Chapter 20: Breakfast at the Long Table

The first morning I woke up Alpha of Black Pine, someone was banging a spoon on a pot outside my window.

I lay there with my taped ribs and listened.

It was six o'clock, and it was the muster bell for breakfast.

I had spent seven years waking to that sound as Dane's mate, and it had never once been for me.

I put on my boots and walked to the dining hall in the dark.

The long room was already full.

The cooks had pushed the tables together into one long row, with lamps down the middle.

Every bench was crowded.

When I came in, the noise dropped, and then it got louder.

A woman at the front stood up and clapped.

A man beside her stood up.

Then the whole hall was on its feet, banging mugs and spoons.

I stood in the doorway with no idea what to do with my hands.

"Sit down," I said. "Please. Eat your eggs."

"The head chair's yours," called a cook.

"I don't want the head chair."

"Then where do you want to sit?"

I looked down the table.

Tobin had a space on the bench beside him, and he patted it with his whole hand.

I sat there.

He pushed a plate at me, and a mug of coffee.

He gave me a piece of toast with so much butter on it that it slid.

"I took the liberty," he said.

"You took a lot of liberties last night."

"The patrol captain's job is open. I'd like it noted that I'm very qualified and very good-looking."

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