by Sean Stone
“We’re working on it.”
They concluded their meeting and William left the office wondering where he was going to recruit new officers for his team. The most logical approach would be to poach suitable candidates from the town’s police force, but if he couldn’t find the numbers there then he’d have to branch out. The problem was knowing where to branch out to.
As William walked back toward the police station, enjoying the quietness of the night streets, a dark Mercedes pulled up next to him. The window rolled down and Merle Harland, Serena Royce’s older brother, poked his head out. He looked at William evenly.
“Come by the house, we’ve got stuff to talk about,” Merle said. Then the drove off again.
William returned to the station, told Rob where he was going — in case anything should happen to him — and then drove to the Royce house. He assumed that Merle meant the Royce house rather than his own, he didn’t actually know where Merle lived. Merle had never been a person of interest to SIT and they didn’t even have a file on him. William didn’t know what Merle wanted, but he hoped it had something to do with getting Connor to make peace with the coven. William couldn’t imagine how Merle could possibly influence Connor but it was worth finding out. Serena answered the door, as usual, she was dressed extravagantly, she was made for the rich lifestyle even if she was born into a poor family, the Harland family were the polar opposites of the Royce family in terms of wealth.
“I’m glad you accepted our invitation, William, come inside before someone sees you out there,” she said and headed off down the hall.
William was surprised she’d invited him in so easily, most people took a lot of convincing before they issued the invite. Serena probably believed that she could fight off a vampire — many werewolves had the same delusion. William stepped into the Royce house for the first time in his life and followed Serena into the lounge. The house was ridiculously lavish, much like his own parent’s house. William had grown up in a rich family but had been disowned when he chose a life of service rather than the life his father wanted for him. His parents were long dead now and their wealth had passed to some obscure relative.
In the lounge, Eric was slouching in an armchair, and Merle was stood over by the window. Serena took a seat on the arm of her son’s chair and then gestured for William to sit on the sofa which he did. It was a large sofa and he was the only one on it which gave him a feeling of smallness, he supposed that was by design, it was more likely they could get what they wanted out of him if he felt like he was at a disadvantage.
“We need your word that nothing we say here will leave this room,” Serena said calmly. Her voice sounded gentle and her appearance made her seem delicate but William knew she had a temper more ferocious than most of the pack.
“What are we going to be discussing?” William asked, not willing to give his word to anything without knowing the details.
“Just give us your word or go,” Merle said roughly. Diplomacy wasn’t his thing, he was more to the point.
William thought about leaving, but intrigue got the better of him. “You have my word,” he said ruefully.
“We know you’re having trouble with Connor,” Eric said. He didn’t look at William, his eyes stayed trained on the loose thread on the arm of the chair. He twirled it around in his fingers as if the meeting was already boring him. William wondered how different things would have been if Eric had become alpha instead of Connor. The two of them were similar ages but something about Eric made him seem far more childish, whereas there was nothing remotely infantile about Connor.
“He’s being rather stubborn; can you talk him round?” William asked, thinking maybe they were going to offer to convince Connor to play ball in exchange for something.
“No, nobody can talk that moron round,” Serena said with disdain. “Even if he could be convinced it wouldn’t be by us, his ears are deaf to the advice of this family.” That made sense, Connor had deposed the Royce family to become alpha.
“We’re going to replace him,” Merle said to William’s surprise. “The pack will get fed up of him soon enough and they’ll oust him.”
“I thought that he had to be beaten in combat?” William questioned. He’d never heard of an alpha being ousted.
“Nobody will challenge him to a singles contest, he’s the best fighter in the pack. The only way to remove him is to attack him as one,” Serena said.
“Doesn’t that break your rules?” William asked.
“When Eric takes his rightful place as alpha he will pardon everyone’s crimes,” She said. Eric looked away when she spoke as if he wasn’t comfortable with the plan, although of which aspect William was unsure. William didn’t see how they were going to get the pack to turn on their alpha. It was something he had never heard of and he’d done plenty of research on werewolf packs — not just the one in Cedarstone.
“Right, well I want no part in this so I don’t understand why you asked me here,” William said. There was absolutely no way he was going to get involved with some treacherous plot within the pack, it was neither his business nor to his tastes. If anything he was more inclined to inform Connor of exactly what they were planning, but he had given his word.
“We just want you to give us time. Don’t do anything against the pack just yet, wait until we’ve either replaced Connor or failed trying,” Serena said.
“Why would I do anything against the pack?” What could I do?
“Because Connor isn’t following the rules,” Eric said as if it was obvious. They really did take William for Jonathan; they expected him to meter out punishments for those who didn’t comply.
“How much time do you need?” he asked, not telling them that he was planning nothing; a little fear was a useful thing, a lot was dangerous.
“A couple of weeks,” Serena said. “If you give us a couple of weeks then you have our word that we will cooperate with you when Eric takes charge.”
“Okay. Just try and keep Connor out of trouble, or I’ll have to step in,” William said and Serena nodded once in agreement.
He left the house before he learned any more of their conspiring, the less he knew the better. As much as he disapproved of their plot he still held hope that it worked. If Eric was in charge, then they’d promised to cooperate which meant that the town would be at peace. If the town was at peace then MI5 would content that William was doing his job effectively. Although it still left the matter of expanding the team and locating the weapons from the research labs. Two jobs that would be a good deal easier if he wasn’t worrying about where the next supernatural battle was going to take place.
*
“That’s brought us a small reprieve from William and his merry men,” Merle said after William had left.
“Yeah, nice one getting him to stop by,” Eric said. He was only giving his uncle half his attention. The rest was concentrating on where he’d rather be — where he was going as soon as he was done here; straight to Natalie.
“I didn’t do it for you,” Merle replied. “Nor you,” he said, turning to Serena. “I’m only helping you because it’s for the good of the pack. Connor isn’t fit to lead.”
“We are acting for the good of the pack as well,” Serena returned curtly.
“Don’t give me that bullshit. You can’t lie to me Serena, I’m your big brother remember, I was there when you first learned to lie. I can see right through you. The only thing you care about is putting your son in charge. And you,” he turned to Eric. “You don’t even want to be in charge. You just want to get even with Connor because he embarrassed you in front of everyone.”
Eric looked away. Merle was right, Eric did not want to be in charge. Being in charge meant he couldn’t be with Natalie. He would have to find a good traditional bride. A werewolf bride.
“He does want to be in charge,” Serena said. She stroked the back of Eric’s head and he pulled away. “He’s just… nervous.”
“The only thing he’s nervous about
is losing that little tart he’s been knocking around with.”
“Watch your mouth,” Eric snarled, locking his eyes on his uncle at once.
“See,” Merle said, not in the least bit fazed. “That’s where his loyalties lie.”
“If this is how you feel then why are you helping us?” Serena asked sourly.
“Like I said, for the good of the pack. Eric’s the only alternative to Connor so I don’t have much of a choice. But mark my words if he turns out to be worse than what we’ve got now then I’ll find an alternative if I have to make one myself. Do you hear that boy?”
Eric sighed loudly and stood up. “I’m going out,” he said and strode out of the room. He heard his uncle saying something behind him, but he wasn’t paying any attention. He couldn’t be bothered with the bickering, not tonight. He needed a night off. He needed to relax and find comfort in the one place that he could.
When Eric arrived at Natalie’s she was waiting in nothing but her dressing gown. As soon as he closed the front door she slid it off and led him through to the bedroom.
Once they were finished he rolled onto his back, panting heavily, free of some of the stress he’d walked in with. He ran one hand down his chest which was slick with sweat and sighed. Natalie rolled towards him and rested her head on his chest. Almost instinctively, he began running his hand through her thick dark hair, enjoying the smooth feel on his fingers.
“What’s up?” she asked. Looking up at him with big brown eyes.
“Nothing,” he said absently.
“You’ve been distant since you got here, something’s on your mind so tell me what it is,” she said.
“It’s just my mother.”
“It always is. What’s she done now?” asked Natalie. Natalie didn’t hold Serena in high regard. She might have done had Serena not taken every opportunity to try and scare Natalie away from Eric. Fortunately, Natalie wasn’t easily scared, she might be a human, but she was a wolf at heart.
“Still banging on about me being alpha. There’s a whole scheme now, even Uncle Merle’s involved,” Eric explained.
“I thought he stayed out of the dramas?” Natalie had never met Merle, but Eric had told her all about him. He was another source of stress for Eric. Always goading him and making him feel inferior. He was exactly what an uncle should not be.
“He does usually, I guess this one interested him. There’s a lot of people not happy with Connor. He’s not done a great job so far, but for everyone who’s not happy there’s two who are. We’re going to have a hard time turning them against him.”
“Are you happy?” Natalie asked. She started tracing the lines of his abs with one finger.
“Not really. The war with the witches could have been stopped ages ago if he’d just make a deal with them. He’s too block-headed.” Eric had been trained from a young age in leadership skills and Connor so far had done the opposite of everything Eric had been taught. He’d refused to negotiate, ignored his advisors and disregarded the well-being of his people. He was too cocky and too proud and it was going to ruin the pack.
“What would you do if you were alpha?” Natalie asked. It was an innocent enough question but it stung all the same. It just reminded him that the role was stolen from him.
“I’d have taken the deal with the witches. Given them Wandworth and we keep Woodlands. It's a fair enough deal, Wandworth is a sacred witch territory and the pack doesn’t need it. There’s enough land for us in Thorndale and Grenfell alone.”
“It sounds like you’re on your mum’s page,” Natalie said. He stopped stroking her hair.
“Just because I don’t agree with Connor doesn’t mean I want to depose him,” he said bitterly.
“But you do, don’t you?” Natalie said and propped herself up on her elbows to look into his eyes.
“Yes and no. I do because it's my right, I’m supposed to be alpha and I know I’d be better at it than him. But I don’t because I don’t want all that responsibility. I don’t want everyone looking at me when things go wrong. And I know that my mother would just try to rule through me and because… Well because of you. I don’t want to give you up,” he said and his cheeks flushed red.
“Aw, such a sweetie,” she said and kissed his cheek. He was unsure whether she was mocking him or not. “If you were alpha you could put your mother in her place and the rest of the pack too. You could have whoever you wanted for a girlfriend. Who could stop you?”
“The pack.”
“You said they disagreed with your granddad’s decisions for decades but they didn’t do anything,” she argued.
“Exactly. They didn’t like my granddad, by the time Connor’s finished they won’t like him. They’ll never tolerate three bad alphas in a row.”
“If you’re a strong alpha they won’t dare cross you.”
“I lost a lot of cred when Connor snapped me in front of them. They’ll never see me as strong again,” he said, ashamed, he’d been emasculated in front of the whole pack.
“Babe, you can say whatever you want about not wanting to be alpha but I know you and I know what you want. You want to be alpha and you’re going to be alpha. One way or another. And when you are alpha we’ll deal with your other problems, together,” she said and she used that special tone of voice that assured him that she was right, even though he knew deep down that she was wrong. If he was alpha the pack would never let them be together. He didn’t say that, though, instead he closed his eyes, laid back and resumed stroking her hair.
After leaving Natalie’s flat, Eric headed back to his car only to find Connor leaning nonchalantly against it, waiting for him.
“What do you want?” Eric demanded, not breaking his gait.
“Is that any way to talk to your alpha?” Connor said, smiling cockily.
“Whatever,” Eric said and opened the driver’s door.
“Wait, Eric, I want to talk to you,” Connor said, getting off the car and walking around to the front, the cocky expression on his face had subsided.
“About what?” Eric glanced back at the flat, wondering if Connor was about to tell him he was forbidden from seeing a human girl. If he did that then Eric would tell him to shove his order firmly up his arse. Nobody would dictate to him whom he could and could not see. Especially not when Natalie seemed to be the only person who truly supported him. Serena only wanted Eric to be alpha so she could rule through him, and Merle only wanted what was best for the pack. Neither of them really cared about Eric, but at least Merle was willing to admit it.
“The pack,” Connor said and looked down. He was embarrassed. Eric couldn’t resist smiling, his foe was actually going to ask him for advice by the looks of things. “I know we’re not friends but I want to put all that behind us. I want us to try to get along. Leading the pack isn’t as easy as I thought it would be. I could do with some help from someone who’s been taught,” said Connor. It was obvious that saying that was difficult and despite wanting to Eric found himself unable to enjoy the situation.
“Maybe you should have left me in charge then,” he said and swung himself into his car. Connor hopped into the passenger seat and put on hand on the wheel. When he saw Eric tense up he took it back and displayed his palms in a sign of submission.
“Will you at least hear me out before you go?” Connor asked. It was completely unlike him to be so mollifying. Usually, he would have just forced Eric to listen to him.
“Go on,” Eric said. He took his hand off the key in the ignition and sat back.
“Thank you.” Connor took a moment to gather his thoughts before speaking again. “I’m sorry I took the pack from you, okay. I thought it was what was best for the pack, I thought it needed new blood leading it. I didn’t trust you to do anything about the council, I thought you’d honour the arrangement that Waylon had with them.”
“I would never have done that, and I would never have let the man who murdered an alpha walk free,” Eric said. He hadn’t forgotten that Nickolas Blackwoo
d had murdered his granddad and one day he planned to pay him back for it.
“I thought they’d be useful against the council, and you know what, I was right,” Connor said, some of his usual aggression making an appearance.
“About one thing at least.”
“Listen, I know we have a bit of history behind us, but I want to put all that to bed. I think if we work together then this pack will gain a lot from it,” Connor said and Eric believed he was being genuine. He and Connor had never liked each other, they’d bickered all through their childhoods, but they’d never really been enemies until Connor stepped into the circle and challenged him for alpha. Could Eric let that go? No. Not because Connor had taken his birthright but because he’d humiliated him in front of everyone. That was something that Eric could never and would never forgive. But he could pretend to, for the good of the plan.
“But I don’t like you,” Eric said. He had to make it convincing, Connor would never believe that he’d convinced him so easily.
“And I don’t like you, but I think we both respect each other, and we both know that we have skills that the other does not.” Someone must have said all this to Connor at some point, it was far too intelligent for him to have thought of it by himself. But who would have advised him to ally with Eric? A friend of Serena’s or Merle’s perhaps?
“Alright, what do you want?” Eric asked.
“Advice.”
“You haven’t listened to anyone else advice,” Eric shot.
“Nobody else knows what they’re talking about, I think you do. What should I do about the witches? Should I take the deal?”
“Absolutely not,” Eric lied. “You need to show strength, both to the pack and to the coven.”
“How?” Connor asked eagerly, like a student asking a teacher.
“I don’t know. Maybe an attack, fighting is one of your best skills after all. Lead some guys into Wandworth on the full moon, sniff out any witches and kill them. That should send the right message,” Eric said. It was the exact opposite of what Eric would do. It would bring his downfall faster than Eric or his mother could have hoped.