He was drifting back to sleep when Nikolai bolted upright.
That woke everyone else, though Sofia was still buried.
"What's wrong?" Doc grumbled.
"Someone tripped wards," Nikolai said warily.
"Fuck." Doc scrambled out of bed.
Nikolai waved his hand and cast his cleaning spell over all of them. That was probably just as well since they probably all smelled a bit earthy. Ed didn't mind, but he was a werewolf.
Everyone dressed quickly while Doc and Nikolai slipped out of the yurt.
A quick glance at the comforter showed that they really needed to clean that, too. Probably before they had guests in the yurt. Wolf hair, some streaks of mud, and he smelled a hint of deer blood.
"Hey, Sofia." His heart stuttered when she turned her gray eyes on him. Lavender motes from the magic she held danced through them. Her lips curled into a pleased smile and he wanted to melt into a puddle at her feet.
"Yeah?"
"Could you clean the comforter. It's a bit, uh, wolfy."
Her eyes crinkled in amusement as her smile broadened and she nodded, waving her hands over the bed. For good measure, she included the rest of the yurt.
Sofia's easy expression reassured him. She didn't act upset or repulsed by the run the night before. If anything, she looked relaxed despite the unexpected visitor.
He heard a trio of footsteps trudging through the snow. Doc was nearly silent, and he might not have noticed the vampire if he hadn't been accompanied by the quiet, but still human Nikolai and someone else. The third person didn't even attempt to walk quietly.
"You live in a big tent?" The voice belonged to Doc's old friend Adriana.
What was she doing here? He had known the pack wouldn't be done with her, but he had hoped the real world wouldn't intrude on them until at least after the new year. Couldn't they have waited until afternoon? He growled under his breath.
Sofia put her hand on his arm and squeezed sympathetically.
"It is a yurt," Nikolai replied stiffly.
"You live in a yurt?" Adriana rephrased her question.
"Temporarily," Doc said as he threw back the flap that covered the entryway and gestured for Adriana to enter.
"Why?"
"Because we are redesigning Doc's cabin. We will rebuild shortly," Nikolai snapped.
Ash flinched, but only Ed noticed. The four of them were all standing there staring, almost like they'd gotten caught doing something wrong. It was pretty awkward, and he cast about for some way to make it better.
His stomach grumbled. Food. He could make food. The non-werewolves might not be hungry after the feast last night, but he and Allan were.
He rushed over to the small kitchen area and put the kettle on to boil while he started everything else. Allan, probably understanding what he was doing, dove in to help.
Ed listened while he went through the familiar routine of making breakfast.
After a quick greeting, Adriana jumped right into why she was visiting. Or at least part of why, by the glances she kept darting toward Doc. She really wanted to know something about him, too.
"Nikolai, your Russian counterparts have never heard of you. They say you're to return to Russia immediately."
Nikolai snorted. "Am not from Russia. Am from Detroit. Will not be going anywhere I don't wish to."
"Detroit?"
Ed didn't need a werewolf nose to smell her disbelief. He glanced at them while the pancakes cooked.
"Yes, Michigan. Big city, dirty. Lots of cars. Much happier here. Free country, yes? Don't need permission to live in Colorado." He crossed his arms.
"Can you, uh, prove that?"
"Of course." Nikolai waved a hand negligently.
She arched her eyebrows.
Nikolai's eyes narrowed and he dug out a wallet and handed Adriana his driver's license.
Ed knew Doc had some pretty good contacts in the making up new identities department. He hoped Nikolai's would withstand a heavy look. Adriana took a picture of his license and sent it to someone before handing it back to the Russian.
"Who trained you."
"Family, of course. They died in a fire."
"Convenient," Adriana muttered.
Nikolai's face reddened. "Nothing convenient about it," he snarled.
"My apologies." Adriana apparently realized she had hit on a delicate subject and backed off.
"And you trained Sofia?"
"The demon trained Sofia." Nikolai continued to glare at Adriana. "I simply filled in a few gaps."
She shook her head and glanced at her phone when it beeped. Her frown deepened before she sighed.
"Whoever made up your background did a very thorough job."
"Adriana, why are you here?" The menace in Doc's voice cooled the temperature in the yurt a few degrees.
She shivered. "I, uh, will of course inform the Russians that your background is properly accounted for even though no one has heard of you." She stammered for a moment before getting her composure back. She turned on Doc. "You are not a mage. You don't even have the same ID information that you did the last time I ran across you."
"Do you?" he asked, voice no less frosty. "Not all mages age normally. You certainly haven't. Does your ID have your actual birthday on it?"
She blinked.
"Maybe you should let it go," Nikolai suggested.
Ed got the next round of pancakes cooking, really glad he was just a werewolf and didn't really have anything to hide. At least from Adriana.
Ash took plates and set the table.
On reflection, he cursed himself for making food. If Adriana stayed, she'd be paying a lot more attention to Doc than normal. Would he be able to get away with not eating anything?
Sofia had perched on the edge of the bed and was glaring at Adriana, lavender flashing in her eyes. If Adriana wasn't careful Sofia was going to roast her. The burning scent of anger rolled off his mate.
"So, you tore your cabin down because you didn't like it, and are all
