Piotr laughed while Zander patted her on the back. “Take it easy, sweetheart,” Zander said.
Rae sipped again, this time swallowing more carefully. “It’s not so bad,” she said, her voice hoarse.
Piotr turned to the bartender, his enthusiasm building. “Again.” To the rest of them he said, “I teach you drinking game.”
The bartender poured four more shots, his gaze lingering a little too long on Rae. “I’ll have to take your keys if you keep this up.”
Zander waved that away. “We’ll walk. What is this game, Piotr?”
“You drink. You count. The last person who can count to ten without slurring wins.”
“Count to ten,” Zander repeated. “In what, Russian?”
“No,” Piotr said, snorting with laughter. “Chinese!”
“Not fair,” Rae said from Zander’s other side. “I don’t know Chinese.”
“In Mandarin,” Piotr said, “It’s yi, er, san, si, wu, liu, qi, ba, jiu, shi.”
“Got it?” Zander asked Rae.
She gave him a steady look, then repeated the syllables back perfectly.
Zander raised his brows. “I thought you didn’t speak Chinese.”
“I’m good at learning languages. I don’t know why.”
“Yeah? How many do you speak?”
Rae shrugged. “French, German, Italian, Spanish, Greek, a little Japanese, a little Russian. Some people are good at picking them up.”
Zander peered hard at her but Rae only looked back at him, her gray eyes ingenuous. There was more to the orphaned wolf than she let on, that was for sure.
“Ready?” Piotr asked.
Ezra growled from his other side. “Yeah.”
“Then go.”
Four hands picked up glasses and poured pure vodka down four throats. Rae coughed again, her eyes watering. Four voices called out the numbers in crisp Mandarin and Zander gestured for the bartender to fill them up again.
Piotr had to drop out of the game first. He was laughing too hard at the rest of them trying to wrap their mouths around the syllables to be able to speak. He bowed out manfully. Ezra kept up, determined, as did Rae.
As for Zander, things began to go fuzzy quickly after Piotr surrendered. Zander had dragged them all in here because he’d been hurting, as had Ezra and Rae. Good for Piotr with his level-headed sense of humor. He was the strongest of them at this moment.
Zander made it up to eight on the next round, then he skipped over nine and instead of ending with shi, he said, “Aw shit.”
“You lose!” Piotr cried in delight. “Zander who thinks he can drink the town under the table.” He thumped the bar with glee.
Ezra peered around them at Rae. “Give up, little cub.”
“Oh, please,” Rae slurred. “I’m past my T—” She made a face as she fumbled with the word Transition. “Teens,” she finished weakly.
Zander grinned at Ezra. “Afraid to lose to a female? I know a few who could kick your ass.”
“So do I,” Ezra said. His voice was a croak. “All right—you asked for it, Rae. I was trying to be nice.”
The bartender poured two more shots. Rae viewed hers in distaste but she grabbed the glass, closed her eyes, and drank.
Ezra downed his shot. He said, “Yi, er, san . . .” and fell face-forward onto the bar.
Zander was about to tell Rae not to worry about finishing but she jumped to her feet and yelled all ten numbers in perfect clarity. Then she punched the air. “I win!”
Piotr jumped off his stool and hugged her, lifting Rae from her feet. “You are an amazing young woman.”
He set Rae down but Zander snatched her up himself and spun around with her. “That’s my girl.”
Rae threw her arms up and whooped. Zander decided he’d better stop spinning before he fell over. He set Rae on her feet but stayed next to her.
Ezra lifted his head and looked around, bleary-eyed. “What happened?”
“You lost, my friend,” Piotr said patting his back. “But do not worry. We think no less of you.”
“Four glasses of water,” Zander said to the bartender. “Big ones. I can already feel myself dehydrating.”
Rae sat down on her stool again, unsteady but beaming in triumph. She took the glass of water the bartender set before her and drank half of it without stopping.
“You guys are easy marks,” she said, dabbing at her wet mouth. “I have two older brothers. I learned to keep up with them a long time ago. I’ve never had vodka but my brothers have a thing for malt whiskey.”
“No, no,” Piotr said to her around Zander. “You won fair and square. Do not belittle your skills.”
Rae switched her gaze to her glass of water. “I don’t think a drinking game requires a lot of skills. Stupidity, maybe.”
Piotr laughed his loud, booming laugh. “I like her, Zander. Where did you find her? Out fishing? Is she a mermaid?”
“Better than that.” Zander gave Rae a warm look but her gaze was still fixed on her water glass. The mention of her brothers had saddened her.
Zander was suddenly angry. What the hell was wrong with Shifters?—those selfish bastards who’d forced Rae’s dad to send her away from everyone she knew? So what if the Guardian was female? Rae had helped Robert without breaking down—she’d put Robert’s and Ezra’s needs before her own. She’d then helped Zander get through his pain without question.
Now Rae was here, hanging out in a bar with Zander, Piotr, and a grieving Lupine. Rae shouldn’t be here at all—she should be home with her father and brothers, surrounded by her loving family.
“Hi there.” A burly man in a flannel jacket slid onto the barstool on Rae’s other side. A couple of his friends took the stools beyond. “I’m Mike,” Mike said to Rae. He paid no attention to Zander, Ezra, or Piotr. “I haven’t seen you in here before, sweetheart. You visiting?”
“Yes,” Rae said, her shyness wiped away by vodka. “From Montana.”
The man gave her a grin. “Cool. Want me to show you around Alaska?”
Rae considered this, then said, “No thanks. I’m with friends.”
“Oh, come on.” Mike sidled closer, foolishly ignoring Zander, who was leaning back to pin him with his stare. “We can have a lot of fun. Just you and me.”