Page 14 of No Honor Amongst Shifters
“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?
Chapter Six
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THIS TIME, MISHA OPENEDthe 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 arenotputting 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.”
