"Edaline. What brings you here?" Everette asked.
Edaline gave the two of them a suspicious look, with one eyebrow raised. "Nothing. I just came to check on you. Lunch will be served shortly."
Edaline then turned to Mattias with a slight smirk. "Ah the famous scientist. Mattias, I hope you don't mind me being too personal, but do you have a special someone yet?"
Mattias looked up shyly, then shook his head. "Erm… no I don't."
Edaline hummed. "That's unexpected. You're already 24, and quite a handsome young alpha. Has no one caught your fancy?"
Everette gave Edaline a hard stare. He knew exactly what she was trying to do.
Mattias looked a little embarrassed as he answered, "no. I haven't really found anyone attractive in that way before."
"Really? Does that mean…"
"Enough," Everette interrupted. "Don't bother the young man. We should head to lunch." He turned suddenly, heading back towards the house. Despite Everette's unaffected manner, for some reason he was feeling slightly elated. His steps felt very light.
Edaline rushed to catch up to Everette, with Mattias trailing behind. Looking back to check that Mattias was out of earshot, Edaline whispered, "he's a cute young alpha. You should consider him."
Everette didn't want to acknowledge that statement, but still whispered back, "he is six years younger than me, and calls me Uncle."
Edaline rolled her eyes. Not very sophisticated for a middle-aged high society lady.
"So what? That's not a big age difference in the grand scheme of things. And our families are not actually related by blood. I have never seen you look so pleased talking to an alpha before."
Everette had no idea which eyes of hers saw that he felt pleased. He hurried his steps, annoyed that his sister with her long alpha legs was able to easily keep up.
They arrived back at the main hall. Because today's gathering involved two extended families, with all sorts of grandparents, adult children and almost grown grandchildren, lunch was arranged with a series of tables. The adults and grandparents were seated at one, while the various grandchildren filled up another two tables.
Mattias walked over to his parents, who then directed him to his seat. He looked quite awkward as he sat down. Mattias was fairly short for an alpha and was clearly not close with his cousins, so he seemed as if he was a nervous bunny rabbit trapped amongst a den of wolves.
Everette shook his head to rid himself of the ridiculous mental image. He followed Edaline to the main table, taking his seat which just so happened to be across from Angus Blackhorn, Mattias' father.
Thankfully Angus made a pointed show of ignoring Everette, allowing him to finish his meal in peace. Unfortunately, he was still subjected to overhearing Angus' obnoxious conversations with the other family members.
Almost every second sentence he heard Angus mention Mattias' recently received award, even managing to get the name of the award wrong twice.
Eventually Angus heaved an exaggerated sigh. "Ah… now that Mattias has established himself in the scientific field, it's time to start looking for a nice omega for him to settle down with."
Everette gripped his fork a little more tightly than necessary as voices of agreement rang out around him.
"Oh yes he shouldn't wait too long to settle down."
"Having an omega wife at home is needed to keep our alpha sons in check."
"Oh does Mattias have his eye on anyone?"
"I can give you a few recommendations for nice young omegas if he would like to meet with them."
Angus puffed out his chest a little, proud to have steered the conversation in this direction. "Well actually, Mattias is quite close with Emilia Evans. I think that it won't be long before he announces his special someone to the family."
There were a series of soft gasps around the table. The Evans family was a force to be reckoned with, so if Mattias did secure a union with Emilia Evans then the status of Angus Blackhorn would rise significantly in the Blackhorn family.
Emilia Evans was also quite famous as a polite and gorgeous young omega, with a soft, fragile face and large watery eyes. She was considered the ideal marriage partner for any young alpha.
For some reason Everette felt rather irritated by this thought. He looked up, straight into the eyes of Angus Blackhorn and said, "that's strange. I was talking to your son not long ago, and he told me that he doesn't have a special someone."
Angus Blackhorn's face instantly fell, as the rest of the guests tried to hide their mocking expressions. Everette sneered lightly at him, then turned to Richard Vale, saying that he had a few work commitments and would not be able to join them for the rest of the day.
Richard Vale readily excused him, so Everette left the mansion. As he was driving through the city streets, Everette tried to clear his mind for his upcoming work.
And yet, for the rest of the day Everette kept feeling restless and irritated. Any happiness from talking to Mattias in the garden had been completely washed away.