Adored by the Alpha

Chapter 81

!!!IMPORTANT!!!

⚠️⚠️⚠️!!!TW!!!⚠️⚠️⚠️

There are mentions of sexual assault here. Nothing graphic or descriptive, but there are references to Paige's experience (again, no description, just mentioning)

Take care of yourselves, I love you all.

* * * * * * * * * *

"Welcome, welcome, come on in!" A plumb, beautiful woman with brown hair ushers us into a parlor. She smiles widely, dimples popping out and eyes sparkling - one blue, one green. "I'm Lola, by the way." She grins, wrapping her arm around Xiandre who comes to stand beside her.

Beside them stand a woman who is Lola's complete contrast; blonde hair, gray, almost white ghost-like eyes, and very skinny aside from the large, pregnant belly protruding from her - she was the one having twins, I remembered. "I'm Hannah."

I smile at them both, both because they're nice, but also because I feel Allen wrap his hand around mine. "Pleasure to meet the both of you. And sorry, by the way, to keep your mate so occupied." Negotiations were still going on now, 5 days after the meeting. Mabel was rejecting about every idea anyone came up with. A few of the alphas were open, even encouraging of human influence. But others were still hesitant, not necessarily against, more concerned with the practical aspects, as well as the general history of humans having a say.

Hannah shrugged. "It's fine." She glances at Xiandre, pressing a kiss on the top of his head. She's nearly a foot taller than him. "At least we've been spared rewatches of The Great British Bake Off, and we've been able to watch murder docs without scaredy cat shaking and asking us to turn off the sound when they describe the crimes." She smiled at him, love in her eyes as his cheek get a dark sheen under his tanned skin.

My mouth falls open in pure excitement. "Oh my god, Allen does that too!"

And so the conversation went on so smoothly and easily, Lola, Hannah and I connecting over our favorite murder documentaries and descriptions of grisly crimes, as well as the weak stomachs our mates had regarding those subjects, while Allen and Xiandre looked very uncomfortable. Xiandre even gagged out loud when we talked about a guy who pleasured himself while dismembering the body of his victim. Pussy.

Dinner, too, was a pleasant affair. Upon the two big bad alpha boys' request (begging. They begged us to shut up about it), we avoided the subject of brutal killings and treatment of bodies during the meal, Bot Chien, which Hannah informs me is her favorite dish that her bá ngoại taught her to make when she was visiting her in Vietnam. It's good, aside from my having to carefully avoid the egg part of the dish, trying to look polite about it.

Dessert is served directly after; simple pancakes with vanilla ice cream and jam. Lola, however, favors mustard over jam. "Pregnancy is weird," she whines, handing Xiandre the bottle to help force out the little remainder in the bottom. His smile is warm and gaze loving as he turns the bottle over, emptying everything left in the bottle onto Lola's plate.

"Well, Paige, it's lovely to meet you. Allen has visited before, of course, but you make his company weirdly tolerable." Hannah grins, laughing as she takes a bite out of her pancakes - hers overdone with pepper, for whatever craving-related reason.

Allen looks offended, shaking his head. "Why'd I even come here?"

I rub his arm in mock comfort, smiling at Hannah. "It's great to be here, in spite of the circumstances. You have a lovely home," I look around the industrial-style, huge New York townhouse.