Victoria started toward Marty’s corner, but was cut off by her cousin Colby. She couldn’t smack him here, with all the witnesses in the room, so she gave him a smile. Hopefully no one would notice her clenched teeth.
“Cousin,” he greeted her silkily. “Come say hello to the rest of the family.”
She saw that Hawk and Rock had stayed against the wall. Obeying the pull on her arm, she went with Colby to greet them. She gave Rock a hug. He was the elder son of Des and Connie, the Alpha and Lupa of the Plane Women’s House. A little younger than her, he was painfully shy with women, but just as belligerent as any other wolf warrior of the clan. His hair was long and so dark a brown that it looked black. She stepped back and turned to the older man in the group. Hawk was one of the oldest of her uncles, and had been her surrogate father while she stayed at the House last fall. She’d always thought of him as calmer and less aggressive than the Alpha males in the clan. His embrace was warm.
“So, Victoria,” he murmured in her ear. “You are the delegate from the clan.”
His voice was carefully neutral, but she was sure she could hear amusement in it. Since they were nearly the same height, she could look him right in the eye.
“Is there something wrong with that?”
He lifted his hands in surrender. “Absolutely nothing. I’m just wondering how you convinced your father to send you.”
Victoria slumped a little. “It wasn’t me. Mom spoke for me. But I think the person who really swayed him was Aunt Sherry.”
His brow hooked up. “Sherry?”
“I know. I don’t think she’s ever spoken in Council before.”
“Huh.” He smoothed his silver-streaked hair behind his ear. “When a quiet-hearted person like Sherry lifts her voice, the wise listen.”
At the sound of Colby growling, she turned away from Hawk. The two brown-haired men from the little couch had approached. They stood elbow to elbow with nervous expressions on their faces.
“We, uh, we thought we’d like to, uh, welcome the lady.” The one on the left seemed relieved to have gotten the sentence out. When Colby and Rock continued to growl, the young man swallowed hard and looked at Colby. “No offence.”
“Of course not.” Victoria smiled at him but didn’t try to step around Rock or Colby. She had been dealing with overprotective males her whole life. She’d learned long ago that fighting this particular battle was useless. “I’m Victoria Wolfe.”
The second of the two men poked the first. “I knew it,” he whispered. “See?”
“Shut up.” He took a deep breath and tried a smile at Victoria. “I’m Jon Allersen from Falls City. This is my brother, Tanner. We’re real happy to meet you, miss.” He extended his hand to shake, but when she didn’t move from behind Rock and Colby, he dropped it. She was a little sorry to disappoint him, but who knew what Colby would do if she touched a stranger?
“Pleased to meet you.” Victoria looked the brothers over. They were tidy and well dressed, but going by the tans that hadn’t completely faded and the callouses on Jon’s hand, they weren’t soft townsmen. “So, what do you do in Falls City?”
“Farm, mostly. Run some cattle. Brother Saul, er, that is, our father, is here for the legislature, but me and Tanner came along to see Omaha. Never been here before. We’re—uh, hoping to meet some ladies.”
He was nervous. Victoria hid a smile. Nervous men tended to ramble on, and it seemed men were always nervous around her. If her heart wasn’t already given, she might have enjoyed a little flirtation with Jon. “My first visit too,” she said. “Have you met my cousins? This is Colby Wolfe and Rock Wolfe, and my uncle, Hawk In Flight Wolfe.”
No one shook.
“Falls City,” Hawk said flatly. “That’s the Brotherhood Commune?”
Both young men nodded. “Yes, sir.”
To her complete surprise, Hawk took Victoria’s arm and steered her firmly away from the brothers without even telling them goodbye. “What are you doing?” she demanded in a low whisper. “I was only talking to them.”
“That’s all you’ll be doing with them, and it’s the last time you’ll do it.” He let her go when they got to the bottom of the staircase between the big rooms. “Let’s go up to my room until supper is ready.”
She blinked up at her uncle. Had she thought Hawk was the reasonable one? Colby caught up to them at the first step. “What’s the Brotherhood Commune?” he asked.
Quill, Rock, Eagle, and Stone joined them. Victoria went up a couple of steps to get away from the testosterone. It gave her an elevated view of the reception room. Jon and Tanner were standing with their heads close together, whispering furiously. Marty still sat in his corner chair, smiling at her. She smiled back, tempted to wave, but she didn’t want to draw her menfolk’s attention.
“The Brotherhood Commune?” Stone said with a frown. “I’ve heard the name, but I can’t place it.”
“Brotherhood,” spat Hawk. “They say they are all brothers and share everything.”
Rock looked confused. “We all call ourselves brothers.” He glanced at Victoria. “And sisters. Even though most of us are cousins, and some only distant cousins at that. Some of us aren’t blood related at all. But we’re all part of one family. Is that what they mean by brotherhood?”
Hawk looked up at her. “Why don’t you go upstairs, Vic? We’ll call you when supper is ready.”
“Ha.” She folded her arms and stared him down. “One of the reasons I’m in Omaha is to meet men. If those two aren’t suitable husband material, I need to know why.”
“No Omaha man would be suitable,” Colby stated.
“Oh?” She tilted her head. “Isn’t that why you are here? To see if your wolf will find your mate?”
“That’s different,” he growled.
Eagle opened his mouth with a frown, glanced toward Marty Madison, and closed his mouth without saying anything. Victoria smiled sweetly at her brother.
Hawk cleared his throat. “The Brotherhood Commune,” he began with a quelling frown, “Is a farming community about five miles south and east of Falls City. That’s just on this side of the Missouri River. They share everything. No man owns anything. Everything belongs to the commune and the commune belongs Brother Saul Allersen. Everything.”
Colby frowned. Somehow, frowning made him even more handsome. His frowned deepened, making him look darkly handsome instead of sulky. “Their clothes and furniture belong to this commune?”
Hawk shrugged. “Maybe not their clothes. The men sleep in bunkhouses. They share everything else.”
Quill sounded thoughtful. “That doesn’t sound so bad. Lots of single men stay in dormitories or bunkhouses. What aren’t you telling us?”
“There aren’t any married people at the Brotherhood Commune.”
Rock chuckled. “They won’t be around long without any children to continue the farming operations.”
“Are you so naïve?” Hawk allowed himself a sigh. “The Brotherhood share everything.”
Eagle made a choking sound, head swiveling to stare from Hawk to the brothers below, and back to Hawk. “They share their mates?”
Hawk nodded. “The women there are treated just like any other communal property.”
Victoria slapped a hand over her mouth and turned her back on the brothers. “I am going to throw up.”
Colby looked like he was about to launch himself over the banister at the Allersen boys. “Excrement of diseased dogs,” he snarled in Lakota.
It was his own made up curse word, since Lakota didn’t have the wealth of swear words that English enjoyed. Victoria used to hide a smile when he said things like that, but right now it had never sounded so appropriate.
“Women abusers,” Eagle agreed, scowling fiercely, obviously prepared to back Colby in his attack.
Hawk laid a restraining hand on Colby’s shoulder. Quill grabbed the collar of Rock’s flannel shirt with one hand and Eagle’s with the other. “Just hold on,” Hawk said. “I’ve never heard that the ladies aren’t happy with that arrangement.”
Victoria made a gagging sound. “Really? They probably aren’t allowed to talk to strangers.”
Stone chuckled. “Some women like having the attention of a lot of men.”
Victoria cast a glance of loathing at the two brothers. They must have noticed, because they quickly turned away, shoulders hunched. “That’s disgusting,” she snapped. “And they are here in Omaha to meet ladies? Ha! Probably looking for new blood for their harem.”
Eagle shook off Quill’s hand. “They won’t get it.”
Quill sighed and looked at Stone. “When did we get so old that we are the voice of reason?” He turned back to the younger generation. “No. We are not here to pick fights with the other delegates. Just cool down.”
Eagle bristled. “If they so much as smile at my sister…”
“Smiling is acceptable,” Stone said. “No fighting unless they step out of line.”
Victoria waited for him to define what constituted stepping out of line, but he didn’t. She tapped her chin with a forefinger as a wicked idea came to her. Compared to the Allersen boys, Marty must be much more acceptable to her menfolk. She smiled.
“You’re right, Uncle Quill. Dad told us we should present ourselves well here in Omaha. Beating up strangers because we don’t like their lifestyle would be wrong.” She swallowed and forced the next words out. “We should invite them to sit with us at supper.”
Every one of her relatives snapped his head around to stare at her. “What?” they chorused.
“Well, you know, just to be nice. I mean …” She faltered under their combined outrage. “It would be neighborly. Right?”
“No,” Hawk said with flat finality.
Victoria sighed to hide her relief. “Oh, alright. Where’s Uncle Sand?”
“He went to deliver some letters for Amanda.” Hawk seemed glad of the new topic. “You know his mate grew up here in Omaha.”
“Uh-huh. Oh, look, Mrs. Theige is waving at us.”
The housekeeper came to stand by the stairs. “The buffet is ready, gentlemen. And Miss Wolfe,” she added quickly.
At home, when someone said food was ready, there was a stampede to wherever the food was to be served. Here, no one moved, but all the men were looking at her. Eagle nudged her with an elbow. “They’re being gentlemen, sis, so lead the way before we all starve to death.”
Victoria cast a glance over her shoulder at the corner where Marty was. He and his nephew, Ray, were standing now. He gave her a subtle nod and a slow smile. Good. Marty would join her for supper. Her tummy did a little shimmy of anticipation. She hadn’t spoken with Marty in more than a month. How odd, she thought, that she had missed him so much when she’d barely known him a few months ago.
Once she took a plate from the stack at one end of the buffet table, the men flooded to form a line behind her. She went along the table, taking generous helpings of all the offerings. Anything that Renee made was guaranteed to be delicious. She carried her plate to one of the small square tables, put it down, and went to the next table.
Eagle was right behind her. “What you doing?”
“Let’s pull some of these tables together so we can all sit together.”
“That’s a good idea.”
Eagle and Colby shooed her out of the way and moved the table themselves. She grabbed another table and dragged it over.
Colby frowned at her. “We don’t need that many tables.”
“Yes, we do,” she said. “There’s me, you, Eagle, Hawk, Rock, Quill, and Stone. Sand will be coming soon, so we should save a chair for him.” She added in a casual tone, “And don’t forget Ray and Marty.”
Colby stopped dead. “The Madisons don’t belong at our table.”
“Don’t be rude, Cole. Ray Madison is going to be your brother-in-law. Your dad gave permission for Patia and Ray to be married, right?”
Apparently, Colby couldn’t find an argument against that. “Oh, fine.”
It wasn’t a gracious acceptance, but Victoria would take it. She wasn’t stupid enough to smile where he could see her. Now if she could just arrange it so Marty sat next to her. Maybe she could say she was saving the seat on her left for Sand and then wave Marty over?
That didn’t work, of course. Stone took the chair on one side of her, and Eagle was in the other. Darn. Victoria cut the beef roast on her plate and took a bite. She closed her eyes to savor the flavor of it as it melted in her mouth. No one made beef roast as tender as Renee. She opened her eyes to look for Hawk so she could compliment his mate’s cooking, and saw Marty sitting across the table from her. Her smile grew.
“Hello, Marty,” she purred. “I’m glad to see you. How have you been?”
If he could sell his smile, he would be a rich man. “Good, thanks.” He aimed his smile at Stone and Eagle. “How was your trip?”
“Long,” she replied before the men could. “We rode the fifty miles to Deadwood to catch the train. Well, I rode, but most of the escort was in wolf form. It’s a good thing Deadwood knows us. I think there might have been a couple of visitors who were surprised to see a lone woman ride into town with three packhorses and twenty wolves running alongside her.”
He laughed. “That must have been a sight.”
Eagle grunted. “There were some visitors. They looked at my sister with too much hunger. Like maybe they wanted to steal her.”
“I bet the twenty of you around her discouraged that idea.”
Eagle grunted again, looking satisfied.
“And then you took the train here?” Marty turned to Victoria. “I hope it wasn’t too uncomfortable.”
Her brother shoveled in a spoonful of mashed potatoes. “I didn’t like being cramped up in that train car for nearly two days, but it wasn’t too bad.”
“Good.” Marty smiled at Victoria. “I know some of your uncles have been to Omaha before, but I don’t believe you have.”
She scooped up a spoonful of mashed potato herself. At this time of the year, the potatoes must have been made from spuds that had been dried and ground into powder, but the butter and cream Renee whipped them with made them very tasty. She had really missed Renee’s cooking, but even that couldn’t compete with the appeal of the man sitting across from her. “No, this is my first visit.”
“The legislative session begins the day after tomorrow. If you don’t have plans for tomorrow, I’d be happy to take you on a tour of the city.” When Eagle looked up sharply, he added smoothly, “All of you, of course.”
Hiding her smile and speaking quickly, before any of her relatives could forbid the trip, she said, “That would be great. I’d love to see the city.”
Eagle’s spoon clattered on his plate. “No.”
Victoria jabbed her elbow into her brother’s side. “Yes.”
From her other side, Stone said with exaggerated patience, “Of course you can go, Vic. I’m sure Colby and Rock would like to go too, even if Eagle doesn’t.”
With their sharp ears, Colby and Rock, sitting a little further down the table, had followed this exchange. By leaning forward, she could see them both frowning at her. “We’ll go,” Rock affirmed, transferring his frown to Marty.
“I’ll go,” Eagle said, grumbling.
“Wonderful,” Marty said, as blithely as if he didn’t have three wolf warriors glaring suspiciously at him. “Tomorrow after breakfast?”
“Great.”
Victoria happily contemplated her dried apple pie. She would be with Marty for the whole morning. There had to be a way to get rid of her brother and cousins for at least a little while. She made eye contact with Marty, willing him to see that she was interested in him as more than just a friend of the clan.
His eyes were gorgeous, a vivid shade between blue and green, fringed with eyelashes longer and thicker than her own. Their true beauty, though, was in their warmth. She had seen some eyes that always looked cool and distant. Her uncle Dan, for instance, had eyes of glacier blue that only warmed when he was looking at his mate or his daughter. Every time she had seen Marty looking at her, his eyes had been warm. He would have been a very handsome man regardless, but that warmth made him devastating.
When Stone cleared his throat, she realized she had been staring at Marty too long. She busied herself cutting into her pie. “How is your mom doing, Marty?”
His eyes clouded. “She’s not getting any younger. I’m afraid we might not have her with us much longer.”
“I’m sorry.” Marty had been a surprise child born when Mrs. Madison was in her mid-forties, so she must be at least seventy now. She didn’t know Mrs. Madison well, but she had every intention of becoming the woman’s daughter-in-law. “That must be hard.”
“Thank you. How are your parents?”
They spoke of generalities for the rest of the meal. The tone was casual and impersonal, which seemed a great contrast to how she was feeling, but none of her relatives growled or glared any more than they usually did. She considered it a great success. Tomorrow would be her chance to move the relationship past casual and impersonal to intimate. She couldn’t wait.