Chapter 9

Chapter

Nine

S imon walked into the lobby of the Savoy with a feeling of exuberance and well-being. There was no reason for it, given the enormity of the threat they were facing and the difficulty of figuring out how to deal with it. On the other hand, he had found his fated mate and she was extraordinary. That she was not too keen on the idea did little to dissuade his cock and he needed to be buried balls deep in her, hammering her into submission and bliss as she called out his name. His cock throbbed in response, and he realized he needed to get the more primitive part of his nature and his anatomy in check before the start of the meeting. Time enough to give both full rein once he had his beautiful Mariah in hand.

"Good morning, Sir Simon," said the concierge, escorting him to the reserved meeting space. "Three of your party have just arrived. Coffee is already set up as is service for the buffet; we just need to bring in the food."

"Why don't you go ahead and do that? I'm sure the others will be right along."

"As you like, Sir."

Simon entered the room. As he'd suspected, the first three to arrive had been Jed, Kat, and Piper. The other two couples, Skylar and Travis and Abriana and Micah, had spent several days apart and were no doubt making up for lost time. The idea of a meeting at seven in the morning had to be abhorrent.

The door had barely shut before Piper spoke up. "Mariah's things are no longer in her room. I got back last night to find a note telling me that it had been emptied at her request."

"That's good. I'm sure having her own things will make her more comfortable at Baker Street. Lovely club, and I know the Cerberus Group has some safehouse capabilities there, but it really can't compare to the Savoy. Did everyone get coffee?"

"What makes you think Mariah is at Baker Street?" asked Piper.

"Because London is my city and I make it my business to know what goes on here. Besides, did you really think that if I didn't know my mate was safe and secure, I would be doing anything other than ensuring she was?"

"He has a point," said Jed. "But if I were you, I'd make sure this group doesn't let her know you're on to her."

"I imagine Mariah will lay low today. I fully expect her to be at the gala this evening. It is her night, and not showing up could hurt the charity. She won't let that happen."

"Let me guess, you have people watching the club."

"As well as working in it," said Simon, grinning.

"I know that look," said Abriana as she entered the room, giving air kisses to all those present as her mate followed her, smiling indulgently. "Nothing good for a she-wolf ever came of that smile."

"Sweetheart, I smile at you that way all the time," said Micah.

"I know. That's precisely what I mean," she said, giving him a lingering kiss.

"I apologize for being late," said Travis as he and Skylar joined them. "As you know I didn't get in until late yesterday afternoon. Jet lag. Simon, have you located Mariah?"

"I have. She's hiding out, or so she thinks, at Baker Street. I have people watching the building from outside and two of the staff also work for me. And I don't suppose the serene smile on your mate's face has anything to do with jet lag."

Once the hotel's staff had finished filling the buffet serving dishes, everyone helped themselves and sat down at the same table Winston Churchill had used many times during World War II.

"I apologize for bringing this terrible evil to your city," said Kat.

"This isn't your fault," growled Jed.

Simon could tell from Jed's tone this was not the first time they'd had this discussion. And it wasn't even the first time he'd heard her say it. Simon couldn't help thinking Jed ought to consider helping her release the guilt she seemed to want to cling to by the judicious application of his hand to her backside.

"But if it weren't for what happened at Alcatraz…"

"If the Darkness hadn't found you so stubborn and strong, it would have just killed you. Instead, it killed one Hunter and took another as its host," said Jed.

"I'm with Jed. The Darkness would have killed you and found someone else. My guess is it realized we were closing in on it. It knows we know what it is and has to know we're looking for a way to destroy it," said Skylar.

"And after you and Travis set the dire wolf on it, it has to know we're getting close," suggested Piper.

Simon nodded. "I agree. In any event, what's done is done and the Darkness is here now. I want it stopped before it does any more harm to my city or goes elsewhere. As far as we know, it's killed four people, all but one was a member of my pack. The other was the Hunter we believe it possessed in California."

"Do you have a picture of the Hunter?" asked Kat. "I don't think I'll ever forget his face."

"I do," said Simon, digging out his phone. "I made sure we got IDs on all of them."

He scanned through his photos until he came to the picture of the only known victim that was not a wolf-shifter. He handed the phone to Kat.

"That's him," she whispered. "That was one of the Hunters who came after me."

"I talked to some of our people at Calon Onest. They say stories of this thing abound in Wales and that we'll need magick to defeat it. Although I don't know that any of our packs have witches or warlocks amongst our members," added Micah.

"By the by," said Simon sitting back in his chair, "did I hear you say dire wolf?"

"You did," said Travis. "There's always been a legend in my family that we descended from dire wolves and that in the face of a great evil, two alpha fated mates can merge into one to defeat it. It can be called forth as a weapon of last resort. We managed to drive it out of its host body, but it wasn't in a form we could kill."

"Explain that," said Micah, sitting forward.

"According to stories handed down in my family, the thing can be contained," said Skylar. "In fact, it was contained by Jean Lafitte but after several centuries the thing managed to escape. We talked to MawMaw Chantal, who is a New Orleans wise woman and expert on the occult and things that go bump in the night. She says it has to be in a solid, living form in order to be trapped. So, if you just trap it in a container, you can't kill it, but if it's inside a human it can escape. Thus, the reason she, too, says it'll take magick to be defeated."

"But wouldn't your dire wolf be a kind of magick?" asked Simon, utterly fascinated.

"I suppose in the same way shifting from human to wolf and back again might be referred to as magick," said Piper. "Maybe it's a different kind of magick."

"I've got Chantal and her granddaughter, Robyn, who's part of my squad, looking into finding out more," added Skylar. "The thing is, the longer this particular genie is out of the bottle, the stronger and more powerful it gets."

"And now," said Jed, "it knows not only what we are, but it has all the information it will have gleaned as a Hunter. If he's high up enough in the organization, that will give him a lot of access to a lot of information."

"Skylar was able to run down a few inconsistencies in some of the forensics reports and found two more homicides we think might be related. We're going to see what we can find out this afternoon," said Travis. "Piper wanted to tag along, as we'll be going to Scotland Yard."

"The rest of us," said Micah, "thought we'd head out to Tanglewood Castle and see if we can't spot anything. We're going under the guise of taking a run."

"Good thinking," said Simon. "I assume you're all attending the gala this evening, so I'll see you there. What if we meet right beforehand, just to keep each other up to speed? I've got a meeting for Lloyd's with Oliver Halsey this morning. Then I have a few inquiries of my own to make. I've had my assistant working on running down some information for us and he was hoping to meet."

"Does he know about shifters?"

"No, he's human, but a good lad. I was going to recommend a pub not far from the museum, but it's probably best if we're not overheard. I have a place in the Cresswell Mews. It's not far from here or the museum, and I can guarantee confidentiality as well as a secure server if we need to do any research."

"Aren't you going after Mariah?" asked Micah.

"As I said, I know where she is and that she's safe. I have people in place to ensure she stays that way. I thought I'd let her have her big triumph tonight and then she and I will be having words about her behavior over the last twenty-four hours."

There was a discreet knock on the door, and the head concierge stuck his head inside. "Sir Simon, Boodles asked that I deliver your purchases to you. I was afraid I might miss you."

"That's very kind of you," said Simon, taking the small bag.

"Something for Mariah?" asked Micah with interest.

Smiling, Simon withdrew the two boxes from the bag. He opened the small, black ring box and turned it around, enjoying the audible inhalations from the she-wolves present.

"That is stunning," gasped Abriana.

"That is presumptuous," snarled Piper.

"Enough, Piper," scolded Travis. "You were there last night. You saw her respond."

"Yes," snapped Piper, "I saw her bite him, shift, and run like the devil himself was hot on her heels."

"Devil? Hardly. But I'm glad to see you ladies approve. There's also a glorious double wedding band set with nothing but diamonds and platinum."

"I'm surprised your pack doesn't have a ring that is passed from mistress to mistress," said Jed.

"We do. But my mother is inordinately fond of it. More importantly, it's very traditional, and I don't think it would suit Mariah at all."

"Asking a question that is absolutely none of my business," started Micah, "will you request that your father step down as alpha?"

Simon nodded. "The pack is in desperate need of new leadership, and I've been asked numerous times to take on the mantle of alpha. The one time I broached it with my father, he seemed like he might be willing to become the senior statesman, but my mother has no interest in becoming the dowager mistress. You might have noticed that she tends to rule through him. and not very well at that."

Jed chuckled. "That's what Jean-Michel said. He said your mother leads your father around by his dick, but unlike his Darby, doesn't do nearly as good of a job."

The others at the table held a collective breath until Simon started laughing. "That is absolutely the best, and kindest, explanation I've ever heard. I've always wondered how and why people considered my father an alpha and decided he should lead the pack. He does care for our people, but he doesn't seem to have the requisite strength. His beta has been at me since I came of age to take over."

"My guess is your mother blocked that idea."

"She did. Being Alpha of the London pack has been a fairly simple job up until now. I was busy doing other things, enjoying myself. But all of that has changed. I believe we're coming under fire both with the rise of Hunters and now this Darkness character. Complacency will get us killed and neither of my parents is up to the task to leading the pack in any kind of real fight. I'm going to need to transition my parents out of their positions. I know I have the pack's blessing, so hopefully it will be a bloodless coup."

"Don't you worry that your mother might make Mariah's life miserable?" asked Skylar.

Simon shook his head. "She might try, but I won't allow it. Mariah can decide where she wants to live and both of my parents can either behave or be banished to one of the pack's other properties. If that does not prove sufficient to keep Mariah out of the fray, I'll find another place for my parents. It's important that Mariah continue her sculpting and she can't do that if she's having to deal with my mother constantly yapping at her heels."

"You want her to continue to sculpt?" asked Piper, incredulously.

"I do. I think she has tremendous talent, and her work should be seen. If she doesn't want to, that's a different kettle of fish, but I would never ask her to give it up."

Micah smiled. "You might just be able to pull this off."

"What's in that one?" asked Kat, pointing to the jewelry box next to the ring.

Simon opened it and displayed the collar with the attached pendant.

"Oh my God, we've been arguing over who was going to get that piece," said Piper. "That scrimshaw is amazing. But what makes you think she'll accept your collar?"

Simon closed the lid. "What makes you think I'll give her a choice?"