Bab 33: Chapter 33: Family Dinner

"Young Master Mar! Young Master Liam!" Arkham's voice snapped them out of their trance.

It's dark by this point, and the pair of young alphas turned around to look at the new butler running up to them.

"Master Aster wants both of you back at the dining table." Arkham said breathlessly from his running. His green eyes focused on the SUV going off in the distance, and he squinted. "Young Master Rex left?"

"With Blue, yes." Liam nodded after he put his hands on his hips. He tried his best to not smile as he pretended to look at the horizon. "There's nothing we can do about it. We tried."

"Yeah. They said they're not coming back." Mar let out a sigh as he put his hand on Liam's forearm. "Let's go back inside, bro."

The butler lingered at the gate a little longer before he followed the two young masters back into the mansion.

They walked the hall in silence, each step they took echoed. Once they're in front of the dining room, the butler rushed in front of them to knock on the door so that more butlers inside can open it.

The door opened to reveal the chaos of the dinner. Mr. Aster was surrounded by a pair of omegas on each arm as they fed him whatever's on menu today.

Aaah, they released the escorts. Several other omegas scattered across the room, and Mr. Devin the second was indulging himself in the scent of one. The red head omega let the older alpha lay his head on her shoulder and immersed himself in her scent. Meanwhile, his wife was sitting next to him, and Mrs. Devin the second was activity talking to the omega with smiles on her face.

Next to them, Mrs. Devin the first was crying. It's kinda funny to see that because Mrs. Devin the first and Mrs. Devin the second were cousins, if Liam remembered correctly, and they married the Devins brothers. Now one pair is having fun, the other pair is having an argument. Mr. Devin the first was aggressively whispering at his wife, whose makeup miraculously stayed on her face, not a single smudge out of place even when tears were rolling down her cheeks.

Other participants of the dinner were in their own little bubble; Dyson talking to Liam's parents, Nox ate an entire boiled egg in a bite and his plate was full of cherry tomatoes in salad dressing, Star and Meg loudly planning their wedding with Alex and Rita even though none of them plan to get married in the near future...

And the twins were building a tower of salad on a plate which they put in between their seats. The pair of ginger alphas were giggling as they added another layer of carrot sticks and lettuce, stolen from the community salad bowl. Sieg, despite sitting next to Madison and across the table from the twins, was also contributing to the salad tower by cutting up some carrots with his knife and handing them to one of the twins. The salad tower is as tall as the twins themselves now.

Honestly, it's pretty cool.

Mar and Liam returned to their seats across from the Devins, and the twins didn't say anything to them, only giving them thumbs up before continuing with their quest. The black haired alpha didn't say anything either, he only reached for the community salad. Liam looked at the person next to him, which is just his sister screaming at Alex to communicate with him because he's across the table from them.

At the end of the table, it's rather peaceful because Nox was genuinely busy eating and Dyson was talking to Liam's parents in normal tones because they're close enough to hear each other without raising their normal voice.

Also, the platinum blond alpha just noticed one of the butlers— now the pianist— was playing the grand piano at one corner of the room. Mar began piling up some ravioli on his plate, and Liam reached for it after he's done getting some salad before it's all gone into the twins' salad tower.

The room was in chaos, but when Mr. Aster speaks, everyone quieted down, even the pianist stopped playing.

"You're back." His voice was even, as if he wasn't grilling his second son a moment ago.

"Yeah." Mar's purple eyes landed on his father, but he didn't smile. "We're hungry."

"And Vijay?" Mr. Aster didn't move from his position at the head of the table. "I thought you were bringing him back."

"He left." The black haired alpha's voice echoed through the now silent room. "Nothing I can do to change his mind."

Oh, what a beautiful lie. Now all they need is more lies to back it up. Didn't fifteen minutes ago, Mar was telling Rex that the pilot was better off leaving and never coming back?

"And Ji Jing Devin?" The Aster Family patriarch's cold grey eyes glared at his son, yet his voice was rather mocking. "Surely, you got at least one of them back."

Mar simply shook his head. "She left with Rex."

Mr. Devin the first slammed his fist on the table. "He thinks he can take off with my daughter like that?"

"I'll talk to him when he comes back." Mr. Aster looked at his friend, then he's back to scrutinizing his youngest son. "Mar, why didn't you stop the useless Devin? I thought you liked her?"

"Why are you asking me?" The black haired alpha didn't put down his fork as he cut into his meatball. His eyes didn't move from his food as he continued talking. "None of you at this table helped, and yet y'all are looking at me to stop them? At least Liam was there, but everyone of you? If at least one or more came, Rex could be persuaded to stay in the family."

"Excuse me?" Madison's voice rang through the room. "Vijay left? As in he left the family? Not leaving because he needed some fresh air and coming back?"

Mar took a bite of his food, taking his time chewing it before his purple eyes met his oldest brother's.

"Sorry, I forgot to clarify." The black haired alpha monotonously declared. "Rex is leaving the family with Blue. They don't plan on coming back. Is that better now?"

"You're kidding, right?" Mrs. Devin the second's laugh echoed through the room awkwardly since no one was joining her.

Liam pressed his lips into a hard line before he took a bite of his salad to avoid saying anything rude.

"They're serious." Alex mumbled to his fiancée.

Then, Madison sneered. His hands were shaking as they held his wine glass. Oh, boy, here we go again.

The oldest Aster child threw his wine glass, for the second time tonight, and once again, our hero Arkham caught it in mid air before it hit the floor or the wall.