I took a shaky breath and finished chopping the chicken into long strips, then piling it up on a platter. It wasn’t my business. It was between him and his sister and the rest of their pack. I didn’t have a claim on his time, even if he got all handsy and cuddly anytime we were alone.
I struggled to keep my composure with the emotional whiplash of going from making out with Henry to questioning if I was more than just a distraction for him. He leaned over my shoulder to study the chicken, once more touching my waist. “Looks good. Are we ready to eat?”
“Seems like,” I said. I turned away and carried the platter into the dining room and toward the rowdy group of people already at the table. I needed distance and time to think, and I couldn’t get either with his hands on me.
It was my bad luck that the last two chairs were right next to each other and across from his sister.
Chapter 26
Henry
Something changed after Fran left the kitchen. Henry knew that much, although he couldn’t put his finger on why. Ophelia went from melting in his arms to suddenly tense and withdrawn. She even hesitated before sitting next to him. The wolf didn’t like it. The wolf wanted to get Ophelia alone again so he could figure out what happened. There was no use guessing, he knew that much. Henry had never been good at figuring out what women were thinking. Instead of agonizing over it, he preferred to just ask.
He’d told Evershaw that—a lot—but the alpha still liked to assume he knew everything about what Deirdre thought and planned, and it caused no end of trouble. Which just confirmed for Henry that asking was the right road to take.
But that didn’t make for a comfortable dinner. At least Mercy was there to drive the conversation to safer topics, like some of the drama at the warehouse and with the rest of the pack. She carefully avoided any mention of the trouble Nola caused, and instead gave Evershaw a list of things to deal with over the next week. Todd had retreated back to his apartment at the warehouse, so wasn’t there for dinner, but Silas and Dodge both offered their opinion on what the alpha needed to do.
The running commentary and genial arguments that followed gave Henry plenty of time to ponder Ophelia’s silence next to him and the surreptitious looks Nola sent her way. He hadn’t wanted his sister alone with Ophelia for even a second, in the off chance Nola decided to drive the witch away and said something that Henry couldn’t undo. Maybe that had been a mistake though, since Nola looked like she’d burst with questions for his supposed mate.
He caught Ophelia’s hand under the table and squeezed her fingers, more than a little relieved that she didn’t immediately pull away. And he was grateful he held her hand as Nola found a lull in the conversation and turned her attention to him. “We should start planning for when you will return to Montana.”
Henry clenched his jaw. “Now is not the time, Nola. I haven’t had a chance to discuss it with…my mate.”
He braced for some kind of shock and dismay from Ophelia, then looked over as nothing happened. Ophelia shrugged, untangling her hand from his, and concentrated on making another fajita. “If your family needs you, then you should go.”
Nola’s eyebrows arched in surprise, and Henry swallowed a groan. Mates didn’t react with indifference when their other half proposed to disappear out of state for an undetermined amount of time. He leaned his elbows on the table and ducked his head. “We can talk about it after dinner. It won’t be forever. A few months. Just until they find a new alpha.”
Ophelia glanced at him, forehead wrinkled as she searched his expression, then she blinked. “Oh. Right. It can’t be forever, obviously.”
Henry draped his arm along the back of her chair. She’d remembered the little deception they played, although from the look on Nola’s face, the damage was done. His sister definitely questioned Ophelia’s commitment. Before his sister could comment, Deirdre spoke up. “And perhaps Ophelia can go with you to Montana, since it will only be three months.”
Ophelia blinked and looked around the table. “Uh... I’ve never been to Montana.”
Nola forced a smile, though it lacked any sincerity. “You’ll enjoy it.”
Henry cleared his throat and put more chicken on Ophelia’s plate, wanting to feed her in