Page 61 of Hunter

“The pinot noir.” Viktor glanced at the cheese and turned his nose upward in disgust.

“Quint cooks. What’s your issue? Food is good.”

“Food was good.” Viktor picked up the pie-shaped chunk of brie, inspecting the package. “My brother doesn’t need food. He’s weak. Insists on cooking this human shit as if he is one. We drink blood. Preferably human. A witch or wolf every now and then is fine, but a human? It’s as natural as you eating this.” He tossed the cheese block onto the counter.

“Don’t let Quint hear you talk that way. He’ll kick your ass.”

“He’d try,” he grumbled.

“He would.”

“He depends too much on this human sustenance and now that he’s with Gabriella,” he sighed, “I’m afraid he’s gone even softer.”

“It doesn’t make you weak to eat food.”

“We all make our own choices, Alpha. Vampires are reborn. And the moment it happens, we’re stripped of our human privileges. We must embrace what we’ve become. Adapt or die. If we spend a lifetime remembering or worse, lamenting, the evolution of ourselves, that serves no purpose.”

“No offense but you’re an old dude. You’d think you’d be good with it by now.” Hunter opened a drawer and rummaged through it, searching for a corkscrew.

“Of course I accept it, but I cannot allow myself to reminisce about my human days. They’re over. I’m vampire. It’s all that I am now.”

“Well…ah, found it.” Hunter smiled and held the tool up in the air. “I’m just sayin’ maybe it’s time to let this thing go. Relax a little.”

“Tell me about Willa,” Viktor said, deliberately changing the subject.

“She’s amazing.” Hunter smiled, making quick work of uncorking the bottle.

“Look at me,” Viktor demanded.

“What?” The Alpha shrugged, a silly smile forming on his lips.

“You are like a girl.”

“Girls are amazing.”

“You didn’t?” Viktor sniffed into the air. “You’ve mated, haven’t you?”

Hunter laughed and began opening the cheese.

“You wolves be droppin’ like flies.”

“I didn’t mate her. I marked her. Big difference.”

“So, you peed on her then? I licked her she’s mine sort of thing? You wolves are animals.”

“Fuck off, Vik.”

“Ah well, all of you can live in bliss. Poor me will have to fuck a different hottie every night. I’ll suffer but someone’s gotta do it.” He slid a chair out from the table and sat.

“It’s not like I have control over these things. I didn’t go looking for her. I was looking for your ass.”

“You found ass, that’s for sure. And it wasn’t mine.”

“What’s done is done. The Goddess determines fate, not me. If I hadn’t marked her, my wolf would have gone berserk.”

“You blame it on the animal? Pfft. I’ve seen the way you look at her.”

Hunter grinned and held the bottle up to Viktor. “Do you want a glass?”