“I told her as much, but you know how she is.” Nikolai clasped his hands behind his back.
“Fine,” Lulu muttered, shaking her head. “I’ll handle her.”
I stared at them both. It was like they had completely forgotten I was even in the room.
Lulu gave me a quick smile. “Thanks for talking to me and letting me hang out. This was fun.”
“Uh, sure,” I mumbled. If anything, it was the other way around. Lulu had given me more insight into mating bonds in the last hour than Elias had in the entire last year.
Lulu turned and walked out the door, leaving me alone with Nikolai.
“What was that about?” I asked softly.
He smiled at me innocently. “Lulu doesn’t have many friends. I think she took a liking to you.”
My eyes narrowed. “Why doesn’t Lulu have any friends?”
His smile fractured slightly. “She’s made several choices that her people don’t agree with. It’s why she has chosen to live here with us instead of in town with the others.”
“What kind of choices?” I pressed.
“The kind that are hers to tell,” he answered cryptically.
Considering that was the same excuse I had given about revealing Mom’s secrets, I couldn’t really try digging for more information.
“I’ll have suitcases brought in here so you can pack,” he said suddenly, looking around the room.
“None of this is my stuff.”
“On the contrary, it all belongs to you,” he countered. “I bought it with you in mind.”
For the millionth time, my jaw went slack. “You didn’t even know I existed until a few days ago.”
“No,” he agreed, almost bitterly, “I didn’t. Not until Dimitri called me the morning of the explosion to alert me of your existence. I immediately began setting this room up for you.”
“How did you know what size I wore?” I asked incredulously.
“Dimitri.” He gave the explanation so simply, like it was totally obvious.
“Okay,” I said slowly, letting that go, “but I can’t just take this stuff.”
“Then who else should?”
“I don’t know,” I sputtered. “You can donate or give it to someone else? Almost everything in the closet still has tags—you can return them.”
“They’re yours,” he replied. “You may donate them if you wish, but I ask you not to donate the jewelry as it belonged to my mother and grandmother. Most of the pieces have been in the family for centuries.”
I closed my eyes and rubbed my temples.
Sighing softly, Nikolai crossed the room to me and put his hands on my shoulders. “Skye, this room and everything in it is yours. Consider it making up for all the birthdays and holidays I’ve missed.”
I opened my eyes to see him staring intently down at me.
“It is my greatest wish that you will one day come back to visit me. This room is yours whether you are here or in America. It will always be yours.”
I steeled myself against the rush of emotions that threatened to unmoor me. I could only nod, grateful and a little humbled at his kindness.
“Now,” he said brightly, stepping back and releasing me, “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.