River grinned at Bel’s father. “Yeah, and that was awesome, but…we’re talking about barbecued ribs and collard greens. Sorry. No competition.”
Aiden laughed, shaking his head, but he still grabbed a plate with River and started adding small amounts of food. He hadn’t seen Aiden eat food since Bel had been a child and Aiden was going through the motions of trying to appear human. When he caught Bel watching him, he shrugged. “If I’m going to come in third because of food, I should at least find out what I’m losing to.”
Plates were filled, and Bel found himself seated on the floor between River and Wyatt, who were determined to feed him little bites off their plates.
Aiden stood for a moment, plate in hand, as he looked over the gathering. His eyes finally settled on River and Bel, a hint of a smile on his lips. “You both look considerably better than when you arrived earlier today.”
“We are,” Bel said, smiling broadly up at him. “Much better. Thank you for saving our lives.”
Aiden bowed his head. “It was my honor.” He turned and dropped into a seat that was not his usual throne-looking chair. “How about you fill us in on what caused such injuries?”
Bel launched into a detailed description of their struggles with Albert’s pack, the discovery of the murdered man, and the information Wyatt’s sister had brought to them about how Albert came to be alpha of the pack in the first place. For some, it was a repeat of old information, but Bel didn’t know who was aware of what any longer.
“Your sister and brother-in-law are fine and safe,” Winter chimed in. “It’s why I couldn’t come here earlier. I had just gotten them both settled in my safe house at sunrise. I wanted to stay with them for a few days to make sure they were safe, and the house wasn’t being watched.”
“Thank you, for everything,” Wyatt murmured. Bel leaned against him, offering what comfort he could. There was no telling what would happen between Wyatt and his sister after everything was over, assuming they all survived. He didn’t know if it was too late for Wyatt and Casey, but he knew Wyatt would feel better knowing his sister was alive and happy somewhere, even if they never spoke again.
When everything Bel knew had been presented, the room fell silent. It was a lot to take in. The Variks already had enough problems worrying about the Ministry. Now was not the time to take on a werewolf pack, but they hadn’t gone looking for this trouble. Albert had come after them.
And Bel was going to protect his wolves.
“That’s not everything,” Marcus announced suddenly. Bel looked up and was surprised to find his brother staring pointedly at Aiden. “I feel like you know a lot more about werewolves and the truce than you’re letting on.”
“Yes, it was quite curious you knew to expect River’s violent reaction to the vampire blood,” Rafe said.
“And have you seen a werewolf transformed into a vampire?” Bel pushed.
“What? What the fuck happened this afternoon?” Winter demanded.
Frowning, Rafe recapped the arrival of Bel and his wolves earlier in the day as well as what happened when River was given Aiden’s blood. Of course, he said all of it with his usual tact.
Bel looked over at River, and his heart sank at the man’s sudden pale cheeks and wide eyes.
“I didn’t realize. Don’t remember any of it,” River mumbled.
Bel immediately held him tight. “You didn’t hurt anyone. You have nothing to feel bad about.”
“I just woke up feeling amazing.”
“Oh, and then Bel got drunk on werewolf blood!” Rafe exclaimed.
“What? Drunk?” Winter threw up his hands. “I can’t believe I missed it. Did you at least record it on video?”
Rafe flopped back in his chair and groaned. “No! I didn’t even think of it. I was so shocked that he was going on about his boyfriend’s penis and how they should all be called Richard.”
Heat rushed to Bel’s cheeks, and he closed his eyes. He’d really been hoping his darling brothers would forget about that. Even now, it was all a little blurry. A warm, blurry memory.
“I got it,” Ethan said.
Bel’s head snapped up to see Ethan pull out his phone. A couple of seconds later, Bel’s slurred voice could be heard as he endlessly repeated the word “penis” while his brothers laughed and argued.
“Send that to me! I need to make that the new ringtone on my phone,” Rafe said when he could finally stop laughing.
“You’re all bastards,” Bel muttered.
“You were adorable,” Wyatt said in his ear.
“So very cute,” River added.
Okay, so that helped a little.
Marcus cleared his throat, and some of the laughing died off. “So, what we have is that vampire blood makes werewolves savage, and wolf blood makes vampires drunk.” His attention was directed back to Aiden, who was looking more than a little uncomfortable in his chair.