Demon: Book 1

Chapter 42: Just Facts

"It smells so good." Titus squeezed my shoulders. "I love this holiday already."

I watched my little cousin dump his plate on the floor and start crying. "Yeah, it's great."

We filed along through the food line, and Titus's plate quickly became a heap. He was struggling to keep it from falling off the sides as I strategically placed my food to minimize touching. Once I had everything I wanted, I went to sit by my parents, who were at the end of one of the long tables in the garage. Titus's family was with them. I put my plate down and went back for drinks. Noticing that Titus had spilled jello, I grabbed him another plate while I was at it.

"Here." I gave it to him and set the drinks on the table.

"Good idea." He gave me a grin as he scooted a portion of his food over.

My mother laughed. "You can go back for seconds, Titus."

"I got excited. Everything looks so good that I had to try it all."

I ripped apart my roll and dipped it in the gravy covering my potatoes.

"Aden has never had an appetite like that," said my mother, shaking her head. "Even when he had that growth spurt freshman year, he just got thinner and thinner."

"Mom," I breathed, "I eat plenty." I glanced at my boyfriend to find he was nearly halfway done. I scanned the table and saw all our werewolf guests had nearly cleaned their plates. Darius was already heading back for more.

"It must run in the family," said my mother. "Quint has never been much of an eater, so you must have gotten it from him."

Both my dad and I rolled our eyes. I finished my plate while listening to my mother chat with Rose. They seemed to like each other. I hoped so because if I mated with Titus, they'd be in-laws. I peeked up at Xavier, who was scanning the room with his arms folded. And he would be my father-in-law. I was not excited about that.

"I'll be back in a second." Titus stood and went for round two.

"Where does it go?" my mother breathed. "Honestly, no human being can eat that much and not have a stitch of fat on them."

"We keep our boys busy," said Xavier. "They work hard, so they have to keep up their energy."

"What is it your family does for a living?" asked my mother, picking up the last bits of salad with her fork.

My dad squirmed in his seat, and I nervously waited to hear what the alpha came up with.

"Cattle," said Xavier. "Free-range cattle and we also own quite a bit of land."

"That would do it," laughed my mother. "I don't know if you're exactly the type to be a farmer's wife, Aden. You're not very outdoorsy to begin with."

I heard chuckling coming from my uncles and aunts, who had overheard. "I'm sure I'll figure it out."

Titus returned and immediately started inhaling his food. I gathered up the used paper plates and threw them away. Stopping by the dessert table, I dished some for Titus and me. My boyfriend's eyes grew wide when I set the place in front of him.

"You got a lot of food for yourself?"

"It's for you, too."

Titus shook his head. "I don't care for sweets."

"You're going to try it." I poked at the chocolate pie. "Rose and Storm made this."

With a smirk, he glanced across the table. "I don't think anyone should be eating it, then."