An answering laugh escaped, surprising Kai. “Lugan's a brute.”
“Exactly.” Julian's eyes twinkled.
A sober Kai would have proceeded with more caution, but then a sober Kai wouldn't have waited for Julian to explain himself.
“Look,” Julian said. “We are not animals, and I refuse to act as one. We all react on instinct and emotion, but we possess language and the skill of communication. We have intelligence. I refuse to walk around living as if I were a mere animal just because I can turn into one. I say what I feel, and I feel extreme gratitude to you for not killing the one that I love. Therefore, I will thank you for it.”
Being Other-kin—literally human/other hybrids—too often meant actively ignoring the human influences in favor of the other. Kai could blame his feelings on the brandy
