Naya looked at the wide variety of food on the table, with no appetite. It was embarrassing to be in the same place with two people who could talk about her without her hearing them. She helped herself to a salad and began to eat, trying to ignore the smile on Maxwell's lips and Adam's cold stare as they stared at each other.
"I hope you know that although some people think we're dogs, I don't like bones." Adam said with an amused look on his face.
Naya looked at him in surprise. She hadn't expected them to talk to her during lunch. They seemed happy to carry on a telepathic dialog where they excluded her with total discourtesy.
"I don't understand..."
Adam pointed to the salad on her plate with his chin.
"You eat better than that, right?"
Naya frowned.
"My brother wants to know if you have problems increasing your weight, Luna. He doesn't like women who are too thin. He likes women with well-defined bodies, but with curves." Maxwell said, with amusement in his voice.
Naya turned to Maxwell, squeezing her eyes shut.
"Thanks for setting me straight, brother-in-law. I thought you'd just talk amongst yourselves and ignore me. That's why I was surprised when he spoke to me." She said and turned to Adam. "I eat very well, and I can't believe I look like a skeleton, my fiancé. But I've had no appetite since you decided to leave me out of your considerations by pretending I was absent."
"What are you talking about? We didn't start a conversation where you were excluded." Maxwell said, enjoying himself more and more. "And my brother speaks for him." He said and started serving himself rabbit stew. "I enjoy sucking the bones."
"You haven't really started a conversation. No, one that I could hear." She said looking disgustedly at Maxwell's plate, then turned to Adam. "I expect to be respected at our wedding."
Adam sipped from his glass as she returned to the cottage.
"I would never disrespect my wife."
"But your fiancée, don't you care?"
Adam looked at her, but said nothing.
"Don't you think lying is a form of disrespect?"
"Maybe."
"You didn't tell me you had children."
"That's an omission." He said with distracted eyes.
"It's almost the same thing." Naya said, putting down her cutlery. "Are you going to tell me about your children?"
Adam exchanged a quick glance with Maxwell.
"I only have one son. You'll meet him. Max is traveling today to bring him."
"Why isn't he with you?"
"It's a long story."
"It's a long story that I wish I knew every detail of. Have you ever been married before?"
Adam finished the drink from his glass and stood up.
"Naya, I'm here to marry you. I've changed my plans many times since I met you. My first plan was to marry you here, and then get married in Nevada too. Then I decided that it would be better than going through the embarrassment of wearing a tuxedo just once, it was the most I would allow myself, and then I decided that I'm not going to abandon you here after the nuptials, so don't make me change my mind again. You have to accept that being with me is enough. Because if it's not enough, this wedding shouldn't happen. You must decide now."
"Does that mean no questions asked?" Naya asked angrily. "I..."
"You can only ask one question, Naya. And after the answer, you must decide. I can't stay here any longer. I want to go home. It's up to you whether you come with me or stay here."
Naya thought. A question! And it didn't matter what the answer was. She would leave with him.
"Do I need to worry about the jealousy of your son's mother?"
Maxwell finished his plate and smiled, looking at Adam. He wondered what his brother thought.
Adam took a deep breath.
"Yes. You'll probably have problems with my son's mother."
Naya nodded affirmatively.
"Thank you for your honesty, my fiancé. I'll go with you."
Adam left the dining room, leaving Maxwell and Naya alone.
She looked at Maxwell.
"What happened?" she asked, wondering if she had done something wrong.
There was no longer a smile on Maxwell's face.
"I don't think it's easy for him to remember his son's mother. It wasn't so long ago that she... chose another man."
Naya widened her eyes, perplexed.
"Who would choose any other man and abandon the Alpha?"
"My wife." Maxwell said, shaking his shoulders.
Naya was even more surprised, but didn't have time to ask any more questions, as Adam returned with a full glass and bottle in hand, and sat down again.
"Since we've come to an agreement, I need to ask you to continue doing what you did when I left the table, Naya. Don't bother me with your questions. Maxwell takes pleasure in... Reveal everything you wish to know." Adam looked disapprovingly at Maxwell, who smiled amusedly, then turned to Naya. "I prefer our conversations to have pleasant content. I need to know, would you agree to marry me this coming Saturday?"
"This weekend? But there are only three days left..."
"Yes."
Naya thought quickly. She had nothing there that she would be sorry to leave behind.
"Yes. I accept." She replied.
Adam turned to Maxwell.
"Can you bring Ian?"
"Sure."
Adam turned to Naya again.
"After this lunch is over, we're both going shopping." He said and pulled out a black card from his wallet, handing it to her. "Maxwell will accompany you, while I buy... something and talk to your father. We'll meet at the company building."
Naya accepted the card he held out. Everything was happening too fast. She hadn't even told him that she knew he was the Alpha.
"My father is traditional and won't accept a hasty wedding..."
Adam gave her a cutting look.
"Don't you know who I am, Naya? No werewolf would dare challenge me. Worry about buying some lipstick." He said and served rice on his plate, then looked amused at Naya. "Buy something from this century, please." He said and Maxwell smiled.
Naya turned red, which always made her freckles more obvious, and the two brothers stared in amazement at this phenomenon.
Adam ended lunch thirty minutes later and Naya left with Maxwell.