Chapter 65

“By rights it should be Julio but since it can’t be, I was going to ask the four of you to do it. I have to ask Alexei if I can have four.”

“It should be fine. I had all the Mates, just clear it with Alexei. Although Colin will complain that he has to wear his tuxedo.” Kane rubbed the back of his neck. “It was his tuxedo that got him shot. I’ll tell you about it tomorrow, or better still, have Colin tell you himself. But, have Alexei call Marc tonight. By protocol Alexei needs to get permission from the Alphas.”

“There is so much I have to learn.”

A car honked behind them, then another.

“Don’t worry, you have us. Imagine poor Sean, in the beginning he was wading these waters alone, and the council wasn’t as settled as it is now. Have Alexei call the others tonight. I’m off, we’re holding up traffic. See you tomorrow. I can’t wait to see the compound.” Gaspard and Kane opened the door and got out. Donal asked Boris to wait until they got inside.

“Alpha Mate, if you don’t mind an opinion…” Grigory asked

“Of course I don’t mind. I may be his Mate, but you’ve known him since he was in training.” Donal leaned on the armrest eager to hear what he had to say.

“Ask him after he has his brandy at dinner. He’s amiable and expansive. Alexei wasn’t always this mellow. We had to pick our times to tell him some things that we knew would make him angry. Now it seems that the only thing that angers Alexei is the idea of anything bad happening to you. You’re good for him, Alpha Mate,” Gregory said earnestly.

“What made him angry in the past?” Donal had good reason to ask. He’d barely managed to escape a situation where he’d been beaten daily. He didn’t want to ever be in the power of that kind of man ever again. “Does he have a temper?”

“Alexei got angry at the Russian First. Things kept getting worse for the loup garou, and he wasn’t doing anything about it. I think the First arranged for the bashers. By killing Peter and by extension, Sasha, the First knew with Alexei’s temperament he couldn’t let that stand. The First was right. Alexei wound up almost dying in the gulag because he couldn’t shift to heal his injuries, or else he would have given away our secret. Even in his suffering, he thought of his people.” Grigory was fierce in his defense of his Alpha

“Why did the Russian First hate Alexei?” Donal couldn’t understand. “Even Julio likes Alexei, and he’s suspicious of everyone.”

“The Russian First refused to help his people. Alexei wanted change, and he was willing to challenge the First to get it. That’s the reason he really went to the gulag, not the demonstration. We’re happy he has found someone to delight him, to mellow him down. I think I got that right.” Grigory nodded, smiling faintly. “Mellow him down.”

Donal grimaced at Grigory’s attempt at American slang. “I wouldn’t want him in the pit at all, especially since Dr. Artis says he’s still not in peak condition.”

“Before he met you, he was thinking about going back. If he went back, they’d put him in the gulag, and he’d never get out or he’d go into the pit with the Russian First. Before he went to the gulag, he had a slight edge against Fyodor Leonovich Chernof. Now the odds are against him.”

“Dr. Artis said he has to stay home another couple of weeks. Was he going to issue a challenge?”

“Yes, to be held in a free city. Then he met you, and now he doesn’t plot to go back to Russia. He’s happy. This is why we love you, Donal. All of us have been with Alexei from the beginning just as Peter was.” Grigory bowed to the four corners.

“He would have gone back?” Donal worried about his mate.

“In a heartbeat, what Chernof and human government are doing make him ill,” Grigory said grimly.

“Russia makes me ill too. Even on the street, I heard about what was going on in Russia.”

“We love the Alpha, and you made him happy for the first time since his grandfather died seventy-one years ago. His grandfather died early because a Russian Alpha thought he should own Colorado. He married a Colorado Alpha’s daughter, and he shot Alexei’s grandfather’s Mate in the heart. There was no other heir. Alexei had a pack in Russia and was on the council, so the Alpha knew Alexei wasn’t going to leave.”

“So this pack Alpha came over and challenged Alexei’s grandfather?”

“No, he was a coward and shot his Mate instead, ensuring his grandfather would die almost immediately. Alexei had spent summers with his grandfather. They were close. When the Russian Alpha shot him, Alexei came back to Colorado, challenged the Russian, and won. He had his choice, Colorado or Russia. Alexei chose Russia. He felt they needed him more. La Farge was a distant cousin and got Colorado by default.”

“He had to kill the Russian?” Donal asked, fascinated.