Page 91 of Black Moon

“Good morning, Juniper,” I said with a big, false smile on my face. Dad was sitting at the far end of the dining room, looking down his nose at his plate.

On one side of the table, Chase sat right beside him, Cait in the middle, and Mom on the end closest to Juniper. Rowan was sitting across from her, hoisting up a glass pitcher. “Anybody want some apple juice?”

Dad’s nose scrunched. No doubt, orange juice was the only appropriate breakfast accompaniment.

“I’d love some,” I said, walking down to the open chair right beside my father. I wasn’t going to make any member of the Grove family sit in it.

Linden didn’t pause to make Juniper move, even though he was pack alpha. Funnily enough, his sense of self-worth wasn’t tied to silly things like who sat in what chair.

He pulled out the seat by Dad for me to sit, then he sat right between Rowan and me. I didn’t have to pick loyalty between the Dohertys and the Groves—at least, not to satisfy Linden.

“Let me pour you some,” Linden said sweetly, taking the pitcher from his brother and filling my empty glass, then his own.

“Thanks.”

I sat there at the Groves’ beautiful dining table, in an open, airy dining room, with my hands pinched between my knees and my head down. I was annoyed, sure, but I felt small—like my father was there to reveal me to be a complete child and that, by miracles and trickery alone, I’d manipulated the Groves into thinking I was competent up to this point.

It was lonely, and I was scared to break the tense silence. Hell, it took effort just to reach out for the glass and take a sip. Fuck how a lifetime of being told to make myself small for the alphas in my family actually worked, but my dad’s voice was playing in my head already—how I didn’t need to make a scene, embarrass our family in front of the Groves.

“Breakfast looks really great, Rowan.” I caught his eye, just past his brother, and he grinned at me.

“Thanks, Colt.”

He ducked his head, flushed with happiness. And there! That was one person whose day I wasn’t making worse.

Someone had to acknowledge the awkwardness in the room though. Thank god Linden was there to take charge, since my racing heart had convinced me that I was noping the fuck out of this shit show.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Senator Doherty. I’m so pleased you could make it all the way out to Grovetown to see your son.” Every word he spoke was unbearably pleasant, but I didn’t miss how many teeth he was showing when he smiled.

Or how many Dad flashed back at him.

I had no idea why that was the thing that got my back up, but it was. Dad could growl at me, but I wouldn’t have him trying to pull all that alpha-posturing bullshit with Linden.

“Yeah, Dad, so nice of you all to show up here with absolutely no notice. It’s really great. Completely appropriate and not at all rude to put everyone on the spot like this.”

When Conroy Doherty looked me in the eyes, his lips finally pressed together in annoyance. “If you had picked up the phone when I called at any point in the last week, you would have had ample notice.”

“I talked to Chase.”

My brother shrank, but Dad didn’t even look at him.

“I know,” Dad snapped. “And he should have informed you that returning to Washington was not a request. I need you there.”

“Tough fucking nuggies?” While Dad went red in the face, I looked over at Linden. “So. Introductions. Linden Grove, this is my dad, Conroy. Chase and Cait—” Chase shifted in his chair and got up halfway, leaning across the table to shake Linden’s hand.

“Alpha Grove,” he muttered, polite as always.

When Cait met my eye across the table, she was grinning in a way I didn’t like, but she didn’t say anything rude—something to worry about later.

“And this is my mom.”

“You can call me Monica, dear,” she said, unruffled by my father’s piss-poor mood.

“It’s a pleasure,” Linden said, inclining his head to her briefly.

“Is it?” Juniper asked, her head cocked.

“I think so,” Mom said without missing a beat. This was why she was the core of the Doherty family—she could navigate just about anything without getting riled. “So this wonderful juice is made at your orchard?”

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