by Delta James
“Holy shit,” Shannon whispered. “The website doesn’t do it justice.”
“It is quite spectacular. Ravenscar is not quite as old and unfortunately a lot of the old fortress and Roman signal station have been lost to development and the elements.” She looked at him questioningly. “Ravenscar is my ancestral home in Great Britain. Wind, rain, and the sea can take a toll on buildings.”
“So, Ravenscar is on the coast of—I’m guessing by your accent—Northern England?”
He nodded. “Northern Yorkshire. At one point my family tried to develop it into a coastal resort like Scarborough, but our beaches are rockier and harder to get to. So, there’s been a lot of development in the town—sewers and roadways, but few houses. Once it proved to be a financially risky and expensive thing to do, my great-grandfather abandoned the idea. It’s kind of sad.”
When the wagon came to a halt, the loading steps were reattached and James and several of the other men helped everyone off. Shannon couldn’t help but notice how the pack just seemed to work as a single unit and people helped each other without asking. Her sister might be right... perhaps being part of a pack, this pack, might not be so bad.
Catherine got out of the car laughing. “Oh, my God... I’d forgotten that you can’t even carry a tune in a bucket. I’m surprised everybody didn’t turn into our wolf selves so we could drown the lot of you out with howling.”
Shannon laughed. “Yes, but at least I was among those who sing as badly as I do. And we were having fun.” She sobered and shook her head. “I’d almost forgotten what it was like just to be in the sun and laugh.”
Catherine wrapped her arm around her. “But you’re free now and home. We laugh in the sun a lot here. We work hard but we play and love just as hard.”
It didn’t escape Shannon’s notice that James hung back with Marco but she could still feel him. As Catherine had said, it was a feeling that seemed to have taken up residence in the marrow of her bones. It no longer felt foreign, but as though it had been there all along and everything she’d been through had brought it forward.
If Shannon had thought the small group that greeted them at the airport was impressive, it was nothing compared to having their whole pack descending on them. She was a bit taken aback, but could feel calm emanating from James... and was grateful for it. People called to Marco and Catherine and embraced them.
Darby and Roz flanked her on either side.
“Is it always like this when one of you gets home?” Shannon asked.
“Well, they are Italian and Marco is their alpha... it’s all a bit more intense than in most packs,” said Roz, smiling. “In the Hamptons our pack may not be as overly boisterous in their greetings, but the feelings are the same.”
Darby grinned. “Speak for yourself, Yankee. In New Orleans, we celebrate everything. Give my pack half an excuse to throw a party with fireworks and we’ll do it. The Mississippi River lit up with light and colors that dance across the sky is one of my favorite things.”
Shannon saw Roz perk up and the smile on her face became luminous.
“He’s here,” she whispered. “Although why I’m happy about that is beyond me.”
Darby giggled. “I know Jean-Michel is having a difficult time trying to decide which he wants and needs to do more... take me to bed or put me over his knee. You ladies will need to excuse me while I go try to convince him having his way with me first is a much better idea.”
Roz laughed and Shannon couldn’t help but join her.
“He won’t really hit her, will he?”
“Hit her?” Roz asked. “No. Spank her? Oh, absolutely. There isn’t one of us that isn’t in for a long, stern lecture face down draped across her mate’s lap. They are all so pissed on so many levels, but they mitigate that with the knowledge that we’re all safe and unharmed. And even though most of them will never admit it outside of our bedrooms... more than just a little proud of what we did.”
“Roz, I hate to think any of you are going to get beaten because of me.”
Roz stopped and turned Shannon toward her. “Not beaten. Not ever. Using corporal punishment against you is just one of the things deMoncada perverted in torturing you. When it’s your mate, it’s a whole other thing. Does it hurt? Yep. But it also, weirdly, makes you so incredibly turned on. As Oliver once pointed out to me, it isn’t the pain, but the show of dominance that gets to you. And the stronger you are, the more arousing. But it also quickly restores balance and harmony to the relationship. I know it sounds weird, but it does... sometimes annoyingly so.”
“And you women all just agree to that?”
“Unfortunately, in wolf society, your agreement isn’t always necessary. But watch these people and their relationships. See if you don’t find them compelling. I wanted no part of Oliver. I made him force me to run and tried my damnedest to get away.” She shook her head, smiling at the memory. “Didn’t do me a bit of good. My very proper, straight-laced husband is one hell of a wolf. He ran me to ground. He had every right to claim me there in the dirt as a wolf, but he didn’t do it. Instead he allowed me to take my vows as a human and then took me to bed where he seduced me and we had the most amazing sex. The next morning, I was the happiest I’ve ever been up to that time and wondered why I had wanted to object in the first place.”
“But they control everything. You have no life outside what they allow you to have.”
“Another lie from that piece of shit deMoncada. Oliver wants me to be happy. We have a large pack and a huge estate. Do I do a lot of high-iron welding anymore? No. I’m not building things, but I’m starting to dabble in using my welding to create art. I work alongside my husband both in his professional capacity as an international businessman and to ensure the safety and happiness of our pack. But every night, when it’s just the two of us sequestered in our room, I’m just one stupidly happy woman with a man who does everything in his power to make sure I know I am the single most important thing in his entire world.”
Shannon looked at her and then glanced at the other couples. They had their arms around each other or were holding hands. They talked and visited with Marco’s pack, but often nuzzled, kissed, or caressed each other.
A tall, formidable, but very handsome man approached them. Shannon found him a bit intimidating until his eyes lit up and he smiled. He leaned down and kissed Roz deeply, intimately, not in a way to impress others but to convey his feelings to her.
“You must be Oliver,” Shannon said, extending her hand.
He laughed and shook her hand. “If I’m not, I’m a dead man. That Oliver Halsey is a possessive son-of-a-bitch where his mate is concerned.”
“That’s all right. I hear he’s married to a rogue she-wolf with a bad temper,” teased Roz, clearly glad to be close to her mate again.
“I like to think of her as passionate about life and everything in it.”
Roz laughed. Shannon realized that for a group of what she had been led to believe were oppressed and controlled women, the she-wolves she had encountered since she had been liberated from deMoncada laughed a lot and did seem to enjoy their lives and truly cherish their mates.
The pack started to move inside the house. Shannon found herself swept along with them and surprised herself by not minding. Once inside the main foyer, Shannon stopped and looked around her with awe.
“Magnificent, isn’t it?” said Catherine as she joined her.
“It’s like... a museum... or a movie set... or I don’t even know. You actually live here?” Shannon said in a sort of stunned voice.
“We do,” Catherine replied, stressing the pronoun. “You actually kind of get used to it, except for every once in a while, I’m still reminded how amazing it is. This house, this place, has been controlled by our pack for over a thousand years.”
Shannon looked over to see someone handing an infant to Marco. She smiled as the child cooed to her father, who laughed and loved on her.
“Male wolves tend to be very involved w
ith the raising of their children. She already has him wrapped around her finger.”
“As does her mother,” Shannon teased.
“Most times,” Catherine agreed with a smile.
“Except perhaps when she’s off saving her sister?”
Catherine gave her a sharp look and visibly relaxed as Shannon began to laugh.
“I won’t lie to you. He is pissed in the extreme that I put myself in danger, but I will never, ever hear from him one word against why I did it. I know you don’t know him...”
“Funny thing is, in some ways I feel like I’ve known him for a long time.”
Her sister smiled and hugged her. “He feels as though you were taken from us... all of us... not just me.” Catherine started to get choked up.
“It’s okay, Cat. It’s over. I’m here and I’m safe. I’m going to be fine.”
Catherine shook her head as if to shake off any negativity she might be feeling.
“I know. I just want for you to be happy.”
“I will be. I promise. I just need to find my way.”
Marco joined them and Shannon intercepted her niece from going to her mother. “May I?”
“Of course,” said Marco, relinquishing her.
“Oh, my God, Cat... she’s gorgeous.”
Abriana reached for her aunt and laughed, unafraid of being handed to a stranger.
Shannon looked up to see both Marco and Catherine smiling at her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw James watching her with the baby and smiling as well.
Marco put one arm around his mate and his hand in the middle of Shannon’s back.
“Ladies, let’s get everyone into the dining hall. I’m sure the staff has outdone themselves to welcome Shannon home.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
They entered the great hall and Marco led them to their table. Shannon noted that James was directed to another spot and yet all the other alphas seemed to be joining them.
“Marco?”
“Yes, sorella.”
Shannon looked at Catherine. “Sister,” Catherine asked in answer to her unasked question.
“I see the other alphas joining us at your and Catherine’s table, shouldn’t James be here as well?”
“This is my home and my table. He will sit where I tell him.”
Impulsively Shannon reached up to hug him. “Thank you for that, but it isn’t necessary. James got involved in all of this to rescue three women he’d never met. He ensured that I wasn’t subjected to having a bunch of men paw or grope me. I can feel him trying to reassure me that I’m truly safe and that everything will work out.”
She laughed as she saw Marco and Catherine exchange glances.
“What, I wasn’t supposed to figure that out? At least James didn’t deny it when I thanked him. Please, Marco, invite him to sit with us. Like the rest of you, he has only tried to help.”
Marco leaned down and kissed her forehead. “You are truly my Catherine’s sister—strong, gracious, and loving.”
Marco left them to have the staff set another place and to invite James to join them.
“That was nice of you,” said Catherine.
Shannon shrugged. “Just acknowledging what is. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not buying into this whole fated mate thing, but the guy doesn’t deserve to be ostracized.”
Marco returned with James, who seemed to wait for some indication as to how comfortable Shannon was with having him there.
“James, why don’t you sit with me?” she offered and had to suppress a smile as everyone seemed to relax a bit.
He leaned over to her and said in a conspiratorial tone, “I checked... they have shrimp scampi.”
Shannon couldn’t help but laugh. “Don’t let it go to your head. My sister probably arranged it for me.”
The meal proceeded with many conversations, a great deal of laughter, and incredible food. Both she and James had thoroughly enjoyed the shrimp scampi and a great deal of the DeMedici wine. The staff had set up a dessert table out on the expansive back patio and people got up from dinner to appreciate the beautiful sunset and partake of an extensive array of sweet offerings and coffees.
Shannon inhaled deeply as they walked outside. She turned to James. “You’re right, the smell here rivals the light.”
He nodded, stepping up to join her. She nodded toward those couples who had been instrumental in ensuring the success of her liberation.
“They all seem very happy.”
“I agree. Would you care to walk in the gardens? They are reputed to be quite beautiful.”
“Yes, I think a walk after that meal would be great.”
They fell in beside one another. Shannon felt as though walking with James was the most normal thing she could recall doing for a long, long time—even before she had been kidnapped in Florence.
“It’s funny,” James started, “but you and I both come to this point in our lives and find that things we long held to be true or had no knowledge of are very real—different routes to the same point, I think.”
“What do you mean? You’ve always been a wolf.”
“Yes, but my birth pack didn’t function like this one. My father, quite frankly, is a bastard. He rules over the Ravenscar pack in a way that is only slightly better than deMoncada. Our women are not abused, but they aren’t cherished like this. People don’t gather to share a meal, they show up to eat when they are told to. I don’t recall hearing so much laughter and spirited conversations in my whole life as I have heard since we arrived.”
“Not to mention, according to my sister, bad singing.”
“Hey, I think we sounded wonderful.”
She looked at him ruefully.
“Maybe not to anyone else, but we were having such a good time.”
Shannon giggled. “Yes, we were. Funny the things that start to make you feel better, more normal.”
“I agree. I’ve lived in two worlds for so long. The one my father thought he had trapped me in and the one in which I was more true to myself.”
“You were with NATO?”
“Yes, part of NATO Intelligence for many years. My ability to portray the wastrel son of a wealthy North Country peer of the realm served me well.”
“Were you ever the man they thought you were?”
“I will admit when I was younger, I wasn’t far removed from that role. But as I began to see more of the world—both human and wolf—and all the wrongs that needed righting, something inside me crystalized into a purpose to make things better. I didn’t always succeed and some of those failures will be with me for the rest of my life, but even so, I like to think that on balance I left the situations I found myself in better than I found them.”
“So now that you’ve freed the damsel in distress, what do you plan to do?”
“How honest do you want me to be?”
“I hate being lied to. I’ve had more than my share of deceit.”
“Then I hope to be able to convince my fated mate that such a thing exists and that we are supposed to be together. I also know that’s a rather large leap of faith to ask someone to make so I’m not asking at this point. Just wanting to be completely up front. I also need to go free my pack from their oppression.”
“How will you do that?”
“I’ll challenge my father for alpha.”
Shannon stopped and took his arm, turning him toward her. “Will he just let you do that?”
“Very doubtful. He likes being alpha. Likes having the privileges it affords him. What makes him a bad alpha is that he takes all he can and gives nothing back. He doesn’t take on the responsibilities, not to mention burdens, that come with that role. I fear it’s become ingrained at Ravenscar. My grandfather and great-grandfather weren’t much better. The Ravenscar pack used to be among the most respected. Now it is just feared. I will see my family’s and our pack’s honor restored.”
“Educate me. How does that work? You challenge him to a vote of the members or...”
> James shook his head. “No, I challenge him. He has a couple of options. He can walk away. I’d let him go with enough that he wouldn’t have to do without.”
“And if he doesn’t accept your offer? You what? Challenge him to a duel?”
“Duels have been used in the past. Or I can just challenge him and his ruling members to fight. It can stop at first blood or can be to the death.”
“You’re willing to kill your own father to be alpha?” she asked incredulously.
“No. I’m willing to kill him to set those at Ravenscar free... especially the women. As I said, he isn’t as bad as deMoncada was, but not by much. Maybe I’m kidding myself. Most of them don’t know much better. I hope that at least some of the pairings are ones that both parties are happy.”
“If not?”
“I will place the women under my protection and the men can either accept a dissolution of their bonding and stay or I will banish them from the pack altogether.”
“Don’t you worry that your father would gather those men and try to regain Ravenscar?”
“He might,” James admitted. “But I don’t think those men are overly loyal to my father. Ousting him from Ravenscar will weaken his hold on them. My hope is there are enough good men there to stay and see Ravenscar back to its rightful place. I’ve made friends here and there with a number of male wolves who might be interested in a new pack. One of my first tasks will be to find a beta for the pack.”
“Let me guess, your friend Will would be your omega?”
“You’ve met him, what do you think?”
“Does it matter?”
“Very much. A smart alpha seeks wise counsel with important decisions. He must make the final decision and the outcome rests on his shoulders, but it is best to have people in your pack that you can trust to give you good advice.”