Breakfast with the alpha proves not to be as exciting as dinner last night was.
At least not the first five minutes of it.
Unlike dinner, breakfast is a quieter affair, with just me, Jaxon, Kier, and my crop top.
But, despite Kier's insistence that my lace panties would be dry by the morning, they're still damp, so sitting is proving to be uncomfortable. I could've gone without them, but the thought of attending breakfast pantyless with an alpha who was staring at me with the intense focus Jaxon was during dinner didn't appeal to me.
"And how is your room?" Jaxon asks once Kier and I have gotten settled in front of plates filled with eggs, bacon, sausage, and toast. I'm not sure who Jaxon has doing the cooking and table setting since, just like dinner, we walked into the room with everything already set up for us.
I pick up a mug of delicious-smelling coffee. "Actually, it was-" And that's when things go downhill.
Kier remained quiet during our short walk from our cabin to the farmhouse.
He stayed silent at the entrance into the sparse wooden farmhouse with more closed doors than open. He said yet more nothing when Jaxon invited us to take our seats.
But before I can finish my first sentence, he sweeps his plate to the floor. "This challenge," he growls. "We're doing it now."
I put my coffee cup down because now doesn't seem like the time to be enjoying breakfast. Now seems like the time to pay attention in case I have to get out of the way of two brawling alphas fighting a challenge in an altogether too small space.
Okay, so maybe the space isn't exactly small, but I doubt there's any room big enough to contain two alphas determined to kill each other. At least none that would be safe enough for me to be in at the same time.
It seems I'm the only one thinking this, because not two seconds after I've returned my mug to the table, Jaxon is picking his up.
Considering what Kier did to his brother, I'm a little confused by how calmly he's taking this whole challenge business.
"As I'm sure my beta made you aware, now is the time for breakfast. The challenge comes later. Since you seemed eager for your lovely lady friend to leave, I thought I might help with that."
My eyes narrow at the seemingly generous offer. Something tells me that if I were to go off with him, no one would ever see me again.
"She's not going anywhere," Kier snaps, proving he's no idiot.
"And what does she think about that?" Jaxon's gaze slides over to me.
I smile. "I'm staying. I thought Kier and I could use this trip as a, you know, a romantic retreat or something."
"Before you return to Hardin and the Blackshaws?"
He's trying to intimidate me. That, or make me nervous by revealing he knows where I live.
My smile widens. "Yes. To my pack, my lovely packmates, and my protective alpha, Dayne."
He snorts. "The cold-blooded alpha?"
I nod. "So you have heard of him, then? And how he reacts to his loved ones being threatened or harmed?"
Jaxon leans toward me with a mocking smile on his face. "I'd heard they were nothing but rumors."
"You mean about him ripping apart the last alpha with his bare hands because tearing his throat out as a wolf would've been too quick a death? You heard that?" I ask, still smiling.
Jaxon doesn't have a response, though his smile dims a little.
In the brief silence that follows, Kier rises from his seat. "Breakfast is over."
I rise from mine because it's clear how this is going to go. And so, apparently, does Jaxon, who gets to his feet, and whistles low.
The door beside him opens and Frankie and his six heavies amble in.
"Now, since breakfast is over, perhaps Frank can escort you back to your cabin?" Jaxon offers, holding his arm out.
"I'm curious," I say before Kier can speak, "is this challenge going to happen? Because I think we've all been invited to a birthday party waiting for the cake to be wheeled out, only it isn't. Tempers get frayed, and then before you know it… well, people get upset about the host not delivering on the promise of cake. They might even start to believe the host isn't living up to his role, if you catch my drift?"
Jaxon's eyes harden, and it's clear he got the message. I'm subtly calling him chicken for delaying the challenge, and soon, I won't be the only one who thinks so. "Oh, there will be cake."
Before I can continue my talk of cake, Kier grips my arm and pulls me from the room. He leads the way out of the dining room, down the hallway, and out of the farmhouse with Frankie and his heavies bringing up the rear.