I lean down to stay at Jonah’s eye level and grin. “Mm, that’s delicious. I think Mr. Andrei should try some. I am feeling generous today and will share my delicious berries.” As soon as the words leave my lips, Jonah beams up at Andrei and nods his head as eagerly as ever.
Andrei’s laugh cuts off instantly, and he clears his throat. “I’m allergic,” he suddenly declares. Wow, would you look at that slick shit!
Jonah scratches his head and his eyebrows furrow in confusion. “What’s allergic?”
“Means you get sick from touching something that your body doesn’t like,” I explain to Jonah before Andrei can answer the question. The most important part of this odd situation is that if I had to eat those berries, so does Andrei. He can laugh all he wants, use every excuse under the sun, but he’s not getting out of this.
And before I can catch Andrei on his lie, Jonah does it for me. “Silly Mr. Andrei.” He laughs and waves Andrei off. “You were eating them when we walked back down the mountain.”
I raise an eyebrow, straighten my body, and glare at Andrei over my shoulder. Just like I thought, that slick shit!
“They were different berries.” Andrei objects, raising his hands as if he didn’t tell a lie just seconds ago. I see what’s happening here. My mate is trying to dig himself out of this situation.
“Nope, definitely those. I got Jonah to help me pick them.” Derrick joins our conversation.
A wide smile spreads across my lips as Derrick sends me a wink and stands aside to stare at his son with a smirk. Would you look at how the tables have turned on the liar.
“See?” Jonah says excitedly.
I barely restrain myself from snorting with repressed laughter as Andrei mumbles something about being Alpha and his traitorous family.
I turn around to face Andrei and mimic the same smirk Derrick has. Andrei presses his lips in a line and gives me something that suspiciously looks like a warning glare. Before Jonah catches on to what he is doing, Andrei looks at my hand and he swishes my palm with his finger, hoping to find a clean piece.
“Sage said you could have the rest. That is very generous of your mate, so you better appreciate her efforts and willingness to share. So bottoms up, son,” Derrick encourages with a laugh.
Andrei glares at his father, and I grab his hand to dump the contents in his. Since I obviously am no monster, I pick out the rock and put it in my pocket.
“Come on, Mr. Andrei! I kept them warm in my pocket for everyone,” Jonah squeals.
“Yes, Mr. Andrei,” Derrick adds with too much enthusiasm.
To my surprise, Andrei growls, but quickly tosses the berries into his mouth. It’s a massive chunk and definitely needs a lot of chewing.
“Is it good?” Jonah asks, and Andrei gives him a thumbs up. His cheeks puff out like he is fighting the urge to gag, but he manages to swallow it all. He’s a champ. And if it weren’t for the rather pained expression on his face, even I could believe in his lie.
“Yep, delicious,” Andrei tells him.
Jonah bounces on his feet excitedly. “Good, now I can give Casen, Malik, and Vince the rest in this pocket,” he says as he rummages through his other pocket while his eyes are already scanning the surroundings as Jonah looks for his next victims.
He calls out to Malik, who doesn’t hesitate when Jonah offers him some of his special, squashed berries.
“He has an iron gut,” I mutter while watching Malik.
I turn back to Andrei and almost laugh at the view before me. A deep, annoyed growl leaves my mate as he glares at us and pinches at his tongue. He pulls some lint off and cringes. “I need to go brush my teeth and tongue,” Andrei grumbles and stalks off, heading inside the house.
“I think he is upset. Best to feed the pouting man-child. I feel like pancakes, let’s go make pancakes for dinner,” Derrick muses as he drops his arm across my shoulders and tugs me inside.
Andrei mutters something to himself as soon as we step inside the house. While I could go and check on my mate, the safest option seems to be his dad. So without any hesitation, I follow Derrick to the kitchen.
I put the kettle on while Derrick grabs ingredients from the pantry and the fridge, to make pancakes for dinner.
Derrick cooked every night when he stayed the three months with us. He never cooked at home because he had no one to cook for and felt silly cooking for himself. But I can tell just how much he loves cooking as he hums to himself while making the batter and heating a fry pan.
“Coffee or tea?” I ask him.
“Ah, after that hike we had, I might have a coffee. Thank you.” As I grab the coffee and sugar to prepare his drink, Derrick speaks up again. “I see Jonah gave everyone quite the scare,” he ponders.
Once again, I just nod as a smile spreads across my lips. He’s right, Jonah did give the entire pack a massive scare. Everyone was running around like headless chickens.
“He is a little ball of energy,” Derrick comments.
“That he is,” I agree, pouring some milk in his mug.
“Sage?” Derricks calls my name, grabbing my attention. I look up from the mug and at him, Derrick instantly stops mixing the batter.
He has an uncertain look in his eyes, as if he is still contemplating if he should speak his mind, but Derrick breaks out of the haze and clears his throat. “Andrei and Kat gave me a hard time mentioning you and Andrei having children. I had no idea you couldn’t.” His eyes dart away from me, and return the next second. “I apologize for bringing it up, and my intention was never to upset you,” he says.
“It’s fine, you didn’t know, and it’s not your fault, so don’t feel bad,” I reassure him, a little shocked that Andrei confided in his dad.
A shy smile spreads across his lips. “You know, you don’t have to carry a child to be a parent. My mate, Shirley, wasn’t Kat’s biological mother, but she loved her all the same. Andrei wasn’t Anthony’s either, yet he raised him and loved him. He was there for my boy and did the job I should have done,” Derrick whispers the last part. Regret radiates off him.