{Chapter Sixteen}

I look on in amazement at the mountain of food that sits on Rose's table. Rose has cooked enough food to feed three full armies.

"Rose, don't you think you cooked too much?" I ask.

She waves her hand, "nonsense. I'm feeding grown werewolf men. There is no such thing as too much food."

Seth sits down in a chair and grabs a plate, "this is what heaven looks like."

I laugh before grabbing the chair next to Seth as Gabriel grabs the seat across from me.

"So... where's Hunter? Too afraid to face his own family at the dinner table?" Gabriel asks.

Rose is silent and Gabriel looks over at her, his smile fading.

"Mom?"

She walks over to the counter before grabbing an envelope and placing it in front of Gabriel.

"What's this?" he asks.

Rose just silently takes her seat as Gabriel opens the envelope. Inside it are several pieces of paper. Gabriel reads what the first says out loud.

Congrats brother,

You win.

-Hunter.

"What's this mean?" Gabriel asks Rose.

"The next page."

He turns to the second page and looks up at me.

"He signed them."

"Signed what?" I ask.

"The paper giving away his rights."

"What? That's not possible. This is Hunter Wolfe we're talking about. He would never..."

The end of my sentence falls off as Gabriel holds the paper out. There sitting on the dotted line is Hunter's signature. He had actually done it. He signed away his rights. Instead of fighting for me, he gave up.

"Mia..." Seth starts.

I hold up at hand to stop him.

"No. No. I'm fine... I'm fine. It's fine."

"Little Wolf..."

"I'm fine. I didn't..."

I take a deep breath, "I didn't warn him to win anyway, so it doesn't matter."

"Mia, it's okay to be upset. The man was known to you as your father, you can be upset about this," Seth says.

"I'm not... I'm not upset. This is what I wanted so let's just have a nice brunch, okay? Rose cooked all this amazing food and we shouldn't let it all go to waste."

Everyone is silently watching me as I grab a couple of pancakes from the plate in front of me. I grab my fork and clutch it in my hand as my shoulders start to shake as I try to breathe against the crying. Dropping the fork on the table, my hands come up to cover my face as the sobs rack my body. I hear the scraping of a chair against the floor before I bury my head in Gabriel's chest.

"I know, Little Wolf."

"Why doesn't he want me?" I cry.

Gabriel pulls away, cupping my face.

"If he doesn't want you then that's his loss. You are amazing Mia and any man on the planet would be lucky to call themselves your father, I know I am. If Hunter doesn't want to be a part of that, well then screw him. You'll make him regret it sooner or later."

He uses his thumb to wipe away my tears and I sniffle before taking the napkin that Seth is holding out.

"He's right, Mia. Hunter isn't worth your tears," Seth says.

I nod as Gabriel moves and Rose pulls me into a hug.

"I know it hurts sweetheart, but not knowing you is going to be the biggest mistake he ever made."

I pull away from Rose after a minute and look around the table.

"Thanks, guys."

They all smile at me before Rose gestures to the food.

"Now, everybody dig in. All this food isn't going to eat itself."

"You don't have to tell me twice," Seth says.

I laugh and pile food onto my own plate as Rose hands out glasses of orange juice.

"So, dad...let's hear it," I say.

Gabriel raises an eyebrow up at me, taking a sip of his coffee.

"Hear what?"

"The incredible story of you and Kai Marcano. How did the great alpha that is Gabriel Wolfe meet and become friends with a vampire?" I ask.

Gabriel shakes his head and smiles before taking another sip from his coffee.

"That Little Wolf is a secret that I will take to my grave," he says.

"Come on, you have to tell me."

Gabriel shakes his head again before grabbing a sausage off of the plate in front of him.

"I'll just ask Kai to tell me," I say.

"You can ask, but I can assure you that Kai won't be saying a word about it either," he laughs.

"We'll see," I say.

Gabriel laughs again as Rose sets down another plate of bacon and takes a seat.

"So, Seth?"

Seth looks up at her, his fork halfway to his mouth. He sets his fork down on his plate and clears his throat.

"Yes, Mrs. Wolfe."

Rose waves him away.

"None of that Mrs. Wolfe, nonsense. You've been calling me Rose since you were in diapers."

Seth turns red before nodding.

"It has come to my attention that you and Mia are something of an item now. I just want to know if you Mr. Clearwater, wrap it before you tap it."

Gabriel spits out his coffee and I choke out on the pancake that I'm eating. Seth is fumbling over his words, his face a bright red. Rose's laughter fills the room after a minute and Seth visibly relaxes once he realizes that Rose is just kidding.

"The look on all your faces," she laughs.

Gabriel grabs a napkin from the table and wipes his face as Seth pats me on the back to help dislodge the piece of pancake stuck in my windpipe.

"Not funny, mom," Gabriel says.

"It was hilarious. You about had an aneurysm."

Gabriel shakes his head before tossing the napkin down on his plate and pushing his chair back. He pulls me into a side hug before pressing a kiss to the back of my head.

"I'm going to get out of here before your grandmother gives me a heart attack with her line of questioning."

He leaves and Rose turns her attention back to me and Seth. Seth shifts around awkwardly in his seat.

"Now that your father is gone I can get down to the nitty-gritty," She says.

"That wasn't nitty-gritty?" I ask.

Rose laughs, "not at all sweetheart. Now, how about you take some of the dishes and start making some to-go boxes for the rest of those boys you hang out with. I'm sure Emily would like a break from cooking."

"But..."

"Shoo, shoo," she says, gesturing to the kitchen.

I shrug as Seth sends me a pleading look. I shoot Rose and Seth one last look before grabbing some plates and going into the kitchen.

Setting the plates down on the counter, I try to focus my hearing on their conversation. However, Rose must have figured I would try to eavesdrop because the only thing I can hear is classical music playing on the stereo.

"Dang it," I say.

I reluctantly start making to-go plates for the rest of the guys while I wait for Seth and Rose to finish talking. After a few more minutes Rose walks in with a smile on her face.

"Finished talking?" I ask.

Rose is silent, so I glance over at her and see her staring at me.

"What?" I ask.

She shakes her head, "that boy loves you more than I ever thought possible. You should have seen the way he lit up talking about you."

My face heats up and Rose chuckles before pulling me into a hug.

"Hold onto him. He's a good one."

"I know, thanks for the breakfast."

"Anytime."

I grab the plates I fixed and head out to go find Seth. He is standing by the door, his hands in his pockets.

"Conversation go well?" I ask.

"Yeah. Yeah, it did," he says with a wistful smile on his face.

His gaze is focused on me and I swallow down the lump in my throat when I meet his eyes. He steps forward and takes the bags with the plates in them out of my hands and sets them on the floor. Cupping my face, he presses his forehead to mine.

"How did I get so lucky?" he asks.

"I don't know, let me know when you figure it out," I say.

He laughs before pressing a kiss to my lips and pulling away. Grabbing the bags in one hand, he intertwines my fingers with his.

"Come on, gorgeous. Let's go feed some hungry wolves."