“shall I escort you down to an early dinner?”
Nikolai wound up escorting me to dinner along with Tate. I had stuck my head into her room to see if she wanted to eat and let her know we would be leaving the next day.
The relief on her face almost brought me to tears.
She decided to join us, and I was glad I wasn’t going in without an ally when I entered the dining room to see it full of people I didn’t know.
“I apologize for not giving you a heads up,” Nikolai murmured, pausing beside me at the entrance. “My council wanted to meet you before you left.”
“Okay,” I said slowly, side-eyeing Tate to make sure she was okay with this.
Tate was an Alpha’s daughter, and it was completely evident that she was comfortable in that role when she straightened her shoulders and lifted her chin when the men in the room stood.
Nikolai led us to the head of the table, each man bowing their head in submission as we walked by.
Natasha was the only other female in the room, and she gave me a big smile as Tate and I joined the table. The seat to the right of Nikolai, Dimitri’s seat, remained vacant as we all sat down.
“Friends,” Nikolai said, raising his voice to be heard at the end of the table, “this is my daughter, Skye.”’
I awkwardly looked around the table, lowkey wishing I had worn more than leggings and a sweater to dinner as everyone stared at me. My hair was still scraped into the same messy bun from earlier.
Nikolai went around the table, introducing everyone to Tate and me. I silently prayed there wouldn’t be a quiz later since there were at least twenty men here, including someone from a European pack that was visiting.
Judging by how he nuzzled Natasha’s neck, he wasn’t just visiting the pack on business.
“And this is my beta, Andres,” Nikolai finished. “Andres is my mother’s brother.”
I looked at the man on the other side of Tate, to my left. He gave me a smile that was welcoming and warm, which was a pretty stark contrast to his inked skin that looked more intricate than Alexei’s did. Even his palms had been tattooed. The man was built like a tank and looked slightly older than Nikolai.
“You may call me Uncle,” he declared in a heavily accented voice. His cheeks were tinged red but I wasn’t sure if it was from the cold weather or the vodka he was throwing back. Either way, he beamed at me as he said it.
“Uh, thanks,” I replied. I ducked my head a bit. “Uncle.”
A second later, a salad was dropped in front of all of us by servers waiting in the wings. Half the table immediately dug in, switching to Russian as they spoke.
“Tate, darling, how are you?” Natasha asked, leaning forward.
“I’m okay,” she replied politely, taking a sip of her water.
“Is there anything you need?”
Tate smiled thinly before sipping her water. “Just to go home, which is happening tomorrow.”
“Of course,” Natasha said with a nod. “It’s been almost a decade since I’ve been to America.”
I froze, my fork hovering in midair. “You’re coming, too?”
“I am,” she replied, eyeing Nikolai. “Someone has to keep my husband in check.”
“Truthfully, she’s simply run out of men on this continent to charm,” Nikolai returned, leaning back in his chair and shooting her a smug look.
“I disagree,” the man to her right said with a chuckle, draping an arm against the back of her chair. His fingers tangled in her hair. His white teeth gleamed against olive skin as he grinned.
I frowned, trying to remember his name.
“Paolo comes from a pack in Italy,” Natasha chimed in. Her eyes slid to him, but the look and vibe she was giving off was cold and distant.
I set my fork down carefully as my wolf went on alert. Something wasn’t right.
“It’s a beautiful country,” he told me, his eyes bright as they wandered over me, a little too interested in what he saw.
I resisted the urge to shudder. Even Tate stiffened.
“It truly is,” Natasha agreed. “Paolo’s pack has been there for decades. He’s part of the council in his pack.”
Paolo grinned, his fingers dragging across the back of Natasha’s neck. “But Russia has many beautiful things in it as well.”
Natasha smiled, her lips tightly pressed together. Her eyes moved to Nikolai and they exchanged an unreadable look.
With a laugh, Nikolai set his fork down. “Paolo transferred packs from … where was it?