Wolf's Guile

by Laura Taylor

  “I’m well aware of what the Treaty says,” Caroline replied, watching Sempre closely at the mention of the all-important document. “But there are two complications with that. The first is that Genna has caused some significant property damage here.” The understated description of her true crimes almost made a mockery of them. If the Noturatii actually found them, then in all likelihood the entire estate would be razed to the ground. But that was an issue for the Council to deal with, so Caroline was limited to veiled references in her attempts to stall Sempre. “We’d like to take the opportunity to discuss appropriate compensation while you’re here. The other problem is that Genna has expressed an intense anxiety about returning to your pack. According to her, conditions there in recent times have been intolerable.”

  “If she wants to defect, then she can do so after she’s answered for her crimes,” Sempre snapped impatiently. “Those are the provisions set out in the Treaty.”

  “Indeed,” Caroline agreed. “The Treaty specifies that we must hand Genna back to the Grey Watch for judgement. However,” she added, before Sempre could start to preen in victory, “it is a little more vague on a few other details. When it was written, there was only one pack of the Grey Watch. And one pack of Il Trosa. We now have the Council to oversee things for Il Trosa as a whole, but the Grey Watch has no governing body.”

  “What’s your point?” Sempre asked suspiciously.

  “Three members of our Council are en route to this estate to help deal with the situation,” Caroline informed her, bracing herself for Sempre’s reaction to her news. “And while we are indeed required to hand Genna back to the Grey Watch, it’s not specified anywhere in the Treaty exactly which pack of the Watch we’re required to give her to.”

  Sempre stared at her blankly for a moment, until a look of cold fury settled onto her face, as the words sunk in. “You wouldn’t dare,” she hissed.

  “The Council will be contacting a number of packs of the Watch from various different countries. If they agree to cooperate, then together, they’ll form a panel which will hear the details of Genna’s case and decide on an appropriate punishment.”

  “She came from our pack, so you will give her back to our pack!”

  “That’s not specified in the Treaty,” Caroline said firmly. While she was keeping a close eye on Sempre, anticipating that she might decide to get violent over the news, she was also keeping half an eye on the three other women. Meili was watching Sempre, indignation on her face as she sought to mirror her alpha’s reaction. Skye was simply looking baffled. But Lucia looked like she was picking up on the implications of the conversation a little more quickly than the rest, and a cautious part of Caroline suspected that the middle-aged woman might actually approve of her actions. Not that she would ever admit it to Sempre, of course.

  “Well played,” Lucia said, taking a step forward. She made an effort to add a touch of sardonic irritation to her voice, but her face was giving an entirely different message. And her step forward had managed to hide that from the others. “All that will result from your little panel is that the rest of the Watch will simply hand Genna back to us,” she declared, at the same time as giving Caroline the subtlest of nods. “A lot of wasted effort if you ask me.”

  Caroline’s regard for the woman went up a notch, as Sempre seemed to fall in and take her cue, abandoning her outrage in favour of mocking disdain. “Exactly,” Sempre said. “A waste of your time and theirs. Fine. If you want to play your political games, we’ll wait for this ‘panel’ to show up. But in the meantime, I want to talk to Genna.”

  “That won’t be possible until the Council arrives,” Caroline replied firmly.

  “That’s ridiculous. Where is she?”

  “Locked in a cage in the basement.” Sempre looked momentarily startled by that, so Caroline went on, “She’s admitted to killing Feriur, though she claims it was in self defence. As a criminal awaiting trial, we’re not going to simply let her roam about the estate.”

  Sempre didn’t look convinced by that, and Caroline wondered what she wasn’t telling them. “Well then, I’d at least like to see her,” Sempre said as a concession of sorts. “So far we have only your word that she’s here at all.”

  A knock sounded at the door, and it opened, revealing Tank. “All clear,” he reported. “The health inspector’s gone.”

  “Sempre wants to see with her own eyes that Genna’s actually in the basement,” Caroline informed him, rather relieved that he’d shown up when he had. There was a small but real risk that Sempre might try to do something stupid where Genna was concerned – killing her to silence her, perhaps, or attempting to kidnap her back again – and she would be glad of the backup. “Would you mind leading the way?”

  “No problem,” Tank agreed easily. But instead of taking the women through the sitting room and down the internal stairs, he instead led them outside, weaving around the side of the house and down the hill to the external cellar door. As well as being a secure place for the cages and the shooting range, the basement was also a secondary escape route in case the manor was ever compromised, and the small wooden door set into a stone wall was discreet and unremarkable.

  Taking the Watch this way was a good strategy, and Caroline was once again grateful to have such a reliable 2IC in the Den. As far as she knew, none of the Watch were aware of the secret door in the sitting room, and she was happy to keep it that way for as long as possible.

  They all ducked through the low door, walking in a half-crouch as they made their way along a short tunnel until a second door opened up into the cage room. Genna was sitting on her bed reading a book, and she leapt up in surprise as she saw who had walked in the door. She was wearing a set of Dee’s clothes – Caroline was aware that Baron had sent Dee down earlier this morning – and Sempre snarled as she saw the girl.

  “What the hell do you think you’re wearing?” she demanded. “You disgrace our pack by running away like a stray dog, and now you’re hurling yourself into human decadence?” She stepped close to the cage, pointing a bony finger at Genna. “I will see you suffer for what you did to Feriur. If you think-”

  “That’s enough!” Caroline shouted, stepping between Sempre and Genna. “You said you wanted to confirm that Genna was here, and you’ve done that. I did not bring you down here so you could threaten and humiliate her. Out the door.” She pointed to the exit, holding Sempre’s gaze. The older woman was not the least bit intimidated by Caroline, however, until Tank stepped forward, his greater height and weight making a powerful, though silent statement about what would happen if Sempre continued to cause trouble.

  Thankfully, Sempre chose to back down. “Very well,” she said haughtily. “Genna is indeed here, alive and captive.” She shot a sharp glare Genna’s way at that last word, and Caroline’s gaze narrowed, once again suspecting there was something she was missing about the exchange. “I suppose now we have to wait for this Council of yours to arrive.” It was said with disdain, as if Caroline and her pack weren’t capable of solving their problems themselves, but Caroline simply ignored the implied insult. Il Trosa was stronger as a result of the Council’s leadership, and nothing Sempre could say would convince her otherwise.

  Sempre turned and left the room with all the dignity possible, given that she was forced to crouch through a low, narrow entrance, and the rest of her lackeys followed obediently. Caroline was about to follow them, but was surprised to find that Tank wasn’t behind her.

  “Tank!” she said sharply, seeing him lingering by the cage, staring at Genna, though neither of them said anything. Tank followed her immediately, but a tell-tale backward glance had Caroline glaring at him sharply. Tank had a strong protective streak – one that Caroline understood and also admired. His genuine concern for his Den had led him to put his own life on the line more times than she could count.

  But in this case, Genna’s crimes were far more complicated than anything they’d had to deal with before, and Caroline felt a pang
of concern that Tank might let his natural protectiveness get in the way of the course of justice.

  Outside, Sempre made a show of brushing herself down, though it was hardly necessary. Though small and dark, the tunnel was kept clean, like the rest of the manor, and there would have been hardly any dust, or even a stray cobweb to mar her cloak.

  “How long is this whole circus expected to last?” Sempre asked, when the last of them had emerged and Tank was busy locking the door behind him. “You can’t expect us to stay in your wretched manor. We’re wild wolves. We don’t live in human houses.”

  “Longer term, we won’t be staying here,” Caroline told her. “This estate isn’t large enough to house you, the Council and visitors from other packs of the Watch as well. But we’ve recently bought a new estate in Scotland. The talks will be held there. In the short term, however, how about you stay in the stables?” The building that had, in ages past, been used to house horses had been turned into a store room, woodshed and workshop – quite a sparse environment for normal living quarters, but possibly quite suitable for people who routinely slept in tents, or out in the open. “There’s a courtyard where you’ll have some privacy, cold running water and you can sleep indoors or outdoors, as you prefer.”

  “What about meals?” Sempre asked haughtily.

  “We’ll provide you with whatever you need. Fresh meat, vegetables, bread – make a list and we’ll arrange it for you. There’s wood stacked inside the stable, so feel free to make a fire in the courtyard.”

  Sempre considered the idea, the look on her face similar to how she’d look if she’d just bitten into a ripe lemon. “Fine,” she conceded finally. “I suppose it’ll have to do.”

  They went via the van, where the women collected a few pertinent items before Caroline pointed them in the direction of the stables. Sempre had been to the estate often enough that she had a general idea of the layout, and the courtyard was a simple design. There was little chance of any of them getting lost.

  “Explain something to me,” Caroline said to Tank, giving voice to a niggling concern she’d had ever since Sempre had arrived. They stood side by side on the driveway, watching Sempre and her companions march away. “If what Genna says is true, then Sempre knows that the Noturatii are looking for this estate. And if she was worried about her own safety or that of her wolves, then she has a number of options, without any risk of giving away what she knows. She could go back to her own camp and meet us in Scotland later. She could demand that we go to Scotland now. She could even just refuse to stay on this estate, on the basis of not trusting us, or not being willing to lower herself to living in ‘human’ surrounds. But she’s done none of those things. Why not?”

  Tank stared at the retreating backs of the women, silent as the thought turned over in his mind. “She doesn’t know,” he concluded finally, turning to look at Caroline with a quizzical, sceptical expression. “She doesn’t know the Treaty’s been broken.”

  Caroline turned back to watch as the women disappeared around the stable’s stone wall. “How very, very interesting.”

  CHAPTER TEN

  “Thank you for coming,” Caroline greeted Eleanor as she climbed out of the Den’s van. Tank had just returned from Carlisle where he’d gone to collect the three Councillors from the airport, and Caroline turned to shake Feng’s hand, and then Paula’s as they got out of the van behind Eleanor. “Sempre arrived a few hours ago,” Caroline told them. “She’s not exactly happy about calling in other Grey Watch packs to deal with Feriur’s murder, but she’s agreed to put up with it. That’s as far as we’ve got.” The Councillors, of course, would have their own version of the situation to explain to the tempestuous alpha.

  “Here she comes now,” Eleanor said, glancing over Caroline’s shoulder, and she turned around to see not only Sempre, but her three cronies strolling across the driveway to meet them. It was interesting how Sempre liked to throw her weight around and make demands of everyone and yet she never seemed to let those three leave her side. Perhaps her confidence in her own authority wasn’t as great as she claimed it was.

  Her gait was deliberately casual, and they all waited while she took her time in approaching them. Beside her, Baron folded his arms, far less patient than Caroline over the woman’s antics, and it wasn’t lost on Caroline that usually she was the one getting impatient and rushing things forward. It seemed that the short time she’d spent living with the Watch as a young woman had made more of an impact than she’d realised.

  “I would say it’s good to see you again,” Sempre drawled as she arrived at the group, “but we both know that would be a lie.”

  “Good afternoon,” Eleanor said, a rare spark of distaste crossing her features. “Let’s leave it at that, shall we?”

  “Far from it,” Sempre replied. “I do not appreciate you trying to manipulate the Treaty to get your own way. You have no authority over us, and in line with the spirit of the Treaty, as well as its specifications, I insist that you return Genna to us immediately.”

  “Section fourteen, clause five of the Treaty,” Eleanor replied swiftly, “states that: ‘Any shifter found to have committed a crime, or who is suspected or accused of committing a crime against the faction of which they are a member must be returned to said faction at the faction’s request to be judged for the accused crime.’ There are only two factions specified in the Treaty: Il Trosa and the Grey Watch. And as such, we are adhering to the Treaty by returning Genna to the Grey Watch. There is nothing else in the Treaty that requires any specific action from us. I don’t deny that we’re exploiting a technicality, but frankly, your style of leadership breaches the natural laws of wolves and spits in the face of our spiritual origins, so you will have to abide by our decision.”

  In the privacy of her own mind, Caroline was shocked at Eleanor’s outburst. She’d known that relations between the Council and their local Grey Watch pack were not on good terms, but for as long as Caroline had known her, Eleanor had always been the epitome of a refined lady – polite, tolerant and very good at knowing when to keep her mouth shut. To hear her say such words to Sempre now spoke volumes about her true feelings towards the woman.

  “This is outrageous! We are not beholden to the Council,” Sempre said forcefully. But rather than her usual screeching, she seemed genuinely upset this time, like a child earnestly trying to explain that she really hadn’t been the one to break a vase that the dog had knocked over. “You cannot hold us to your own laws just because you don’t like the way we live. We are governed by the Treaty and nothing else!”

  “That’s a fair point,” Eleanor replied, stern and serious. “And an issue we’ll need to discuss in more detail.” Then she turned to Caroline. “But before we get onto that, we urgently need to speak to Genna. We have no hope of finding a sensible resolution to this unless we thoroughly understand the original problem.”

  “You wouldn’t let us speak to Genna!” Sempre yelped in outrage. “Why should they be allowed to?”

  “Because they weren’t the ones to let one of their own members run off in the middle of the night and risk exposing our entire species to the public,” Caroline snapped, at the end of her patience where Sempre was concerned. “She’s a new recruit, barely a year into her life as a shifter. She was left unsupervised and managed to make it all the way to Penrith, for Christ’s sake, before any of you even noticed she was gone.”

  That shut Sempre up. In both packs, new recruits were to be watched closely, given strict rules to follow and provided with firm mentoring to help them adjust to their new lives. That Sempre had failed to do so for a member of her pack was a mark of deep shame against her.

  “This way,” Caroline said, leading the Councillors across the lawn and towards the cellar door. Under normal circumstances, they would have been taken through the interior door, but with Sempre and her followers watching on, Caroline was restricted to taking the Councillors through the entrance that the Watch already knew about.

 
“How has Genna been?” Eleanor asked, as they made their way across the lawn.

  “Surprisingly calm, given the charges against her. Both the murder and the… other thing.”

  “The first thing we’ll need to do is get a full statement from her. We plan to call in representatives from ten other packs to form a panel. Sempre will get to choose half of them – a balanced allocation of prosecution and defence, if you want to look at it that way – and we’re going to need a clear and thorough explanation of exactly what she’s accused of before we can assess who we’d like to call in.”

  “Will you want us to be a part of that decision,” Caroline asked, as she unlocked the cellar door, “or would you rather handle it yourselves?”

  Eleanor sighed and glanced at Feng and Paula. “Not an easy question,” she said after a moment. “Since it’s your Den at risk, we’d like to give you a say. But given that this is going to affect every shifter and every Den across the whole world, we’re also aware of the need to keep things as impartial as possible. At least on the surface,” she added, in a low voice. “Favouritism on our part could make the Grey Watch panel less favourably inclined towards us. It’s a difficult path to navigate, so I’d have to say we haven’t quite decided yet. The first thing to do is to talk to Genna and see where the pieces of the game currently sit.”

  Caroline nodded. As much as she wanted to be a part of proceedings, she understood Eleanor’s hesitation, and after eighteen long years as a shifter, she trusted the Council enough to take a mental step back and let them steer the situation as they saw fit.

  She ducked her head, leading the way through the tunnel into the cage room. She unlocked the final door, stepped into the basement… and froze in her tracks. “Oh, fucking hell…”

  The cage was empty, the door hanging open, with no sign of Genna anywhere.