Page 29 of Nightshade

Even though the witches had found me once, it was a better option than leaving. Or . . . it was a better option than leaving and dragging Leo away from his pack.

Tempting as it was to have a werewolf bodyguard dogging my every step, it’d be cruel. He had a life and a family, and in this, he was simply being stubborn.

The very idea was ridiculous. Foolhardy. I couldn’t begin to understand what he was thinking, in pressuring his brother on my account. Surely it was just misplaced gallantry.

If we couldn’t find a tenable solution, I’d find a time to slip away when Leo wouldn’t blame his brother or do anything as absurd as abandoning his family to slink through the shadows with me.

Aleks shook his head. “They’ve already come here looking for you once. It isn’t safe.”

“Then we keep an eye on him around the pack. Cash is almost done with the cabin for you and him. That’ll free up a bedroom in Mama’s house,” Leo said. “She’ll help keep everyone safe.”

What a fantastic idea! I’d kick the pack alpha out of his own bedroom.

Surely he’d go for that.

Shockingly, Aleks frowned, like he was seriously considering it. “We could make that work if you both take the day off working on the big house tomorrow. It might not be totally done, but as long as it’s got a roof and a bed to sleep in, that’s fine with me.”

“Done,” Leo agreed on the spot.

“Viktor’s not going to like it,” Aleks said.

Leo shrugged. “I’ll handle Viktor.”

“That’s brother number three?” I asked.

Aleks nodded. “The scary one.”

“And here I was, thinking that was you.”

The smile that turned Aleks’s lips up at the corners was uneven and dashingly handsome. “No, I’m the pretty one. Leo’s nice. Viktor is scary.”

Leo’s thumb brushed across the back of my hand. “Viktor’s fine.”

“For a terrifying soldier type who could kill you with a teaspoon, sure,” Alek agreed.

I wasn’t sure which one was lying to me, but it might’ve been both. Leo was trying to comfort, and Aleks was trying to make sure I didn’t get too comfortable.

In either case, I suspected I’d find out soon whether Leo was too optimistic about my chances with his pack. Aleks hefted the blanket and bedding off the bed and bundled it up in his arms. “Grab your things. Mama just loves guests who won’t eat her borscht.”

With the sense that I was definitely treading into drama I couldn’t begin to understand, I picked up my book, my old clothes, and the things Leo had brought me. Then, I offered him a tight-lipped smile.

“After you, Leo.”

If I dragged my feet toward the pack proper, well . . . who could blame me? I was half convinced they were going to tear me apart.

I was going to have to figure out how to eat human food, and fast. The last thing I needed was to insult Leo’s mother’s borscht.

CHAPTER 15

Leo

I might be the worst brother ever.

I’d known that Aleks would be sympathetic to what Altair had been through, because they had both been used by the witches in somewhat similar ways. I’d known, and I’d used it anyway, because I’d known it would make him sympathetic.

I was using my own brother’s trauma against him.

But Altair deserved that sympathy. He’d been through hell, over and over, and somehow he’d come away from that without the ability to make demands.