Silence of the Wolves

by Hannah Pole

  Holding the sheets, he tried to heft himself up into a sitting position, but…

  Where was his left arm?

  He panicked, realising that he couldn’t feel anything from his shoulder to his fingertips. He glanced down at the limb in question. It was still there, five fingers and all, but his skin was grey and he couldn’t feel a thing.

  ‘Doc!’ He heard Tamriel shout out of the door, before coming back to him and running a hand through his hair.

  ‘Don’t worry, Leyth, Doc thinks you’ll still be able to use your arm.’ She operated the bed so that he could be in a seating position. He leant back against it and did a quick evaluation of the rest of his body, all ten toes, fingers, feet and legs were present and he could move them, though it hurt to do so.

  His manhood was standing to attention – thank god that was still working! – though he hastily bunched the sheet he was under around his hips to cover the little tent he’d been making.

  Tams throaty chuckle brought his eyes up to hers.

  ‘What happened?’ he asked again, a little more clearly this time. He was covered in bandages and dressings.

  ‘Do you remember the Circle capturing you?’

  ‘Yeah.’ He winced at the memories of that room, the silver knives they’d used on him.

  Hell, they’d injected him with silver.

  ‘Leyth.’ Doc bustled through the door. ‘Glad you’re awake.’

  He spent the next few minutes checking wounds and redressing them. Leyth spared a glance at his mangled chest; it was not a pretty sight. He was healing well, the skin re-knitting, though the wound was puckered and sore. Doc explained that the silver injected into his bloodstream had made its way to his heart; he’d managed to drain it out but he had, in fact, died; it was Tamriel that had brought him back to life, using her kinetic energy to restart his heart once it stopped.

  He was lucky to still have his arm at all, he could even move it, though it was difficult, and he couldn’t feel anything.

  As Tamriel fed him breakfast, they told him what had happened at the Council’s headquarters, Tamriel had taken out the High Lord, which was mighty impressive.

  John, Tam’s father, had been undercover with the Circle and had revealed himself at the last minute to take out the rest of the magi. He knew there was something about the thane he recognised. Even through that extensive disguise, John’s eyes had given him away, Leyth realised. He was apparently now in a meeting with the remaining, uncorrupted Council members to demand constitutional change; he wanted a leading figure from each race to have a seat.

  Carl and Tamriel were going to put forward a proposal to join the Council’s private investigation agency and open a branch in this part of the south-east; they wanted to have a unit that was dedicated to investigating disappearances of registered supernaturals, as well as working with the police to look into human disappearances with a supernatural element.

  ‘That’s a bloody good idea,’ Doc boomed, clapping Tam on the shoulder.

  ‘It was Carl’s idea.’ Tam grinned. ‘Julian put the request in for me to apply, and for Carl and Sapphire to transfer from their current positions.’

  ‘Before now, you couldn’t apply elsewhere, the Council gave you the job they wanted you to do, so I’m impressed they’re now allowing you the option,’ Doc mused. ‘Though it seems the Council itself is currently being restructured.’

  It seemed a lot was going to be changing over the next few months, and Leyth was ridiculously happy that he could be part of it.

  ‘Julian’s built us a house.’ Tamriel beamed at him.

  ‘What?’

  ‘Julian decided everyone needs to stay on pack-land, with the Circle going back into hiding, they’re more deadly than ever.’

  ‘Hell, there’s going to be a power struggle, a fight for leadership.’

  ‘Yes. But we’ll worry about that later. For now, you get better, and as soon as you’re ready, I’ll take you down to our new home.’

  Our home. He liked the sound of that.

  Tamriel excused herself as Doc began work on Leyth’s physiotherapy. She kissed her male goodbye and walked to Julian’s office to begin work on the private investigation firm.

  The idea was still going ahead, thank god! Though part of her was going to miss investigative reporting, becoming a PI seemed to be a better fit for her; she’d always wanted to do it. Now she had the people behind her and the will to do it, it could very well be the best career move of her life.

  ‘The Council accepted your proposal, though I have to say, the fact that your father is now on the board works in your favour!’ Julian announced as she walked through the door. Alison was sat in an incredibly comfortable looking wheelchair next to her brother, working her way through a pile of paperwork.

  ‘Alison!’ Tamriel all but ran over to the female, wrapping her arms around her. ‘Thank you. Thank you for letting us know about the High Lord. If you hadn’t—’

  ‘It’s OK!’ Alison cut her off, giving her a hearty squeeze, though you could tell she was still very weak. ‘You saved my life, remember? It was the least I could do.’

  The two of them sat there, hugging for the longest of moments, before Julian interrupted.

  ‘So, Tamriel? The Council have accepted your request to become an employee of their private investigation agency. They agreed to let Carl head up a branch in this area, and it is now set up and ready to go.’

  ‘Great! Where do we go from here then?’ She released Alison at last, who beamed up at her.

  Julian went on: ‘Well, you can use the empty room at the top of the stairs as your office, I’ve already made the preparations.’

  Tam was gobsmacked; her own office!

  ‘The Council are funding the new branch and Carl will run the office here, but you will all be working underneath Director Rogers, who is the man in charge of the agency. He wasn’t too happy about opening a south-east branch, but he agrees it makes sense to have a branch in each county. We are able to use his connections in the police force, so you will need to chase those up soon, make sure you introduce yourself to everyone.’

  ‘Thank you,’ Tam stammered.

  ‘Just make sure that if you have to speak with Director Rogers, you are short and sweet. No back chat.’ He gave her a stern look. ‘You really don’t want to mess with him. Or upset him. Or get in his way.’

  ‘I’ll try my best.’ Tam grinned, she was just chuffed to be able to begin her new life. She was still going to be writing freelance for the local newspapers, Julian couldn’t make her give that up if his life depended on it, but freelance work wouldn’t be enough, and so working for the Council as a PI was as best a situation she could fathom, even if it was working underneath what sounded like one hell of a scary director.

  ‘Oh, and I’ve arranged for the remaining contents of your flat to be brought over to your new house; you and Leyth are on the plot next to Carl and Kaylee.’

  Tam couldn’t help but grin. The Circle might well still be gunning for them so, yes, she had a hell of a lot of dangerous work ahead of her. But for now, she was unbelievably happy. Her male was alive, they had a beautiful house they could move into together, and she had one hell of a job that really could make a difference.

  Julian excused himself and Alison to go and see Leyth, promising Tam that he would help take him down to the new house when he was finished with Doc, then he suggested she went to check out her new office space.

  Tamriel walked up the grand staircase, marvelling at the beautiful paintings on the ceiling. When she reached the top, she turned right and walked through the grand double doors that led into her office.

  ‘Hey, Tam,’ Carl said, looking up from his laptop. ‘Cool, huh?’

  The room was absolutely beautiful. Three desks had been laid out around one side of the room. Carl had taken the one closest to the door and Sapphire had taken the one at the end, leaving her one by the window.

  The room had been painted a beautiful deep green a
nd the wooden floor had been varnished. There was a large projector screen at the far end, in front of which stood a huge wooden table with several comfortable-looking chairs.

  There were two sofas and a coffee table arranged on the other side of the door to Carl. Honestly, this room was possibly three or four times the size of her entire flat.

  She wandered over to her heavy wooden desk, running a finger across its smooth surface. There was a brand new laptop sitting on it, a telephone and all manner of stationery. She walked around it and sank down in the large leather chair. ‘Is this—’

  ‘For you?’ Carl finished. ‘Yup, in the drawer to the right is your first few cases and the computer is already set up and logged onto our network.’

  Tam opened the drawer and pulled out the paperwork, the first file read:

  Name : Jessica Vincent

  Age : 23

  Location : Whitstable

  Jessica went missing on November 30th.

  Cold case.

  ‘Who’s Jessica Vincent?’ Tam asked.

  ‘She’s one of the girls that have gone missing after their twenty-third birthday. From now on, any cases the police have that have links to our nature are passed to us, any cases that have inexplicable variables are too.’ He paused, eyeing the file. ‘By the sounds of it, Jessica Vincent may have been a half-breed shifter, in which case, she could have gone through the change and died, shifted and can’t change back, gone into hiding or been captured by the Circle. It is now our job to find out what happened to her.’ Carl grinned. ‘We are officially the Council’s Private Investigator Agency’s first South East branch. Even if our Director is one scary son of a bitch.’

  ‘Aw, boss!’ Sapphire greeted her, waltzing in with a file in one hand and a coffee in the other. ‘Why do I get the vamp case?’

  ‘Because you’ve got a nose for the dead.’ Carl grinned. ‘Well, the un-dead anyway.’

  Tamriel couldn’t help but smile as she sat behind her desk, living and laughing with her friends and family. She really did have everything; she was the luckiest wolf that ever lived.

  Several hours later, Tam had done the rounds, then checked on Leyth, who was sleeping soundly. His wounds were healing nicely and it wouldn’t be too long until he was up and about.

  Tamriel had prepared their beautiful house ready for him to come home to. It was a little empty, but she would fix that in time.

  It was a farmhouse; the outside was brick and wood, with a pretty picket fence that ran around the edge. The interior was beautiful with exposed beams and a hardwood floor. It was completely open plan, the living room stretching most of the length of the house, there was a doorway one side that opened into a big kitchen with a huge dining table and double doors that led out on to a patio. At the other end of the living room was a door that led to a bathroom and stairway that led to the four bedrooms upstairs. The bedrooms surrounded a large square balcony area that looked over the stairs. There were absolutely no small corridors or hallways.

  Tam’d bought a new sofa and TV so Leyth had something to do while he was healing and had used his huge four-poster bed for their room.

  Now, sat behind her desk, she rubbed her eyes as she went over the case she was handling once again. She had all the file details for Jessica Vincent; pictures and family accounts of where she had last been seen.

  It turned out that her mother was a single parent, living in a flat in Whitstable. She’d worked hard to make a life for the two of them, but there wasn’t much of a family history listed. There were no details of her father. Tam planned on going to question the mother tomorrow.

  ‘Hello, sweetheart!’ Her mother’s voice made her jump. Tam snapped her head up and there, standing in the doorway, was her mother’s beautiful tanned face, her black curls framing her bright green eyes.

  She was in her fifties, but she only looked thirty!

  ‘Hi, Mum.’ Tam grinned, walking over to give her a hug.

  Damn, she’d forgotten to call her!

  ‘Oh, don’t worry about that.’ She grinned. ‘I’m a Wiccan, remember, I know everything!’

  ‘Sorry, I didn’t realise I’d thought out loud.’

  ‘You didn’t.’ Her mother winked at her.

  As the two of them sat down, Tamriel didn’t even know where to begin. As it turned out, she didn’t need to.

  ‘So, I’ve been watching you over the last few weeks,’ her mother began. ‘I really am sorry I didn’t tell you that you were half wolf, or about your Wiccan heritage; I really thought you wouldn’t go through the change. And, besides, it seems to have worked out well anyway.’

  ‘That’s OK, Mum. Leyth—’

  ‘Ah, Leyth, he is a true wolf of honour, is he not? Anyway. I’ve been talking to your father, I—’

  ‘You know we found Dad?’

  ‘Of course I know!’

  ‘She did. Hello, pup!’ Her dad’s voice reverberated throughout the walls of her office. As he walked in, Tam couldn’t hold in the gasp; he looked exactly as he had when she was a child, brown scruffy hair and a chiselled face covered in a shadow of stubble. The wrinkles and white, cascading hair had gone, leaving him as he had always been. A picture of strength, and particularly wolfish.

  ‘Your mother was the one who disguised me, she’s got some pretty strong magic under her belt, you know?’

  ‘Oh it was just a coating spell,’ her mother giggled, wrapping an arm around her male; it was strange to see her parents together after all this time.

  ‘So you knew he was going away?’ Tam asked, shocked.

  ‘Oh yes, the Circle was gaining power at an alarming rate, so when John decided to go under cover, I was behind him. Even though we knew it was likely a suicide mission.’

  ‘So she made me look like a magi, and we developed a spray that hid my scent so they wouldn’t realise I was a wolf; your mum taught me how to manipulate herbs. Anyway, of course, I couldn’t talk to anyone, or tell anyone where I was going, in case it got back to the High Lord. He respected me because I refused to accept the “gift of eternity” and, long story short, I became his thane.’

  ‘But you told me he was dead,’ Tamriel whimpered.

  ‘No, I told you he wouldn’t be coming home, and let you draw your own conclusions,’ her mother said sternly, glancing at her dad. ‘Sorry, John. I felt I had to give her some closure, even if it was the wrong kind of closure.’

  ‘I see.’ He walked over to Tam, wrapping his arms around her. ‘God, kiddo, you got so big. You have grown into such a beautiful, respectable female. I’m so sorry I missed you growing up.’

  Tam couldn’t find her words; choking back tears, she leanet into her father, inhaling deep, drawing his scent in.

  It didn’t matter where he’d been all her life; the fact that he was here now was what counted.

  The three of them stood there in silence, for the longest time, before her father finally cleared his throat.

  ‘Leyth’s asked for you to come down to dinner.’

  Chapter Nineteen

  Leyth was sat at the grand dining table Julian had bought; it seated at least fifteen, and the leather chairs they sat in were incredibly comfortable. Everyone was there. Julian sat at the head of the table, and Alison sat to his right. She was looking much better; she could walk now, but her skin was still pale and tinged grey, her eyes sad. He made a mental note to check on her later, see what how she was doing.

  Raught, the pack elder, sat to Julian’s left, his white hair combed into a ponytail. The cousins, Raylix and Taevyn, were sat next to him and finally, Dax, looking moody as ever was sat to their side.

  Sapphire was next to Alison, deep in conversation with her. Carl and Kaylee were whispering. Leyth had positioned himself next to Carl and opposite Doc; he wanted Tamriel and her family to be able to sit together.

  The half-breeds were all in the kitchen; Julian had offered to employ staff and let them sit with the group, but they were all insistent on being house staff. After a long and tedious
meeting with them, Julian had upped their pay, given them the usual benefits that came with the job and left them to it. If it made them happy, what could you do?

  Leyth glanced at the door again; John had gone to get Tam ages ago, where were they? Damn, he was nervous about tonight.

  Why he’d decided to do this in front of everyone, he had no idea.

  He should have waited.

  Julian chose that point to look at him, and he must have seen the panic on his face, because he walked over to the bar, poured him a Jack Daniel’s and placed the drink in front of him.

  ‘Good luck,’ he murmured, slapping a hand on Leyth’s shoulder as he walked off. Finally, after what felt like hours, Tamriel, John and Ellie, her mother, walked in and sat around the table. Tam sat in the chair next to him and landed a kiss on his lips, ‘Hey, Wolfie.’ She grinned.

  ‘Ah, you’ve arrived!’ Julian announced. ‘Let’s eat!’

  With that, Sarah and her pack strode in carrying all manner of silverware covering roast beef, roast chicken, potatoes and vegetables.

  They all dug in. John then announced his position on the Council, and told everyone that each race now had a member representing them on it; in theory it should make the way the Kingdom was run more fair.

  Tamriel, Sapphire and Carl explained their new positions with the Council’s private investigation agency, and explained that the djinn and minotaurs would continue on as a team.

  ‘I can head them up, if you like?’ Leyth suggested.

  All heads turned to him. ‘Well, I wouldn’t mind having a team of my own,’ he muttered.

  ‘That’s a brilliant idea!’ Julian roared, by way of agreement. Tamriel beamed at him, she obviously liked the idea too.

  ‘That means you’ll have a team to back you up, rather than fighting lone wolf style, right?’ she whispered.

  ‘Yup.’

  ‘Good.’ Everything seemed to be coming together nicely, which was a first!

  When they’d eaten all they could, Sarah’s pack brought out dessert and coffee. Leyth ate far too much chocolate cake, and watched in awe as Tam finished off an equal portion; he loved a woman that could eat.