Leyra arrived at the house about an hour later. She found the two of them still in the backyard. Fox tensed as the back door opened. He could feel the Alpha’s skeptical eyes watching him. Sunshine stood and smiled at her mate, walking up the steps past Fox and placing a resounding kiss on Leyra’s cheek.

“Hello my love. How did your day go?” Sunshine greeted, her tone pleasant. Her demeanor had a quick impact on Leyra, because Fox could feel her heavy dominance ease off his back.

“Had to deal with some complaints, but other than that it wasn’t too bad. How was yours?” Leyra replied. Fox was a little surprised at the lack of harshness in her tone. It was strange hearing Leyra speak more gently.

“It went quite well. I made progress in two of my sessions, and then I took care of some weeds and got rid of some pests out here. Fox kept me company for a little while, too, which was nice,” Sunshine said. Fox’s heart jumped at the mention of his name, but it calmed when Sunshine said his company had been nice.

“Really?” Leyra queried.

“Yes. He doesn’t fill silence with idle chatter. It’s nice to spend time with others without having to talk with them all the time,” Sunshine told her.

“Well…” Leyra mused, sliding her arms around Sunshine’s waist. “I’m glad you felt safe around him.”

Fox could feel her gaze again. He chanced glancing up at her face, and was met with furrowed brows and pressed lips, but it wasn’t an expression of judgment or dislike. More so, it seemed like she was trying to figure him out. The Alpha looked him over, taking in his bruises and bandages and ruined shirt.

“Is there anything you need me for, Alpha?” Fox asked politely. Leyra shrugged a shoulder, her expression changing into indifference. 

“No, not for today. Dinner will be ready for the lone wolves in a couple hours, so you can rest here for a bit before heading to the bunkers,” she told him. Fox nodded with a whispered thanks. He rose and followed the two werewolves inside.

The two headed into the kitchen to begin prepping their own dinner, and Fox headed over to the stairs. “Fox,” Leyra called after him just before he left the kitchen.

He turned and met her gaze. “Yes, ma’am?” 

“You’ll probably be with Alpha Rishima or Alpha Ahren tomorrow, so if you need a new shirt, they can help you get one,” she told him. Fox’s eyebrows rose just a little, surprise catching him off guard. Maybe this was his reward for doing a good job cleaning up the concessions building? 

The beginnings of a smile pulled at his mouth. “Thank you, Alpha,” he replied, and she nodded at him before turning away.

Fox went upstairs. The more he thought about getting a brand new shirt, the wider his smile grew. By the time he reached his bedroom, he felt strangely giddy, like he’d just been given an unexpected gift. He almost couldn’t believe it.

Fox whittled away his two hours of free time by checking on his belongings, and washing his bloodstained shirt in his bathroom sink. It took a while, but Fox was patient with the process, familiar with cleaning blood out of his clothes.

When that was done, he hung it up to dry over the shower railing and changed into a different shirt. The process had taken so long that by the time he finished pulling his shirt on, Leyra was at his door. “They’re getting dinner ready for all of you, so start heading to the bunkers,” she said.

Fox’s stomach filled with dread as he imagined what it might be like having to eat around the other lone wolves, but he stood and went downstairs, with Leyra trailing behind him to make sure he went. He left out the back door and trudged across the field.

As he walked, he untied his jacket from around his waist and slipped it on. He wrapped it a bit tight around himself, and the pressure helped soothe his nerves a little. 

He made his way out of the trees and into the bunker sector. There was already a Beta waiting at the end of the trail, and he glanced at Fox when he stepped out of the tree line. The Beta tilted his head to indicate for Fox to follow him, and the two of them walked around some of the bunkers to the big picnic bench in the center.

Fox couldn’t help it, his shoulders tensed and his chest began to fill with little needles of anxiety, and his legs wanted to turn around and head back the other way. Fox swept his gaze over the lone wolves already seated. There were more men than women, some were older than him, most seemed to be the same age, only a couple looked younger. 

He caught Seb’s eye, who sat at one end of the table. Seb glowered at him, still not happy by the fact that Fox hadn’t let him take the credit for his cleaning. Fox turned his gaze away, not interested in interacting with him.

“Sit here,” the Beta leading him instructed. Fox was relieved to find he’d been seated at the opposite end of the table from Seb.

Fox took a seat. Nobody sat across from him, but a woman sat beside him. A good foot of space between them guaranteed some breathing room, which Fox was grateful for. He met eyes with the woman only briefly, enough to take in the bare minimum of her appearance. Light blonde hair haphazardly cut around her shoulders, green eyes, skinny physique, white skin, slouched shoulders.

Fox looked around as discreetly as he could. He spotted four Betas but no Alphas, which gave him mixed feelings. He was glad Evander wasn’t here, but he was also a little worried about how well four Betas could handle eleven lone loves. Well, ten, because Fox wasn’t planning on fighting anybody.

The Beta who had led him to his seat took up post a few feet behind him. Fox wondered if he was there to observe Fox and his behavior when not in the presence of Alphas. Fox’s legs began to grow jittery at the attention, hoping he wouldn’t do anything to tarnish his image. He wanted to stay on the Alphas’ good side for as long as he could.

He turned his head as he noticed movement to his left. Two more Betas emerged from the trees, pulling a big cart that carried two big jugs of water and three bins full of food. There were paper plates, paper cups, and disposable utensils, as well as a trash can.

At the sight and smell of the food, the other lone wolves shifted in their spots, agitated, hungry. The movement made Fox even more nervous.

The Betas pulling the cart stopped a safe distance away from the table, then began pulling out paper plates and scooping leftover food onto them. Fox counted; each plate got three scoops. The other Beta filled cups with water.

The two of them passed out the food. Fox and the woman next to him were given a plate first. Then the two next to the woman’s other side were given their plates and cups, and so on down the table. The wolves at the other end were already baring their teeth and digging claws into the table, impatient. 

The woman beside him didn’t dig in right away, so neither did Fox. Fox realized, as he observed the other lone wolves, that the ones who seemed more disheveled or banged up were seated at one end, and others who were cleaner and didn’t look like they’d been fighting were seated closer to his end. 

“You may eat,” the Beta behind him announced. Fox surveyed his food. There were bits of every kind of food, it seemed like. He spotted some overcooked rotini, some mushrooms, some smashed cherry tomatoes, a few carrot strings with dark spots, the hard ends of bread loaves that nobody seemed to like, a few bruised strawberries and blueberries, and potato skins.

They had been given the leftovers that nobody else had wanted. Fox wanted to ask about its origin, who had left all the food untouched, but was uncertain if he was allowed to. He side eyed the other lone wolves, who had immediately dug into their food. Some with more aggression than necessary, others a little more calmly.

Fox was used to eating less than ideal food. He may be curious about where all this came from, but it looked decent enough to eat, so he picked up a fork one of the Betas had set down by his plate and began to pick his serving apart.

He pushed aside the bits he didn’t prefer, and took small bites of the stuff he did like. It was a strange mixture, so he separated everything as best he could. 

Not too far into his meal, he felt eyes on him. He glanced out of the corner of his eye to the woman next to him. She was watching him like she had a question to ask.

“Hello,” she greeted softly. She sounded close to the same age as Fox.

“Hi,” Fox whispered back. 

“I don’t like tomatoes,” she stated. Fox furrowed his brows a little, but after a glance at her plate, he understood. She had pushed her tomatoes in their own pile away from the rest of her portion. Fox had done the same with his mushrooms.

“I don’t like mushrooms,” he said, playing her game. 

“Trade?” she offered. Fox nodded. The two of them pushed their plates closer together and they swapped the respective foods they wanted. Fox heard the Beta behind them step closer, watching what they were doing, but when it was obvious they weren’t fighting over the food, he backed away.

“I’m Star,” the woman said. Fox thought that name suited her, even though he knew nothing about her.

“I’m Fox.” She smiled at his name rather than frowned, and Fox instantly warmed to her just for that response alone.

“It suits you,” she observed. Fox liked her even more.

“Thanks. Yours too,” he replied. She tucked her shoulders up, but kept smiling.

The two went back to eating. The hungrier wolves finished first, but the calmer ones spaced out their bites. Now that Fox had spoken to one of them, he felt more comfortable with observing the others. The woman who sat next to Star seemed to be older, there was a certain slouch in her back that hinted at general exhaustion. She had a shaved head of black hair and a few gnarly scars on her arms. The man across from Star also seemed quite a bit older, his brown hair beginning to gray on the sides, as well as in his short beard

He had a long scar spanning the side of his head and face, and the beginning of another on his collarbone, disappearing below his shirt. He looked like he once had a lot of muscle but had lost too much too fast.

They seemed to be minding their business, eyes on their food, but further down the table things were a bit more rowdy. Three werewolves were hunched protectively over their plates, scarfing everything down, and two others were staring Seb down for the remainder of his portion. Fox noticed the Betas moving closer, preparing to break up a fight. Fox also noticed that the werewolves seated around Seb had shock collars around their throats, too.

Seb bared his teeth at the two werewolves in front of him, growling as he clutched his plate. The werewolf next to Seb used the distraction as a chance to snatch a handful of what was left of Seb’s food. Seb reacted instantly, whipping his head around to bite the other werewolf’s hand.

Fox watched his fangs sink deep into the thief’s wrist. The thief was the same size as Seb, but had far paler skin and curly red hair, freckles dotting his face and arms. He yelped as Seb sank his teeth into his arm, but he stubbornly refused to let go of the food. He grabbed a fistful of Seb’s hair with his free hand and started viciously yanking.

The Betas moved quickly, grabbing both werewolves by their necks and pinning them down against the table. One of them triggered the shock collar around both of their necks, and their faces twisted in pain, but they both still refused to let go.

Fox had seen on more than one occasion that when a werewolf had locked their jaws in a bite, the best way to pry them off to ensure minimal damage to the victim, was to choke them. The Betas seemed to know this, too.

The Betas struggled to pry Seb’s teeth off of the redhead’s arm, so one of them wrapped his arms around Seb’s throat in a chokehold. The other Beta did the same with the redhead, who finally let go of the food to instead try and pull the Beta’s arms away from his neck. Seb opened his jaw with a strangled gasp. He fought against the Beta, fists beating against the Beta’s abdomen. 

In the midst of the struggle, the other two werewolves who had been staring Seb’s food down reached out to grab what was left. The rest of the Betas descended immediately.

Fox watched with a tense body and wide eyes as all the Betas wrestled the four lone wolves away from the table and began to drag them to their bunkers. The lone wolves fought them every step of the way, kicking and clawing and snarling profanities. 

Seb was only dragged back just enough to stay out of reach of the redhead he’d been biting. When the redhead was dragged far enough away, the Beta growled in Seb’s ear. “If you calm down, I’ll get you a new portion, but if you go after Warren you’re not getting anything.”

Seb was still struggling against the Beta’s grip, but at his offer, he stopped. He said something in a wheeze, and the Beta let him go.

He collapsed to his knees, gasping and coughing. The Beta stood behind him, waiting to see what he would do. Seb caught his breath. Fox could see him glaring daggers at Warren, the redhead, as he was being tossed into his bunker, but he didn’t move to attack him. The Betas waited until Warren was locked inside.

“Okay. Sit down,” the Beta behind Seb ordered. Seb complied, rubbing his throat. The Beta kept his promise and scooped a new portion of food onto a new plate, just enough to make up for what was lost, and gave it to Seb. Seb ate it in a hurry, probably not wanting to risk someone else trying to steal his food.

Fox released a stressed breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding. He mused to himself that Seb was really not having a good day. He wondered if that was common for him.

Fox leaned a little closer to Star. “Does this happen at every mealtime?” he asked in a murmur. He could tell by the way she was running her hand up and down her forearm that the sudden fight had made her stressed, too.

“Not always. But sometimes,” she answered quietly. 

“If you’re finished with your food, head back to your bunker,” one of the Betas announced. Most of the occupants at the table had finished, so they stood and trudged back to their respective bunkers. Star had finished, too, so she stood and waved a little goodbye at Fox before walking away.

Fox was almost done. He ate the last few bites and tried to avoid eye contact with Seb. When he was done, he rose and threw his trash away, then began to walk back to the Alphas’ houses. He could feel unfriendly eyes on him as he left, but he paid no mind to them.