Page 39 of Aleko
They parked and as usual Lia was already climbing out of the car by the time he got to her side. This time he saw it not as being rude, but for what it was—she was taking care of herself because she wasn’t about to count on someone else to do it for her. He waited for her and swung the car door shut as she negotiated her backpack and the bag of left-overs.
He heard Sebastian coming up the path by the drive.
“Yay! You’re both home!” exclaimed Sebastian, coming around the shrubs, his long legs stretching across the pavement. “And so are the left-overs!” He reached for the bag in Eliandra’shand and she whirled on him, her teeth snapping in an air nip. Sebastian reared back and took a quick jump away. Eliandra went bright red and turned back to Alex, her head ducked. Alex took a step closer and put his hand on her back, it wasn’t quite a hug, but at least it was contact.
“The leftovers belong to Eliandra,” Alex said.
“Sorry,” said Sebastian. “Sorry!”
“You can have them,” Eliandra, her voice rushed. She didn’t pick her head up to look Sebastian in the eye.
“Sorry,” said Sebastian again.
“Sorry,” said Eliandra. “I just…” She looked up at Alex. She was utterly mortified. “I’m going to put them in the fridge,” she said. She hurried into the house, leaving Sebastian staring at him in confusion. Sebastian let out a whine of distress.
“It’s all right,” said Alex.
“What happened? You got her home, but…” Sebastian looked after her, his nose twitching. “I didn’t mean to upset her.”
“You just surprised her, and she’s still on edge,” said Alex.
“On edge about what?” demanded Sebastian.
Alex sighed. “I’ll tell you on the way. Go grab a pistol. You might need it.”
Episode 23
The Russians and the Kolduny
Alex
“So, you made progress with Eliandra,” said Sebastian approvingly, as Alex wrapped up his story.
“That wasn’t the point,” said Alex. “I was telling you about the Russians.”
“Yeah, I mean, Russians—we can stomp on them some more or whatever, but you got her to stay at the house!”
Alex glared at his Beta.
“This will teach you to make assumptions about people who work under olive trees,” said Sebastian placidly, ignoring the glare.
Alex let out a displeased growl. “Yes, I feel like an idiot. Actually, I just feel like an idiot around her in general. I don’t know what the fuck is wrong with me. It’s like I get within in three feet and my wolf’s likehi, hello, yes, I will be doing every stupid thing I can think of for the next twenty minutes.”
Sebastian bellowed out a laugh. “I know. It’s hilarious!”
“Fuck you,” growled Alex.
“Have you considered that maybe your wolf has a reason to be crazy about her?” asked Sebastian.
“It’s got a very serious view on the reason,” said Alex, “but sex isn’t a great way to start a conversation.”
“Mm,” said Sebastian. “I was thinking—”
“We’re here,” said Alex, pulling up at Negosi’s. The Russians were no longer on the pavement, but he could see a few dark blobs on the pavement. He and Sebastian got out and Sebastian lowered his head, taking a sniff of the blood.
“They got up on their own and went that way,” said Sebastianand Alex nodded. His nose said the same thing. They followed the trail, going down another block and ducking into an alley.
“Car,” said Alex grumpily.
