Dining Table

Chapter Thirteen - Dining Table

Cade stared at the dining table, suspiciously.

Assorted meals laid on it; rice, vegetables salad, foreign meals and even chicken soup.

What was going on with his Alpha?

He noticed Stefan had been quite disorganized lately but him cooking for everyone? It was definitely new. Jade and Stefan walked in together.

Cade rolled his eyes on seeing Jade but faked a smile when his Alpha saw him. "Did you make all these for us?"

"Always asking the obvious." Jade sighed. "Then, was it you? You know Sorren hates fire."

Stefan smiled at the two. "Yes, I did make it. It was to be a dinner to consolidate giving one-third of our land to that Damancas guy but he didn't eat much."

Jade inhaled sharply but faked a smile. "So you did give the land after all. You didn't tell me."

"I reasoned that it'd be better since we wouldn't use the land anyway and rogues and homeless could start breeding on it, causing us trouble." He replied.

He reasoned? Jade kept her fake smile on her face despite how hurt she felt. Weren't they supposed to reason things together?

"Ah, if it had come to that, we would have just used the place for something. Well, it's all good we gave it out. I guess." Cade said, nodding at his words.

Giving out a portion of the pack they acquired in exchange for the annoying princess rotting in their prison? It wasn't a fair deal but Cade tried to ignore.

"Thy intelligence is nothing." it was Sorren.

Cade frowned and glared at him. "Huh? Me?"

Stefan drew out a chair for Sorren and he sat down with them on the dining table. He turned to Cade and nodded. "Right. Thy intelligence is nothing."

Jade began eating, ignoring others on the table. Her mind wandered, wondered, pondered, on what she could've done to make Stefan disconnect from her. What made that princess so special to still live?

"Dost thy not know an ally is better than riches?" Sorren asked Cade. "We hath gained an ally in the Damancas fellow. And it's worth more any wealth."

The look on Cade's face was enough to let Sorren know he didn't agree. "Well, you are a baboon."

He sighed, picking a fork but Cade began arguing with him. Stefan just had a smile as they argued but soon his smile fell off.

Why did he find himself more unhappy than usual? He should be glad. His revenge plan worked and there was even greater news coming his way.

Yet, he was unhappy. "I believe you know the answer to that question." His wolf, Kai, said.

Stefan wasn't in the mood for guilt tripping so he snapped from his thoughts and joined the rest to eat.

"Would thee be as kind as to pass the salt?" Sorren gestured to Jade.

"Just say "pass the salt" and stop being a jerk with those long words." She sighed, pushing the salt towards him.

There was silence in the table before Cade scoffed. "Why are you calling your brother-in-law a jerk? This lady, you have no manners!"

Jade snapped. "And who are you to tell your future Luna that she has no manners! And you act like Sorren didn't call you a baboon now!"

If Cade wanted her to vent on him then she wouldn't hesitate. Stefan quietly added the salt in Sorren's meal.

Cade chuckled. "Oh, so he called me names, then you call him a jerk? Defending me? I don't mind him calling me anything. And future Luna? Please, how sure are you of that?"

How sure was she? What guts! Jade clenched her fists. "Beta Cade, you'd definitely regret those words when I'm Luna."

"And Jade, I am asking, how sure are you that you'd get to be Luna. It's a simple question…"

Stefan cleared his throat, making them both stop their bantering. He knew Cade must have noticed how he didn't speak of the wedding anymore and was provoking him to say something.

Yet, he had nothing to say. He couldn't just go on with a wedding when his mate was in prison. He needed to sort himself out.

"Why don't we have one peaceful dinner together? At least, since we pulled off our revenge plan." he faked a smile.

Was that all he'd say? Jade's eyes were teary. Couldn't he give some kind of assurance that he hadn't forgotten about her?

She quickly wiped her tears off and spoke, "You heard my fiancé, Cade. Kindly shut up and let's eat."

The Beta rolled his eyes and the dinner continued silently but not for long. "Alpha, do you want us to plant someone to spy on the Damancas man?"

Sorren glanced at Cade but said nothing, so as not to be dragged into a quarrel again. He even made the effort to shift his chair back and hold his plate in his hands.

"No need." Stefan replied. The man had his own land that was totally different from their own.

In the signed contract, he wasn't to stick his nose in the man's business and the man wasn't to do same to him either.

"Then, you won't mind if he becomes the Alpha of that place while you are here?" Cade asked again.

"No." Stefan replied, stunning them all.

"He could drag our people to his pack? Wouldn't that be a problem?" it was Jade who asked this time.

Stefan shrugged. "If they leave willingly, so be it. I plan to house rogue Lycans without a pack here. If the people want to scamper to his side, no issue."

They were never his pack so he couldn't hoard them. And he might have killed their loved ones, even the innocent, so he doesn't expect their loyalty.

"Thy Alpha is more open-minded than you could dream to be." Sorren teased Cade, dropping a chicken bone on his plate.

The Beta sighed, running his hands through his hair in frustration. "I don't feel comfortable with that guy there. If we had given him that girl, he'd have gone."

Jade's ears perked up, she hesitated. She wanted to agree with Cade but she didn't like the thought of agreeing with him.

"Well, as Sorren said, an ally won't be that bad." Stefan replied. His brother glanced at him. Was he using his words as an excuse now?

"Then, kill… the girl?" Cade asked again, quite carefully this time as he knew his Alpha might not like it.

Surprisingly Sorren was the one that countered. "Nonsense. May you choke on a bone for thy thoughts. For the maiden is a prize won after war."

Prize won? Jade frowned.

Wasn't the prize won after the war supposed to be peace of mind and fulfillment? They didn't even know the Alpha had a daughter before now!

Why was Stefan not killing the girl just because she and his Beta wanted her dead?! She's insignificant!

"Indeed." Stefan used his brother's words for an excuse again. "She's just there to be tormented. Let her be."

Jade's hopes shattered again and Cade sighed. "Very well then. I'd do my part in tormenting her."

Both Sorren and Stefan immediately had worried looks. Sorren cleaned his mouth with a towel then left his seat. "Do enjoy the meal." He briskly left the dining table and headed to the prison.