19~ SERVING DINNER

Sage’s POV

The sound of the kitchen door creaking open made my heart skip a beat.

I turned, still holding the wooden spoon in my hand, and froze when I saw him.

Knight stood there in the doorway, tall and broad, his presence filling the entire room.

His stormy eyes moved over me, over Tracy, over the mess we had made, and for a heartbeat I thought he would roar at us, order us out, demand his kitchen back.

But he didn’t but he just stood there. And then, to my shock, he smiled.

Not the cruel, mocking smile I had imagined someone like him having but a real smile.

My chest tightened and for some strange reason, I hated that it made me feel something.

I didn’t want to feel anything for him. I didn’t even understand him yet didn’t understand the way he thought, the way he ruled, the way he killed without hesitation, and still expected me to call him mate.

I wanted a space but I couldn’t stop looking at him.

“Hey, Knight,” Tracy called out softly, lowering the spoon. “How was the meeting?” Tracy asked, but he didn’t answer her right away, his Beta did with his face.

Brian’s expression was grim, the kind of look that told me everything I needed to know, the meeting hadn’t gone well.

The sight of that look pulled me back to my previous days. Back to when Zach would come home angry, frustrated, and take out his temper on anyone near him.

I used to run to him with a tray of his favorite food, try to coax a smile out of him, and try to be the perfect future Luna.

I used to think that if I just pleased him enough, he would love me. That he would never betray me. How wrong I had been.

“Don’t ask him about it,” I whispered quickly to Tracy before she could say anything. “The meeting didn’t go well.”

She blinked at me. “Wow. How do you know that already?”

Brian raised a brow. “Yeah, how did you figure that out?”

I just smiled faintly and turned back to the pot. “Some things don’t need words to be obvious.”

“You are supposed to be resting,” Knight said after a moment, his voice lighter now. “Why are you cooking? You shouldn’t disturb yourself this much.”

“I love it,” I said simply, surprising even myself with how steady my voice sounded. “I love cooking.”

When I glanced back at Knight, he was still watching me. There was something different in his eyes.

“Really?” His voice was lower now.

“Then if you love it, I could get you a restaurant. You could be a chef there. I would hire assistants, get you the best kitchen equipment, make sure you had everything you needed…”

“Knight!” I cut him off quickly, my hand tightening around the spoon.

“That’s… that’s overwhelming.” But he didn’t look like he was joking. He meant every single word.

For a moment, I saw my old dream come to life in front of me. I had always wanted to open a restaurant, a place where I could feed people, where I could create something with my own hands. But Zach had told me I didn’t need that. That my duty was to cook for the pack as a future Luna, not waste time on “silly dreams.”

Before I could say anything more, Tracy spoke up, rolling her eyes.

“Knight, you don’t just do things that way. If she wants a restaurant, she will tell you. Right now she’s trying to make herself happy and one of the few ways she can make herself happy is for you to stay away from her. For now.”

“What?” His voice was sharp, annoyed, and I winced.

“Tracy!” I hissed, but she just shrugged.

“What? You know I am right. If he scares you again, you will just end up locking yourself in your room and crying and I am not doing that emotional babysitting again tonight.”

My face heated at that, but she wasn’t wrong. Knight’s gaze swung back to me, and I swallowed hard.

“Is it true?” he asked, “You want me to stay away from you?”

I hesitated, then nodded slowly. “For now,” I whispered.

He looked at me for a long time. The expression on his face wasn’t one I had seen before.

He turned to leave, and the sight of his back retreating stirred something in me I didn’t want to feel.

“You don’t have to go,” I said quickly.

He stopped, then turned back, one brow raised. “Really?”

The faintest smile tugged at his mouth again, and my heart jumped. I forced a small smile back.

“You have had a long day. Sit. Have dinner. I and Tracy will help serve it.”

“Good,” he said simply, and walked toward the dining room.

As soon as he left, Tracy let out a low whistle. “Wow! How did you do that? This is the first time I have seen him willingly eat what someone else cooked. He usually tears into raw meat.”

I tried to smile but my stomach twisted. “Come on,” I said quietly. “Let’s go give him the food before he changes his mind.”

We carried the dishes into the dining room. The table felt too big for just the four of us, but as we placed the plates down, I caught Knight watching me again.

His gaze followed my hands as I set the bowls in place, as if memorizing the way I moved.

When I finally sat down across from him, there was a strange silence between us. He picked up his fork, tasted the food, and for a moment I forgot how to breathe.

Until his eyes met mine.

“This is good,” he spoke up and a full-blown smile appeared on my face.