Altair
I dropped into the chair hard enough to make the feet clatter on the wooden floorboards. Leo was still standing behind me, his hands on the chair, trapped behind my shoulder blades. It was almost a comfort, but I could feel his tension at my back.
The man at the table—Viktor, the scary one—looked so much like Leo. He had the same square jaw and dimpled chin, the same gray eyes, and thick dark hair. Viktor’s grew longer. It was more unkempt. But even if they’d had the same hairstyle, I didn’t think I’d ever mistake them for the same person.
Leo was all smiles and brightness, rushing to try and make people comfortable.
His twin sat there, his arms crossed over his chest, glaring at me. His eyes were like stone in winter, and there were no smile lines around his mouth. In fact, his face was so smooth and placid that it was easy to think he’d never smiled at all.
“Ruu-ude,” Evie sang. She dropped into the seat at one end of the table, pursed her lips, and raised her eyebrows high.
“It’s all right,” I said, folding my hands in my lap and crossing my legs. “I’ve heard worse.”
“Yeah?” Viktor snapped.
“Yes. I’m a brown man with a preference for same-sex romantic liaisons in America, darling. I don’t know how much the world has changed since I’ve been away, but I’ve been alive long enough to know that people change very slowly, if they change at all.”
Viktor’s nose flared. A sound rumbled low, and I thought it was coming from deep in his chest. “Man is a generous moniker for what you are.”
I shrugged. “Maybe it is, but I have met and been charmed by enough of your family that I doubt anyone who belongs among them could come up with worse than what I’ve been called before.”
“Then I shouldn’t waste my time insulting you.”
Nothing about the way that Viktor leaned forward in his seat, the way he glared, said that I’d won this bout or that he was willing to let it go.
As much as I’d prefer to pretend that everything was fine and this was over, it’d be better to have our stances laid out clear, and at the tight set of Viktor’s jaw, I thought he’d give me the truth, at least.
“Because you’d rather kill me?”
“Absolutely.”
“Viktor,” Leo hissed.
At the end of the table, Evie blanched. Her eyes widened, gleaming and green, like until that very moment, she’d thought this was all a joke.
I held up a hand for quiet and leaned forward, holding Viktor’s eye steadily even while my stomach rolled.
This was a man who not only wanted me dead, but could manage the feat. I’d known plenty of killers in my life, and Viktor was undoubtedly one of them.
“Why?” I asked.
His eyes narrowed further. A muscle in his jaw flexed.
He hated me, and I was certain I’d never met him. This was something beyond fear of me as an individual threat.
This was—
He knew vampires, and the sort to justify all his seething rage. I didn’t doubt it, I’d known some of the same, but I didn’t understand how he was so certain when the rest of his family was open. How did he alone know enough about us to feel so strongly?
“Why do you want me dead?” I pressed when he didn’t respond.
Whatever it was, he wouldn’t say it. Instead, he turned his hot glare on his brother.
“You’ve smelled off for days,” he accused. “This leech fed on you.”
Behind me, I heard Leo suck in a soft breath. “I offered.”
“Durak,” Viktor spat, baring his teeth at his brother.
I tensed, the shape of the Russian word in his mouth making my hair stand on end.
Glancing up at Leo, I couldn’t see much but the paleness at his jawline from clenching his teeth so hard. I felt his fingers tighten on the back of my chair.
He replied in Russian, and while I’d picked up some words and phrases in my time with Ivan, he spoke fast and low, and I couldn’t make sense of what he said.
Aleks heaved a loud sigh that interrupted the twins. “You’re wrong about one thing, Viktor. Leo didn’t bring Altair here—I did.”
“Then you’re just as much of an idiot as he is.”
I’d always gotten the sense that within a werewolf pack, the alpha’s word was absolute, but even when Aleks rolled his shoulders back, Viktor didn’t back down.
Of course, neither one of them rose to attack the other, either.
Aleks said, as measured and calm as he seemed able, “Leo left him in the woods. The witches came looking for him. You’d have me leave him out there so we can have more incursions into our territory?”
Viktor’s hand hit the table hard enough that I jumped in my seat, and Leo squeezed my shoulder. “I’d have you put down a threat to the pack when one pops up.”
“I will,” Aleks said, “when it’s necessary. Altair . . . ” Aleks’s eyes slipped toward Leo, like he wasn’t totally sure the next thing he was about to say was entirely true. His frown deepened, but he didn’t waver on his stance. Not yet. “Altair hasn’t hurt anyone.”
“He ate my brother,” Viktor bellowed.
I flinched back. That was . . . not entirely untrue.
A flash of hurt crossed Aleks’s features. “Our brother,” he corrected in a quiet voice.
Katya huffed, tossing her golden hair back behind her shoulder. “Enough, Vitya. Altair is a guest in my home, and as long as he doesn’t hurt anyone, he’s a welcome one. I won’t have you disrespecting him under my roof.”
Viktor snarled, rising from the table. “None of you have any idea what you’re dealing with.” He marched toward the door just as it opened, and demanded the man coming in talk sense into his mate.
The newcomer himself was of medium height, and he stood like someone who—well, like someone who stood a lot, used to balancing his weight on one foot or the other. His jeans were well worn, and his dark hair was combed back from his face. The belt he wore had pouches for who knew what.
He visibly flinched when Viktor slammed the door behind him. Beyond the door, I could hear Viktor stalking heavily, back and forth on the long porch.
Even furious, he wouldn’t go far. He wouldn’t leave his loved ones behind when I was there. He wouldn’t go so far that he couldn’t hear them scream, like I might try and take down nearly half a dozen werewolves all on my own.
“What’s going on?” the dark-haired man asked, looking first at Aleks before his eyes landed on me. “Who’s this?”
Aleks took a deep breath, and his shoulders slumped. I couldn’t tell if it was in relief or defeat. The way he looked at this newcomer was like a parched wanderer in the desert, and the man was full to the brim of cool, crystal-clear water.
“This is Altair, um—” he said.
“Altair ibn Asif,” I supplied with what I hoped was a patient, likable smile. Even if I was still smeared with dirt and unable to make a truly good impression on any of them, I wanted to at least try.
“Right,” Aleks said. “And Altair, this is Cash Roberts, my mate.”
Evie bounced in her seat, biting the tip of her tongue. “Altair’s a vampire.”
Cash gasped softly. “Come here, Evie,” he said, holding out his arm for her.
Her brow puckered, but she leapt onto the balls of her feet and tucked herself under his arm. He could’ve been her father, though he looked a little young for it. I didn’t have any idea how werewolves aged though, so maybe he was older than he looked.
They had the same dark brown hair and green eyes, and he squeezed her close against her side and tucked her head beneath his chin. If I had to guess, that was a scenting thing for werewolves, satisfying them both that she belonged with him and was safe.
“Pa’s looking for you,” he said. “He didn’t know if you were eating supper over there or here. You should go tell him.”
Evie’s lips screwed to the side, clearly disappointed when she looked back at me.
I . . . liked her. My life would probably be easier if I didn’t, if I kept my distance, but she seemed to enjoy talking to me and it was nice. Normal. Lovely.
“Okay,” she said, sticking out her bottom lip for a second. “I’ll see you later, Altair.”
I nodded, hoping that she did. “I want to hear more about sparkling.”
Aleks snorted as she hopped out the door. Outside, I heard her say to Viktor, “Don’t be a dick.”
Then she was gone, and Aleks crossed the room to wrap his arms around Cash’s waist while Cash continued to stare at me.
“We should go to bed early tonight,” Aleks said. “Can our cabin be ready . . . tomorrow?” He smiled toothily, like he was asking a grand favor.
Cash bit his lip and finally drew his eyes away from me to look at him. “We can make that work, yeah.”
“Great. I thought we could wake up early and move our stuff. Altair needs a place to stay and this—this is safest for everyone. Our room. If you’re . . . okay with that.”
Cash rubbed his lips together, looking over at Leo and me before he looked up at Aleks again and nodded. “If you’re okay with it, I’m okay with it.”
I sighed and turned to Katya. “I’m sorry for the hassle.”
She shook her head. “Nothing to apologize for. I’ve got three boys. It’s a miracle there’s not more scuffling than there is.”
I nodded, my stomach clenching hard in a way that felt a little like hunger pangs, but I thought had more to do with the tension gripping every inch of me. I wrapped my arms around my middle and slumped forward until my forehead pressed on the table.
The chair beside me moved out, and Leo sat there. His hand smoothed down my spine, and I shut my eyes, knowing all the while that the closer he got, the angrier Viktor would be.