Page 10 of Golden Eagle

She took a moment to admire his profile. The little bump at the bridge of his twice-broken nose; the way his lips fit against the cigarette filter; the strong, corded lines of his throat, framed by the popped-up collar of the leather jacket he’d pulled on over his workout gear.

She took a deep breath and tried to let it siphon away some of her tension on the exhale. She worried about Nik, because he was her family, and she worried about Sasha because he was Nik’s family, and a sweetheart, and pack besides, at this point. But she couldn’t let that worry consume her; couldn’t obsess about things she couldn’t change.

“What else did you do tonight?” she asked, shifting closer. They wouldn’t touch outright or put arms around one another – no one knew they were together, and broadcasting it publicly seemed like a bad idea – but the proximity was nice. He put out heat like a furnace, tangible even at a few inches away.

“Worked out.” His gaze slid over, touched with amusement, but curious. “I told you that.”

“Yeah. But then your mom called me.”

His eyes widened. The cigarette fell out of his hand, and landed on the concrete below.

“She said you’ve been dodging her calls. She thinks you are, anyway. But I told her you wouldn’t do that. You’re just busy.”

He blew out a breath. “Shit.”

She spoke softly, without judgement. She would damn well judge him for clipping his toenails in bed – “What the hell are you doing?” she’d exclaimed when she found him doingthatinherbed – but in this, family stuff, she wanted to be a safe place for him. “When was the last time you talked to your mom, Lan?”

He was quiet a long beat. Inhale, exhale. “Not since before,” he said, like an admission, tone grim.

She worked to keep the shock from her voice. “Not since before Alexei turned you?”

He made a sound in the affirmative.

Trina took a breath and swallowed her initial reaction – managed not to call him a dumbass. “Okay,” she said instead. “That – wow, okay, that’s been a long time. You’ve at least texted her, though, right?”

“Yeah. Couple times.”

“So she knows you’re alive. Good.”

“I talked to Pauly,” he said of one of his brothers. “He knew I was sick.” He made a face. “Now he knows I’m not anymore. I’m sure he passed it along to Ma.”

“How did you explain the not being sick thing to Paul?”

“Uh…kinda didn’t. He doesn’t need to know.”

Dumbassnearly slipped out again. But he did have a point. Her own family, brought up by two people who’d not only escaped the Soviet Union, and its war-torn countryside, but who’d known Nik, and what he was; two people who’d fought alongside Sasha and Rasputin – well, they didn’t have exactly normal sensibilities when it came to the supernatural.

Who was she to judge how he handled breaking the news to his family that he was not only well, but immortal?

Carefully, she said, “I’m not saying you have to tell her…everything. But I think you do have to go and see her.”

He sent her a look.

“I can come with you. Of course I will,” she added. She rested a hand over his, where it gripped the security rail in front of them. “We’re…well, we’re pack, aren’t we?” She smiled. “You don’t have to do anything alone.”

“Pack’s for wolves,” he murmured.

“Which we have.” A thought occurred. “Unless you said something really stupid to him tonight.”

Lanny scoffed. “He’s not going anywhere. Him and Gramps just gotta figure their shit out.”

“Pretty sure calling him ‘Gramps’ isn’t helping with that.”

“Hey, he’s your gramps. Yourgreat-gramps. What am I supposed to call him?”

She faced out across the parking lot, a smile tugging at her lips. She knew he would never admit it, but she thought that, secretly, Nikita enjoyed having a new pack. Sasha would always be his favorite – his beloved, if he’d ever let himself admit it – but he did care about the rest of them. Even liked them, though he’d deny it bitterly.

“How about,” Lanny said, “we shelve all our personal shit and figure out who’s eating people in our city, yeah?”

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