A deep voice rumbled from beside me. “You the heir?”
While I shot Talakai a surprised glance, Darius stiffened and took a moment to answer. “My brother is,” he growled.
Matt choked on his mouthful. “Your pack has two alpha heirs?” The shock in his voice indicated the rarity of that event.
Darius’s eyes gleamed with his beast. But all he said was, “Yes.”
Talakai’s face appeared as though carved in stone. “Unusual,” was his only comment.
“We aren’t your average Dires,” Darius snarled, his glare daring the Dragon to do—what?
Okay, then. Time to change to a new target. I turned to Talakai. “How about you?”
He quirked a midnight brow at me. But the look he gave me wasn’t Darius’s arrogant assessment, although I got the feeling it was what he was going for.
“Dragon,” he grated.
Despite my resolve to keep a straight face, my lips twitched. “Where are you from?”
He eyed me before his gaze darted across the table to Darius, and then Matt. He sighed. “Underworld.”
“Okay. Dumb human here. What is the underworld?”
When Talakai stiffened, Mari rescued him. “Dragons are either members of the Empire or independent of it. Most of those that are independent live in what is termed the underworld.” Her orange eyes flicked to him, and then away again. “Many trade in black market items.”
My eyes widened as I glanced at Talakai. “Are you a mobster Dragon?”
When his eyes gleamed at me, I swallowed. Matt had gone quite stiff across the table from him, his gaze darting from me to Talakai. Perhaps calling the Dragon a mobster wasn’t a wise team-building strategy.
But Talakai simply shrugged his massive shoulders. “I have no idea what that is. But if you are asking if I have had dealings with contraband, the answer is yes.” He hesitated. “Or, I did. I am now part of this team.”
Darius glared at him. He definitely possessed more swagger with the wingless version of the Dragon. “What did you trade in?” His tone challenged—definite dick measuring going on.
Talakai met the blond Dire’s stare with one of his own. I didn’t think he was going to answer, but he did. “Weapons.”
Darius snorted. “Don’t need ’em. Have my own.”
The Dragon froze, his unblinking gaze focused on the Dire alpha. “So do I,” he rumbled, the threat evident.
Crap, I thought. Back to square one.
Matt cleared his throat and rescued us. “Everyone needs weapons, even a shifter. You can’t always use tooth and claw, not in some settings. We don’t have much call to use weapons in the wo—ah, the middle of nowhere. Glad to be getting training here.”
Darius extended his hand and grew a single claw from a fingertip.
Matt snorted. “Try explainin’ that in a virgin city, mate. You’ll be better off with a blade.”
I hurried to head off another potential argument. “You’ve got great control,” I gestured to Darius’s claw. “Didn’t know you could shift just a single finger.”
Darius peeled his lips back from his teeth. “You’ll find I’m full of surprises, Babydoll.”
And just like that, I wanted to sic the Dragon on him. Instead, I turned to Matt. “You grew up on a cattle farm?”
Matt’s beautiful eyes lit up, and he began to regale us with tales from his cattle station—apparently one didn’t call them ranches in Australia. His accent got even thicker as his mind fastened on his home and he delved further into the stories, until even I was having problems following him.
Finally, Mari put down her fork and stared at him. “I regret that I cannot understand most of what you are saying.”
She sounded like an English teacher scolding a student. Matt froze in mid-gesture, and I laughed. To my shock, the Dragon beside me snorted, and I thought one corner of his lip twitched upward.
