8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

My phone was ringing and I looked in surprise at the name of the caller: it was Reynard.

I'd met Reynard when he was a gargoyle called Bob and we were huddling together under a children's climbing frame, hiding from some lurking vampyrs. We'd grown quite friendly as we'd worked together to locate young Bobby when he was kidnapped from school. Then, of course, there was the small matter of my grandfather Alessandro and me strolling back in time when I'd met Reynard in the Victorian era.

Back then, Reynard had broken a witch's geas to tell me about the existence of the Great Pack and to urge me to restore it. I'd done exactly that, but in falling foul of the geas Reynard had been turned into a gargoyle and lost his wolf, Swift. I'd eventually managed to break the curse on him – and all the gargoyles .

Emory, King of the dragons and Jess's future husband, had stepped in and saved them when that huge loss of magic had threatened to kill them all. He had used ancient dragon magic and turned the gargoyles into black-winged Brethren known as the dark seraph.

When Jess and Emory had left the mansion, Reynard had gone with them so I hadn't had time to talk to him about how he felt about my being alpha – and indeed Queen. He had been the alpha of this pack, but after the witch's curse had taken him, his second, Isiah Samuel, had agreed to act as steward, and he and his descendants had assumed the alpha role until I'd rocked up and killed Wilfred Samuel. It was an unholy mess and I had no idea how Reynard felt, but I owed him a lot.

I braced myself for the fact that I might have lost his friendship and then, palms suddenly sweating, swiped to answer his call. ‘Reynard, how are you?'

‘I'm all right, my bitey pup, but I have a little fucking situation you could help me with.'

Something in me eased to hear his usual nickname for me; I'd never thought I'd be happy to be called ‘bitey pup'. His tone was as warm as ever and I let out a silent breath of relief before I gathered myself enough to answer. ‘Sure. What's up? '

‘Jinx has roped me in to help her solve some murders. Someone keeps bludgeoning some fuckers to death.'

I blinked. Obviously I hadn't been the only one omitting dead bodies in my latest phone call with Jess. See? This is why you need to hang out in person; it was far too easy to skip over minor details like corpses when you were on the phone. ‘Okay,' I said noncommittally.

‘But I wanted to check on the pack with all the shit that's going down. My loyalty is to Emory because he's a fucking God amongst men and he saved us all, but that doesn't mean I forget that it was at your urging that he helped us. You saved us all too, my fucking Queen. I'm still loyal to the pack – all of us are. We have watched over our wolfy counterparts for centuries, and it is a mighty hard habit to shake. One of mine, Jacob Samuel, has volunteered to be my eyes with the pack. We have Emory's blessing. If you agree, he will assist you and represent the dark seraph. We want to demonstrate to all of the Other realm that you, as our Queen, have our full support.'

A lump took up residence in my throat; not only did he not blame me for his current situation, he was throwing his weight behind me. Tears filled my eyes though I did my best to not to let them show in my voice when I said, ‘Reynard – I don't know what to say. '

‘Say whatever you like, my fine wench, or nothing at all if it pleases you – as long as you let me send Jacob.'

‘Yes, send him. Thank you.'

‘Good, because he's already on his way. He'll be landing imminently. We will speak later, Lucy Barrett.' He hung up, leaving my mind whirling.

It was my job to secure the werewolves' position in the Other realm and for that to happen, I needed allies. My best friend was marrying the King of the Dragons and I knew that he would ride to my aid because he already had. Now I also had the dark seraph. Their first loyalty might be to Emory but I was number two, and for now I would absolutely take that. Suddenly I started to feel that maybe my reign stood more than a snowball's chance in hell.

I looked up at Greg. ‘So hey, Reynard is sending us a dark-seraph ally.'

He brightened. ‘Maybe they can guard our skies.'

I grinned. ‘That shit's really bothering you, isn't it?'

‘It's not secure. Bastion can just stroll in,' he complained. There was a whiny edge to his voice.

‘Firstly, Bastion is our friend; secondly, we have cameras on the roof, and thirdly, we have a lock to keep him out.'

Greg snorted. ‘No locks will keep Bastion out.'

‘I don't think a dark-seraph warrior would either,' I pointed out.

He sighed. ‘True, but at least the fracas will serve as an early-warning system.' He opened the drawer for the security console and pulled out a bag of monkey nuts.

‘Hungry?' I asked dryly. He ignored me and pulled out some sparkly beaded bracelets. ‘Dressing for success?' I sniggered.

‘I took your plan and ran with it. Corvids like cracking monkey nuts and they like shiny things. I'm going to take these up to the roof and scatter them around. I've already put some trees in pots up there, so with time we can maybe train some ravens to live at the mansion. You can pipe them then we'll have a constant live surveillance presence on our roof.'

I grinned. ‘I love it.' I especially loved the thought of my super manly boyfriend ordering a tonne of teenage girls' bracelets.

Greg eyed the desk, clearly torn. ‘Go, do your roof thing. I'll watch the desk,' I promised. Personally, I found watching the CCTV screens akin to watching our turquoise grass grow, but I knew that it was necessary, especially whilst we had … guests.

Greg had barely been out of the door for two minutes when something on the CCTV screen caught my eye. Three of Beckett's wolves – my wolves, dammit! – were getting in Noah's face in the corridor by the kitchen. One of them pushed him – and that was it.

No! Esme growled in my head and I agreed. Fuelled by rage, I flew from my position at the console and ran through the corridors. I arrived at the one leading to the kitchen just as the first guy threw a punch at Noah.

Noah didn't even try to defend himself; the punch landed and he flew back into the wall. An animal growl tore from my throat – though I couldn't tell if it was coming from me or Esme. Effortlessly, I pulled the puncher back and shoved him down the hall. It took real effort not to do more to him than that.

A bite will teach them a lesson, Esme suggested, still furious and urging us to shift.

A bite is all they've ever known, I snapped. My anger drained away as suddenly as it had arrived. These wolves were the product of their pack and the toxic environment they'd been raised in. I had to do better, even though they weren't making it easy for me.

I turned away from the attackers to face my real concern, Noah. ‘Hey,' I said softly. ‘Let's get you up.' I helped him to his feet and studied his face: it was already reddening and starting to swell. Now Noah didn't have his wolf, Roan, he'd lost his werewolf ability to heal quickly. ‘You didn't even fight back?' Despite myself, I was asking a question .

He looked at me with dull, grieving eyes. ‘I deserve it. I lost Roan.'

Anger sparked again. ‘You didn't lose Roan. He didn't wander off at the shops; he sacrificed himself for you. He gave up his life in the here and now, and his life in the Great Pack ever after. I swore to him that I'd look after you, and you're making me do a terrible job.'

I pulled him into a hug. ‘You want me to kill them for you?' I murmured fiercely, aware that his attackers could hear me. I might not want to throw any punches, but I didn't want them thinking mercy made me weak.

Noah let out a choked laugh. ‘No, they're just idiots, alpha. It's fine.'

I gave him one last squeeze. ‘Into the kitchen. I'll follow you there in a minute.' As he turned obediently and went into the kitchen, I faced his attackers. ‘Names,' I barked.

They had the sense to look down at the floor.

‘Harry.'

‘Max.'

‘Toby.'

‘Well, Harry, Max and Toby, I assume you are bullying Noah because he doesn't have a wolf.'

‘He's not pack,' the one who'd identified himself as Harry snarled.

‘He should leave,' Max grunted. ‘It is disrespectful to you to stay.'

I spoke as mildly as I could. ‘If he left, I would take it as a terrible insult.' I studied the three of them. They were all young, eighteen or maybe nineteen. I remembered what Elena had said about Beckett Frost and how he'd inspired trust in the young pups by gradually asking more and more of them until they were stuck on a slippery slope of doing increasingly despicable acts. What had he made these teens do for him? My tummy clenched. Nothing good, that was for sure.

‘I connected you to the Great Pack,' I said finally. ‘I connected you to your wolves. You can hear them now, yes?' All three nodded. ‘Ask your wolf what he thinks of Roan's sacrifice.'

They were all silent for a beat, then they started to look even more uncomfortable. I hummed a ditty under my breath and reached for their wolves. They have been led astray, I said to them.

They have been taught wrong things, like killing when you are not threatened or when you have no need of meat, Esme added in a horrified tone.

It is your job to teach them the right way, I continued, to help them understand what pack truly is. Knowing how much Roan must have loved Noah to have given up his life for him, you understand how much Roan respected him. Noah is worthy because his wolf judged him so. Which of you would die for your human?

The silence stretched out: none of them would. The human men swallowed hard at the evidence that their wolves were not as devoted to them as Roan had been to Noah.

The door behind me snicked open and Finley's scent – and yummy cooking smells – rolled out.

I pulled back from piping the wolves and looked at their humans instead. ‘I lead differently to Beckett Frost, and no doubt that will be an adjustment for you. It is important that you know that I love my pack. I would die for my pack – but I wouldn't ask them to die for me.'

‘And yet we would still die for you, alpha,' Finley said fiercely from behind me. ‘Even in the few weeks that I have been here, you have given me a home. You have never once raised a hand to harm the pack, only to defend it. I will never forget that for as long as I live. The feeling I have had here is like nothing I have ever felt before, the sense of security, of family.'

I gave him a warm smile over my shoulder, gratified that he had found his place here so quickly. Then I turned back to the ruffians and my smile faded. ‘We do not rule by tooth and claw, but do not think us weak. If you hurt another of our wolves in an unprovoked attack, then know that you will be lone before you can say "death sentence".'

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Finley flinch a little at that. Harry, Max and Toby looked chastened but I had no doubt that it would be a long time before they'd start to see things my way. Still, we had time. I'd undo Beckett Frost's evil – and that of Jimmy Rains and any other abusive alpha assholes – if it was the last thing that I did.