Rose smiled without her usual spark. Joe didn’t bother.
“What have we done?” Rose asked.
Julian opened his mouth, then shut it again. How was he supposed to explain this? He glanced at Cade, but his brother had never been very good at explaining things so anyone could understand them.
“If one of you goes on a trip,” Alex began. “Does the other one feel…strange?”
The worried expressions on both their faces smoothed out. Rose laughed a little. “Oh, that,” she said.
“What?” Julian said between clenched teeth. The worried expressions returned.
“Quit scaring them!” Alex ordered.
If possible, Rose and Joe appeared more concerned. Rose put her hand on Alex’s arm. “Don’t yell at the alpha, child.”
“Yeah,” Julian said. “Don’t yell at the alpha.”
“Bite me,” she muttered.
“Again?” Julian drawled.
“Oh!” Rose lifted her hands to her cheeks, then stared back and forth between Julian and Alex. “I see.”
“See what?” Alex and Julian demanded at the same time. Cade had retreated to the window, staring out at the street, and while he was obviously listening, he was pretending not to.
“You’re mates,” Rose said, then turned her adoring gaze to Joe. “Like us.”
Alex stiffened. Julian did the same. Each studiously avoided looking in the other’s direction.
“Explain,” Julian demanded.
“You know, Julian.” Rose patted his hand fondly. “You were there.”
“He was where?” Alex asked.
“He was there when Joe almost died.”
Now Alex did glance at him, but Julian refused to return the favor. Mates? This sounded bad.
“Go on,” Alex said.
“Joe volunteered for the army. He was a bit old, but he felt like he should serve his adopted country.” She paused and beamed at her husband. “He loves America so much.”
“I do,” Joe said in a thick Italian accent. “It’s-a true.”
Alex’s eyes widened. She’d probably never heard Joe speak, only sing, and when he sang, not much of an accent.
“He was hit at Gettysburg—”
“Whoa!” Alex held up a hand. “He was a soldier in the Civil War?”
Rose shrugged and spread her hands.
Alex turned to Julian. “What in hell were you doing there?”
“I’m a warrior,” he said. “It’s the only thing I’ve ever been good at.”
She opened her mouth, then snapped it shut again and stared at the floor as her cheeks flushed.