Family Dinner, What Could Go Wrong

Jay and Nova stared at him with wide eyes, but before they could say anything the door opened and a woman walked in. She had the same blue eyes that Jay had with long raven-colored hair. A wide smile stretched across her face as the woman's eyes met the Alpha's before she announced, "Dinner is ready! You three ready, because I am struggling to keep the horde at bay." They all laughed and stood up to follow her out after Duncan nodded with a wide smile that mirrored hers.

Soon, Nova found herself sitting next to Jay at a rectangular table. The Alpha and his mate, Leah sat a the head of the table to her right, and the Beta, Alan, and his mate, Grace, sat at the other end. Looking at Alan and Grace, Nova could easily see where Logan got his features from. His blond hair came from his mom, but he hadn't gotten her blue eyes those he seemed to have come from his Dad as well as everything else.

A girl who looked a little younger than Nova and the spitting image of Grace sat next to Alan. She had introduced herself as Rose and the girl sitting next to her as Katie. Katie was Jay's little sister and had gotten her mother's raven hair and blue eyes. Jay had directed me to sit next to them while he sat next to his mother. Logan sat on the other side of the table with a pair of twins between him and his mom. The twins, Troy and Chloe, were about 10 and Troy looked like his mom with blond and blue-eyed while Chloe looked like the mini female version to her Dad and Logan. Then finally, between Logan and Duncan sat a boy, Leo, who was the younger version of Duncan.

Everyone had been chatting happily while they all ate and, luckily, the conversation hadn't focused on Nova too much. She had managed to get to know Rose and Katie a bit, but mainly she had just quietly listened and observed. "So, Nova, what kind of things do you like to do?" Grace's voice caught Nova's attention as well as most of the others who were gathered around the table.

Nova felt her face heat up slightly as the moment she had been dreading finally came. "Well, I like to dance, but my favorite thing is probably to run."

She grinned, "Oh! I used to dance when I was younger, so many great memories. How long have you danced for?"

"My parents got me into cheer and dance when I was 4, so... a long time," Nova responded with a pleasant smile.

Little Chloe let out a little gasp and exclaimed, "Wow, you're a cheerleader! Have you done anything really cool? I have watched some of the movies. It looks so cool, kind of scary but cool."

Nova giggled at her enthusiasm and told her, "You know what, I have done some pretty crazy things. I think the craziest, and funnest one was a spiraling basket toss where I did a split at the top. Coach said it looked like the guys probably got me up to 25 feet at the competition."

While Chloe's jaw dropped, Jay raised an eyebrow and simply asked, "funnest?"

Nova rolled her eyes, "It is a word because I say it is."

That statement caused everyone to laugh before Grace commented, "So you enjoy all of those tosses? I could never get enough courage to do anything like that."

Before Nova could say anything, Jay said, "Oh, I don't think courage is any problem for her." While the others looked at him curiously, Nova's face became a fiery tomato. Jay smirked at her before explaining, "Well, first off, she ran with the wolves the very first night she shifted, and second, she showed me this waterfall and then pretty much immediately dove right off."

"You say that as if it was my first time. I've jumped off that cliff tons of times, plus I pretty much know that lake like the back of my hand," Nova said once more rolling her eyes.

"Well, did you hesitate the first time you jumped?" Jay met her eyes while smirking. Nova's mouth opened slightly before closing once more as she ducked her head. Jay chuckled at her slight embarrassment and commented, "I am guessing it was even you who suggested it." She didn't move at first, but suddenly she could feel his breath on her neck as he whispered in her ear, "It's okay, you're just my little daredevil."

Nova's head shot up and she met his eyes as heat flooded her face to the tips of her ears as her mouth dropped open. He was grinning widely at her and Nova forgot where they were as she stared into his blue eyes. His finger moving up and closing her mouth snapped her partially out of her daze, but her eyes only left his when a forced cough drew them across the table.

Logan was smirking at her and winked when their eyes met. Once more the heat filled every inch of her and Nova quickly turned and hid her face in Jay's chest. She hadn't even realized how close he was sitting to her, but now she was almost grateful as she could hide.

She felt Jay's chest shake as he laughed at her, but his arms wrapped around her. The safety in his arms brought her peace and she felt the heat slowly leave her face even as she grew aware of the fact that everyone else was probably watching them. Finally, she decided to pull away although she had to pinch Jay to get him to let her go.

Sure enough, everyone was watching them with smiles, or smirks, on their faces. Before anyone could say anything a loud crash sounded through the house that had everyone tensing. As one, everyone stood up and started moving toward the source of the noise. Nova suddenly found her nose pressed into Jay's back with his right arm wrapped backward around her waist. Jay's hand rested on her back and held her to him.

They all came to a stop in a sitting room at the front of the house. Nova couldn't look over Jay's shoulder so she leaned her head around his arm and her eyes fell on a rock. A paper seemed to be tied to it and she couldn't help comment, "Really? A rock? Isn't that out of fashion or something?"

Jay's father chuckled slightly before moving forward and picking it up. His whole body tensed as he read the words and his knuckles turned so white it looked like he was trying to crush the rock. "Duncan, what does it say?" Leah asked softly.

"This land is mine, get off before I make you," Duncan said and then looked up at her before adding, "it has the Onyxcrown Pack mark."