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Isaak turned to his sister. “Speaking of your mate, Valentina … where is useless fool?”
She sighed. “James is behind you. This you know. And he is not useless or—”
“It’s all right, sweetheart,” James cut in. “Don’t let him rile you up. It’s not his fault he’s mentally an infant.”
Luke bit back a smile, watching as Isaak’s face flushed. The wolverine didn’t respond despite his annoyance, clearly still determined to discount the presence of his sister’s mate.
James flashed a smile at both Blair and Luke. “Thank you both for coming. I hope you’re hungry, my mate’s been cooking up a storm all day.”
“It was no hardship to come,” said Blair. “Especially when I adore Valentina’s cooking.”
The female wolverine lifted her chin, looking chuffed.
James’s gaze swept over the three brothers. “For the sake of present company, maybe you could pretend not to hate me for at least one evening.”
Isaak glanced at Sergio, his brow furrowed. “Did you hear that?”
“The squeaking?” asked Sergio.
“Enough,” barked Valentina as she slashed her hand through the air. “We will have normal meal for once. Now everyone sit. Food is ready.”
Soon, they were all settled at the table, digging into their dinner.
“How did meeting with your parents go, Blair?” asked Valentina.
“Good, actually,” replied Blair. “They apologized and promised that things would be different from now on. We decided we’d give them the opportunity to back up their words with actions.”
Sergio’s brow pinched. “Why did they need to apologize?”
Blair drew in a breath. “To sum up, they were never accepting of Luke. They made it hard for us from the beginning; they wanted me to mate with another bush dog and remain in their pack.”
Isaak scowled. “But Luke is your predestined mate. How can they not accept him and respect your choice?”
James blinked. “Yes, how can anyone not do such things for their own family members?”
Either oblivious to the verbal dig or pointedly ignoring the pallas cat, Isaak asked Blair, “Do you believe apology was sincere?”
“It seemed to be.” Blair sighed. “Maybe it makes me a sucker that I chose to give them a chance, but …”
“If you had not, you might have later wondered if you made mistake,” said Sergio. “This way, you will see for yourself if it was right choice to trust their word.”
“My brother is right,” Isaak told her. “Still, I would find it hard to be so forgiving if anyone failed to accept my mate. She is other half of my soul. No man or woman has right to interfere in something dictated by outside forces like fate.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” said James.
Luke clamped his lips shut to hold back a laugh. Jesus, the brothers were wacked. He didn’t know what it said about him that he nonetheless liked them.
Isaak took a swig of his vodka. “I once heard of man who tried to poison his sister’s mate to keep them apart.”
James’s mouth flattened. “That was Dimitri, and he did it to me.”
Isaak blinked. “Ah, so it was.” He shrugged. “You survived.”
“Unfortunately,” muttered Sergio.
Dimitri sighed. “Mama was so disappointed.”
“I did tell her to make stronger poison.” Isaak sniffed. “She did not listen.”
“She was distracted by Papa,” Sergio reminded him. “He was wailing loud enough to wake dead.”
“Let me guess,” said James. “Olga tested the poison on him.”
Isaac frowned. “I hear judgment in your voice. What happens between man and woman is their business alone.” His gaze then bounced from Blair to Luke. “So, how you find mated life?”
“Despite all the crap happening around us, I’m enjoying every minute,” said Blair.
“Ah, yes, Aleksandr told us you have idiot stalker,” said Dimitri. “Does he remain unidentified?”
The uncles always called Alex by his given name, Aleksandr.
“Unfortunately, yes,” Luke told him. “But not for much longer. He’ll slip up eventually.” And then Luke would slit the prick’s throat.
“Do you have idea of who it could be?” asked Sergio.
Luke lifted his bottle of beer. “We have some suspects, yes.”
“You must look at their family situations,” said Isaak. “If any grew up without father, they should be prime suspects. Being without father figure is hard for young boys. Just ask Aleksandr.”
James sighed. “This again? Honestly?”
Isaak ignored him. “Harsh family dynamics can cause children to become very maladjusted.”
“Now that I can agree with,” said James. “You three are evidence of it. Not that it’s your fault your mother’s a nut and your father’s a man slave.”
With that, the chests of all three wolverine males puffed right up.
Dimitri’s grip on his cutlery flexed. “Have we not warned you to speak of our mother with respect?”
James’s brow creased. “Why would I respect someone who keeps shooting at me?”
“You should be grateful she acknowledges you exist at all,” said Isaak. “You are nothing. Psychopathic cat with teeny IQ. You bring shame upon our sister by mating her. Yet, you do not care. And then you whine like babe when sweet old lady points gun at you. If it was not for her hand tremor, your gut would be filled with bullets and your heart would be—”
