“Damn it, me,” he agreed, although a gleam entered his dark eyes as he held the half-empty bottle out to Zane. “Might as well make a night of it, brother.”
Zane didn’t hesitate, grabbing the bottle with a wide grin.
“To Arabesque,” he toasted. “May her cooch rot off in a sulfur spring!”
Downing the rest of the Goblin Moonshine, he wiped his mouth on the back of his hand. The effect was almost instantaneous. His posture loosened, his smile grew wider, and he dramatically clutched Brummy to his chest.
“You’re my best friend,” he declared, his words already slurring slightly. “The wolfiest wolf who ever wolfed.”
“Wolves obviously shouldn’t have alcohol.” I shook my head.
As if to prove my point, Brummy pulled away from Zane, wobbled to the center of the library, drew himself up to his full height, an impressive feat given his current inability to stand straight, and tilted his head back. The howl that erupted from his throat started deep and majestic and, for a moment, I could imagine him as he was meant to be: A powerful predator, king of his territory, voice carrying across mountains and valleys.
Then the howl cracked, warbling into a broken, disjointed sound that resembled a rusty hinge being forced open.
Still, a milestone.
“Aww! His first howl!” I applauded with a grin.
Alpha Fun. Alpha Boom. Alpha Sharp. Sing. Sing for Seri.
When they declined his invitation, Brummy fixed them with what would have been an intimidating stare if his eyes weren’t pointing in slightly different directions.
ALPHAS. SING. FOR. SERI.
Drunk, there was something fundamentally wild about Brumous, something that made even dhampirs pay attention. Here was a predator with teeth that could tear through bone like butter and few inhibitions about doing so.
“Dark take it,” Zane mumbled, then threw back his head and joined in Brumous’ howl.
The sound they produced together was indescribable. Part howl, part screech, with occasional dips into what might have been an attempt at harmony. Zane, his perfect pitch abandoned along with hisdignity, matched Brummy quaver for quaver. Any wolves within a fifty-mile radius were probably hiding their faces in shame.
Brummy, thrilled to have a singing partner, leaned against Zane, who was now fully committed to the performance, one arm slung around the dire wolf’s neck.
Koa dropped down beside me on the floor, his wide shoulders shaking with laughter that broke free in deep, rumbling chuckles. My own giggles built as the howling duo launched into the second verse of their opera.
“Tenebris me devoret.” Casimir drilled his knuckle between his eyebrows. I still hadn’t had the chance to translate that particular phrase, although I suspected it was something close to, “End me now.”
“Simmy?”
“I am going to find every bottle of Goblin Moonshine in this household tomorrow and toss them in the lake,” he declared, his voice eerily calm as the muscle in his jaw ticked.
“Oh, great,” I giggled, unable to resist. “Intoxicate the ducks that already hate you.Perfectidea.”
That was the final straw for Koa, whose laughter went silent. He gasped for breath as tears leaked from the corners of his eyes.
Casimir glared at me, but the corners of his mouth turned up.
“You’re not helping, Serafina.”
“I’m not trying to, Casimir,” I admitted with a grin.
Pack!Brummy howled suddenly.My pack!
“‘Ohana,” Koa corrected him through his laughter. “Say‘ohana, Brummy.”
Hana!my baby faithfully echoed.My hana!
And there it was. The heart of the matter, shining through everything.‘Ohana. Mismatched, chaotic, occasionally dysfunctional, but a family, real and true and strong.
