Chapter 20 The Pack Breakfast
I woke up to sunlight streaming through unfamiliar windows.
For a second, I forgot where I was. Forgot everything that happened. Then it all came rushing back.
The accusation. The investigation. The pack meeting. The ninety-day trial.
I groaned and pulled the covers over my head.
“You’re awake.”
I screamed. Actually screamed. Sat up so fast my head spun.
Lycian stood in my doorway holding two mugs of coffee. He looked amused.
“You scared the hell out of me,” I said. My heart was still racing.
“Sorry. I knocked. You didn’t answer.” He came in. Set one mug on my nightstand. “Thought you might need this.”
The coffee smelled like heaven. I grabbed it. Took a sip. Perfect. Strong enough to wake the dead.
“What time is it?”
“Ten.”
“Ten?” I looked at my phone. Fifteen missed calls. Twenty-three texts. All from numbers I didn’t recognize. “Oh god.”
“Don’t look at those.” Lycian sat on the edge of my bed. “Pack members wanting to meet you. Some curious. Some hostile. Some just nosy.”
I set my phone down. Face down. Like that would make it go away. “I can’t do this.”
“Yes, you can.”
“Ninety days, Lycian. Ninety days of proving myself to people who already hate me.”
“They don’t hate you. They don’t know you.” He touched my hand. That spark raced up my arm. Familiar now. Comforting. “That’s what the ninety days are for. So they can know you.”
“And what if they still don’t like me after?”
“Then they’re idiots.” He smiled. Small. Soft. “But that’s not going to happen.”
I wanted to believe him.
My stomach growled. Loud enough that Lycian heard it.
“When did you eat last?” he asked.
I tried to remember. Dinner at Rosa’s felt like a lifetime ago. “Yesterday. Before everything.”
“Come on.” He stood. Pulled me up with him. “Breakfast. Then we figure out the plan.”
“What plan?”
“How to make the pack fall in love with you in ninety days.”
The kitchen smelled like bacon and eggs and something sweet. My mouth watered.
Damien was already there. Eating pancakes straight from a pan. He looked up when we walked in.
“She lives.” He grinned. “Thought you might sleep all day after last night.”
“Almost did.” I sat at the island. Lycian put a plate in front of me. Eggs. Bacon. Toast. More food than I usually eat in a day. “This is too much.”
“Eat it anyway.” He sat next to me with his own plate. “You’re going to need energy.”
“For what?”
“Pack breakfast. Eleven o’clock. Everyone will be there.”
I choked on my coffee. “What?”
“Sunday pack breakfast. It’s tradition. Every week. All pack members are expected to attend.” Lycian said it like it was no big deal. Like I hadn’t just been accused of assault twelve hours ago. “Good chance for them to meet you. See you’re not dangerous.”
“I can’t go to that.”
“You have to. Skipping would make you look guilty. Or scared.”
“I am scared.”
“I know. But you can’t show them that.” He touched my knee under the counter. Warm. Steady. “I’ll be right there. The whole time.”
Damien swallowed his bite of pancakes. “I’ll be there too. For moral support. And entertainment. This is going to be awkward as hell.”
“Not helping,” Lycian said.
“Just being honest.” Damien grabbed another pancake. “But seriously. You’ll be fine. Most of the pack is just curious. They want to see the girl who survived Marcus Blackthorn.”
“Barely survived.”
“Still counts.”
I picked at my eggs. They were good. Perfect, actually. But my stomach was in knots.
“What do I wear to a pack breakfast?” I asked.
“Jeans. T-shirt. Whatever you’re comfortable in.” Lycian finished his coffee. “This isn’t formal. Just wolves eating together.”
“Judging me while eating together.”
“Some of them, yeah. But not all.” He stood. Started clearing plates. “Elena will be there. She’s been wanting to meet you.”
“Who’s Elena?”
“Pack member. Mother of three. She’s kind. You’ll like her.” He loaded the dishwasher. “Garrett too. He’s young. New to the pack. Also trying to fit in.”
“So I’m not the only outcast?”
“You’re not an outcast. You’re my mate.” He said it like that solved everything. “Shower. We leave in forty minutes.”
I used the fancy rainfall shower, then put on jeans and a plain black t-shirt. Nothing special.
Lycian was waiting. Dark jeans. Gray Henley. He looked annoyingly good.
“Ready?” he asked.
“No.”
“Good answer. Let’s go anyway.”
The pack house was a massive building on the edge of pack territory. Stone and wood. Old but maintained. It smelled like coffee and bacon and wolves.
So many wolves.
The dining hall was packed. Long tables filled with people. All of them are talking. Laughing. Being normal.
Until we walked in.
Then everything stopped.
Conversations died. Forks froze halfway to mouths. Every eye turned to us.
To me.
My throat went dry. Lycian’s hand found my lower back. “Breathe.”
I tried. It came out shaky.
An older woman approached. Small, round, warm eyes. “You must be Elowen. I’m Elena. So nice to finally meet you.”
“Hi,” I whispered.
“Come sit. I saved seats.” She gestured to a table near the windows, away from the crowd. “Lycian, bring her over.”
We followed. A teenage boy looked nervous. A middle-aged man read on his phone. An elderly woman had sharp eyes.
“Everyone, this is Elowen.” Elena patted the seat next to her. “Elowen, this is Garrett, my son Thomas, and Margaret. We call her Maggie.”
“Hi,” I said again. Quiet. Scared.
Garrett waved. “Hey. Welcome to the pack. Sorry about last night. Marcus is kind of the worst.”
“Garrett,” Elena warned.
“What? He is. Everyone knows it.” He grabbed bacon. “You’re braver than me. I would’ve run.”
“I wanted to.”
“But you didn’t. That’s what matters. You’ll be fine. Most people here are cool once you get to know them.”
“Most people?” I asked.
“Some are jerks. Like Sarah over there.” He pointed. “Team Madison. Thinks you’re the devil.”
“Garrett, stop scaring her,” Elena said.
“I’m preparing her. Don’t worry about Sarah. She’s all bark.”
Maggie spoke. Raspy, old voice. “You have your mother’s eyes.”
“What?”
“Your mother, Sera. Same color, same shape. I knew her long ago, before you were born.”
My heart stopped. “You knew my mother?”
“Knew both your parents. Good, strong people. They’d be proud of you, standing up to Marcus.”
“How did you know them?”
“Long story. Not here. But we should talk soon. About your family. About what you are.”
“What am I?”
“Later.” Maggie stood. “Enjoy your breakfast, child. You’ve earned it.”
She walked away before I could ask more.
“What was that about?” Lycian asked quietly.
“I don’t know.” But my hands were shaking. “She said she knew my parents.”
“We’ll talk to her. After breakfast.” He squeezed my hand under the table. “For now, just eat. Try to look normal.”
Normal. Right. Like anything about this was normal.
I grabbed a plate. Filled it with food I wasn’t sure I could eat. Tried to smile when people glanced over.
Some smiled back. Some didn’t.
Elena talked the whole time. About her kids. About the pack events coming up. About how happy she was to have another woman around her age.
“Most of the pack is either elderly or teenagers,” she said. “Not a lot of us in between. You’ll fit right in.”
I wanted to believe her.
Garrett made jokes. Thomas stayed quiet but smiled occasionally. Lycian stayed close. Protective without being obvious.
It was almost nice. Almost normal.
Then Sarah approached.
She stood at the end of our table. Arms crossed. Eyes cold. “So you’re the human who almost destroyed this pack.”
The table went quiet.
“I didn’t…” I started.
“You got Madison hurt. Got Marcus exiled. Turned Lycian against his own people.” She leaned forward. “You think ninety days changes anything? You think we’ll just accept you because he says we should?”
“Sarah, that’s enough,” Lycian said. His voice had that edge. Dangerous.
“No. It’s not enough. She needs to hear this.” Sarah looked at me. “You don’t belong here. You never will. And when the ninety days are up, we’re voting you out. All of us.”
She walked away.
The dining hall had gone silent again. Everyone watching. Waiting to see how I’d react.
I stood up. My legs were shaking but I stood anyway.
“You’re right,” I said. Loud enough for everyone to hear. “I don’t belong here. I’m wolfless. I’m broke. I’m nothing like any of you.”
Sarah turned back. Surprised.
“But I’m here anyway. Because Lycian chose me. And I’m going to spend the next ninety days proving I’m worth that choice.” My voice got stronger. “So judge me. Hate me. I don’t care. I’ve survived worse than angry wolves.”
I sat back down.
The hall stayed silent for another beat.
Then someone started clapping. Slow. Deliberate.
Maggie. Standing by the door. Clapping.
Then Elena joined. Then Garrett. Then Thomas.
Then half the room.
Not everyone. But enough.
Lycian leaned close. Whispered in my ear. “That. Was. Perfect.”
“I feel like I’m going to throw up.”
“Don’t. You just won over half the pack.” He kissed my temple. Quick. Gentle. “Ninety days is going to be easier than you think.”
But as I looked around the room. The wolves are still glaring. At Sarah’s furious expression. At the challenge in so many eyes.
I wasn’t so sure.