CHAPTER 201: QUESTIONABLE STATUS

The dining room seemed fairly busy when they entered. While it wasn’t necessarily full - there were a lot of empty seats left - it was bustling with chatter, as pack members enjoyed their lunch in groups. It didn’t look at all as if the lunchtime was about to end.

So Lyla had lied to Felix, it seemed. He probably would have been fine coming a little bit later.

Since he was already there, though, it was too late to turn back. Felix simply had no good argument to do so. He took off Vivi’s hat and unwrapped the thick winter blanket, so that she wouldn’t overheat, and stuffed it together with his own jacket in the basket at the bottom of the pram, before following the group of the Omegas to the kitchen counter.

The menu on the whiteboard had been updated since he had been there earlier, displaying a completely different selection of dishes. Felix quickly scanned it, as he waited for his turn to pass his order. He was the last one in the line, and the other Omegas were sure taking their sweet time deciding... Which was most likely done on purpose, to rile him up, or subtly try to put him down a bit.

But it was all doomed to fail, naturally. Felix just waited patiently, and once it was his turn, he said, "Chicken rice bowl, please," his voice perfectly calm.

Why would he be bothered by such a little thing? It was just waiting for a bit, he was more than used to that!

Not to mention, it was just waiting to order. Once he had said what he wanted, the kitchen staff served his food just as quickly as the others’. His meal was also just as nice as that of two other Omegas who had chosen the same option - a bowl full of fresh rice, with grilled chicken, colorful fresh veggies, and a tangy sauce to top it all. The portion was solid, but not as ridiculously large as the one Felix had been given at breakfast. Probably because Kade wasn’t with him this time, so he was treated just like anyone else.

Which suited Felix just fine. He didn’t want any special treatment. And being treated just like any other pack member was already better than he had expected...

It seemed that while Lyla was the leader in her little group of Omegas, she wasn’t a person of particular influence. The kitchen staff were nice to her, but that’s all. Even if they noticed that she was hoping to knock Felix down a peg, they didn’t go along with it.

It wasn’t like back at the Moonhill Pack, where Ashley could restrict Felix’s access to various supplies, limiting it to bare necessities.

"Since everyone has their meal, let’s go sit down, shall we?" Lyla smiled. For some reason, even though they had (most likely deliberately) slowed the queue down earlier, once they had received their orders, they hadn’t left, and instead waited for Felix. Which was something he didn’t expect them to do...

But it wasn’t that they were being nice. There was thought to it as well, as he soon found out, when Lyla took a few steps toward the table at the end of the dining hall, before suddenly stopping.

"Oh..." She said, as if she suddenly realized something, and glanced at Felix with fake hesitation. "I’m so sorry, it completely slipped my mind... But... Are you allowed to use that table?"

It was a valid question, or at least it could be. After all, earlier Felix had come to the dining room with Kade. As he was accompanying the Young Master, he was naturally given permission to sit by the reserved table. But the same could be said about Lyla and her group, who had also joined them with Kade’s permission. It didn’t necessarily mean that Felix himself was entitled to sit there.

And that’s what Lyla was trying to allude to. Her question might have seem innocent, but Felix was too familiar with all of the Omegas’ little games not to pick up on her true meaning. She was trying to embarrass him by pointing out that his status in the Bloodmoon Pack wasn’t that high.

...How utterly ridiculous. She herself obviously wasn’t allowed to sit at the reserved table without explicit permission, otherwise she would have been sitting there from the start when they had first come into the dining room at breakfast, there would be no need for her to ask Kade. Her group wouldn’t be a problem either, as everyone entitled to sit there could also invite anyone else to join them, based on what Kade had told him earlier. So, while Lyla’s family’s status in the pack might have been high, it wasn’t THAT high.

And yet, even though she clearly wasn’t high-ranking enough herself, she was trying to mock Felix for it? Did she have no shame?

Well, perhaps she didn’t.

Felix rolled his eyes internally, but outwardly, he put on a polite smile. "Yes, it’s fine, don’t worry about it. Let’s just sit down, alright?"

Lyla’s smile faltered. It was not the answer she had expected.

Of course, Felix WAS entitled to sit at that table, and she understood it. He was the mother of Young Master Kade’s pup, after all, and that alone gave him a special position in the pack. Unless he had committed a crime against the pack or something, it would be weirder if his status wasn’t elevated.

But it wasn’t official, not yet at least. Felix might have met with the leader and the Luna, but there hadn’t been any public announcement, just a few casual words from Young Master Kade earlier. And Felix was a newbie to the the pack - regardless what Kade had said, no one believed that crap about how Felix was allegedly from the main branch of the Bloodmoon Pack.

So, where did he find the confidence to claim such a high position for himself?

Was it just that he didn’t understand what that reserved table was for?

"Are you sure about it?" she asked, forcing herself to feign concern. "It’s not a regular table, you know... It’s reserved for the highest-ranking members of our pack and their immediate families... Young Master Kade can sit there, since he’s the heir, but you..." Her words drifted away. "Ah, don’t get me wrong. I don’t mean to say that you’re not important, it’s just that..."

"I know. Thank you for your concern, but that’s not necessary. I’m the mother of Young Master Kade’s pup, so it’s fine," Felix said sternly.

Or he attempted to. However, his voice faltered when he said the last sentence... It was, of course, because it was a lie, and one that he was still uncomfortable with...

But Lyla misunderstood. He noticed his discomfort, and took it as uncertainty.

She barely suppressed a smirk, as she shook her head with a sigh. "Yes, you might be the mother... But you’re not Young Master’s mate, are you?" she pointed out. "It’s only your pup that holds a status high enough to sit at that table... And I believe the Little Miss is still too young to give you her permission to join her, isn’t she?"

Of course she was. Vivi was only seventh months old. She had barely started babbling, and hadn’t even said her first word yet. How could she possibly be able to express her thoughts? She probably didn’t understand a word of they were even saying!

Felix scoffed inwardly. She was underestimating him...

Then again, he truly was still quite unfamiliar with how the Bloodmoon Pack worked. If Kade hadn’t explicitly told him earlier that he was eligible to use the table at any time, perhaps he would hesitate now. Even if he could tell that Lyla’s words weren’t said out of concern for him, discerning how much of it was true wouldn’t have been an easy task.

Since he already knew the dining room rules, thought...

"You’re right, I’m not Young Master’s mate," he said, as calm as ever, not missing a single beat. Unlike talking about Kade’s paternity, this part didn’t cause him any trouble. It was not a lie, after all, all things considered. "However, I am still eligible to use this table."

"Are you sure about it?" Lyla pressed on, her voice filled with fake worry. "I understand why you might think that way... But as the member of the Bloodmoon Pack, you should know not to overstep. You shouldn’t act above your station, it’s disrespectful for all the members..."

Felix held back a sigh. When would that woman finally give up? And what was she even trying to achieve? Lower his confidence? Even if that worked for now... It would have still been resolved once he talked to Kade.

Or perhaps it was just that he was too used to being mistreated, so that things like that didn’t get to him? Perhaps if it was someone else...

Either way, he didn’t want to drag it any longer. They had been standing in the middle of the dining room for too long now, making the scene, with the trays with the food in their hands. The others might have been fine with it, but he was not.

Not because he was embarrassed or anything like that, of course, not at all!

He was simply hungry.

Should he just agree to sit somewhere else, just to end this stupid discussion? He didn’t mind ’losing’ this time, if that made Lyla happy. As long as he could finally eat his lunch...

Just as he was about to speak up, though, someone ostentatiously cleared their throat.

"Ahem! What is going on here?"