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Unless maybe they were releasing a pheromone into the air that made anyone close by regard them as attractive. Would it lower a prey’s guard? Make them more vulnerable? Did he have the equipment necessary to measure such a thing?
“I have so many questions,” Bel said slowly as he tried to keep his growing excitement and curiosity under control.
Wyatt’s lips tilted in a half smile. “I would imagine so. You may ask us anything you want.”
Bel bit down on his bottom lip. He wanted to know everything about werewolves. How was he supposed to categorize and prioritize his questions when he first wanted to spin around in a single place and shout his joy? The discovery of a new species! This was almost as good as uncovering the cure to vampirism.
No, there was something he needed to determine first. The root of Wyatt’s strange comment about the threat to their lives. If they were killed, there would be no getting any of his answers.
And well, of course it would be wrong for any injury to come to Wyatt and River. They seemed quite polite and nice when they weren’t in wolf form and trying to gnaw one of his limbs.
“You said you’d be killed,” Bel said in what he hoped was a neutral tone, with all his excitement under tight control. “Why? Are-are you looking to leave the MacPherson clan and join the Variks?”
Wyatt shook his head. “We were never seen as members of the MacPherson clan. We were purely the property of Brett MacPherson—the vampire you killed.”
Bel flinched at Wyatt’s words, but there was no boiling anger or even hatred in his voice. He was just stating a fact.
“You didn’t answer to Nolan, the clan leader?”
River shook his head. “We belonged to Brett. He had a way with wolves. Could command them.”
Bel’s eyebrows jumped and he sat up a little, straightening in his chair. This was the first he’d heard of another vampire being able to communicate with animals. “Just wolves?”
River nodded. “Yes. That’s all we ever saw him talking to. And his power wasn’t like yours. It was a command. Your power is different. Kinder. More…”
“Nuanced,” Wyatt filled in. “There are more emotions behind it. Warmth. Compassion.”
“Oh,” Bel breathed. He looked down at his hands, where he was twisting his fingers together. He never had anyone explain his powers before. Mostly because animals weren’t as articulate as Wyatt and River. “Thank you, I think.”
“We are not MacPhersons,” Wyatt confirmed.
“Then who is going to kill you? The threat certainly isn’t from the Variks. As long as you don’t attack us, we’re content to let you live in peace, away from us.”
Wyatt licked his lips and glanced over at River, who tightened a hand on Wyatt’s forearm. There was a powerful surge of emotions from both of them, though none of it showed on their faces. Fear. Sadness. Hopelessness. Shame. Bel reached up and rubbed an answering ache in his chest. The only thing stopping Bel from being completely swamped by the bleakness was the unwavering love they felt for each other.
“River and I were kicked out of our pack about twelve years ago. We’re rogue wolves. Any pack that sees us will kill us on sight.”
A dozen questions bounced through Bel’s head at that stark explanation. His mouth bobbed open for a second as he fought to put his thoughts in order, trying to figure out the most critical question.
“Y-you can’t just join another pack?”
Wyatt shook his head. River lowered his eyes to the floor and seemed to shrink a little into himself, leaning more heavily against Wyatt.
“I don’t understand. Why were you kicked out of your clan—I mean, pack?” He hadn’t wanted to ask. It seemed like an incredibly personal and invasive question, but if Wyatt and River were expecting him to accept them into his life, he should at least know what he was facing.
River’s hand tightened on Wyatt’s arm until his fingers were digging into his bicep and his face lost some of its color. Bel wanted to steal the question back, but it was too late.
“We’re gay,” Wyatt stated simply.
“I—” Bel’s words were caught in his throat, and he stared at the two men on his sofa in confusion.
That…well, that wasn’t the monumental secret he was quite anticipating. Homosexuality certainly had been a dangerous thing when he’d been a human nearly two hundred years ago, but now…well, in the United States, it usually wasn’t a death sentence. Gay marriage was legal, for heaven’s sake.
“I don’t understand,” Bel finally admitted.
His body kind of deflated. He’d been expecting a grisly tale of murder, mistaken identity, and betrayal. Or maybe a twisting conspiracy that went all the way to the head of Wyatt and River’s pack.
Or maybe he’d been reading too many thriller novels recently about espionage and government plots.
