He didn’t know she was there.
But Lucien knew, when he found out, he would not be happy.
“We do understand, Mrs. Jin,” Callum put in quietly, cutting into Lucien’s thoughts. “We understand intrinsically. For that is wolf.”
“I’ll ask you to explain,” Mrs. Jin stated, and Lucien felt his stomach tighten.
She had no idea.
Which meant her son had no idea.
Lucien couldn’t imagine not understanding his nature. The idea was abhorrent.
The third of The Three didn’t. He’d lived however long his life was, and considering his maturation it had to be over a century, not knowing.
Fuck.
Callum had realized this too, thus he explained immediately, “The wolf is about his pack. All about his pack. There is nothing more important than their safety and nurture. The werewolf is the same. His”—he dipped his head to his mate—“or her family is all-important. I don’t know how long he’s had his mate, but I can imagine you’ve noticed that this instinct is significantly heightened when it comes to her. This is because she represents the second half to the whole of the family unit. Protection of her is vital. To put it simply, a male wolf lives for that. He will eat, drink, sleep. But he exists for his mate.”
She allowed her eyes to round with wonder for the barest of moments before she hid her reaction and said softly, “Thank you for that explanation.”
“I’ll be happy to share more with you, and your son, should he trust us enough to meet with us,” Callum replied.
“And I’ll be happy to share those traits he has that are vampiric,” Lucien added.
Strangely, when her eyes came to Lucien as he spoke, they dropped to Leah briefly before coming back to Lucien.
This he read.
The third of The Three had a mate who was as The Prophesies foretold.
A human.
“There is much he needs to know,” Lucien told her and held her eyes as he carried on, “And not simply about what occurred three nights ago.”
She understood him and didn’t wish for him to know that, this being why she looked to her lap.
Lucien felt Leah’s fingers curl around his and hold fast.
She sensed it too.
“We don’t wish to alarm you further than you and your family have already been alarmed, Mrs. Jin, but I’ll tell you now, it’s urgent we speak to your son and his mate,” Gregor told her. “There are matters they must know, and the sooner they know them, the better.”
Mrs. Jin looked to Gregor, allowing, “I’ll speak with him again.”
“Please,” Gregor replied, “be convincing. As you know, the threat is very real. In an effort to establish trust, we have not approached again but kept our distance. However, we cannot leave. And we cannot because they will try again, Mrs. Jin. They will bring reinforcements and they’ll try again. And even if we have the mightiest of vampires, with King Callum holding his position as sovereign of the wolves because he’s by far the strongest of them all, we still fear without our own reinforcements, the threat they will bear when they return could be overwhelming. And if it is, that would be catastrophic.”
Lucien sensed her escalating panic, even as she endeavored to hide it when she implored, “Then, please, share that with me.”
“You’ve most assuredly earned our loyalty with what you’ve shown our brother,” Gregor told her gently. “But I’m afraid it’s his right to hear this and we cannot withdraw that right, even for you.”
“Then I’m afraid I’ve had the bad manners to request tea when I cannot drink it, Mr. Gregor, since it’s clear I should get home to my family,” she returned.
“Of course,” Gregor murmured, standing as she did the same. Callum came up off the arm of the couch out of respect and Mrs. Jin’s eyes moved to him when he did so, taking that in. “I’ll show you out,” Gregor finished.
She looked back to him, then back to those on and around the couch, dipping her head in a small bow before she followed Gregor to the door.
“We hope we hear from your son and his mate soon, Mrs. Jin, and further, I have the opportunity actually to share tea with you on some occasion in the not-so-distant future,” Gregor said as farewell at the door.
“We share this hope, Mr. Gregor,” she replied. She looked to the room, nodded to Yuri, then moved out the door Gregor had opened.
He closed it behind her, and when he turned to the room, Sonia noted, “I think that went well.”
“It did, mostly, outside my son needing to learn some diplomacy,” Gregor returned, his eyes to Yuri.
“I do believe, Father, that my defense of one of my brethren was not taken negatively by that human,” Yuri retorted.
“You couldn’t know that when you opened your mouth,” Callum put in with annoyance.
“No, but it’s done and it caused no harm so there’s no point in discussing it now,” Yuri shot back.
“This is true, Cal,” Sonia said quietly.
Callum’s jaw got hard, which meant he kept his mouth shut.
Yuri turned to his father. “We know nothing about this hybrid. We don’t even know his name. He’s entirely off the grid to the point he’s wind. We can trace that family to Daytona. To Dallas. To Pittsburgh. Through this, he doesn’t exist, not in any of those places.”
“You can well imagine, considering it’s clear Mrs. Jin and her sons are loyal to him and wish him safe, why they would take precautions that his true nature not be discovered. We, ourselves, move frequently so that those around us will not come to realize that we don’t age,” Gregor replied.