Page 14 of No Honor Amongst Shifters (It’s a Psychic World #9)

ALCOTT WASN’T USED to this.

No matter how many times he told the people around him that he was okay, they still insisted on taking care of him.

Normally, it would’ve just been Misha, but between Misha and Olsen dating and Alcott and Roslin doing the same, Roslin’s entire family seemed to have decided to take Alcott under their wing.

There was always one of them with him.

He had no opportunity to get bored because someone always had something to tell him, mostly about what was happening outside his bedroom.

He wasn’t locked up anymore.

If he wanted, he could leave both his bedroom and the clan.

He wasn’t going anywhere.

Gunther had healed him partially, but after the fight was over and someone had checked out Alcott again, they’d realize that the wound had been deeper than they’d thought.

It would take him some time to heal, but at least he wasn’t in pain.

He was taking enough painkillers that he could probably have run around the house without feeling anything.

Roslin would kill him if he tried.

So Alcott wasn’t in pain and had more people to take care of him than he ever had.

His parents had never been the warm and loving kind, but he’d always had Misha.

He still did, except that Misha came with a bunch of other people, and it made Alcott feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

There was a knock on the door before it opened.

Misha, who was sitting in the window seat, reading out loud, looked up and smiled at Roslin.

“Hey. Does Elijah need me?”

Roslin shook his head.

“Not as far as I know, but Olsen was looking for you. I told him I’d send you his way.”

Misha pouted.

“I was just getting to the interesting part.”

“I’ll continue reading without you,”

Alcott offered, only for his brother to glare at him.

“Don’t even think about it. I want to know what happens, and you’re forbidden from reading ahead.”

Misha got up and stretched.

“In fact, I’m taking the book with me.”

“How do I know you won’t read ahead?”

“Scouts honor.”

“You were never a scout.”

Misha laughed as he left the bedroom. Alcott couldn’t believe he’d almost lost his brother. He would have if he’d been forced to leave the clan. No matter how many times Misha had told him he’d follow, Alcott would have made sure he couldn’t.

But he didn’t have to think about that anymore. Neither he nor Misha were going anywhere.

“Hey,”

Roslin said as he leaned over the bed to kiss Alcott’s forehead.

“How are you feeling?”

“As well as I was feeling two hours ago when you asked me before leaving. I’m fine.”

Roslin sat next to Alcott on the bed.

“Well, forgive me for checking in on you.”

“I like that you’re checking in on me. I just don’t want you to worry.”

Roslin wrapped an arm around Alcott’s shoulders.

“I always worry about you.”

Alcott cuddled against Roslin’s chest and closed his eyes.

He wasn’t sure how he’d managed all of this, but he’d gone from being alone and a traitor to having a family and a boyfriend who loved him.

He would never again do anything that could put all of that in jeopardy.

“Elijah heard from the cockatrices,”

Roslin said.

“How did it go?”

“Just like we thought, Curt’s mother is their new leader. She’s freeing the prisoners the coven captured. Some of them are clan dragons, so they’ll be home soon.”

“That’s good.”

“It is. I don’t think Elijah would’ve agreed to a truce with the cockatrices if she hadn’t done that. I’m glad there won’t be any more fighting in the future. I don’t think the cockatrices or the dragons will ever be close friends, but as long as we don’t continue killing each other, I’m fine with the outcome.”

Alcott was, too. He wasn’t a fighter. The only reason he’d been one in this situation was that he’d been fighting for the people he loved. He’d be happy never having to do so again, though.

“Has anyone heard about the mages?”

“Elijah has been keeping an eye on them as much as he can. They left the city the night of the fight and haven’t stopped moving since then. As long as they don’t come back here, I don’t care where they go.”

“I don’t like thinking of them hurting more people.”

Roslin’s arm tightened around Alcott’s shoulders.

“Me either, but we can’t help everyone. Hopefully, they were wounded badly enough and lost enough people that they won’t be too dangerous for a while. I don’t think the Guillory coven as we knew it exists anymore, and I don’t know if it ever will again.”

“We can only hope.”

And Alcott really hoped this was the end of the Guillory coven.

They’d hurt too many people.

Elijah hadn’t been able to fully destroy them, but maybe he didn’t have to.

Alcott didn’t want to think about them anymore.

They were a part of the past, and it was a past he was eager to forget.

He’d always bear some of the scars Damien had placed on him, both physically and emotionally, but he could start healing.

Damien had been the worst part of Alcott’s life, but he’d led him to the best part.

With him gone, Alcott had a home and a family, and his brother.

He was happy, which was what Damien had been trying to prevent.

He’d wanted to hurt Alcott, and he had, but in the end, Alcott had won.

What more could he want?