Awakening of the Pack (Other Wolf #4)

Chapter 12

Though the formal side of the meet was concluded, the food side had only just started. Even so, it wasn’t long before I was cornered by Sally Frank, Noah’s mum. ‘Thank you, alpha.’ She gave me a low bow. ‘I appreciate everything you are doing for my son.’

I hastily finished my mouthful of pizza. ‘Not at all.’ I gave a polite smile.

‘Noah is struggling to acclimatise to life without Roan,’ she admitted, looking worried. ‘I thought perhaps a boyfriend would help – you know, something to distract him? But he won’t leave the mansion. Do you know if anyone is gay or bi in the Devon pack newcomers?’ She frowned, ‘Besides those assholes that jumped him, of course.’

I blinked. ‘I’m unaware of anyone’s sexual orientation.’ Did she think the pack had come with a spreadsheet listing personal details and everyone’s strengths and weaknesses? Actually, that was a great idea considering how much I loved a spreadsheet. Maybe when I had time I could interview all the newcomers and compile some colour-coded notes.

‘ Just give him time,’ I suggested lightly. ‘He’s grieving. Nothing but time will help.’ Though even time did little to dull grief’s sharp, cutting edge.

Sally sighed. ‘I know you’re right, alpha, but it is so hard to see him this way. I’m a born fixer, you see. I can’t help but try and make things better.’

A fixer? Esme snorted. A meddler, more like. Noah should find his own mate in his own time.

I wanted to point out that she wasn’t giving me the same courtesy with her constant urging for me to mate formally with Greg, but we had just healed our rift and I had no wish to reopen it so I swallowed my words.

I excused myself from Sally and made the rounds, talking to the pack and taking time to speak to the Devon newcomers as well. I decided to leave after an hour of mingling; so often I’d found that my presence inhibited a party, even more so now that I had the Devon pack members to think about; they flinched visibly in my presence.

After circulating for a while, I ordered more drinks to be brought up from the cellar and then I left. I hoped that my absence would keep the party going for longer to keep everyone in place so Greg had plenty of time to set up and monitor the camera in the pack living room.

I was hoping that the camera would capture anyone examining the mantelpiece; best-case scenario, we would see someone stroll up to it and, in the absence of a rose, angrily shake their fist. However, life had taught me things were rarely that easy.

I stole a cupcake that Noah had baked then, licking the icing off as I went, excused myself to go back to the office. I had only walked a few paces from the dining hall when a prickle on my neck told me I was being followed.

I turned and was surprised to see Tristan a few paces behind me. Adrenaline shot through my system as I wondered if he was finally going to challenge me. Esme shifted our weight onto the balls of our feet, ready to fight.

Tristan was a martial arts teacher and the subtle shift of weight was not lost on him. He let out a breath. ‘I deserve that, I suppose,’ he rumbled. He stepped towards me and I tensed even more, but then he sank to his knees – and this time, he bowed his head rather than holding my gaze in challenge. ‘Alpha,’ he said respectfully. ‘My wolf Arden and I wish to offer our services.’

‘In respect of what?’ I finally managed to say. My heart started to calm when it became evident that he wasn’t going to attack me.

He looked up at me. ‘In respect of your safety, alpha. Two deaths have taken place in as many days. You should not wander the halls alone.’ A frown creased his brow. ‘Manners should be at your side, but since he is absent we offer our teeth and claws.’

I blinked. ‘Thank you. I’m grateful for your offer.’ I considered my next words carefully. Tristan had been slow to warm to me, but in recent weeks he’d worked with us to fight against possessed vampyrs and to secure the pack lands. He was a man of the pack, and I hoped that he was slowly coming to accept me as alpha. Rejecting his offer now might irreparably damage our tentative truce. A shiver down my spine and a tingle in my scalp told me that this moment was important. If I spurned his offer…

Tell him, we are grateful for his protection, Esme urged.

I parroted her words. ‘We are grateful for your protection.’

He searched my eyes but apparently whatever he saw in them satisfied him because he nodded and stood, gesturing for me to precede him. I walked to the office, his presence weighty and uncomfortable like a heavy shawl around my shoulders in summer.

I clenched my jaw. I’d have to get used to this constant presence of guards; now that I had been proclaimed Queen, it was only going to get worse.

I paused at the entrance to my office and studied the man next to me. He’d offered me his protection and I’d accepted it. If I truly was going to trust him with my life, then it was time to trust him with some of my secrets. I needed to build a better relationship with him and I was determined to do so.

I’d watched him teach the pups the basics of martial arts, which at their age was often just to listen when an order was barked. He was helping me strengthen the pack; he wasn’t working against me, not any longer.

I entered my office, stared for a beat at Tristan so he knew my next action was deliberate then invited him in with a tilt of my head. His eyes widened fractionally but he followed me.

Jacob and Greg were sitting in the office. Greg was holding a small monitor; to my surprise, it didn’t show the mantelpiece but rather the view from it. The camera was hidden, nestled right where the rose should be. I realised that made it easier to see who was approaching; from another angle we’d only get the back of someone’s head. Smart.

I introduced Tristan. ‘Tristan, this is Jacob Samuel. Jacob, this is Tristan, my third.’

‘My honour to meet you,’ Jacob intoned, giving a slight bow.

‘And mine to meet you,’ Tristan responded, bowing back. His eyes moved curiously to the monitor but he said nothing.

I went to my desk, opened the drawer, pulled out the letter and passed it to Tristan. He took it, looking at me with real surprise as he realised he was being brought into my confidence.

He read it swiftly then looked again at the monitor. ‘You haven’t put the rose out.’

It was gratifying that it was a statement. ‘No. I have no interest in getting into bed with an organisation that would welcome me and threaten me in the same breath.’

‘Refusing it will have ramifications for the pack,’ Tristan said, but his tone was not judgemental.

‘As would accepting it,’ I pointed out. ‘Not just for us, but for all the werewolves that kneel to me.’

‘It would strengthen our position in the Other realm.’

‘Almost certainly, if they are as powerful as they think they are. But I will strengthen our position in the Other realm my way, not by dancing to someone else’s tune.’

Tristan’s eyes shone with approval and his lips turned up a tiny amount, the closest I’d come to seeing him smile ‘Good.’ He looked at Jacob. ‘Forgive me,’ he said, though his voice wasn’t exactly beseeching, ‘but how do we know that Jacob isn’t involved with the Domini? Why is he in the inner circle when he only arrived today?’

That was a good question. My gut had trusted Jacob from the moment he’d arrived, but it was more than that: there was logic supporting my trust.

‘He is beholden to Emory Elite,’ I explained. ‘Emory ordered him here to help me, and he couldn’t betray that order if he tried. That is the burden and curse of the dragon-made brethren. More than that, Emory saved all of the gargoyles at my behest. Before they were gargoyles, they were golden-eyed werewolves. The dark seraph are former pack who didn’t choose to leave what they were.’

‘Our wolves were ripped from us,’ Jacob snarled in a low voice. ‘We were torn from the Great Pack.’ As he looked at me, the first glimmer of emotion showed on his face since he’d arrived. ‘Lucy Barrett has ended the curse that plagued us and healed the divide between the Great Pack. Though we are still riven from it without our wolves, the dark seraph are eternally grateful to Lucy Barrett and Amber DeLea for freeing us from our gargoyle forms. We were in constant pain every day, cursed to live forever in darkness.’

He paused and shook his head. ‘It is hard to explain what the darkness of that existence was like. Some of us purposefully got ourselves killed by vampyrs to end the suffering. Those that remained lived in hope that the curse would be lifted.’

He lifted his head high as he said firmly, ‘The bond I have with Emory Elite commands my devotion, but my heart tells me that my loyalty is still to the pack. I am not the only one that feels so strongly. You have my word and my vow that I am not Domini, and I will never willingly allow harm to come to the alpha.’ He glowed yellow as his oath took hold.

Tristan nodded slowly and his distrust faded. ‘I believe you. More importantly, so does my wolf, Arden.’ He looked at me. ‘Have you told Liam about the threat?’

‘No, not yet,’ Greg answered for me. ‘The only ones who know are in this room.’

Tristan looked surprised; he’d expected us to have told Liam rather than him. Now he knew it was the other way around he was pleased.

‘I called the meeting and we set out food,’ I explained. ‘Right about now, Finley will be bringing out the beer. Everyone should remain in the dining hall because it’s our biggest space for socialising.’

‘So if anyone wanders into the pack living room, they’re a Domini suspect,’ Tristan concluded. ‘Nice.’

‘Exactly.’ A yawn cracked my face. ‘It’s been a long day.’ So much had happened that it felt like eons since I’d gone for Sunday lunch with my family, even though it was only a few hours. I checked the time: 9pm. I’d found the note when I’d got back from lunch around 4pm. The twelve-hour deadline would pass while I was sleeping.

The door to my office slid open without so much as a knock. Instantly Jacob’s hands shifted into claws, Greg drew his gun and Tristan shifted into his wolf form. Were we a little jumpy? Yup, just a smidge.

The door opened further and in strolled Bastion, the deadliest griffin assassin to walk the Earth.