21. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Tension drained out of me as we approached the mansion; we were home. A smile crossed my face when our car crunched up the gravel driveway and I saw a happy-looking Ares waiting by the house.

‘Hey, boy,' I cooed as I fished around in my pockets for a Polo mint. I held it out to him, palm flat; razor-sharp teeth flashing, he took it carefully from my hand, threw it back and chomped it down with relish. He gave a side-to-side step, holding his tail high like he was a dressage horse then threw back his head and gave a joyous whicker. He was happy to see me.

‘Jesus Christ,' Ben breathed. ‘An honest-to-goodness unicorn.'

‘This is Ares,' I introduced him. ‘He's a dear friend of mine. Ares, this is my brother, Ben.' I sent Ares a few images of Ben and I growing up together so that he would understand that Ben was family.

Ares gave Ben a gentle nuzzle hello; in a daze, Ben rubbed his nose in return. Ares huffed out a breath of hot air, then turned and trotted back to the shade that David's shelter offered.

In the stillness, I heard some corvid caws. I let Ben take in the grounds for a moment whilst I reached out to the birds with my piping magic. I hummed a tune under my breath to make it a little easier. I was startled when I met not one or two minds but scores of them. Greg's plan to attract some crows with some monkey nuts and shiny presents had worked a shade too well.

Images rushed at me: food, nests, eggs. The nests were in the chimneys and in the few potted trees that Greg had dragged up on the roof. They were made with long twigs, but I spied clumps of wolf fur among the intertwined branches. The crows were indeed making our roof their home, at least for now. Greg would be thrilled.

Guard us? I asked the crows.

I felt humour roll back at me but also assent. They would guard the nests; I wasn't sure if that meant they would guard us too.

Tell me if danger comes? I tried again.

Images of the crows' natural predators – eagles, hawks and falcons – assailed me. Hmm. I didn't want to get a warning every time a bird of prey flew past. I sent back images of wolves with their teeth bared, griffins with their claws extended and dragons breathing fire. Danger, I repeated.

Danger, the crows agreed.

I untangled my mind from theirs. I had no idea whether it would work, but no harm no foul.

David opened the front door to the mansion and looked out. ‘Alpha?' His gaze flicked to my brother and he frowned.

‘My brother, Ben,' I explained.

David blinked. Ah: I'd explained that my family were Common and here I was leading in my brother with a triangle on his forehead. ‘He was attacked,' I explained. ‘I turned him into a werewolf to save him.'

David pushed his tortoiseshell glasses up the bridge of his nose then held his hand over his heart and bobbed a shallow bow. ‘My honour to meet you, Ben Barrett. Welcome to the Home Counties Pack.'

‘Erm, thank you.' Ben copied the gesture and gave an awkward bow in return.

‘This is David,' I introduced him. ‘The eighth in my pack.'

Philip Harden pushed past David. ‘My Queen!' he greeted me happily. ‘I am pleased to say that Aitken has confirmed that the preparations for your arrival at Fellworth House are well under way. They will be ready to receive you and the Council members later today. We are all eager for you to formally conquer the seat of power.'

I envisaged a huge Game of Thrones' style chair. The way everyone spoke about it made me nervous, as if it were an insurmountable challenge.

Harden continued, ‘I am also pleased to say that the nearest alphas have been invited to attend. Aitken has confirmed that a magnificent ball will be held in your honour whilst we eagerly await confirmation of your formal coronation.' He was almost bouncing on the balls of his feet, looking positively giddy at the thought.

‘Wonderful,' I managed to say, though it felt anything but. ‘I will ready my thirteen and—'

‘Oh no, Your Majesty,' he interrupted, looking horrified. ‘It will be the Staffordshire pack's honour to guard you. Just you and your beta will be more than sufficient.'

I smiled as blithely as I could. ‘How kind of them to offer but I couldn't possibly impose.'

‘Not at all!' He smiled conspiratorially. ‘It would be a grave insult if you didn't trust the Staffordshire pack to guard you. Of course, I'm sure that's not what you're saying.'

‘Not at all.' I repeated his words back to him .

Tell him we are still choosing a mate. We can take our ‘suitors' with us with no insult given.

Greg might take offence at that, I said drily.

He will not because it will keep us safe.

Hard to argue with that. Greg would walk across hot coals to keep me safe so he would surely bear some indignity to have extra protection for me. I cleared my throat. ‘I will bring some of my suitors with me, though.'

Harden blinked. ‘I wasn't aware you were courting. This is excellent news. I'll let it be known – and, of course, do bring any of your suitors with you to Fellworth.'

Esme, why is he looking happy?

Because we have said we are courting.

And that's made him happy because…?

At the next moon, we must pick our mate.

WHAT? Are you insane? I demanded.

She ruffled her fur a little. It was the only way to give us extra protection without insulting Staffordshire. If we arrive at their pack with the battle thirteen, we will have to use them and wolves would die. This way we can take a handful of suitors and Staffordshire will be none the wiser.

At any other moment, Esme raising her claws to do sarcastic quotation marks would have been hilarious. Instead, I just groaned. My heart was hammering .

I do not understand your distress. You and Greg have mated before. Now you can do so formally.

You know I wasn't ready for that, I hissed.

We are to be Queen , she said firmly. We cannot be without a King.

Yes, we can! This is the twenty-first century. Women can wear trousers, have jobs and NOT have arranged marriages.

It is not arranged if we arrange it, she snorted. You are being cow-headed.

Pig-headed, I corrected automatically.

Pig, cow, sheep – it makes no difference. It is all meat to be eaten, she said dismissively.

You're basically forcing me to marry Greg. And worse – you're forcing Greg to marry me!

I am doing no such thing. You can marry whoever you like.

Greg is the only sensible choice.

Yes, she muttered mulishly. But we both know you're not always sensible.

Right, that's it. That's the last straw. Just fuck off, Esme!

Why you would care about drinking through small tubes at a time like this is beyond me.

It's not about— You know what? Never mind. Just go. Shush. Sit in the corner and think about what you did .

What I did is buy us more time to consolidate our power. You're welcome, she growled. Then, in my mind, she turned and lifted her tail high so that she showed me her asshole.

It was official: Esme and I had just had our first real fight. All the tiffs that had come before were nothing compared to this. I was almost incandescent with rage at her and she knew it. She was a high-handed bitch. How dare she trick me? She was the worst wolf soulmate ever .