luna Tammy.
Noah looked like he had been forced to be there. Caspian could imagine that he was the only one happy that he had run away.
"I hope that you’ll be gracious enough to join us at dinner time," Tammy was saying as she led them up the stairs to the second floor.
Asher’s face twitched like he was holding himself back from saying something out of pocket. "Cassia is particular about her food," He lied with a straight face.
That made Tammy shoot a sharp look at Caspian over her shoulder, her eyes holding turbulent emotions.
Caspian didn’t see this, too busy looking at the familiar Pack house, and thinking about how much he didn’t miss it.
"I’ll be happy to personally cook to her preferences," Tammy was quick to offer.
Caspian could barely follow the conversation because Luna Tammy stopped in front of the apartment right next to the one he shared with Noah.
"We would hate to impose in that way," Asher kept speaking for him, "It’s just for a few days. You’ve already provided shelter, we can feed ourselves."
With how resolutely Asher kept turning her down, Tammy couldn’t keep pushing. Her affable smile soured into a scowl the longer the conversation went on.
"I understand," She said through gritted teeth, her smile more of a grimace.
"By the way, does Cassia have some kind of speech impediment?" She asked a tad rudely.
Caspian spoke up this time, "I don’t." He said bluntly, watching Luna Tammy’s face scrunch up as she tried to place his voice.
"Thanks for inviting us," Asher ended the conversation, walking past a stunned Tammy to the room they had been shown to.
Outside, Jael was left with Warren and Noah. The Beta got out of the car and leaned against it, lighting up a cigarette.
Things looked to be going well so far - Asher was yet to bring out a weapon.
He straightened up when Warren Reeves walked over, the young Alpha who Jael already knew was his son hung back.
"You’re welcome to stay at the Pack house as well," Warren said politely.
Jael puffed out a cloud of smoke, dark eyes dead. "I’ll pass. The boss’ and Miss Cassia’s things are still in the car, after I get it to them, I’ll be leaving."
Jael kept his words vague, if the Alpha thought he would be returning back to Haines, that was even better.
Warren hid his disapproval better than his mate, taking a step back so that he wouldn’t get a face full of smoke.
"I see. I can make arrangements for their things to be taken up, you don’t need to bother yourself with that."
Jael put out his cigarette and slipped the butt in his pocket. "I’m not bothered. Just point me to their room."
Warren’s gaze lingered, like if he stared hard enough he could read the thug’s train of thought.
He stepped back and signaled to Noah who reluctantly came over.
"Show him to the apartment Mafia King Asher will be staying in." With that, he walked off, leaving the two of them together.
Noah silently watched Jael effortlessly haul out the bags in the trunk of the car, his gaze sharp.
"So you like, work with the Mafia?" He gave in to his curiosity and asked.
Jael coldly looked him over, slamming the trunk close while holding steady eye contact.
"Why? You interested?" He tossed back.
Noah quickly retreated, black hair heavily gelled. "Ah no... just asking."
They spent the rest of their time together in tense silence.
Profiling Noah was easy, he reeked of a jock who peaked in high school, there was little to worry about with him.
"That’s it," He pointed at a door, right before going into the apartment right next to that.
Jael waited till his door closed before knocking on the door of the room Asher and Caspian were supposedly in.
The door was opened by Caspian, his face mask gone.
The apartment was decent, there was a single room, a living room, and a kitchen as well as an ensuite bathroom.
Asher stepped out of a connecting hallway just as he closed the door behind him.
"I checked the place out, it’s not bugged." Asher said as he walked in, his coat gone.
"The danger would immediately go up to a hundred if it was," Jael said bluntly, dropping off their luggage.
Caspian sat on the couch as they conversed, even with the face mask off, his identity wasn’t easily discernible.
He wouldn’t be wearing any dresses - thankfully - but there were feminine outfits outside of skirts and dresses.
He just wore a comfortable top and pink cargo pants but it was more than enough to deceive a complete stranger.
The face mask had just been an extra step for the first meeting, it would be odd to wear it everywhere.
"Think it would be easier to get a read on the power dynamic of the Pack if we went for dinner?" Asher was saying.
"It’d be tough not to eat while you were there," Jael muttered.
It was a good idea but not listening to Lucy was a terrible move.
Caspian relaxed as he watched them discuss back and forth. He really wasn’t doing this alone.
It was jarring to have Asher and Jael in such a familiar space, because the apartment they were given was similar to the one he shared with Noah.
He could have been given this apartment but instead, he was made to share one with Noah while this one stayed empty.
The couch he sat on felt painfully familiar, the memories of all the nights he had to spend on a couch just one still fresh.