As she disliked my Russian, I used it, although I tried my best to take care with my words. “Tolerate? I avoid it, and I will do what is necessary to protect myself.” I took a moment to make sure nobody listened in on us. “I choose to avoid becoming a wolf. That means nothing. I can when necessity demands it. I choose to avoid killing. That also means nothing. I will when necessity demands it. Don’t make either become necessary, ved’ma.”
I still hated how it had become necessary to kill Julie, something my wolf still grieved over.
While he appreciated the relationship between predator and prey, and he understood the concept of kill or be killed, needless death bothered him, which had cultivated my tendency to maim rather than kill.
I worried death would become a constant companion if we fully stepped into the world of the supernatural.
Like it or not, I’d find out soon enough.
True to her word, Alevtina Petrovna Volkova showed me the butchers who wouldn’t question if I bought more than a single man should, but habit and caution demanded I stick to my old methodology, although I would make more effort to spread how I shopped, hitting as many of the stores in the city as I could.
There weren’t many places in Russia, especially not compared to America, where well-stocked grocery stores could be found just about everywhere. The stores and butchers also often suffered from shortage problems, something I found to be strange.
When I’d started building my cabin, I’d run into problems like that, where I had the money but couldn’t find what I needed to buy, requiring a lengthy search. I wondered how much of the city’s food came from across the river in China, how much of it had been smuggled across, and how the locals tolerated the uncertainty so well.
Then again, did they have any other choice?
In Blagoveshchensk, the mayor ruled, the wise gave the politsiya a wide berth, and the rest of the pecking order made little sense to me, so I ignored it. Aware I would be dealing with an entire pack of cranky werewolves, I bought everything I could to bake a storm while I waited for their arrival, along with enough to eat myself into a coma. Russia had been good for my health, as had transforming and hunting across the country. I likely wasn’t up to the weight Desmond wanted me to be, but I’d lost my gaunt edge.
The ved’ma and their wawkalak continued to haunt the woods around my cabin, and I kept myself busy while waiting, finishing the construction on my fireplace and working on my next project, which involved transforming the interior into a rustic paradise and planning an extension.
A growl from Petra and the crunch of gravel warned me company had come calling, and after a few minutes, several vehicles joined in, which implied either Desmond and the rest of the Americans had come calling, or the ved’ma had opted to bring their wolves to deal with me once and for all.
My wolf did the equivalent of laugh and roll his eyes at me, and Petra continued to growl.
“Heel,” I ordered, and the wolf warbled a complaint, got up from her corner, and came to my side. I opened the door to witness the Anderson twins snarling at each other while a resigned Richard observed them. Richard’s wife bounced across my yard, hopped onto the porch, and flung herself at me.
As Richard would kill me if I allowed his wife to fall flat on her face, I caught her rather than step out of the way. Petra recoiled and tucked her tail. I set Nicolina back onto her feet. “Did you have any trouble getting here?”
“Only a little when we first arrived. The Russian witches came to greet us, and they had one of their Fenerec with them. Father saw the brand and flipped his lid over it, and that was after Dante tried to convince him not to flip his lid. There was some growling, but the Russian Fenerec convinced him that he had, in actuality, wanted to be branded like cattle. He seemed honest enough, so Father let it go.”
“Most don’t, but I warned the Russians to be careful about that.” I clicked my tongue at Petra, and the wolf returned to her spot beside me. “This is Petra. She was Bodwin’s, and she was shot. I couldn’t leave her, and I wasn’t going to kill her, either.”
“Father figured you had a good reason to vanish, although he was more worried you were depressed over having to kill somebody more than you had a wolf to care for.” Nicolina crouched so she was at Petra’s eye level. “She’s a nice Eurasian, too.” Richard’s mate took a few sniffs. “Older but in good health as far as I can tell. Richard made me research all the mundane wolf types so I can identify smaller Fenerec easily. Fenerec tend to be crossbreeds of various mundane wolf types.”
“Is she a wild wolf like your father sometimes talked about?”
“While I can understand why you would be worried about that, no. She’s not. She’s just a regular wolf. The scent markers are natural. I’m impressed she tolerates us so well, though.”
I sighed my relief I wouldn’t have to worry about what I’d read, although I was glad the book had convinced me to give the wolf a name. “She wasn’t really all that fond of me, and she doesn’t like to be petted all that much. But we’ve made it work. She’s good company.”
“Well, she’s a wolf, and she probably had the run of that mountain, so that makes sense. She heeled for you really well, though. We’ll have to get paperwork for her, but she can come home with you. I’ll have Father take care of it.” Nicolina bounced to her feet. “Father! Come meet Declan’s wolf. She’s better behaved than you are.”
Desmond abandoned the bickering twins and came up on the porch. “What’s going on now?”
Nicolina pointed at Petra. “She belonged to Declan’s friend on the mountain. She was hurt during the firefight, so he rescued her. Alpha male with someone injured to attend to.” With a shrug, Nicolina turned her attention to the door and the talisman on it. “Those witches brought boxes upon boxes of those things and made us accept them, and I wanted to beat them with it. That’s a clever place to put it. We’re taking ours home to study them, because Amber says they are infused with some sort of witch magic. Everyone is edgy, so don’t worry about the snarling, Declan. Dante and Elliot are upset because their mates are back in America taking care of the children, and Father had to keep the other women home, else they’d take over Russia. They wanted to bring their families, and they get somewhat severe separation anxiety when they’re apart. They’ll be fine, so don’t worry about it.”
“That is not why I insisted, Nicolina,” Desmond muttered.
“It’s true, though. If we brought Sara? Russia would become hers, and she would change everything to suit her. Vicky would take over, but she would do so through buying the country. Mom would sucker you for another puppy because she wants another puppy. Evelyn would try to mother everybody, and if anyone looks at Dante wrong, she’d mother everyone after she finished painting with blood. I have no interest in Russia, which is why I’m here.”
“It’s the wrong time of year for puppies, Nicolina. Stop trying to goad me and your mother into giving you more siblings. Your brother is enough of a little devil. We don’t need to add more devils to the household right now.”
“You really should. Then my little brother will have a little sister to defend.”