“Questions aren’t bad. If my car disappeared I’d expect you to ask about it even if I was embarrassed about the situation.” The matter-of-fact way he said it had me guessing what he thoughtabout Emeric’s father. “But I’m not sure Dorian’s going to want you to say stuff like shit.”
“He would not.” My dry retort got snorts of laughter from both of them. “He’s being understanding at the moment, though.”
“I don’t know. The pup used it correctly and he’s smart enough to know not to use it at school when he starts there.” My groan got a laugh out of him.
“I still get to stay?” The pup, as Braun called him, was so excited I could hear him bouncing. “You’re not supposed to bring trouble to the pack. I know that rule, but I didn’t have anywhere else to go.”
“Well, I don’t and I’m calling bullshit. You may bring as much of that kind of trouble as you want as long as you behave at school and we don’t get calls from the principal.” That seemed like a reasonable line for me to draw. “We can’t have my work thinking you’re a delinquent.”
“No, Uncle Dorian. I’ll be really good at school.” He mumbled something that human hearing didn’t help me figure out before his voice got louder again. “Are Mr. Stein’s kids as weird as he is?”
“No.” I should’ve pointed out the poor manners but he wasn’t wrong. “They’re very nice and appear much more like regular human kids.”
Braun laughed. “You’re going to find that most of the kids blend better than their parents. Social media and that kind of stuff helps, but back when we were all growing up most of the adults thought it was terrible to look too human. That’s old school now, though.”
Mostly.
I wasn’t sure Emeric’s previous Alpha had gotten the message.
“I looked really human when I was coming to find you, Alpha.” Emeric was clearly proud of himself. “I don’t like rabbits, so I’d shift and put clothes on when I found hotels.”
Huh?
“I found some rabbit shifters online that talked about all the fun they had at hotels.” Emeric’s snicker made me worry. “They got fussed at for talking about grown-up stuff but I didn’t care about rabbit stuff. They explained they got free food. It worked.”
No one would question a kid wandering around a hotel unless he looked like he was doing something dangerous or annoying.
“That’s brilliant.” He’d done a good job of keeping himself safe.
“Thanks.” His adorable tone said he’d be grinning ear-to-ear. “I even got really good at looking confused and saying my parents told me to explore the hotel so they could have some quiet time.”
I might’ve forgotten how to swallow, but as I coughed and choked, Braun laughed like it was the single funniest thing he’d ever heard. When we could both talk again, Braun still sounded like he was barely controlling himself. “That would guarantee most humans stopped asking questions.”
Oh yeah.
“I got that online too. People are really helpful.”
We were going to need to monitor his online activity.
“You’re really smart too.” Braun paused as we slowed down and turned, getting closer to the house. “You figured out how to get food and shelter when you needed it, and you figured out where to come to get help.”
From the one adult he’d met that hadn’t been a complete fuckup.
“I knew you wouldn’t let Alpha Otto make me challenge him.”
Emeric’s matter-of-fact tone might’ve been scarier than the actual words…but I wasn’t sure the pup knew that.
“Alpha Otto’s a moron.”
I was going to have to agree with Braun on that one…once I could get my heart out of my throat and to go back to beating at the right speed.
Chapter 14
Braun
Good fucking grief.
Emeric’s calm tone was probably the only reason Dorian wasn’t coming through the phone, but I was having a hard time too, so I didn’t blame him. “I’m betting he told you that you had to fight him to show proof that you weren’t involved in your father’s disloyalty.”
