A Lamb Amongst Wolves

Chapter 16

Connor was woken the next morning by a squeak right next to his ear. He blinked, and was greeted by the sight of a small, pink mouth as Blewog meowed into his face.

He petted her tiny forehead with his finger and she gave a little purr, rubbing her small wet nose against his knuckle, then went right back to squealing loudly.

'Hello to you too,' Connor yawned, and noticed Alexis was no longer in bed next to him. 'Blewog, you diva. Alexis's already up, what did you wake me for?'

But Blewog didn't relent, insistently meowing at him with all the impressive capacity of her tiny lungs. Connor sighed and guessed he was up now.

He stood up, rubbing his face, then picked Blewog up from the bed to take her to the kitchen for feeding.

He was surprised to see the kitchen door closed. So that was why - she couldn't get to her bowl.

'You still could have gotten Alexis to open the door,' he told her. 'Where is he, by the way?'

Blewog didn't seem to care, wriggling excitedly the closer they got to the kitchen. Connor opened the door, and immediately wrinkled his nose at the smell.

'What...'

'Oh shit,' Alexis said, whirling around to face him. The Alpha wore jogging bottoms, a t-shirt, and an embarrassed expression on his face. 'Why are you already up? You weren't supposed to see this.'

Connor just looked at the kitchen and had to stifle a laugh.

'What are you doing? It smells... well, maybe you should open the window.'

'Can you just... I thought you were still sleeping,' Alexis said, a slightly desperate tone in his voice as Connor surveyed the carnage.

The counters and stove were a mess, splatters of something unidentifiable everywhere. The pan was sizzling with something smoking and black that filled the kitchen with the distinct smell of burnt food.

'Blewog woke me,' Connor replied, trying to hold back his laughter. He set the kitten down and she immediately dashed to her food bowl. 'The door was closed and she wanted in. What are you doing? Maybe you should turn off the stove.'

'Shit,' Alexis swore again, and switched it off. 'Err...'

'What were you trying to make?' Connor asked, and in spite of his best efforts he couldn't help a grin.

'I wanted to surprise you,' Alexis grumbled, cheeks reddening as he glared at the pan. 'I wanted to be the one who brought you breakfast in bed for once. Guess that didn't... work.'

Connor couldn't hold back any longer, and burst out laughing.

'Oh, Alexis,' he giggled, tugging his Alpha down by his sleeve to kiss his cheek. 'That's so sweet. Don't worry, I'll fix us something. We just have to clean this up a bit first.'

'It looks so easy when you do it,' Alexis complained. 'You just do stuff and then voilà, sausages and eggs. I thought it couldn't possibly be this hard.'

'It's okay,' Connor giggled. 'The first try is always a bit difficult. It'll go better next time.'

'Next time? There's no next time,' Alexis muttered. 'I've just remembered why I don't cook.'

'That's all right,' Connor chuckled. 'Otherwise I'd be useless, wouldn't I? Now come on, let's get all this into the dishwasher.'

So they did, to the sound of Alexis protesting Connor's last statement and rattling off a very sweet list of things he thought he owed Connor, and after Connor had made them breakfast, went back to bed to enjoy it whilst watching the telly. Blewog joined them a while later, sniffing at their ham and trying to paw at it until Alexis shooed her off with a flick of his finger. She eventually settled on the duvet next to Connor and fell asleep.