Page 14 of Henri's Little One
“How did your parents discover your gift so early? There are three Omegas married to council Alphas here, including me, and none of us knew our gift until the mating.” Sean raised one eyebrow.
“Truthfully, I don’t know why the gods told us what it was. They told us just after we lost Alpha Davidoff. I was twenty. Papa thought it was because they had to be very careful of potential Mates and me. The gods told us that many loup garou would try to claim me, but I would know my Mate immediately. Even after Alpha Chernof killed Papa and Mama, I knew I couldn’t go to him. He wasn’t my Mate.” Vitas took a bite of his second corned beef, sauerkraut, horseradish sauce, and cheese sandwich and smiled. “I haven’t had one of these since I was a boy.”
“What were you going to do?” Sean asked. “He is Chief Alpha in Russia. How could you stand against him as such a young wolf?”
Vitas answered simply, “I planned to kill myself to prevent him from using me.”
Ian choked and spit out some of his beer.
Julio put his arm around Vitas. “Yes, that’s what I would have done.”
§ § §
Armand’s Plane
The Bar
Armand poured himself a half snifter of cognac. “The mating, even the wedding doesn’t negate the danger, Henri. If Chernof kills you before the mating, Vitas is up for grabs. He’ll go to any unmated Alpha who can hold him. We must end Chernof. That means we need to lure him to the Assembly in New York by dangling an unhappy Vitas under his nose. He won’t go to New York unless he thinks he has a shot at Vitas, and we can’t go to Moscow.”
“I know, I need to kill him. I think I’m strong enough. Alexei’s sources tell him that Chernof has let himself grow soft since Alexei left Russia. Chernof’s gotten complacent. He has to be complacent, he’s killing humans.” On reflection, Henri said, “I wonder why the gods haven’t spoken to him or the other Russian Alphas about this abomination. He’s broken our most sacred law.”
“I’ve found that the gods won’t take care of what we should handle ourselves. We’ve known about Chernof’s abuses for a while now, ever since he had Alexei imprisoned, and other than trying our utmost to get Alexei released, we haven’t taken care of business.”
“Armand’s right. Chernof should have been challenged by our council the moment he had the Russian government take Alexei.” Etienne shook his head. “I hate to use this word, but we acted like cowards. Not one of us wanted to face him, yet we all train and all of us are almost equal in strength to each other, and far superior to him, especially now. To say nothing of our legacy. The Alpha has precedence over the Chief Alphas of both Europe and Russia.”
Rémy walked over to the food tray and took a sandwich. Ian shot him the evil eye. Rémy mussed Ian’s hair and hid a laugh behind a cough.
“Now we know where Ian gets it from, he’s mated to the right Alpha,” Marc said with a straight face as Rémy rejoined the group.
Rémy devoured his sandwich as he downed his brandy. “I like the taste of cognac, however, I wish it had the same effect on us as it has on humans.”
“One of the trials of being loup garou is that we are forced to face our problems with no chemical assistance.” Alexei poured himself some more vodka.
“The gods gave us gifts that the humans never received. We shouldn’t need chemical assistance, although sometimes it would be welcome.” Gabriel chuckled.
“I don’t know about you, but I just found my Mate, and I’m going to spend time with him before we have to handle the legacy of the loup garou. I have to make sure he’s eating enough, and between Ian and Rémy…” Henri strode over to the other side of the plane.
Armand laughed, facing the rest of his Alphas. “I don’t know about the rest of you gentlemen, but I’m still that sappy.” He followed Henri.
§ § §
As the Alphas had gathered around the bar, Vitas watched the Mates, feeling a bit uneasy. They sat on the bar stools and he sat down around a low table he supposed was a conversation area. Although he acted as if he were comfortable, he was in fact quite lost. He wasn’t used to having friends, and the camaraderie of the Mates both appealed to and frightened him. His experiences in Russia taught him to trust no one. He was prepared to love and trust his Mate and found that it was easy to do, his Alpha was both kind and gorgeous, but he wasn’t so sure about what to do about the others.
Julio sat down next to Vitas, seeming to sense his dilemma. “They’re all pretty straight forward. What you see is what you get. Sean and Ian bicker but are closer than twins. Colin is an observer of the packs’ interactions and condition. Kane is very intelligent but woefully naïve. Donal is somewhat childlike even with all he’s been through. Richard is crazy smart, and I’m a smartass. Our Mates love us exactly the way we are. The gods picked the right Mate for each Alpha, including you.”
“How do you know…about Alpha Giraud and me, I mean?” Vitas whispered.
Julio cocked his head. “Henri had encased himself in a hard shell because he was eighth and felt useless. He just started to do his job after training for it for two years without being aware he was being trained. You’re a gentle soul who will bring out his softer side which will temper his justice with compassion.” He took a sip of his drink.
“What are you drinking?” Vitas asked to divert Julio’s attention away to something else.
“It’s called a love potion. It’s alcoholic, but you’re a wolf. You don’t get drunk. It’s both sweet and tart. I’ll have the steward make you one.” Julio gestured to the steward then smirked at Vitas. “I know you just tried to direct my attention away from you because you’re uncomfortable with people who are not your family. You can’t get away with that here. The Mates are close and will expect you to join in their hijinks.
“Don’t worry, you’ll be fine. Think about how lost they were. None of them even knew about the existence of the loup garou and found out about wolves the same time they were told they were Mates, and that was after each one of them had a horrific experience, like yours. Even Sean, who is a smidge more than half wolf, had no idea of his heritage, and he was the first of the Mates.”
The steward brought over a second love potion and set it in front of Julio on the tray table.
“I didn’t know that. It must have been a difficult adjustment.” Vitas considered what Julio told him.
