Kegan held Calix's hand on the whole walk to the diner. It was the strangest walk he'd ever been on, especially since none of the wolves they passed growled or threatened him. On the contrary, they all waved and smiled at the pair, a few of them cooing over Kegan until Calix ushered them away with a smirk.

The diner was bright and the best smelling place that Kegan had ever been in.

"Beside Calix's room," Jade chimed in, making Kegan roll his eyes at his wolf. "Don't deny the truth."

"What would you like to eat?" Calix asked, looking at the menu hanging at the front. "Anything you know you like?"

Kegan shook his head shamefully. "I've never really eaten pastries," he admitted. "Neither of the other packs allowed me to. They didn't let Omegas have that luxury because they wanted us to stay lean and said we did not deserve them."

Calix didn't speak right away, scared it'd come out as a snarl. He quickly calmed himself down, then smiled at Kegan.

"Would you allow me to choose something for you?"

Kegan nodded, biting his inner cheek and following Calix up to the register.

There was a young woman at the register, and she grinned brightly when she saw Calix.

"Good morning, Alpha. How can I help you today?" she asked, brushing a strand of hair out of her face.

Calix grinned right back at the girl, stepping aside so she could see Kegan. "Showing my mate around the pack," he said. "You'd know that if you were ever around."

Kegan felt a sense of pride when Calix said that, as he felt the girl was being too flirty with his mate. Not that he'd have told her to stop since talking to other wolves and trying to be assertive with them scared him.

The girl glared at Calix before she began to grin again, turning to Kegan. "Did you come from another pack? It's so nice to meet you!" she exclaimed.

Jade growled. "She's after our mate. I don't trust her."

Kegan ignored him, forcing a small smile to the girl. "Uh, yeah, I'm from the Red Claw pack," he said, not wanting anyone to know that he was the one they attacked the North River pack to save.

He didn't want to look weak.

"Well, welcome to the Starlight diner," the girl said, extending her hand. "I'm Lys."

"She's Tali's mate," Calix said, wrapping his arm around Kegan's waist. "She lives at the pack house too, but she owns the diner so sometimes she stays here in the back room."

Kegan felt bad for being jealous of Lys. He knew it was partially caused by Jade and his overprotectiveness of their mate, but it still made him feel bad to have immediately gotten jealous of an innocent Beta.

"Not everyone wants to spend their day drowning in Alpha pheromones and that's the prominent scent at the pack house," Lys said, pursing her lips. "Thank the goddess my mate is a Beta."

Calix rolled his eyes playfully, rubbing his fingers gently over Kegan's side. "Can we order or are you going to keep bullying me?"

"Usually I'd keep bullying you but I'd hate to keep your mate waiting and you're holding up the line," Lys said, pulling out a coffee cup. "Are you getting your usual?"

Calix nodded, before ordering another drink for Kegan and a box of pastries so Kegan could try a selection of things. Once he'd paid and collected their items, he thanked Lys and showed Kegan to a window.

"I ordered you an Italian soda. Something tells me you're more of a sweet tooth," Calix said, taking a sip of his own drink. "If you don't like it I can order you something else."

Kegan took a sip of the bubbly drink and tears sprung to his eyes at the feeling of the carbonation running down his throat. He wiped his face and coughed, overwhelmed by the bubbles stinging his throat.

"Have you never had a carbonated drink before?" Calix asked, surprised by Kegan's reaction to the drink as he handed the Omega a napkin. 

Kegan shook his head, wincing at the stabbing sensation from the bubbles.

"I'll be right back," Calix promised, taking the drink and running to the register. He returned a few minutes later with another drink and placed it in front of Kegan. "Here, try this instead."

Kegan didn't want to disobey an Alpha's orders, so he took a sip, please by the lack of stinging bubbles. It was sweet and sour at the same time with an herbal flavoring, similar to the scent of the tea that the Beta in the Red Claw pack would drink.

"What is this?" Kegan asked, taking another drink.

"It's a strawberry lemonade infused tea," Calix said, opening the box of pastries. "I'm sorry about the carbonated drink, I didn't realize you hadn't ever had one and it's kind of weird if you've never tried it."

Kegan smiled genuinely at the Alpha, willingly looking into his icy eyes. "It's alright. No one's ever done what you did for me," he said gratefully. "I mean, no one's ever actually wanted to get to know me either, so there's that too."

Calix took Kegan's hand in his own. "I want to know everything about you. Not about the trauma you faced, but about you. What's your favorite season, what does your wolf look like, all of the details about you as a person," he said, before pulling out two different pastries. "And I'm also curious as to whether you'll prefer scones or doughnuts."

Kegan blushed at the words, barely able to believe that Calix truly wanted to get to know him. Instead of asking the Alpha why he cared to get to know him, Kegan took the circular shaped pastry and bit into it, his taste buds singing in joy at the sweet treat.

"You're so cute when you smile," Calix said, admiring how Kegan's face had lit up when he tried the doughnut.

Kegan blushed once again, unsure if he loved the sweet words that Calix seemed insistent on saying or if he hated them and felt as though they were there to trick him.

He didn't get a chance to dwell for long, since Calix pushed the other pastry toward him.

"Try this one," he said, noticing how Kegan was still eyeing the doughnut. "You can finish the doughnut, I just want you to try this one, too. The fact that you've been deprived of sweets your whole life makes me want to buy every single dessert on the planet and let you try them all."

Kegan smiled and accepted the other pastry. It was heavier than the doughnut and triangular in shape. He didn't really know if he wanted to try something that felt like it could shatter a window if he threw it hard enough.

Calix could sense the hesitation and assumed that Kegan didn't trust him enough to eat the strange looking treat. In order to soothe the Omega, he took the pastry from Kegan and cut it in half, offering one of the pieces to Kegan and taking the other himself.

"I promise it's okay," Calix said, taking a bite of his half.

Kegan warily bit into it, chewing the food skeptically. His eyes, once again, lit up at the sweetness of the food, and he smiled, making sure to keep his mouth closed.

"Like it?"

"Mhmm," Kegan hummed, taking another bite.

Calix was grateful that Kegan seemed to be accepting him and his pack a little bit more. If Calix could show the Omega a little bit of love and guidance, maybe Kegan could learn that the world wasn't out to get him and that there are good people around who wanted to protect him.