Reborn as a villain:Claim the omega, Kiss the beta, Kill the dukes Chapter 66: Dinner tensions

Chapter 65

Jack

Dinner is awkward.

Ciel avoids my gaze. Nolan glares at .

It’s like the first couple of weeks when we t again, only worse. Then, Nolan’s hostility had been sharp but cautious, laced with suspicion. Now? Now he’s on his guard, not just for himself but for Ciel too.

He’s bristling, shoulders tense, fork clinking a little too loudly against his plate. Guard dog mode. Only this ti, comparing him to a dog isn’t even amusing. Because I can tell—he’s genuinely fucking furious.

The air is heavy, thick with unsaid words. Lanny babbles in his highchair, blissfully unaware, smacking his tiny palms against the tray. His laughter is the only sound that doesn’t feel loaded.

Ciel, ever careful, spoons food onto Lanny’s plate with delicate precision. He doesn’t look at once. His lashes lower, his mouth set in a calm line that’s too calm. That’s worse than anger—Ciel’s silence, when it cos like this, always ans his heart is fragile and he’s building walls.

And Nolan notices. Of course he notices. His eyes flick to Ciel, then back to , full of accusation.

I exhale and push my chair back, the scrape of wood on tile loud in the suffocating quiet. I don’t even finish my food—who can in this fucking atmosphere?

"Sit the fuck down, Jack."

I pause mid-movent, dumbfounded.

Is he talking to ?

Slowly, I turn my head toward him. His face is carved out of stone, jaw tight, eyes hard. There’s no trace of his usual restrained sarcasm.This is pure alpha-challenge Nolan, and he’s directing it at .

One problem, Nolan is a fucking beta.

I glance at an imaginary cara.

Audience, do you see this shit?

"Nolan, you—" I start, still half incredulous.

"Down," he repeats, voice low but cutting.

I stand there, blinking, wondering what the actual hell is going on.

This is my house.

My kitchen.

My dinner table.

How dare he talk to that way?

Sure, he’s angry—but respect is—

"This is the last ti I’m saying this." Nolan’s voice slices clean through my internal rant.

"Sit down, eat your fucking dinner, and we’ll talk after."

My jaw tightens. I look at him across the table. His shoulders are coiled tight, the dinner knife still in his hand as he glares at .

I sit down.

Not because I’m scared.

Not because I suddenly realize this is the sa guy who once straight-up murdered the original Jack and is currently gripping a knife.

Not at all.

It’s just... dinner.

Ciel sits across from us, eyes fixed on Lanny, spoon poised like he’s feeding a baby statue instead of an actual child. His expression says, I am not here, I cannot hear, I am a decorative plant.

The clink of cutlery is deafening.

Nolan keeps eating like nothing happened.

Ciel keeps pretending he’s invisible.

And ? I’m sitting here, chewing air, wondering when exactly I stopped wearing the bloody pants in this house.

Lanny, of course, is having the ti of his life. He giggles, smacks the table, and spits out a mashed carrot like it’s the pinnacle of cody.

Yeah, glad one of us is enjoying this circus.

Dinner drags on like a hostage negotiation—no words exchanged, only passive-aggressive chewing and the occasional scrape of cutlery. By the ti plates are half-empty, the silence has grown so thick I could choke on it.

Then Nolan finally lifts his head. His eyes lock onto , sharp and steady. "Jack, what gives you the right to comnt on my relationship with Ciel?"

The air crackles. I snap my gaze to Ciel, accusing. He flinches like a schoolkid caught with a contraband sweet.

"Nollie, it’s not like that—" he tries.

"I love you, Ciel," Nolan cuts in smoothly, turning sugar-sweet for him. "But please stay out of this conversation."

Ha. Look at that. Soft voice for sunshine over there, razor blades for . The fucking difference.

He swivels back to , expression hardening again. Scowl in place. The contrast would almost be funny if my stomach weren’t sinking.

"I didn’t comnt about your relationship with Ciel," I say stiffly.

His brow arches. "Hmmmnn. So you didn’t say anything at all alluding to our relationship?" His tone is so deadpan, it’s like a blade pressed to my throat.

Well, shit. I can’t exactly deny that one.

"You seem to have a couple of things misconstrued in your head," Nolan says.

I just stare, lips pressed tight.

"You don’t know about us. You don’t know what we’ve been. You don’t get to speak on it, okay? Every single decision I’ve ever made in my life—I’ve made on my own volition."

"I get that," I snap back, "but you have to understand where I’m coming from. He wants us to—" I clamp my mouth shut.

But Nolan pounces. "Yeah, I know he wants us to fuck."

Ciel flinches. The word lands heavy, ugly, sitting in the air between us.

My jaw drops. Well, that’s... one way to put it.

"Yes," I say, incredulous, "and don’t you see a huge fucking problem with that?" Arms folded, I lean back in my chair like I’m not one twitch away from throwing the nearest fork.

Nolan just lifts his hands, casual. "Ciel’s logic is a little... skewed. But that’s only because he cares about this."

"This life," he continues, voice raising with heat. "It’s been so long since he’s....since we’ve had sothing like this, of course he’ll use any ans to keep it."

"And that’s by you fucking ?" My voice climbs a note, disbelieving.

Ciel flinches beside us like soone hit him with a spotlight. Guilt stabs , but we have to talk about this.

"Well, he’s not comfortable going that way with you," Nolan says as though he’s pointing out the weather.

"Oh please." I scoff. "I’m in love with Ciel—not because I want to sleep with him, but because he’s Ciel. His smile. His soul. His personality. You of all people should understand that."

For the first ti, Nolan falters. Ciel blinks, oblivious. My sympathy for him stirs, unwanted but there.

"Doesn’t change the fact that, at the end of the day, sex is a vital part of any romantic relationship," Nolan shoots back.

"Not necessary," I bite.

"Still just as important."

"We find pleasure in other ways."

He scoffs so loud it rattles. "Like that would be enough for you. You’re a fucking alpha and apparently a dominantone."

I slam my palm flat on the table. "I’m more than my designation. I’m not just an alpha, I’m Jack—the human being—who wants to be with you—" I stumble, correct myself fast, "—with Ciel, regardless of anything."

Nolan leans in, eyes dark.

"An alpha, regardless. What if it’s no longer enough for you? Then what? You’ll look for it,most likely outside the relationship."

"I would never do that," I snap. "I wouldn’t do that to him."

"Yeah? Big words from soone who said they wanted to fuck against a door a few nights ago."

The silence is instant.

Fuck.