Biffy paused, both to listen to Daine and to offer Kitten a cube of sugar. He supposed that if it was bad for the dragon, Daine would stop her from eating it.

Tea, even for a werewolf, was a fortifying beverage. A good number of difficult conversations could be made a little more civil with the addition of a warm pot. It gave excuses for a pause and warmth around the fingertips that soothed.

That Daine understood what it was to be spirited away helped some, though he couldn't offer any comparable experience with the divinities.

"My master was an ally of Lady Maccon, my now-Alpha's wife," Biffy said. "Her touch turned him mortal enough to conceive a child." For once, he didn't bother to be delicate about such things. Daine was clever enough and this modern world seemed not to approve of shrouding the makings of children in secrecy.

"The vampires feared that child, except for my master, who offered her sanctuary. To scare him into fleeing, well..." Biffy gestured at himself. "I was kept in a tank beneath the River Thames for two weeks. I was a mess, covered in beard, starving. And the worst part is that it worked. She had to go to Italy."