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Leenah returned his greeting with a kind smile and a small nod.
“I suspect you may require a court order to prevent our daughter from spoiling yours,” Matthias said. “She seems thoroughly taken with little Neetah.”
“I certainly won’t object.” Leenah turned to me, her smile warming. “It is an honour to have my daughter under the patronage of someone of your standing, particularly an Omega. My mates will be delighted when I tell them.”
Patronage?
I wasn’t sure how holding a baby and threatening to spoil her had somehow turned into something that sounded like an official arrangement, but Leenah seemed genuinely happy about it. I smiled back, hoping I hadn’t accidentally agreed to something I didn’t properly understand.
Leenah was in the middle of saying something else when warmth suddenly spread beneath my ribs.
They’re here.
I turned toward the doors without thinking, just in time to see Alaric enter, with Caius beside him and Lucien, Leon, and Darius close behind. Their scents reached me almost immediately, so clear and familiar already that I could barely smell anything else in the crowded room.
I was smiling before Alaric even looked my way.
The disappointment I’d been trying to ignore disappeared so completely that I felt slightly embarrassed by how much I’d missed them.
“Hi,” I said when they reached us, then immediately wondered whether I sounded too eager.
Was that rude here? I couldn’t remember whether any of the books had covered being this forward with your prospective mates.
Still, Astrid had told me to trust my instincts, and I always had. I was tired of worrying about every little thing I said or did. I wanted to be affectionate with them, so I let myself.
“We were making the final preparations.” Alaric looked from me to Neetah, and Leon smiled at the sight of her asleep against my chest.
“I should reclaim my daughter before her nurse concludes that I’ve misplaced her,” Leenah said, holding out her arms.
I carefully passed Neetah over, keeping one hand beneath her head until Leenah had her securely.
“It was lovely meeting you,” I whispered, brushing a finger over her chubby cheek before kissing her hair.
Leenah promised to see me again, then went to join her Pack and the nurse. My arms felt strangely empty without Neetah in them, so I folded my hands together as Alaric took the place beside me.
At the end of the table, Magnus set down his glass. It must have been some kind of signal, because people turned toward him and the conversations around us gradually quieted.
Astrid stood beside him, looking as regal as a queen, with the other Alphas of their Pack gathered around them. The men were all somewhere between their late sixties and mid-seventies.
“Family and friends, welcome to Stormforge’s Founding Feast. Tonight, we honour a custom older than the Seven Houses and older even than High Mountain itself. For millennia, Packs have stood together, sometimes for many years, before finding the mate with whom they wished to build a family. Stormforge have now found the Omega who may complete their Pack and anchor its bonds.”
His gaze moved towards the five men surrounding me.
“As tradition requires, each Alpha of Stormforge has brought food to this table through his own labour, in accordance with the customs of House Vaelor.”
I’d thought we were just coming to dinner.
Nobody had mentioned that they’d actually had to provide the food themselves.
I looked at Alaric, then at everything covering the table.
“Tonight, we welcome Lady Elowen Hart to High Mountain and honour what she and Stormforge hope to build together.” Magnus raised his fist. “May their home know peace, and may they remain steadfast in hardship. To Stormforge.”
He struck the table twice.
Fists hit the stone all around us in two deep crashes that I felt through the floor. I flinched and grabbed Alaric’s sleeve. His hand covered mine straight away, and Caius moved closer on my other side.
“That was unexpected,” I murmured, loosening my grip.
