Page 6 of No Honor Amongst Shifters (It’s a Psychic World #9)

THIS TIME, MISHA OPENED the door without knocking. That was enough to tell Alcott that his brother was pissed with him, and seeing Misha’s expression settled it.

Misha looked like he wanted to strangle Alcott—and he probably did. After all, Alcott was putting himself in danger. He’d agreed to talk to the cockatrices and attempt to convince them to step out of the fight. He’d be freaking out if Misha had done the same.

But Misha hadn’t. Misha didn’t need redemption. He was a good man, and he would never even have thought about betraying the clan. Alcott was lucky that his brother was still willing to talk to him, let alone love him.

Misha slammed the door shut and stood in the middle of Alcott’s room. He pointed his finger at Alcott’s face, and Alcott noticed it was trembling slightly.

“You are not putting yourself in danger,”

Misha ordered.

“I’m not. I’ll just be talking to people.”

“People who want to kill us. What the fuck are you thinking, Alcott?”

Alcott wished he could avoid answering like he had until now, but he knew Misha. His brother wanted answers, and he was done giving Alcott the space he needed.

Alcott turned into the window seat to face Misha. He’d known his brother wouldn’t understand, and he’d been thinking about how to explain this to him.

“I owe the clan. My actions hurt people. I need to pay for what I did, and this is the way I can do that.”

“By putting yourself in danger?”

“I won’t be going alone. Terrence will be with me, and Elijah mentioned putting other people in the area. If anything goes wrong, they’ll be there in minutes.”

“Minutes that will give the cockatrices time to hurt you.”

“They don’t want to hurt me. They want to be free of the coven as much as Elijah does. I don’t think I’ll be able to convince them to fight with us, but if they agree to stay out of the fight or even leave the area before it comes to that, it’ll be a win for us. After causing so much pain, I need to help in whatever ways I can.”

Misha still looked like he wanted to shake Alcott. He even raised his hands toward him before huffing and dropping them.

“I should have known this would happen. I couldn’t believe it when Roslin told me about this, but of course you want to help. You feel guilty.”

There was no denying that.

“I do. I betrayed the clan. I put your position here in danger. I should’ve thought of that before being so stupid.”

But Alcott had only been thinking about himself and how Damien made him feel.

“I don’t care about my position in the clan,”

Misha snapped.

“I do care about not losing my brother. Do you really think my job is more important to me than you?”

“It’s not only about your job. You have a home here. You’ve made friends, you settled down, you even have a boyfriend. What I did threatened all of that. I know Elijah won’t punish you for what I did, but what about everyone else?”

“Sacrificing yourself won’t change their mind. I don’t care about them. The only people I care about agree that you’ve paid enough for what happened.”

Alcott shook his head. He didn’t feel like he’d ever pay enough for what he’d done, but this was a good step toward that. He’d help the clan by talking to the cockatrices and convincing them not to help the coven, be it the last thing he did.

“I’ll be fine.”

Misha crossed his arms over his chest and glared.

“And what will you do once all of this is over? Even if you’re fine, you’re still leaving me behind.”

“You have to see that I can’t stay. It would make people hate me even more and hate you because you’re my brother. Besides, I don’t deserve to be a clan member. I betrayed the clan. I don’t blame the people who don’t want me here anymore.”

“If you leave, I’ll go with you.”

Alcott was already shaking his head. That wasn’t what he wanted. It wasn’t what Misha deserved.

“This is your home.”

“You’re more important than any home I can ever find. You’re my brother.”

“It doesn’t mean you should pay for my mistakes. I allowed you to do it when we left our birth clan, but I won’t let you do it now. You have too much more to lose.”

“It’s my decision whether or not to lose it. If you leave, I’ll follow. I’m warning you now just so you know.”

Alcott would have to leave without Misha noticing it, then. He could do that. He’d been sneaking out of the house for weeks.

Misha’s glare deepened.

“And don’t even think about sneaking out. I’ll find you, whatever you do, and I’ll stick with you. You can’t get rid of me, Alcott.”

He dropped his arms, and his expression softened.

“It’s me and you against the world, right?”

It had been once. When Alcott had been kicked out of their birth clan, Misha hadn’t hesitated. Alcott had asked him why he was so willing to leave everything behind, and Misha told him that there wasn’t much to leave. Their parents hadn’t stood up for Alcott, and Misha wanted nothing to do with them. He wanted nothing to do with anyone who hadn’t argued against what their leader was doing.

It hadn’t been the same, though. The leader had kicked Alcott out because he’d found him with his son. Alcott hadn’t betrayed their birth clan.

But he had betrayed Elijah’s.

“Why did you do it?”

Misha asked gently.

Alcott didn’t want to say it out loud, but his brother deserved to hear it. Besides, he wanted Misha to understand before he did something stupid like leave the clan for him.

“I thought Damien loved me,”

he explained, looking away from his brother.

“He said he did, and I desperately wanted it to be true. When he told me that he and his clan were just trying to find a place to call home, that he wanted it to be close so we could be together, I believed him. I knew there was a chance he could be lying, but I was so lonely.”

“So you did it for love.”

Alcott snorted.

“I was an idiot. Damien never loved me.”

“But you loved him.”

“I just wanted what you have with Olsen,”

Alcott whispered.

“I wanted someone to love me and who I could belong with.”

“You can have what I have with Olsen. You just need to give it a chance.”

Alcott had given it a chance with Damien and look how that had ended up. No matter how much he liked Roslin, he couldn’t afford to do it again. His heart was already in pieces, but maybe if he was lucky, he could put the pieces back together eventually. That wouldn’t happen if he allowed anyone else in.

ROSLIN WAS GRATEFUL that his brothers waited until Misha had left the living room to start teasing him. He’d suspected they would, but he had to tell Misha what Alcott was planning. He’d known Misha wouldn’t be happy that Alcott wanted to leave, and he’d been right. As soon as Misha had heard the words, he’d marched out of the room, no doubt on his way to Alcott’s room.

“So, you and Alcott,”

Donahue said.

He was sprawled on one of the couches, watching TV, or rather, he’d been watching TV until he’d found something more interesting to focus on than the reality TV shows he was obsessed with.

Roslin.

Their family had taken over a small living room on the second floor of the mansion. From what Elijah had said, it had seldom been used before, which was good. They hadn’t kicked anyone out, but it was nice to have a space they could use as a family. Even though they were part of the clan, Roslin still felt like an outsider. He wasn’t a dragon or dating one.

Not yet anyway.

“There’s no me and Alcott,”

Roslin told his brother as he pushed Donahue’s legs off the couch so he could sit down.

Donahue poked at Roslin’s thigh with his socked toes. Roslin pushed him away again, but he wasn’t a fool. He would have to answer questions.

At least not everyone was there. Victor had been at the meeting in Alcott’s room, and he’d vanished when everyone else had left. Olsen was here, though, which was why Misha had been, too. Olsen and Donahue seemed way too interested in Roslin’s love life.

“But you want there to be a you and Alcott,”

Olsen pointed out.

Roslin didn’t see the need to deny it.

“I do, but I don’t think he’s ready for anything like that.”

“Are you sure about that? You know what he did.”

Roslin glared.

“So? Would that stop you from being with Misha?”

“I’m sorry, can we talk about the fact that the two of you are dating brothers?”

Donahue said.

Both Olsen and Roslin turned to glare at him. He raised his hands, but Roslin didn’t think that was the last he and Olsen heard about that. Donahue didn’t know when to keep his mouth shut.

“It wouldn’t,”

Olsen admitted.

“But the circumstances are different. What will happen if Alcott leaves?”

“I’ll go with him.”

Olsen blinked.

“You barely know him.”

He wasn’t wrong. Alcott wasn’t very talkative, even though he’d opened up a bit with Roslin. They weren’t even together, so why was Roslin thinking about leaving the clan for Alcott? He wasn’t even sure that Alcott wanted him that way.

But he didn’t think that kicking Alcott out of the clan was right. Besides, once all of this was over, he and his family could go back to the life they’d had before. Roslin wasn’t sure it was what any of them wanted, but it was an option.

“It’s not like we lived together before,” he said.

“We weren’t part of the clan then. Things have changed.”

“It’s all hypothetical, anyway. I don’t think it would be right for Alcott to leave, and his decision to do so or not doesn’t have anything to do with me.”

“Are you sure about that?”

Donahue muttered.

Roslin didn’t have it in him to glare at his brother again.

“Alcott and I don’t know each other. I like him, but let’s face it, he could do much better than me.”

“That’s not true,”

Olsen immediately said.

“Just look at the age difference. I’m not saying I’m old, but I am much older than him.”

“You are old,”

Donahue said, because of course he did.

“You’re only three years younger than me.”

“Which probably feels like an eternity at twenty-six. That’s how old Alcott is, right?”

Roslin nodded. He’d asked Misha to be sure. He hadn’t been shocked because he’d known Alcott was young, but maybe fourteen years were too much.

“Age doesn’t mean anything,”

Olsen said.

“It’s not like Alcott is eighteen. He’s old enough to decide if this is something he wants. Besides, with everything he’s gone through, I’m pretty sure he knows what he’s doing.”

Roslin wasn’t sure about that. Alcott desperately wanted someone to love him. Roslin was starting to feel like he wanted to be that person, but was that something Alcott would want, too? Would he cling to anyone as long as they give him love? Or had he learned his lesson with Damien?

Roslin wanted to find the man and kick his ass, but he wouldn’t stand a chance. Damien was a mage. He’d used Alcott’s feelings and maybe a little magic to manipulate Alcott. Alcott had thought he’d loved him, but had he really? Damien certainly hadn’t loved Alcott.

Roslin knew he could love him if he was given a chance. He just wasn’t sure he’d have the chance. Even if by some miracle Alcott felt the same way, neither of them knew if they would come out of this fight alive. They might not have the opportunity to find out if there could be anything between them.

“If he’s smart, he’ll give you a chance,”

Olsen said as he patted Roslin’s shoulder.

Roslin wanted to ask why Olsen had already changed his mind since he’d been cautioning Roslin just minutes earlier, but he didn’t. He was glad for his brothers’ support.

He was going to need it.

“LOOK, NO ONE’S SAYING you weren’t an idiot,”

Misha said.

Alcott huffed.

“Thanks. I love you, too.”

“I’m not trying to be mean. I’m just saying that you shouldn’t have trusted Damien, but I understand why you did. You need to stop blaming yourself.”

But if Alcott didn’t blame himself, who should he blame? He’d put the clan in danger. No matter what he’d been trying to do, he couldn’t change that. Did his reasons really matter? It didn’t feel like they did. Only the results did, and he still didn’t know what to do about any of it.

Misha wanted him to stay. He wanted to stay. How could he, though?

“Besides, maybe what you’re looking for is much closer than you think,”

Misha continued.

Alcott frowned.

“What are you talking about?”

“You said you fell for Damien’s lies because you were looking for love.”

“I panicked because I felt I was losing you after you started seeing Olsen.”

“You’ll never lose me. It doesn’t matter how long I’m with Olsen, you’ll always be my brother. I wasn’t kidding when I said I’d follow you if you left.”

Alcott knew that he hadn’t been.

“Olsen wouldn’t let you.”

“Olsen would come with me, which means the rest of his family would probably leave the clan, too. You don’t want to be responsible for that, do you?”

Alcott scowled.

“I wouldn’t be responsible for what a bunch of other people decided to do with their lives.”

Misha ignored Alcott’s words.

“Besides, I’m pretty sure Roslin would be the first in line to leave if you did.”

Alcott didn’t want to do this. He had nothing to say to Misha about Roslin. At the same time, he had too much to say, and he didn’t want to blurt all of it out. He and Misha were having a serious conversation, or at least, they had been until Misha started teasing him.

“Roslin is a family guy. He’s being nice to me because I’m related to you,”

he grumbled.

“Sure he is. It didn’t even occur to me that someone we trust should be bringing you food, but it did to him. What does that tell you?”

“That I was lucky he happened to be in the kitchen when my food was being prepared.”

Misha rolled his eyes.

“You can argue as much as you want, but we both know the truth.”

“We do. The truth is that there’s nothing between me and Roslin.”

“Yet.”

“I’m not staying, Misha. There can’t ever be anything between us.”

Alcott thought Misha would get sad or angry because he was mentioning leaving again, but he didn’t. He just acted as if Alcott hadn’t just reaffirmed that he was leaving the clan.

“Do you think it’s weird that we’ll end up dating brothers? I’m sure Donahue will have something to say about that.”

“Misha, please.”

“No. I refuse to consider the possibility of you leaving. You’re not, not without me. You have too much here to leave.”

“I only have you.”

“You don’t. You have a home, and there’s Olsen’s family. You have Roslin, and many people here like you. Elijah certainly does.”

Alcott suspected that his brother was blinded by how much he loved him. All these people were being nice to Alcott because he was related to Misha, and they loved him. It didn’t have anything to do with Alcott. People didn’t love him, like Damien had shown.

So how could Roslin? He was nice, but Alcott was ready to bet that he’d decided to talk to him as a favor to Misha, even though Misha wasn’t aware of it.

And that was okay. Alcott didn’t need to be loved by anyone but Misha. He wouldn’t be happy to leave the clan because he’d leave his brother behind as well as safety, but he’d survive. As long as he kept his heart safe, he could do it.

He hadn’t changed his mind, and he wouldn’t. If Misha insisted on coming with him, Alcott would have to find a way around that. He would. He wouldn’t let anyone ruin what Misha was building—not himself, and definitely not Misha.