Page 39 of Cold Curses

* * *

Either the Keene family had been here for the fight, or they’d come afterward to make sure their prince was okay. There were uncles, aunts, and cousins gathered in the back room like a repeat of the family dinner.

Connor’s parents waited at the far end of the room with Alexei—and, of all people, Lulu.

I was furious about the fear in Connor’s mother’s eyes. As a shifter, she wouldn’t have been afraid for him to face a challenger—concerned, sure, but not afraid. Even the most skeptical among them wouldn’t have expected this kind of breach of protocol, this kind of cheating, especially from someone trying to prove he was capable of leading the Pack.

There on the floor between his parents was Connor, his coat a thick silver, snoring on his back with paws in the air. The worry I’d been holding in flooded out, and brought tears to my eyes even as I chuckled at his very canine position.

“Has someone taken a picture of this for posterity?” I asked, and knelt beside him.

“Several,” Alexei assured me.

Connor twitched, and I wasn’t sure if the movement was caused by an aftershock of the magic or a dream. I put a hand on his chest and could feel his body soften. Even monster seemed to relax as I rubbed a gentle circle in Connor’s fur.

I looked up at Lulu. “Thoughts?”

“Piece-of-shit asshole shifter,” she said, anger not especially contained. Beside her Alexei grunted his agreement. “He said it was only supposed to make the recipient ‘a little woozy,’ ” Lulu continued. “Said he just wanted to make it a ‘fair fight.’ ” She used air quotes. That was the degree of her pissed-offery.

“So either the spell didn’t work as intended,” I said, “or he’s not just a piece-of-shit asshole shifter, but a lying piece-of-shit asshole shifter.”

I’d continued petting Connor through that discussion. And apparently hit a good spot, as his back paw scratched rhythmically in the universal language of pets enjoying scritches.

“I haven’t seen him do that in years,” his dad said, love cracking through some of the icy anger. “Take him home. Let him sleep this off.”

“Any suggestions?” I asked, glancing around. “He usually doesn’t stay in wolf mode this long around me.”

Alexei’s smile was thin. “Stay away from the teeth.”

I met that smile with one of my own. “His aren’t the teeth to worry about.”

* * *

Alexei wanted to spare Connor the indignity of being carried out of NAC headquarters, so we walked on either side of him as he trotted slowly to the van. The shifters parted for us, and the magic they put into the air said they were relieved he was moving on hisown. Other streams of magic bore anger; those shifters were still furious about the blatant cheating and the desecration of a kind of ritual.

Alexei took the driver’s seat, Lulu the front passenger seat. I took the second row, and Connor hopped onto the bench seat and immediately put his head on my thigh. And stayed that way the entire drive home.

Once we arrived at the town house, Connor loped inside and into the den, circled twice, and curled into a ball on the thick rug in front of the fireplace.

“Sometimes I have to work to remember he isn’t a family pet,” Lulu whispered.

“I know, right?”

We heated up leftovers from the night before, and since it wasn’t yet time to sign off from work, I checked my messages but found nothing from the Ombuds.

Retrieved wolf, I messaged Theo.Home and resting.

We’re eating a slice while staring at victorian machinery, Theo responded.Glad he’s home.

I put my screen down, chewed a meatball, glanced at Lulu and Alexei. Lulu ate while penciling in details on a large sketch of her mural. Alexei ate while brooding.

“How did you make it to the NAC building so fast?” I wondered. “Weren’t you working on the mural?”

“Apex had a prophecy,” Lulu said.

That had me putting down my fork. “He did?”

“Vague,” Alexei said. “Or at least what he told me. Just a sense of potential trouble at headquarters.”