Chapter Thirty-Nine: Double Date

“Thank you,” Becca said to Demetri for me over my shoulder since I couldn’t get a word out. “She thinks you clean up well yourself. Let’s go, we don’t have to stand in the line we have a reservation.”

We all followed Becca in and were escorted to our table. We all picked up our menus and I wasn’t familiar with anything… I wasn’t used to coming to such nice places so I had no idea what to order. When the waitress came by to take our orders, everyone knew what they wanted except me.

Demetri leaned over to my ear, “I can order for you,” he whispered. “I know what you like.”

His voice sent a shiver up my spine. “Okay,” I whispered back.

Demetri ordered for me and when the waitress left with our menus things were… dull. Becca tried starting a few conversations but never got more than a few short responses from me and Demetri while Kyle stayed glued to his phone until Becca took it from him.

Becca stood up and walked around the table to Demetri. “Come on,” she said. “Help me find the owner so I can ask as few questions.”

Demetri raised an eyebrow and said, “Why do I—”

“Because everyone kisses up to you so I’ll get what I want faster,” Becca answered before he finished asking his question.

Demetri groaned but went with her anyway.

Kyle and I were left alone and It couldn’t have been more awkward…

“What’s been bothering you all night?” Kyle asked, breaking the silence.

“Huh? Oh,” I said, realizing what he meant. I wasn’t great at hiding my emotions, something was obviously on my mind. “Um, I had a tough talk with my mom this morning. Things are kinda messed up with us right now.” I might as well tell the truth, better than sitting in awkward silence for who knows how long.

“It’s hard to believe anything can mess with your relationship with you and your mom.”

I hadn’t told Becca or any of my friends yet. Demetri only knew because of circumstances. For some reason I wanted to tell Kyle, he was still family. “Not much could,” I said and paused before continuing hesitantly. “I wasn’t found as a baby by my mother. Alpha Austin stole me from my birth parents because they knew I’d become a blessed wolf and Mom knew.”

Kyle stared at me blankly. “Damn.”

“More like fuck,” I said, making him laugh a bit and it felt good. “That’s why The Cold Lightning Pack is so relentless, my birth father wants me back.”

“You don’t want to meet him?” Kyle asked but I didn’t understand why it would be puzzling.

“Not after all the attacks they ordered.” Even if I wanted to Demetri would be hard to convince.

“If Gabriel was kidnapped you wouldn’t attack?” Kyle asked but that wasn’t fair.

“That’s different,” I said because, of course, I’d do whatever I had to get my baby back. “I’ve raised Gabriel for the past four years and he’s still a child. I’m an adult, they could have reached out to me or at least tried to. The Blue River pack had nothing to do with me being kidnapped. They didn’t deserve to be attacked.”

“Seems like you’re making a lot of assumptions and giving him a lot of the responsibility,” Kyle said. “Only he can explain his own actions. All I’m saying is you might feel better meeting your birth father, knowing where you came from.”

“I know where I come from, I already have a family,” I murmured and Kyle stiffened up awkwardly.

That could have gone so much better but maybe we shouldn’t have talked about something so personal…

Becca and Demetri came back when our food was brought out.

“Hey,” Becca said and chuckled nervously, most likely regretting leaving us alone. Dinner wasn’t going the way she planned and I knew it wouldn’t. Things between Kyle and I weren’t going to go back to how it used to be after one outing.

No one said anything as we all began to eat our meals.

“Kyle’s birthday is coming up,” Becca said to me breaking the silence. “We were thinking we could get your family together after so long.”

I looked at Becca and then back at my food, not wanting to say the wrong thing.

“Not a chance,” Kyle murmured.

“Maybe not yet, too much too soon,” Becca said but continued. “Freya, how’s your father doing? You know, one of the nights he was in his coma Kyle visited—“

“Becca, stop,” Kyle interrupted as he popped up out of his seat. “This is ridiculous, I’m leaving.”

We watched as Kyle stormed off and Becca apologized to us before going after him.

My eyes widened from Becca’s statement. I didn’t think any of our family would have visited my Dad, let alone Kyle. I couldn’t believe it but his reaction confirmed it. Maybe Kyle cared a little bit more about us than I thought.

I looked at Demetri. “I knew this was going to be a shitshow,” I said.

“Becca really wants you two to make up,” he said with a shrug. She wasn’t going the right way about it but I wasn’t sure if there was a right way to go.

Now that we were alone together I was finally able to relax and enjoy the meal Demetri picked out for me. He wasn’t wrong, he knew exactly what I’d like.

“Can I taste that?” I asked Demetri pointing at his plate and he nodded putting some on his fork and I laughed when it raised it to my mouth. “I’m not letting you feed me.”

“Come on it's not a big deal,” he said, waving the fork around.

I rolled my eyes and bit down on the fork. I got distracted by his eyes because of the way they were set on me. I blushed as I pulled away, taking the food in my mouth and eating it.

I looked away from Demetri as he smiled. Then, I called the waitress over and asked for a glass of wine. “Make it two,” Demetri added. “Wine huh?” He whispered to me when the waitress left. “This is starting to feel like a real date.”

I chuckled nervously and a few minutes later I got up, walking around the table to sit next to him. I let my head fall on his shoulder and said, “I need more than wine for the day I’ve had.”

“I heard what you said to Kyle. You finally got into it with your mom huh?”

“Yep, she said she did nothing wrong and that she’d do it again. She had no remorse or sympathy for the woman whose baby was stolen.”

Demetri wrapped his arm around me and fed me another fork full of food. “You know what she’s really saying, you’re her daughter and she would do anything not to lose you. Even if it means another woman losing her baby.”

“And I think that’s horrible,” I said and sighed. “My birth mother is dead but if she wasn’t I’d want to apologize to her for what happened.

Demetri rubbed my side. “I’m sorry there’s nothing you can do for her. Don’t listen to what Kyle said, your birth father’s perspective doesn’t matter, not after what he’s done.”

But I didn’t know exactly what he was responsible for, Kyle was right about that. How can I have so much sympathy for my birth mother and not my birth father? Rose might have not known the full story either. Alpha Cornell was the one in charge, not his Beta.

The waitress came back with our wine glasses and I downed it as soon as she walked away. Demetri chuckled and wiped away the wine on the corner of my mouth with his thumb.

I blushed, my cheeks warm. I ignored it and went back to eating.

When we finished our food Demetri asked, “You miss Kyle don’t you?”

I was embarrassed to admit it after how he treated me. “Maybe.”

I missed when he was a cousin I could go to, count on, and who covered for me. Mom once told me family was forever, she didn’t realize how wrong she’d be. Demetri called for the bill and after he paid it he grabbed my hand, pulling me out of my seat and out of the restaurant.

As we walked down the street his hand was still holding mine. “If I wanted to meet with my birth father would you try to stop me?” I asked, staring down at our hands.

Demetri’s thumb stroked the back of my hand. “It’s not ideal but if you really wanted to I wouldn’t stop you. I’d have to be right there by your side of course.” Like he was when I went to the Blue River Pack to visit my dad. “No matter what you have my protection.” So he wouldn’t be hard to convince, he only wanted me to be safe.

I couldn’t stop the smile that came on my face. “So the only thing you won’t let me do is leave?” I asked in a teasing voice, looking up at him.

Demetri looked down at me, his expression more intense than I expected. “Yeah, I’m not going to let you go again, I’m not losing you.”

He wasn’t using our son as the main reason anymore, he was being upfront about his feelings… maybe it was time for me to be too.