by Laura Taylor
But the instant they arrived in the lounge down the hall, Miller was back in human form.
“It’s complicated, and shit just got a whole lot worse, so hear me out while I try and explain everything,” Miller blurted out before Baron could say a word. He began the story quickly: his lesson in the library with Heron, and he got as far as his own realisation that the Treaty of Erim Kai Bahn had been breached before Baron cut him off, letting out a loud string of curses.
“Tell me you didn’t just say that,” he demanded, heart pounding as Miller’s words echoed in his ears.
“The Grey Watch sold you out to the Noturatii,” Miller repeated, involuntarily backing up a step. “I didn’t mention it earlier because I didn’t know the Treaty existed, and I had assumed that you and they were enemies anyway.”
“Save it,” Baron snapped, not at all interested in the whys and wherefores. “Have you told Caroline?”
Miller nodded. He detailed her sudden departure from the Den and her quest to meet with the Grey Watch. “You’ve got to call her and stop her,” Miller said, his tone coming unpleasantly close to an order. “She shouldn’t have arrived yet. She told me to wait up and tell Tank where she’d gone, since he was in charge in your absence. But that girl he just brought back… She was the one who sold me the information about you.”
Baron felt the blood drain out of his face. He pulled out his phone and found Caroline’s number. She answered quickly.
“Where are you?” he asked, relieved to hear that they had yet to arrive in the Kielder Forest. “Get back here. We’ve got issues.” A brief argument followed, Caroline insisting, in a round-about and coded way, that she needed to speak to the Watch directly, until Baron dropped the bombshell that the primary source of their problem had just walked in the front door, and then he was holding the phone away from his ear as a torrent of cursing came down the line at him.
“She’s on her way,” he told Miller when he hung up a minute later, having managed to understand that much at least, out of Caroline’s fervent swearing. And then, without another word, he was marching back out to the foyer and up onto the second floor, taking the stairs two at a time.
CHAPTER FIVE
Tank led Genna into one of the third floor bedrooms, stepping over to close the curtains as she followed him into the room. There was no ensuite in this room, but he’d pointed out the bathroom further down the hall as they’d passed, and there was a towel set on the end of the bed, ready for any visitor who might show up.
“We’re going to work this out,” he told her, turning to face her as she surveyed the room. It was small and simple, a single bed, a wardrobe and a small desk in the corner, but it would serve well enough for a few nights’ stay. “Baron can be a bit of a hardarse, but he’s a good guy underneath. Even if this looks pretty bad right now, he’ll end up seeing that you’re just trying to do the right thing.”
Genna cast her eyes over the room, seeming lost. “I hope so,” she said softly. “It was pretty clear he’s not thrilled about having a member of the Watch under his roof.”
She looked unbearably vulnerable standing there, her cloak drooping over her thin frame, her cheeks gaunt, her eyes hollow, and a primal part of Tank longed to just pull her into his arms and tell her everything was going to be okay. The haunted look in her eyes was one he was familiar with, filled with regrets and uncertainty, and a cold despair that hadn’t been there the last time they’d met.
“I know you weren’t happy with the Watch when I saw you last,” he said cautiously, aware that Genna might not want to talk about this, “but it looks like things have gone downhill since then. Do you mind if I ask what-”
“TANK!” Baron’s voice boomed through the manor, and Tank flinched, certain that the man had just woken up everyone in the whole house.
“I’ve got to go,” he excused himself, not waiting for any reply from Genna as he headed for the door. “Sorry, but this sounds like it’s urgent. I’ll see you in the morning-”
His words were cut off as Baron’s heavy footsteps came thudding down the hall, Miller scampering along behind him. “Move,” Baron snapped, shoving Tank out of the way and barging into Genna’s bedroom while Tank’s mind raced to catch up. What the hell was going on? But then he heard Baron’s next words and understood his sudden outrage.
“You sold us out to the Noturatii,” he stated flatly, glaring daggers at Genna.
Tank wondered for a split second how he’d found out… and then realised this must have been the emergency Caroline had been trying to tell him about earlier. He made the connection to Miller quickly – he’d previously worked for the Noturatii, so it made sense that he’d have known something about it, though why he’d brought the issue up now was yet to be explained.
“Not Genna personally,” Tank told Baron, repeating the news Genna had given him earlier. And given the weight of it, it was no wonder Baron was outraged by it. “Sempre did. That’s why Genna contacted us. She came here to help.”
Baron’s gaze flicked over to Miller, who was lurking anxiously in the doorway, but any further comment he might have made on the subject was interrupted by a cry of alarm from Genna.
“He’s from the Noturatii!” she shouted, pointing at Miller, her face pale as she backed up across the room. “He’s going to kill us all. What the hell is he doing here?”
“How do you know he’s from the Noturatii?” Tank asked, at the same time as Baron snapped, “Where he’s from is none of your damned business.”
Genna gaped at both of them. “You know?” she asked, aghast. “Why would you let him in here?”
“He’s proven his loyalty to the shifters. He’s one of us now,” Baron deigned to explain, but the instant he finished the sentence, Tank jumped in, repeating his own question.
“How do you know where he’s from?”
Genna looked from Tank, to Miller, and back, the silence in the room deafening.
“What the hell is going on here?” Tank asked softly, when Genna didn’t reply, expecting the explanation to come from Baron.
But instead it was Miller who answered. “I told you before that the Noturatii had received information that there were two separate packs in England. This young woman is the one who sold me that information. I met with her personally in a café in Manchester.”
The news came like a kick in the guts. Tank turned back to Genna, guilt written all over her face. “I’m sorry-” she began, but Tank wouldn’t hear it.
“You lied to me. And you thought you were going to use me to blame someone else for your betrayal?” There were no words to express the disappointment he felt.
“What exactly did she tell you?” Baron asked.
“That Sempre had been the one to betray us. She said she only found out a few weeks ago and that she’d been having problems with the Watch, so she came to us for help.”
Genna’s mind was racing as she watched the tide of fortune turn against her. Another gap in her plan that she hadn’t really thought about. She’d been concerned about getting Tank to believe her in the first instance, worried that he wouldn’t want to bring her to his home, but she’d given no thought to the problem of convincing the alphas of this Den to believe her story, even if Tank did. The Noturatii man being here was a shock – there was no way she could ever have anticipated that one – but even so, she wasn’t willing to give up at the first roadblock to success. Sempre was destroying their pack, and if Genna was going down for her crimes, the least she could do was drag Sempre down with her.
“Sempre was the one who betrayed you,” she said, looking Baron in the eye. “I went to meet this man, that’s true. But it was Sempre’s idea. And Lita’s. They hated Dee, were terrified of her, and they wanted to do anything they could to stop the prophecy coming true. I didn’t know about the Treaty at the time,” she added, another sliver of truth working its way into her story. “The Treaty of Erim Kai Bahn. Betraying your pack to the Noturatii breaches the Treaty, right?” Baron nodded, a
cold, grim gesture. “I didn’t even know it existed back then. And Sempre and Lita didn’t tell me about it until later. They wanted someone to take the fall for them if anything went wrong, and I was too naïve to know any better. I’m sorry I lied to you,” she said, a heartfelt apology as she turned back to Tank. “But I thought if I told you the whole truth, that I was involved, you’d never help me put things right.”
Tank was watching her closely, as were Baron and the Noturatii man, and she held her breath. There was enough truth sprinkled in amongst the lies that her body language should be conflicted at the very least, rather than outright stating that she was lying.
“Does anyone else think there are bits of this story that don’t quite add up?” Baron asked drily.
“I’m with you on that one,” Tank agreed.
“I don’t suppose,” Baron said, “that if we asked Sempre and Lita about these claims of yours that they would admit to any of it?”
“Of course not,” Genna said. It would have been a stupid question even if her story was true. “For one thing, Lita’s dead.” She registered the surprise on the faces around her before she continued. “She died a few weeks ago. In the middle of one of those disgusting blood rituals she was always doing. And Sempre would just deny it. I mean, that’s the whole point of having a scapegoat, isn’t it?”
“Tell me something else,” Baron said slowly, and Genna felt a thrill of fear run down her spine at the ice in his voice. “Did you, or anyone else, ever contact the Noturatii a second time? Did you give them any additional information besides what you gave Miller?”
Genna shook her head. “I didn’t. And Sempre and Lita never mentioned anything else to me about it. As far as I’m aware, it was only the once.”
Baron said nothing, staring at her intently for a long moment before he finally relaxed a fraction. “Fine.” He turned to Tank. “Caroline’s on her way in. It’s late and I’m fucking tired, so we’ll sort the rest of this out in the morning. I’m taking Genna down to the cages, and she can stay there until we know more. You can stay up and explain this mess to Caroline. Consider it a thank you for bringing this rubbish onto our estate without a proper security check.” He nodded derisively at Genna, and Genna wisely decided to say nothing. “Miller, go to bed. And none of you mention this to anyone else until Caroline and I talk it through. If people know the Treaty has been breached, there’s no telling what sort of shit will break loose.”
“I think it might be too late for that,” Miller said apologetically. “Caroline took Andre, Raniesha and John with her. John’s not exactly known for his discretion.”
“Oh, for god’s sake…” Baron rubbed his eyes with a meaty hand, letting out a heartfelt sigh. “Well, at least try not to stir the pot, okay? You, with me,” he ordered, gesturing for Genna to follow. “You’ve caused enough trouble for tonight.”
“Can I take some food down for her?” Tank asked, as Genna preceded Baron out of the room. The request surprised her. She’d just admitted to betraying their pack, and Tank was worried about feeding her?
“Look at her,” Tank said insistently, as Baron gave him an incredulous look. “She’s half starved. You’ve told me often enough that we look after our prisoners, no matter how much we-”
“Fine, do whatever the hell you like,” Baron snapped, gesturing for Genna to walk on ahead of him. “So long as she stays in the cage, I don’t give a shit.”
“Where are the cages?” she asked, partly so that she knew where she was supposed to be going and partly out of tremulous fear. The cage in the Grey Watch camp had been outdoors, tiny, uncomfortable and subject to the full fury of the weather.
“In the basement,” Tank said, following them down the hall. “It’s warm and dry, and you’ll have a proper bed to sleep on.”
The words came as a huge relief, and Genna felt some of the tension that had been gnawing at her slip away. Okay, so she was going to be back in a cage, but she would be out of the rain, she could get a decent night’s sleep, and from the sounds of it, she wouldn’t be going to bed hungry. Things weren’t looking so bad after all.
The forest was quiet when Luna woke. A quick check of the position of the moon told her it was past midnight, but not yet anywhere near dawn, and she huffed out a sigh. Nights here were long and oftentimes she didn’t sleep well. It was nothing to do with the weather – wild wolves slept outdoors, even in the worst of conditions – but rather to do with the constant gnawing ache in her chest. Her pack was in trouble, weaker than they should have been, with little vision for the future and no plans whatsoever as to how to defeat their enemies.
The rest of the pack were scattered about the clearing, doing their best to sleep, hunger and the constant itch of being in wolf form for too long disturbing their rest. Every single one of them knew that their pack was floundering, and yet none of them were powerful enough to take on Sempre and the handful of fighters she kept clustered around her.
Luna sighed again, shuffling her paws around to get more comfortable… and then she stopped. Inhaled again. Sniffed the air suspiciously.
Blood. The scent was nothing unfamiliar to a wolf, living on a steady diet of raw meat, and yet at this time of night, it made no sense. No one had caught prey of any significant size today. There was no half-eaten carcass lying in the forest, no dregs of blood lingering on the other wolves’ fur.
But the scent was unmistakable.
Luna got up, lifting her head high to sniff the air. It was coming from the north and slightly to the east. She padded in that direction, weaving around the other furry bodies. One or two lifted their heads to see who was passing, but most either slept through her meanderings, or simply ignored her. It wasn’t unusual for her to be up and about at night, and no one paid her any mind.
At the edge of the clearing, she paused at Genna’s cage, wondering if the girl had managed to get any sleep-
Oh, no. The cage door was open, the cage empty, and a quick glance around revealed the padlock lying forgotten on the ground. There was going to be hell to pay for this, and Luna weighed up the pros and cons of waking Sempre to tell her about the problem now, or waiting until morning. If she did it now, then no one was going to be getting any more sleep, Sempre unleashing a storm of fury on the entire camp, regardless of the fact that most of them had nothing to do with this. But if she waited until morning, there would be outraged questions as to why no one had noticed sooner, and all things considered, the result might be worse that way.
But the scent of blood was still lingering in her nose, stronger now, coming from somewhere just beyond the cage. She stepped forward, following the scent…
Luna’s heart lurched in her chest, and she shifted into human form completely without meaning to. Feriur. With her throat slit.
“What are you doing?”
Luna spun around at the whispered question, shocked, then relieved to see Fawn standing behind her. The young woman was in her late twenties and had been a member of the pack for a little over three years – long enough to learn the ropes, but still too young to have any real influence in the intensely competitive environment. And then Fawn gasped as she saw Feriur’s body lying on the damp earth.
“We need to tell Sempre,” Luna said, her voice little more than a murmur. It was the only safe thing to say, though she would have preferred to take a little time to look around and try to assess the situation herself. Knowing who was friend and who was enemy in this place was all too difficult a task even at the best of times. Most of the wolves had long term plans to climb the ranks and cosy up to Sempre, some as a quest for power, others just to avoid being trodden on by every other wolf in the place, and an idly spoken word could well be reported up the chain of command as a way of currying favour. There were three or four people Luna trusted implicitly, knowing they would never willingly betray her, but Fawn, for all her courage and intelligence, was not on that list.
“What happened to her?” Fawn asked, sounding thoroughly shocked, and she stepped for
ward, reaching out one shaking hand to check Feriur’s-
“Don’t touch her,” Luna said, tugging her back. “Don’t disturb anything. Sempre will want to look at it.” Once again, there was an upside and a downside to her actions. In all likelihood, Genna had killed Feriur during her efforts to escape the camp. Luna had no evidence supporting that theory, but it was an easy conclusion to jump to. And the last thing she wanted to do was leave the evidence lying around to get Genna into even more trouble than she was in already.
But if Fawn touched anything, her scent would be on Feriur’s body, perhaps on the murder weapon, and Luna wasn’t going to let her inadvertently do anything that would implicate her in this crime. Fawn was too young, too inexperienced to defend herself against the sorts of accusations Sempre could throw her way.
“Come on. We need to show this to Sempre.” She headed hastily back towards the camp, tugging a pale-faced Fawn along with her, heart pounding in her chest as she imagined what sort of conversation was going to follow.
Tank paced the manor’s wide foyer, trying to make sense of the riotous thoughts racing through his mind. After Genna had been securely locked in one of the cages, Baron had given him a rapid debrief on everything that had happened since he’d met up with her, then left him with curt instructions before heading off to bed.
Tank had prepared a meal of leftovers in the kitchen, heated it up in the microwave and taken it down to Genna. He hadn’t lingered, uneasy about his own conflicting emotions. On the one hand, he felt a strong need to protect her, certain that she’d been through some serious trauma in the recent past and eager to prove that his pack was more compassionate than the Watch. But on the other hand, that same protectiveness was making him want to hate her. She’d threatened his Den, though most likely as a result of being coerced into it, and had lied to him about it while asking for his help. One moment he would be making excuses for her, telling himself that she was trying to do the right thing now, and then a moment later, he would be cursing her and fretting about the impending war that was going to break out if Baron, Caroline and the Council couldn’t work out a reasonable solution to the breach of the Treaty.