33. Chapter 32

Chapter 32

I left the seat of power with Ivy stumbling by my side; she was prancing, digging her claws into the grass as she went, relishing the scent of the earth.

‘Well,' Jacob said from the branches of a nearby tree. ‘You've got a crown and another unicorn.'

‘She's not mine,' I objected. Ivy wasn't a pet. ‘But perhaps Ares can show her where she needs to go. And yes, I have a crown.' A weird, freaky, haunted crown, but for now no one else needed to know that particular detail.

Jacob's assessing eyes missed nothing. ‘Are you okay, my Queen?'

Okay? I was about to go and kill people; lives would be snuffed out because of me. Was I okay? No. But I had made my decision to live and now I had no choice but to fight in order to do so. ‘I'm about to head into battle, but I need you to keep out of it,' I ordered firmly. ‘If I die, I want you to pull Greg out of the battlefield and fly him home.'

He studied me. ‘I would rather rescue you,' he said finally.

I smiled. ‘I appreciate that, but no. I have to do this with my own two feet.'

Four feet, Esme grumbled quietly.

I ignored her jibe and focused on Jacob. ‘I can't have you, Greg or anyone else fight this battle for me. I am Queen now. Too many packs are ruled by fear so first I must make them fear me.'

‘And then you'll make them love you,' Jacob observed shrewdly.

I smiled; that was the plan. ‘I am loveable.'

‘Have you been practising what I taught you?' He quirked an eyebrow.

‘We have,' I confirmed. Unsuccessfully, but even so we had.

He grinned suddenly. ‘Excellent. Best of luck, my Queen.'

‘Thank you, Jacob. And thank you for your help and support thus far.'

He bobbed me a bow and I set off for Fellworth House, a baby unicorn prancing beside me with her tail held high.

The patio around the mansion was heaving with werewolves; they may have been waiting for my death but they hadn't been doing so sober. It was hard for a werewolf to get drunk, but a good number of them seemed to have been determined to try.

The crowd was raucous and loud. Even from a distance I could see ripped clothing and a few black eyes; fisticuffs had evidently broken out, along with the booze. Men: someone always wanted to be top dog. Well, they were in for a shock because it turned out Lucy Barrett was indeed the Queen of the Bitches, and by tooth and claw she was about to prove it.

I dismissed the sight of the revelling alphas and betas as my eyes searched for something in particular, and I let out a breath of relief when I found it. Across the distance, I met icy blue eyes that I knew as well as my own. I saw the tension leave Greg's frame as he flashed me a grin and a thumbs-up.

I appreciated that he didn't start towards me. I'd given all of my ‘suitors' strict instructions: this needed to be my fight. Ready? I asked Esme, trying to stifle my nerves.

Of course! she snapped, affronted by the very idea that she was ever not ready.

I say, Terrance butted in, how do you feel about a spot of drama?

I frowned. What do you mean?

When you shift, I can add a certain … je ne sais quoi , if you like .

I wasn't sure what exactly he was offering, but the assembled wolves were falling quiet as they realised that I wasn't quite as dead as they'd been expecting. People murmured and pointed then a deathly silence fell.

I heard the crunch of the grass as I walked toward the assembly – and then I stopped. Here was as good a place as any to make my stand. There was plenty of space to fight and the brawl wouldn't embroil any innocent third parties.

I stood beneath the breaking dawn and waited for my foes to come. I wondered if there would be many attackers simultaneously; realistically, that was my worst-case scenario. It would be far harder to hide my powers if I had to fight three or four wolves at once. I expected Jimmy Rain to lead the alphas against me – but I should have remembered that he rarely got his own claws dirty.

Evidently Daniel Hughes had drawn the short straw. He was the alpha of the Yorkshire East Riding pack and had met me for the first time the previous night. He had introduced me proudly to his pregnant wife, a rarity for the werewolves indeed. He hadn't seemed evil: maybe he wasn't, maybe he was just easily led or maybe Rain had some blackmail material on him. Whatever the reason, he was looking at me with the promise of violence in his eyes .

His mate is with pup, I said to Esme as Hughes shucked off his tuxedo. He stood naked for a moment, then was wolf the next. Reconnecting all the wolves to the Great Pack sometimes felt like a mistake: I'd given up one of my advantages in doing so.

He has made his choice, Esme said indifferently. He challenges us for our throne. He must die for it.

I knew in my gut that she was right but my heart was sick with it. He had made a terrible choice, but I was going to be the one that had to live with killing him. Selfish bastard.

Thankfully, he – and the other alphas – did not think I was much of a threat. Presumably Rain and the others had assumed that only one male wolf would be needed to dispose of me. It was symptomatic of their disdain that they had only sent one challenger, but they had underestimated me and I'd kill Hughes because of it.

Presumably Rain wasn't concerned that Hughes would take the crown because after I was dead my challenger wouldn't live long. Rain used underhand, despicable methods to win his fights, poisoned claws included. The wolves had expected me to die at the seat of power; failing that, they didn't think that one little female would pose much of a threat. How little they thought of the Great Pack's judgement .

It was notable that, bar me, there were no female alphas and I'd seen only one female beta. The glass ceiling was standing firm in the pack hierarchy. I would enjoy the sharp shards of glass that rained down on them when I destroyed it.

Shifted and ready, Hughes pounded the ground towards us at full speed. Moments before he reached us, we shifted. We felt heat with this shift, like lying in warm summer sunshine, but we had no time to question why it was different. Our enemy was at the gate and he was planning to huff and puff our house down; sadly for him, he didn't realise that I was the big bad wolf.

We braced ourselves for his attack, aware that we needed to make a show of this and time everything to perfection. Esme was in control but I was near the surface, ready to seize back control if necessary. We turned to face him, paws firmly planted, daring all who would defy us.

We didn't intimidate Daniel in the slightest. He and his wolf crossed the remaining distance ready to snap at us, to rip and rend our flesh and take our life and crown. He dived towards our legs, trying to cripple us, take us down and end us quickly.

Well, not today. Esme was in fine fettle and she twisted and turned so that our supple body and speed beat Daniel's lunge. Our teeth raked the slower wolf's side; he stumbled, rolled once and landed back on his feet. We were on him before he could spring again.

We clamped our teeth down on his nose, cutting off his air and taking the fight out of him. As we growled and shook him from side to side, he was silent, hurting. When we stopped, he whipped his head around and twisted his snout out of our grip, trying to slice us with his teeth. We were quicker and we jumped sideways out of reach. He was losing – he just didn't know it.

He got to his feet and we waited patiently, showing no fear or concern. He ran straight at our side. We waited until the last moment, then leapt over his body and landed in time to hamstring him. He yelped and his back end collapsed.

As we sprang on him, Esme snapped her teeth into the back of his neck and severed his spine. He dropped like a stone, dead. We jumped off him and faced the others.

A sharp pain shot through our leg; somehow he'd managed to cut our front leg with his teeth. There would only be a brief respite before another attack came, so we took the chance and did a fast shift to human and then instantly back to wolf. The wound began to heal.

We waited, teeth bared, a low growl rumbling through our body .

A man I didn't recognise started to remove his suit, shifted and pranced towards us in wolf form, his tail high. He was agitated and ready to attack, circling us, lunging occasionally, feeling us out. We avoided him and waited for him to get serious, letting the suspense build in the crowd.

Esme howled a mocking challenge and stood her ground, tempting him. The wolf took the bait and sprang at us. This time we increased the drama; we needed to shock the others, make them truly fear us. As he leapt, I gathered my piping magic so it was close to the surface and ready. The moment he barrelled into us and touched our fur, I unleashed my magic and seized control of the werewolf whose name I didn't even know.

Stop, I barked into his mind.

He froze mid-leap and we ripped out his throat in a single twisting move. Blood sprayed our muzzle and fur. His body thunked to the ground in a boneless heap while we landed gracefully. With our four feet planted, head lowered as we stared down the crowd, we let our tongue loll out and a wolfy grin proclaimed our mettle. Our savage stare challenged them all and silence fell over the terrace.

I hoped that two deaths would make an impression on the rowdy alphas, but the challengers continued to line up; it looked like Nina would have plenty of souls to offer up to the Great Pack. The next alpha was already stripping. By now, a smart werewolf would have changed tactics and sent a number of challengers in at once, but I suspected that the alphas were rather set in their ways. Lucky us: we would kill them all if they kept coming one after another.

The wolf that ran towards us was another alpha we'd never met; Jimmy Rain was no doubt planning to send more wolves as cannon fodder like the coward he was. He was studying us, watching our technique, hoping the wolves he sent would injure us and tire us out for him. We couldn't reveal our piping ability; it was too dangerous for our skills ever to be known in this deadly magical realm.

Esme made the next battle a bit showier, and growls, snaps and snarls filled the air. We let him run at us; once he was close, we sidestepped and so he ran past. He slid as he scrambled to turn – but he was too late.

We bit down on his back leg and crunched bone. He tripped, but he couldn't attack again; it was death to stop and he knew it. He lunged at us but, propelled only by one rear leg, he wasn't quick enough to stop us. We ripped out his throat and let his body fall. Hot blood exploded in our mouth and Esme revelled in its taste and heat as it went down our throat.

We howled in triumph, grabbed the body with our teeth and shook it, then flung it away as though it weighed nothing. It was a show of strength .

Esme's glee filled my mind. She was ready to kill them all.

Is it enough yet? I asked plaintively. We have shown them we are strong and tough. We have shown them we can kill – and easily. Surely it's enough? I felt sick to my stomach: three men no longer lived and breathed because of me, because they didn't think I should have the crown that the seat of power had given to me.

I would not give food in exchange for thoughts, she sniffed. Thoughts will not sustain you in winter. That is a poor trade.

Esme, I sighed. Focus.

I am, she replied in all seriousness. She threw her head back and howled again. The challenge was clear as she fixed her golden eyes on Rain and waited to see if he would answer it.

His face was twisted in a snarl. He barked an order but the murmuring of the crowd was so loud that we couldn't make it out. Five of his wolves surrounded him then they all melted into the crowd. I scanned it but I couldn't see him.

Shift, Esme ordered. Let us show them we are so unconcerned that we can waste energy on shifting back and forth .

I did as she suggested and an alien warmth rolled over me. Even weirder, when I stood up I was fully clothed with Terrance on my head.

How come I'm dressed? I thought in surprise.

Terrance's tone was reproachful. You are a Queen; you cannot stroll around in the nude. It isn't seemly. I stored your clothes for you. You had them on at your last shift; though that one was so quick you may not have noticed.

Huh, I hadn't noticed. My new haunted crown might be a prude, but I was freaking delighted that I never needed to lose a favourite pair of jeans again.

My stomach let out a loud rumble; hunger felt like it was tearing me apart, but I thought of poor Nina who was starving. She hadn't been fed in a century or two and my hunger was nothing compared to hers. Luckily, now I had three bodies to feed her; I had promised, after all.

I stood in the ballgown that was the same colour as the blood leaking into the grass around me and waited, chin up, eyes on fire, hands clenched into fists.

The question was: how many more of them had to die before they finally accepted that I was just as deadly as Rain? And that I was wearing the fucking crown?