"You see the way he looks at me?" Bonnie was so caught up in preparing everything, it took her a moment to register what Nathan had even said. It certainly wasn't unusual for her to be hosting, she cooked for the pack practically every night, she loved providing for them. But tonight, the salad servers had decided to go missing, the meat never seemed to be ready no matter how long she'd kept it in the oven, and Nathan had been in her ear all night. As always, she tried to acknowledge what was obviously his insecurities, calmly reassure him and move on, but for some reason, he just wouldn't listen.
There'd always been a degree of tension between her husband and her pack. Nathan wasn't bonded to them, but he'd never cared to be either, he'd never cared to try, and yet, it still seemed to bother him endlessly. "What?" Bonnie shook her head, distracted, pulling drawers open in an effort to locate the evasive utensils. "C'mon, you're not blind." He hissed under his breath, as if that made any difference with a house full of werewolves. "You see him, right? He's been staring at me all night."
"— Nathan, what are you talking about?" Bonnie finally turned to him, her own voice low merely out of respect. No point riling up his human insecurities even more. "Is this about Garrett again?" Nathan scoffed in response, shaking his head, and Bonnie could feel his anger building. She felt it because she could feel her own, the tension from the evening taking its toll. This time, she started before he did. "Enough. I'm not talking about this with you anymore. You're being ridiculous." But it had been the wrong thing to say.
His voice was noticeably louder this time, though he'd moved in close, still attempting to keep things private. "I'm being ridiculous?! Oh, yeah, okay, so they all just get a free pass to treat me however they'd like in my own damn house because, what? They're your pack?" About to snap, Bonnie took a step away from him, hands raising in surrender. "Stop! Just stop it! Nobody's treating you any differently. Nobody's staring at you. We're just having a normal family dinner, okay? Like any other night. Can we just do that? Can we sit down and eat and leave all of this behind?" His response came immediately, low and spiteful. "— They're not my family." The words floated around them. Petulant and resentful, it always came back to this. He was married to her, he had a child with her, and still, he felt like he didn't belong. He never made any effort to belong. Bonnie shut her eyes for a moment, trying to reel herself back in, trying to calm the wolf inside. "They're my pack. You're my husband —"
"Oh, I am?" Nathan laughed, the sound bitter. "Sorry, it's so hard to remember that, since you never want me around. You don't even talk to me when they're here." It proved to be too late to try deep breathing. All the meditation in the world couldn't have pulled her back from her upset. Overwhelmed, Bonnie abandoned all human niceties, raising her voice at him. She could hear the pack's deafening silence anyway, all seemingly waiting with baited breath. There was no saving this dinner. "I don't talk to you?! I don't fucking talk to you?" Tears stung her eyes, embarrassed and frustrated. She never talked to the pack about her troubles with Nathan, she carried it all alone like a good and loyal wife, and yet here he was, confronting her in front of all of them. "We spend practically every day together, every night together, and you don't say a word. You look straight through me, like I'm some kind of ghost! Like I'm not real! Do you even see me?! Do you?!" But she didn't want to hear the answer. He wouldn't know what to say anyway. He never knew what to say. With a sob hiccupping through her chest, Bonnie walked straight out of the house, escaping into the cold night air.