38. Chapter 37

Chapter 37

I gave a sigh of relief when we hit the motorway, and the tension drained away as I rested my head on Greg's shoulder. We were homeward bound, though it was slow going pulling Ivy's horsebox behind us. Still, we were all alive – and I even had a new talking crown. Not to mention that Greg would pick me over Emory. Surely this was as good as life could get?

Liam was driving with David next to him in the front of the car. Archie was next to Greg, toying with his cufflinks, agitated and silent. ‘What's up?' I asked him.

He grimaced then put his hands on his lap to stop them fidgeting. ‘I bumped into my mum when I went to speak to Wakado.'

‘And?'

He sighed. ‘She was trying to get me to take my place as a peer. '

Lord Samuel had been an honest-to-goodness lord and his title was hereditary. I hadn't been aware that Archie needed to do anything to embrace the title; perhaps it was simply that I hadn't heard him once refer to himself as Lord Samuel.

I studied him; I had the feeling that what he was telling me wasn't the full story. ‘And what else?'

He blew out a harsh breath. ‘And … she was trying to persuade me to challenge you. She said I was the rightful alpha of the Home Counties Pack.' He shifted in his seat. ‘For what it's worth, I would never challenge you and I know full well that what she said isn't true. My father's letter explained about our family acting as stewards for you. The alpha role was never truly ours and – well, it's been difficult to come to terms with that. My father wasn't ever an alpha, he was just a steward.'

Archie had been acting a little oddly lately, blowing hot and cold with me. I'd put it down to his burgeoning romance with Thea but maybe the letter had been playing on his mind.

‘He was an alpha in every way that counts,' I said firmly. ‘He looked after the Home Counties pack devotedly and he cared for all the wolves in it. He tried to act for the greater good of all werewolf kind by trying to stop the black tourneys and Rain. He was a good man. '

Archie nodded; his eyes filled and he looked out of the window rather than at me. ‘He was.' He stared blankly through the pane of glass. ‘He was the best of men.' His voice was thick. I let silence fall while he remembered his father.

I was glad we were heading home without cars full of Werewolf Council members following us. I'd agreed to a gathering the following month where new werewolves would be appointed to fill the vacancies left by Ace Frost, Scott Larsden and Nicholas Ramsay. I'd told the Council to come up with a dozen nominees and I would make the final appointment.

I had also made it clear that there had to be some women amongst those nominees. I wouldn't appoint a woman who wasn't suited to the role, but if there was one who would make a good Council member I wanted her. I needed to start somewhere with the equality stuff and where better than the Council itself?

It was late afternoon before we pulled through the mansion's gates. ‘What the fuck?' Archie said, as we rolled up the gravel path. We parked up and got out. What the fuck indeed.

In the middle of our manicured lawn was Nina surrounded by dozens of tents. It looked like Reading Festival had suddenly pitched up at my home, not just because of the tents but because of the vibe. Music was playing, people were sitting on bales of straw and there was a real air of celebration. The smell of cooked meat floated on the breeze and I could see Finley manning a barbeque with Noah and Ben.

The loners: I had invited them to my land and offered them food and safety, but judging by all the tents we didn't have quite enough accommodation for all of those that had suddenly popped up. I hadn't expected so many.

‘Archie!' I recognised Thea's West Country twang as she hurtled towards my fifth. She gave him a big hug before pulling back and glancing over her shoulder at me. She looked at him enquiringly and he shook his head a fraction. Relief flooded her face. Hmm.

Finley strode up and fell to his knees. What was it with people freaking kneeling to me all the time? They respect us, Esme said smugly. As they should.

‘My Queen,' Finley said reverently. ‘You called the loners to you and they have answered. I am so grateful.' His voice choked up as he looked at me from his place on the ground. ‘You have saved them like you saved me.'

‘Finley, do stand up,' I said awkwardly and took his hand. ‘You're kneeling in gravel. That can't be comfortable.'

‘I would kneel on a bed of nails for you, my Queen. I will follow you into the fires of hell.'

Giggling broke out behind him. Over his shoulder I saw two young girls playing tag. He followed my gaze. ‘Ava and Abigail were born lone,' he said softly. ‘Both of them are the product of rape.'

My gut clenched. ‘Tell me who.'

‘The mothers have never spoken their names. They knew the rest of us would exact revenge no matter the cost, so they refused to speak.'

I studied both girls: one of them looked entirely too familiar. ‘How long has this lone community existed?' I asked.

‘Decades.' Finlay shrugged. ‘It has to move constantly to avoid the Council's detection and the black tourney's net.'

I shook my head in disbelief. ‘Then you're not lone, not truly. You are your own pack.'

He sighed. ‘I wish we were, but we're not. They can't be a pack, not without anyone willing to be alpha to them. They rule by committee as best they can, but none of the wolves like it. It adds an uneasiness that shouldn't be there.'

It was on the tip of my tongue to offer myself as alpha, but I couldn't; if I took any more packs under my wing I would paint an even bigger target on my back. Esme had said that taking control of each pack would be one sure way to become Queen, but I didn't want to rule through constant death and challenges, nor did I want to become a dictator. The Werewolf Council had its place, too; we just needed to work together to find out what it was.

‘We will find you the perfect alpha,' I promised. ‘We will make you into a proper pack.' I had originally envisaged absorbing the lone wolves into my pack, but their numbers were far bigger than even Greg had envisaged. The records had suggested maybe twenty or thirty but there must have been triple that number or more. ‘Why are there so many?'

‘Many faked their deaths to escape their packs and evade the black tourneys,' Finley explained.

I looked at him levelly. ‘You didn't.'

‘No, I didn't,' he said fiercely. ‘I wanted the black tourney to come for me so that I could kill as many of the bastards as possible.'

‘A worthy goal,' I agreed. ‘But we'll bring them down another way.'

‘How?'

‘For now, through politics. And funding.' I winked then pulled out my phone and texted Kearns. I asked him to announce that I was making it illegal for any werewolf to fight in, or attend, a black tourney. It was already illegal under Connection law, but I added my own hefty fine.

Next, I emailed Inspector Elvira of the Connection to let her know that if they caught any werewolves at a black tourney, they could throw the book at them – and I would financially cripple anyone stupid enough to attend.

With our fast healing, werewolves had been a huge part of the tourneys' attraction. Remove the wolves, take away the cash incentive and I hoped that the tourneys would die a slow, painful death, taking their antiquated philosophy with them.