Tasting

420–Getting Engaged To Carla

Ryker:

The way Clara clung to Silas made heads turn in their direction, and then my brothers and I shared a glance.

“Cain—a word!” I gestured for him to follow me. He raised an eyebrow but didn’t move quickly. Oh, I get it.

He was standing next to Nora, inhaling her scent through his flared nostrils.

“Cain–,” I groaned angrily, and he finally understood the urgency. Nora was busy focusing on Lord Atwood and Clara now, even glancing at Silas.

“What is it?” Cain asked as he stepped out of the living room, following me to the kitchen.

“Did you notice anything?” I wanted to first confirm whether Cain had observed the same thing I had.

“Nora looks really cute when she acts evil?” he replied. “I noticed that too. When she acts all tough and wicked, I want to bend her over–” Cain suddenly fell silent as we reached the kitchen and then looked away.

I had noticed that he had started to act very secretive about his feelings for Nora around me.

He knows that I know about his mate bond with her; then why the awkwardness?

“Anyway, that’s not what I was referring to. I was talking about Clara,” I redirected him, as we needed to pay full attention to the people around Nora in order to help her.

“Oh! Really?” Cain suddenly turned to me and smiled widely. “You like her?” The way he asked froze me.

The excitement in his voice and the gleam in his eyes suggested he desperately wanted me to agree with his interpretation of my brief mention of her name. Not even a statement; I just said her name, and he thinks I like her?

“No! There’s nothing to like about her. I mean, I think Clara likes Silas,” I explained. After looking disappointed for a moment, Cain zoned out and then nodded his head.

“Maybe you’re right,” he replied, sounding a little lost.

“What are you guys talking about?” Nash interrupted us, rushing inside to ensure we weren’t discussing anything in his absence.

“Ryker was checking out Clara,” Cain said loudly, making me look at his face in disbelief.

“Nora is not behind me,” Nash narrowed his eyes at Cain, as of course he too found it strange the way Cain had said it so openly.

“Oh! Okay. Ryker thinks Clara likes Silas,” now that Cain knew Nora wasn’t eavesdropping on our conversation, he chose the right answer.

But I shot him a sidelong glance. Why would he want Nora to hear about me having eyes on someone else?

And I wasn’t checking out Clara; why the heck would I, when I could gaze at someone like Nora all I wanted?

“Really?” Nash scratched his chest, looking around as if to recall Clara’s interactions with Silas. “Oh, maybe Ryker is onto something.”

The excitement Nash displayed proved I wasn’t the only one who had noticed it.

“I think if he wants, he can make her answer some questions,” Nash smirked, and I nodded in agreement. But that’s when I noticed Cain shaking his head slightly.

“I don’t think that would work. She is a beta’s daughter, she must have some sort of anti–hypnotism potion given to her prior to coming here because Brody knows a lot about us.” Cain was right.

If Silas tried anything with Clara and she found out, like Nora did, Clara would go back and inform Brody about it, and then Nora might get in trouble.

There was no doubt that Nora was lying about literally everything.

“Then what do we do?” I asked, watching Cain’s expression. I directed my question at him particularly because of the way he was tapping his finger on his chin. It was as if he knew something.

“But we can engage Silas with Clara.” The minute he said it, I realized he had lost his mind.

I started to feel sorry for him. He was only focusing on getting us out, almost as if he suspected we all had feelings for Nora.

“Thank you, Cain, for thinking about your brother, but how the hell would that help us?” I questioned, with Nash echoing my sentiment, hands on his hips.

“Brody is confident enough to let Nora come here. Whatever he has on her is so strong and definitely rooted in his pack that it’s making her not open up. So we need to be in his pack to investigate,” Cain explained. But that your Gers

Nash interrupted him to remind him how exactly it had gone the last time we tried to talk to Nora.

“And well, are you forgetting he wouldn’t allow us into his pack?” Nash rolled his eyes.

“Umm, yeah, because we seem like a threat. But if the beta’s daughter gets engaged to Alpha King Silas, nobody would dare stop him from visiting the pack,” Cain concluded, making Nash and my eyes widen. I did not expect Cain to be so good at coming up with a plan.

But what he said made total sense too.

“And Silas would be on the same list of people who dated someone Nora didn’t like, just like the rest of us,” Nash was spot on.

Silas got the better end of the deal. He didn’t have to be seen as a total jerk like the rest of us, so it made complete sense.

And that’s when Silas arrived.

“What is going on?” he asked, a hint of discomfort on his face from how we were watching him.

“You are getting engaged to Clara,” Nash didn’t beat around the bush, striking at poor Silas when he least expected it.