Page 61 of Wolfsbane

He continued to grin, proud and pleased with it as though the words had been a compliment. And . . . maybe they had.

I realized the voices from the porch had stopped, and turned to find Daire’s head poking around the side of the house, looking at us. As always, so innocent, so guileless, so sweet. “Hey, you guys ready to come in? Your mom says dinner is ready, and I for one don’t want to be the guy to tell her no. Let alone your cousin. She’s a little scary.” He paused, cocking his head. “Cousin? Sister?”

“Boss,” I corrected, smiling at him as I pushed off the wall and went to join him to go inside. I was so tired that my fucking bones ached, but I would never let any of them know that. It didn’t matter.

Cash was waiting, holding the door, and he ducked his head at me when I got there. “Sorry,” he mumbled, almost whispered.

I didn’t respond, because there was no need. I only reached up to grab his shoulder and squeeze. We were brothers. He never had to apologize to me for being the same brother I loved. As long as he didn’t make Daire sad again, now that he understood that Daire was a good person, he had nothing to apologize for as far as I was concerned.

Everyone was there for supper the way they hadn’t been for breakfast, the whole table packed with people, and the two spare chairs pulled in from the other side of the room. Mama, my brothers—including Cash and Altair—Henry, Evie, Drew, and even Tristan. Maybe he was just there because Aleks wanted to keep an eye on him, but that was only sensible.

Evie slid onto the back bench next to Drew, looking him over with confused interest. “Why aren’t you wearing pants?”

Drew, who had been busy sniffing at the air in the kitchen with something that looked like euphoria, jerked back and looked at her, cocking his head and then looking down at himself. “Pants suck,” he said, like it was the most obvious answer ever.

Aleks was frowning, maybe concerned about her sitting next to a teenage boy who wasn’t entirely clothed, but I snorted and jostled him toward a chair.

“Aren’t you cold?” she asked, clearly curious.

He actually paused to consider that, but shrugged after a moment. “Maybe? But pants are worse than cold. Too uncomfortable. They rub on things and make it harder to move.”

They were quiet for a moment, Evie considering, then she brightened and looked across him at Altair. “We should get him a dress. That would be warmer, right?”

And suddenly the whole kitchen was abuzz, planning what Drew could wear that he would find both comfortable and warm.

Daire, who’d just sat down next to me, paused at this, staring at everyone for a second. I wasn’t sure what he was worried about, but he seemed to shrug it off after a moment, and leaned into the topic at hand. “Boots might help,” he offered. “They make a kind with fur that might be warmer.”

Drew’s eyes narrowed. “Boots made of fur? Whose fur?”

“Fake fur,” Daire explained. “I think they make it out of plastic, but it feels nice. I assume”—he turned to Cash, eyes wide—“fake fur doesn’t smell bad, does it?”

“Some of it,” Cash admitted. “But not all. I’m sure we could find him some that would work.”

They shared a smile at that.

There was a strange ache in my cheeks, and I realized that I was smiling too. When had that happened? How had that happened? Despite the exhaustion in my bones, I was strangely light, sitting there in the noisy firelit room. And why did the kitchen feel warmer than cooking or fire accounted for?

What was wrong with me?

Wait.

No.

Nothing was wrong, I realized after consideration. I did know this feeling; I just hadn’t felt it in almost a decade.

I was happy.

CHAPTER 34

Daire

After dinner, I slipped my hand into Viktor’s and led him upstairs. No, he likely didn’t need the help to navigate his own home, but he’d seemed a little woozy, a little off, all day long.

Goddess knew he’d earned his exhaustion. He’d saved Aleks’s hand, and he didn’t have a werewolf’s stamina to support him through it.

I was worried about him. It wasn’t uncommon for a witch to overexert themself and lose consciousness. Weirdly, I trusted Viktor to know his limits. I just thought he was pretty likely to push past them.

And, well, I still wanted to be there to catch him no matter what. It might look ridiculous because no part of me had ever been a particularly impressive physical specimen the way he was, but I was a werewolf with his wolf. Surely, he wouldn’t let me drop Viktor.