On the outside, Vladya was thoughtfully processing the loving, totally honest explanation of Serris that tumbled laughingly from Kobato's pretty mouth. On the inside, the jealous demon was frantically trying to dissect each and every hidden meaning and innuendo that could POSSIBLY be hidden behind terms like "father" and "brother" and mentally weighing the significance of such a unique bond in comparison to the link Vlad shared with Ko and silently screaming NOOO over and over and over. Mind of an older brother, heart of a father? What in the hell did that mean? The rough warrior had no concept of the relationship Kobato described, no reference point for such words. On the unforgiving tundra, the other males in his gang had been "brothers." They had no secrets between them because there were no secrets to be had: the pack was all and everything. No room to express individual desires without instantaneous retribution from the gang. No time to joke or tease or unwind, because an outlaw must constantly be ready to defend his band. And a "father"? The closest thing Vladya had to a "father" was Kershov . . . the heartless monster who'd looked right at his hopelessly broken body in the snow and asked him to die. The one who'd flawlessly replicated that brokenness years later, before Kobato came to heal deeper wounds carved into the dog's soul.

Mind of a brother, heart of a father. Vlad's brow furrowed in puzzled mistrust as he nuzzled between his chosen's ears. Surely Kobato couldn't mean that Serris beat her up for scraps of food and systematically tortured her as punishment, right? That didn't make any damn sense. This must have been that "affection" shit Vlad was just beginning to comprehend. Only without the sex. Obviously without the sex. Who said anything about sex? Shut the fuck up already you stupid lousy sack of--

A large wolf of pure shadow stalked out of the forest's cover and immediately smashed his way between Kobato and Vladya, wrenching the duo away from each other the way a crowbar splits apart floorboards to reveal a corpse. And the killing ocean-blue glare he aimed at Vladya said he wished the pale dragon was that unlucky corpse. "Serris," Vlad breathed, ice-white hackles reflexively spiking to full attention. Who else could it be? From the possessive way this thundercloud of a brute loomed over little Ko, Vladya suddenly and completely understood exactly what his mate meant when she'd designated Serris family. This did not bode well for the winter boy. He could feel his jowls quiver with the instinctive need to unveil his curved fangs. talons clenched at the soil beneath his paws, preparing to launch the glacial gladiator directly into battle. Vladya risked glancing at Kobato's calm pools of caramel from over the bristling blackness of Serris's pelt. Only one thought ran rampant behind the pyrite glass of his eyes: WHAT DO I DO?

Something seemed to dawn on Ko then, for she pulled her gaze away to shed a few worried tears. Their effect on Vladya was amazing; abruptly forgetting about the massive shield of obsidian blocking his direct path to his beloved, Vlad lurched forward, ears perked and tail sailing up in concern. "What? What?" But Kobato didn't turn to the warboy; instead she nudged at the dark ruff of her "father," squeaking out an apology. If Vladya had been moderately jealous while contemplating Serris's importance earlier, he was positively viscerally livid right now. Selfishness squeezed the pallid polar beast's heart like the roots of a weed, something ugly and unwilling to share. He didn't understand that Kobato could love himself and Serris equally in different ways. That was the ultimate damage his past had done . . . the fucked-up ruins of an otherwise golden soul. In time, Kobato's gentleness would change that. In TIME. But this was the present. And present-day Vlad didn't care that Serris was King of Munashii Gekko. Present-day Vlad wanted to sink his teeth into that accusing czar's face and rip it right off.

A low, soft growl started to build in Vladya's abdomen. It only halted its crescendo when Kobato slipped past her father's defense to take a stand next to her snowy soldier. Warmth lit up Vlad's insides like he'd swallowed the sun. A cocky smirk smoothed over the snarl warping the ivory wolf's muzzle. Slowly, as obviously as he could, Vladya dusted his banner over Ko's haunches and curled it back around her tail, mimicking the posture Serris had first seen them in. "It's nice to meet you, sir," the moonlit monster drawled in way that sounded more like "I win."