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She’d remarried twenty years earlier and was living in New Zealand, rarely leaving the place. Shale traveled to see her several times a year and came back with stories and holophotos of his half-siblings, all of whom shared his smile.
“Well,” Shale said, his voice accented softly with the music of Ireland, the country where he'd lived for the first twenty years of his life. “That’s a pretty sight, if you don’t mind me saying.”
Niko followed Shale’s sharp green eyes back to Zee, how she held her brother—and despite the fact that Liam was taller now, it was clearly Zee who controlled the embrace, comforting the youngest of the Day clan.
“You’ve never much cared if I minded you saying something or not,” Niko pointed out. “Don’t know why you’re bothering with niceties now.”
Shale flashed him a smile, his teeth shockingly white against the burnished, deep bronze of his skin. “Because it’s the courteous thing to do,” he said with a quick wink. “And my ma raised me to be courteous. Not all of us are mannerless heathens, you pathetic bastard.”
Niko flipped him off but was grateful for the distraction. It gave him a chance to breathe.
And Shale—the well-mannered heathen—noticed. Green gaze narrowing, he canted his head to the side and studied Niko, eyes flicking to the still healing furrows running down the left side of his face. Nobody with any knowledge of Therian predators would have a hard time guessing what had caused such marks—and for them to be on a Prime and no dead bodies left to show who had left such an injury, it meant the strike had been a result of a personal disagreement.
“Already went and pissed her off, did you?” Shale sounded amused.
“If I tell you to fuck off and shut up, will you do it?” Niko asked irritably.
“Well, if I do that, I can’t offer wise counsel. You look to be in need of it. You’ve got this dumbfounded look about you, mate, like you’ve taken a few hits to that impossibly hard head of yours, Niko.” Lashes lowering, the big man breathed in deep, then released his breath, a sly smile curving his lips. “And then some. It’s curious that you went after her yourself. You could have sent Boone. Fuck me, I was in West Virginia until yesterday. I could have fetched her if you just wanted her here for her father’s wake. Plus, she doesn’t know me—less likely to hate me on sight.”
“Careful, Shale,” Niko warned. He was in a shitty state of mind anyway and the last thing he needed was one of his men trying to goad him.
Shale just gave him a smug smile. “You better introduce me. That is, assuming you plan on having one of your men with her at the ceremony. She’s not a known entity here, after all. She’ll need an escort and you can’t be doing it while tending to your other duties.”
“I... ” Niko stared at his friend and one of his top men as awareness dawned. As the Prime, he wouldn’t be merely mingling at the wake, although he doubted the farewell celebration would be anything like a wake in Appalachia usually was. Considering Day’s heroic rescue of the children, there would be some who spoke for him, but Niko would be facilitating the evening.
And Zee...
I don’t have a pack.
This isn’t my home.
Shale was right.
She couldn’t roam around on Appalachia pack grounds without an escort. He wasn’t worried about her being a possible threat, but that wasn’t the only reason the rules existed. As an outsider, others might see her as a threat. Or an invitation. Not that Niko thought many—if any—in his pack would dare try to walk that line, but he wasn’t so arrogant as to believe that all of his people were all good, upstanding citizens.
No, he had some troublemakers and a couple of outright assholes. Most of them stayed in line because they were too afraid of him not to—a Prime’s justice was swift, and depending on the offense, could be final.
“Fuck it. You’re right, you big Irish bastard,” he grumbled. But then he nodded at Shale. “Come on. I’ll put you with her. She’ll be more comfortable with you. There’s no... history.”
* * * * *
NIKO WAS A GOOD-LOOKINGman—one of the sexiest she’d ever seen, and Zee knew she was biased.
But the man walking next to him across the grounds as they came her way wasn’t just good-looking. Even beautiful didn’t fit. He was ... transcendent.
Like some sort of ancient god come to life. Skin a rich, deep gold stretched over a frame that had to be close to six and a half feet—he was even taller than Niko, with wide shoulders, a toned chest that tapered down to a narrow waist and long, long legs. His eyes were so shade of green so deeply mysterious, it made her think of foggy mornings back in Massachusetts, when she’d go for a run and come across one of the rolling fields, cloaked in mist so thick, anything more than fifteen feet away was lost to the naked eye, like a gateway to another world. His hair was dark, not quite black, she didn’t think, and something about the way he had it clubbed back made her think the thick mass would curl if left free.
Oh, yes. He was a treat to the eyes.
And she knew she was in serious trouble, because neither her wolf nor her Fae self did much more than take in an appreciative look before focusing back on the scent of the man that was hers—or at least, the one her body thought was hers.
Liam moved close enough his shoulder brushed hers, then, in a show of support, he took her hand. “The big guy is Shale, one of the Prime’s lieutenants.” He lowered his voice even more. “In all honesty, he’s the only one who isn’t an asshole, if you ask me.”
Although he had lowered his voice, it hadn’t been enough, clearly, because the big man flashed a grin at them. “Thank you, Liam. I like you too.”
From the corner of her eye, Zee caught her brother’s scowl. And she took note of the lack of a blush on his face. Clearly, he didn’t care if anybody heard what he thought about the Prime’s top men.
Niko and the big man next to him came to a stop a few feet from Zee. She wished he would have stopped a few feet farther back—this close, it was too easy to breathe in the scent of him, a scent that lingered in her pores and made her want to keep breathing in deeper than necessary just to revel in it. Mentally bracing herself, she glanced at the stranger then met Niko’s gaze with a blank one of her own.
