Night turned his attention to his plate and occupied himself by unfolding his napkin to place it in his lap. He tried to ignore Phury as he approached the table from the other side and worked to not scowl at the fact he would be sitting opposite him for the meal. It became more challenging when another female met him at his chair, and he kissed her, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear after he did. Night sighed. Jealousy didn't become him, and he was determined to at least behave for the evening.
Phury turned to him. "Night, I'd like to introduce my shellan, the Chosen Cormia."
Night blinked. "Shellan? But, you are the Primale," he blurted before he could stop himself.
The smile that spread across the Primale's face was genuine, and, as he looked back at Cormia, Night saw what he had not seen before: Phury loved the Chosen at his side.
"Yes. But I take only Cormia as my mate. We are a bonded pair." He kissed her forehead before addressing Night again as he pulled out her chair and seated her. "I have set the Chosen free, as it were, to leave the Sanctuary and pursue their own lives and interests, should they so choose. The Brothers are all mated, so there is little need for... well, for services offered in the past. Many Chosen still offer themselves for feeding, when needed, since we need that."
Night cocked an eyebrow. "Really?" He couldn't help but glance in Tarra's direction. By the grin Phury gave him as he settled into his chair, he knew that the Brother had caught the look.
"Yes. Really. Though, I act as protector for them, especially those still living in the Sanctuary or who have recently left."
Nodding, Night sipped from his water glass. He was trying not to fidget, but it was a task; he was nervous. "I hope everyone will forgive any blunders I make or inadvertently direct Mehnace to make. I—we—have a lot of catching up to do."
"We are a fairly casual lot around here," explained the female beside V, "despite the formality of dinner. If I can fit in, then you can, too."
He inclined his head toward her. "My thanks to you. I am Night, and this is my son, Mehnace. We call him Ace for short."
"I'm Jane. Vishous," she explained as she smiled at V, "is my hellren, and I am one of the doctors on staff for the Brothers."
"Wow. There's a whole medical staff?" Ace said around a mouthful of fresh-baked bread. Night scowled at him, and he swallowed. "Can I see your facility sometime?"
Jane brightened. "Yep, we've got a staff of four." She began to point out various people at the table. "There's Manny, who is mated to Payne, V's sister. There's Sarah, who just joined us, mated to Murhder. And then Ehlena is our nurse. She's mated to Rehvenge. We have a clinic and surgical rooms at the training center."
Ace sighed. "I will never remember all these names," he grumbled.
"I doubt they'll make us pass a quiz," Night reassured him with a chuckle. He allowed the doggen to pour his wine for the first course.
"What are you pouring for us tonight?" he asked Fritz, who was pouring the wine himself for the King and his guests.
Fritz beamed, delighted to be acknowledged for the service. "This is a Pinot Gris from Villa Amoroso. Please, do tell me what you think."
He studied the color, a beautiful pale golden hue, perfectly clear. When he sipped, he was delighted by the crispness and said so. "I taste hints of citrus, pears, and ginger. Spectacular!" As the doggen set the French Onion soup before him, he approved of the pairing; the wine would be an excellent complimenter of the caramelized onions.
A gentle tapping at the head of the table got everyone's attention. Wrath stood, glass in hand. "You know that I'm not big on this speech sh—" he cut himself off, glancing at the young, "stuff, but it's not every day that we find a long-lost Brother." He turned to Night. "Welcome home, Night. And, welcome to the community, Mehnace. I hope you can find a place here that brings you happiness." He toasted, "To friends and family, old and new!"
As everyone returned the sentiment before drinking, words of agreement echoed through the room. As each settled into eating again, Hatrhed turned to him.
"So, Night, where have you lived all these centuries?"
"Fleur and I moved to Alaska in 1964, right after the Good Friday Earthquake. We bought land all over the state, including Prudhoe Bay, where they discovered oil. We had just settled on about two hundred acres north of Willow when Mehnace was born. Ace and I have lived there all his life, and we run a survivalist training business." He didn't miss the glances that passed between Phury, V, and Hatrhed.
"Are you a survivalist yourself, or do you just run the business?" V asked.
"Oh, I like to get out into the trees whenever I can. Honestly, my personal assistant, Cathy, runs most of the business."
"Huh." Hatrhed spooned her soup. "Well, I imagine being a daywalker comes in handy if you have a business like that."
"Wait," Beth butted in, "what was that about being a daywalker?"
The table around them fell silent, each set of eyes looking expectantly at Night. He cleared his throat. "I am a daywalker. I found out about twenty years ago."
"Neat!" Beth exclaimed and raised her glass. "I am, too!"
"Nearly killed me the first time she went into the sunlight after her transition," Wrath grumbled.
"I can probably still handle the sun because I'm half-human," Beth explained.
Night paused. "You're half-human?"
"Oh, yeah. On my mother's side."
Wrath filled in the gap. "Beth is Darius' blooded daughter."
"Darius had young!" Night exclaimed, brows arched. "That's... unexpected. He didn't seem much interested in romance."
"Oh, he didn't have a relationship with my birth mother. She died giving birth. Same thing happened to John Matthew," Beth explained, pointing out the Brother to Night. "He's my half-brother."
Night sipped his wine, reminded of the situation between Ace, Rhet, and Hatrhed. "Did you know each other growing up?"
"No, not at all. It wasn't until after I was Queen that we found John Matthew," she said before looking at Ace. "I hope you get to know your brother and sister better."
"I do, too," Ace agreed.
"So, the Brotherhood has a training program," Hatrhed broke in, changing the subject. "The current class has been training for over a year and is being taken out into the fight on occasion now. But, I reminded them that newly transitioned trainees would not have the survival skills they might need to fight. We're setting up a trade: my team teaches theirs about surviving in the woods, and the Brothers hone the urban skills of my team. Want to help?"
Night stopped eating. "You two want me to help train future Brothers?"
"Going through the training program doesn't guarantee that a civilian will become a Brother, true?" V pointed out.
Night cleared his throat and glanced at Ace, who nodded enthusiastically. "Still, we'd be honored to help in any way we can."
"There's something you should know, though," Hatrhed offered. "I've tagged Rhet for the program. He's excellent at hand-to-hand with several martial arts styles, and he's been out bow hunting with us a time or two. He's not bad."
"So," Night began, rubbing his chest, "you want me to help, and you're going to throw me into a position where my sons and I can get to know one another?" He glanced at Ace. "Yeah, sign us up."
The conversation paused while the doggen cleared away the first course dishes and prepped each place setting for the next, pouring another wine, a pinot noir. "What is this?" Night asked Fritz.
Fritz shared as he neared without being prompted. "This is the 1990 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Romanée-Conti Grand Cru," he explained. "His Highness brings it out for special occasions such as these."
"An excellent vintage, if memory serves," Night offered. He studied the wine as he and Fleur had learned over the years. He critiqued it for Ace as they tasted. When he tipped it away from himself, he found it sediment free, naturally. As if Fritz would dare cork the wine. It was lighter in color than other reds, a characteristic of the vintage. He swirled the glass, then buried his nose in the rim, smelling truffle, red berries, and leather, which continued when he tasted it. It was wonderfully dry and silky in texture—a perfect wine.
"You seem to know your way around a wine glass," Phury observed.
"Fleur and I developed our palettes. I have a small cellar."
Ace chuckled. "Don't let my dad fool you. He's been emailing wine experts probably since there's been email, and I'd bet he hand-wrote them letters before then. His cellar's not that small, and it's easily worth more than our cabin and land combined."
"Oh, Hatrhed!" Cormia exclaimed. "Nayah will love him! You know how she is about food."
Hatrhed grinned. "I didn't realize I'd bonded with a foodie until she refused to eat pineapple on her pizza."
Night shuddered. "Fruit does not belong on pizza," he proclaimed.
Hatrhed laughed outright as the doggen presented the lamb and scallop main course. The rest of the meal consisted of pleasant conversation about food, Ace's cooking skills, and, with the help of Wrath's cellar, a small tasting for the table as directed by Night and Fritz.
After coffee and dessert, Tohr approached him. "Tell me you're a dart enthusiast!"
Night held up his hands. "Oh, no. Terrible!"
"Well, play with Hatrhed and me anyway. You can be on my team, and Ace can go with Hatrhed. It'll be fun."
As Tohr and Hatrhed set the board, Phury caught his eye and called him over with a gesture. "I just got word from Nayah about Rhet. He's awake, but they're keeping him for observation."
Night sagged in relief. "Thank you for that."
"Well, it's not that easy, I'm afraid. He's let everyone know that he doesn't want to see you."
Sighing, Night said, "I'm not surprised, honestly. We did not end on the best of terms. But, this will bring tension to the training. Are you sure you want to have that disruption?"
"I thought about that. I'd like to assign Tarra to you two to act as sort of a go-between. Would that be okay?"
His heart pounded. "Yes," he said, hoarse. "I'd appreciate that."
Phury leveled his gaze at him. "You're attracted to her."
His head nodded of its own accord. "I will try to keep it in check. I understand that I am not worthy of that kind of company from a Chosen."
"Well, that's up to Tarra to decide, not me."
"Understood. I would never willingly hurt a female. Besides, I am bringing Cathy with me. She and I have an... arrangement."
Phury narrowed his eyes. "Cathy is human, right?"
"Yes. I don't know any others of the race."
"You'd better clear her with Wrath and Hatrhed."
"I will be sure to do that."
Night smelled Tarra before he felt her presence at his side. He carefully stared at Phury's shoes.
"You have told him?" she asked Phury.
"I have. He's agreed."
"Good." She turned to Night, who could not turn away once he glanced at her. "I'm sure that Rhet will have questions about you despite his current state of mind. This way, he can find out what he wants to know without, hopefully, without a confrontation."
Night, being dumbstruck as he was, simply nodded. He wanted to reach out to her and cup her face so badly. He was sure that they could hear his heart pounding.
"I will go and discuss arrangements with Hatrhed."
She hesitated as if she wanted to add more but decided against it. Night was disappointed when she turned away, and he closed his eyes. Not mine.