Page 5 of No Honor Amongst Shifters (It’s a Psychic World #9)

ALCOTT WAS ONLY SLIGHTLY surprised when Elijah visited him. He knew that Roslin had wanted to talk to Elijah about his idea to convince some of the cockatrices to stay out of the fight. Roslin had mentioned that Elijah had been thinking along the same lines, and Alcott was one of two people in the clan who’d spent time with the cockatrices. That didn’t mean he was an expert when it came to them, but he had some insights that even Terrence didn’t have.

Terrence had left the cockatrices before things got bad. With the coven being involved, things had degenerated. People were afraid for themselves and their families. Most of them wanted the coven to leave their territory, but Irwin was too bent on getting revenge. He’d sacrifice anything in order to win his fight against Elijah, including his own people.

Alcott hoped that Elijah would be able to use that to his advantage.

What did surprise Alcott was that Elijah wasn’t alone. Roslin, Victor, and Terrence were with him. Alcott couldn’t help but focus on Roslin, who smiled at him and winked. It made Alcott blush, and he quickly looked away. He didn’t want anyone to notice how interested he was in the man.

“I hope you don’t mind having so many people in your personal space,”

Elijah said.

“Kenny’s here, too. Roslin and Victor will help us talk to him.”

Alcott licked his lips. Even if he did have a problem with having these people in his room, he wouldn’t say anything. He was a prisoner.

“What do you need from me?” he asked.

“Roslin mentioned your idea of talking to some of the cockatrice shifters. I thought about it, too, and I wanted to involve Terrence since he’s a cockatrice shifter. Terrence pointed out that you’d been with the clan more recently than he had. You probably have insights that he doesn’t, especially when it comes to the coven since he left before things got too bad.”

Alcott carefully avoided looking at Victor and Terrence. He knew that Roslin didn’t hate him, but he had no idea what the other two felt, and he didn’t want to risk it. He didn’t want to know if they despised him and wanted him to get kicked out of the clan.

He would, but maybe before it happened, he could do something good for the clan. Maybe he could redeem himself and make things easier on Misha.

“I know some of the people are unhappy with the way Irwin is doing things,”

he offered.

“I can’t promise they’ll agree to be on our side, but I think it’s worth a try to talk to them.”

He hesitated. He hated talking about this in front of anyone, but especially in front of people he wasn’t sure he could trust. He supposed that he deserved this, though.

“Some of them helped me after I was beaten. I also overheard conversations about the coven and what Irwin was doing.”

“We don’t need them to fight with us. We only need them to stay out of the fight.”

Alcott couldn’t be sure it would be enough, but it was more than they had now.

“I can try talking to them, but I’ll have to be allowed out of this bedroom to do that.”

“We can do that. Where are you thinking of meeting these people? I don’t think you should go into cockatrice territory.”

“I won’t need to. I know some of the places they visit, like bars and grocery stores. They’re close to cockatrice territory, but not in it. They’re public places, which means we’re allowed to go there.”

Elijah nodded.

“You and Terrence will go together. I won’t send you alone because I don’t trust these cockatrices, but I’ll ask the people tasked to protect you to keep their distance and give you the opportunity to talk to them. They’ll only intervene if someone attacks you.”

It was more than Alcott had expected, but it made sense since Terrence would be coming with him. There was also the fact that Elijah didn’t trust Alcott. Maybe he expected him to try to run.

Alcott wouldn’t. He knew he’d lose the clan soon, but he wouldn’t leave of his own volition. He wanted the little time he had left with Misha, even though he wasn’t talking to him. He wanted to make sure that his brother was safe and happy before he had to go.

It was the least he could do.

ROSLIN WAS RELIEVED to hear that Alcott wouldn’t be doing this on his own. If he had a choice, he’d be the one going with him, but he was human. There wasn’t anything he could do to protect Alcott against a cockatrice shifter. Terrence, on the other hand, was a cockatrice shifter. Between him, Alcott, and the people who’d be watching over them, Roslin was sure that Alcott would come out of this in one piece.

He couldn’t say the same about the fight against the coven, but he still had a little time with Alcott before they had to deal with that.

It was something Roslin wanted. He was getting to know Alcott, and he wanted to know even more. He didn’t know what would happen next, but none of them did. They might not have a lot of time left, and Roslin’s family was busy with their partners and preparing for war. Roslin liked having someone to spend time with.

He liked Alcott.

“I would like to ask for a favor,”

Alcott said, his voice soft.

Everyone heard him anyway. They all stopped talking and turned their attention to him. Roslin could see he wished he could be anywhere but here, and while he was tempted to reach out, he kept his hands to himself. He and Alcott weren’t anything, and he doubted that Alcott would be comfortable with Elijah thinking there was something between them.

“It depends on what that favor is,”

Elijah said cautiously.

Alcott raised his chin and looked Elijah in the eyes.

“I know you haven’t decided on my punishment yet, but I want to be allowed to leave the clan once this is over. I’ll help as much as I can, including during the fight, but I don’t have a place here anymore. It would be in your right to keep me as a prisoner or even kill me, but please, don’t do that to Misha. I promise that if you allow me to leave, I’ll stay away from the clan and never return. I won’t give you any kind of trouble.”

Roslin opened his mouth to say it was stupid and that Alcott didn’t have to leave the clan, but it wasn’t his place to say that. He could only hope that Elijah was the man he thought he was. He wouldn’t kick Alcott out, would he?

Except he wouldn’t be kicking Alcott out. Alcott was asking to be allowed to leave, and every clan member could. Elijah was a good leader. He didn’t have any power over who could or couldn’t leave the clan. The members were free to go if that was what they wanted.

“I haven’t made any decision when it comes to you yet,”

Elijah started.

“I understand, and I also understand that it would be in your right to punish me harshly for what I did,”

Alcott quickly said.

“I deserve it. I just don’t think that Misha deserves to see me die.”

“You don’t deserve to die,”

Roslin snapped. He could feel people watching him, but he didn’t care. He kept his focus on Elijah and Alcott.

“You never wanted to hurt the clan. You did that because someone you cared about asked you to, and you were worried about him. That mage manipulated you, and while you were in the wrong, it doesn’t mean you should die for trying to help someone.”

Roslin looked at Elijah.

“He’s helping us. Don’t you think that deserves a second chance?”

“Roslin,”

Alcott started, but Roslin shook his head.

He understood that Elijah had the last say in all of this. He might not be a dragon shifter, and he might have only recently become part of the clan, but he did understand how clans worked. Elijah was the leader for a reason. People wanted him to be. They wanted him to make decisions and to keep the clan safe.

Killing Alcott wouldn’t keep anyone safe.

“I haven’t made my decision yet, but no one is going to die,”

Elijah said.

“I wasn’t planning on killing you, Alcott.”

Alcott’s shoulders relaxed.

“So you’ll let me go?”

“If that’s what you want, but I was thinking about talking again once this is over and seeing if you want to continue being a clan member.”

Roslin was satisfied with that, but Alcott frowned. Of course he did. He didn’t believe he deserved a second chance. He was willing to sacrifice himself for Elijah and the clan just because he’d made a mistake.

People had gotten hurt because of that mistake. They might have even died. Roslin understood why Alcott felt guilty and why Elijah needed him to pay, but his death wouldn’t help anyone, and neither would kicking him out of the clan. He was trying to redeem himself. He just needed a chance to show that to the clan members.

“I don’t think anyone will want me to stick around once this is over,”

Alcott murmured.

“I want you to stick around,”

Roslin told him.

“So does Elijah, and what about your brother?”

“Misha is too good.”

“And you’re too hard on yourself.”

Elijah cleared his throat.

“As I said, I haven’t made any decision yet,”

he explained.

“But Roslin isn’t wrong. You’re helping the clan even though it would be easier for you not to. I know you feel guilty, Alcott, and I can’t say that you didn’t do anything wrong, but there are extenuating circumstances. You’re also helping us, and hopefully, that help means we’ll win this fight. If I have any kind of power left once all of this is over, I’ll consider allowing you to continue being a clan member. It might not be easy, but this has been your home for years. I won’t take that away from you, and I won’t take Misha’s brother from him.”

Alcott looked like he wanted to argue, so Roslin glared at him. Alcott blinked and glanced down.

He still couldn’t believe he’d be allowed to stay. Roslin didn’t like that, but there wasn’t enough time to focus on it. Hopefully, there would be plenty of it later. For now, Roslin had gotten what he wanted—Elijah was open to the idea of allowing Alcott to continue being a clan member once this mess was over.

ALCOTT WAS CONFUSED. He didn’t understand why Elijah would agree to give him this kind of second chance, and he wanted to ask for a deeper explanation, but now that they’d decided what their next step would be, Elijah had things to do.

He left Alcott’s bedroom quickly after the conversation, and everyone but Roslin went with him. Alcott wasn’t surprised. He’d expected Roslin to stay behind, which was a good thing because he had questions.

He waited until the door was closed behind everyone else to turn to Roslin. “Why?”

Roslin frowned.

“Why what?”

“I betrayed the clan. Why are you standing up for me? Why did you ask Elijah to give me a second chance? I don’t deserve it.”

Roslin cocked his head and stared at Alcott. He felt like Roslin was seeing right through him, and it made him uncomfortable. He wanted to ask Roslin to stop, but he wanted an answer even more.

“That’s where we disagree,”

Roslin said eventually.

“I think you do deserve a second chance.”

“I betrayed my clan. I caused people to get hurt.”

When Damien had asked Alcott who was leaving the clan regularly and where they were going, Alcott hadn’t seen any problem in telling him.

He’d thought that Damien was trying to find a way to get his coven settled by reaching out to other members of their community. He’d thought they just wanted to find a home and a place where they felt like they belonged.

He understood that all too well. After being kicked out of his birth clan, it had taken him a long time to find a place that made him feel safe. A lot of the time, he still didn’t feel like he belonged with the clan, which, now that he thought about it, was probably one of the reasons he had been such easy prey for Damien. He was desperate for someone to love him. Damien had given him that.

It had all been a lie.

“That’s something you’ll have to learn to accept and deal with,”

Roslin said gently.

“It doesn’t mean you don’t deserve a second chance. Some people won’t agree with it, but others will. You were trying to protect someone you loved. Anyone would do that. Even the people who are pissed at you would understand if they could see past their anger.”

Alcott snorted, then quickly pressed his lips together.

“I have a hard time believing that.”

Roslin shrugged.

“Does what they think matter, anyway? The people who care about you understand. They want you to stay. You won’t ever have the approval of every single person in the clan, but the people who matter to you want you to stay.”

Alcott opened his mouth to say that he only cared about Misha, but that wasn’t right. Of course he cared what his brother thought, but he also cared what Elijah thought. Hell, he cared what Roslin thought, and Roslin had made it clear that he wanted Alcott to stick around. Alcott might not understand why, but he had no doubts about that.

Alcott didn’t stop to think. He was overwhelmed by the support and the feeling that someone really cared about him beyond Misha. He stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Roslin’s waist, squeezing tightly.

Roslin made a startled sound and wrapped his arms around Alcott before Alcott could think about what he was doing. He effectively trapped Alcott against him, which became a problem when Alcott realized he was hugging Roslin.

What the fuck was he doing?

He stumbled back, relieved when Roslin let him go easily. He hadn’t thought Roslin wouldn’t, but he was making things awkward, which was the last thing he wanted.

“Sorry about that,”

he said, staring down at the floor.

“You have nothing to be sorry about.”

Alcott felt like his heart was about to race out of his chest, and he was afraid to look at Roslin. Someone needed to do something to get them out of this awkward situation, though. Alcott knew that someone wouldn’t be Roslin, which left him.

“I have to go to the bathroom,”

he blurted out.

He didn’t stick around to allow Roslin to say anything else. He rushed toward the door, slamming it shut behind himself. He leaned against it, too, in case Roslin tried coming in.

He wouldn’t. It wasn’t the kind of person he was.

“Well, I’ll see you soon,”

Roslin called out.

“Try to get some rest. You’ll need to be at your best when you go out there to talk to the cockatrices.”

Alcott listened to Roslin leave. He bumped the back of his head against the door and closed his eyes, wondering what the fuck he’d been thinking.

He’d hugged Roslin. He hadn’t asked him if he could. He’d just thrown himself at him before running away.

He was ridiculous. He wouldn’t be surprised if Roslin decided that he was too much work and refused to come back, but he hoped that wouldn’t happen. He liked Roslin.

He shouldn’t. It would make everything more complicated, which wasn’t something either of them could afford. Hell, Alcott couldn’t afford to like anyone the way he’d liked Damien. He couldn’t trust himself to make the right decisions when it came to people he cared about. He’d been stupid enough to believe that Damien loved him, but he wouldn’t make that mistake twice.

Roslin cared because of Misha. Misha was with Olsen, and Olsen was Roslin’s brother. Roslin wanted Misha to be happy. It didn’t have anything to do with Alcott himself.

So why did Alcott want to be allowed to stay? Why did he want to spend more time with Roslin?