Wolf's Guile

by Laura Taylor

  Genna waited beside Tank while the details of the day’s discussions were being resolved with Luna. He’d barely left her side since the day before, and now he stood beside her with his arm in a sling, the only sign that he’d nearly lost his life only twenty-four hours ago. Though she had already heard the news about Sven that morning, Genna still felt tears sting her eyes as Kajus told Luna of the man’s decision. Despite a prolonged discussion with the men of the Panel, and of Il Trosa, Sven had stuck to his request. And in the end, the rest of them had chosen to honour it, having stated right at the start that the decision was Sven’s to make – as it had been for the two other males. Dee had been consulted, and she’d reported that Faeydir, too, respected Sven’s decision. She would carry out the separation just before the Council’s plane left. Feng and Paula would see Sven safely to Romania, then return to Italy with the other two men.

  “I have one more question,” Luna said, once she’d wiped her eyes and got a handle on her emotions. “But this time, it’s for Genna. About your plans for the future.”

  After her outburst in the kitchen that night in the middle of the hearing, Genna had been fairly convinced that Luna wanted nothing more to do with her. So why would she be concerned now? Unless it was merely to confirm that Genna would have to find somewhere else to live?

  Luna smiled shyly, not quite able to meet Genna’s gaze. “You were right to not trust me before,” she said softly. “I was so concerned with not getting myself into trouble that I overlooked how much other people were suffering because of Sempre. I wanted to do more for you, but I was too scared. But you stood up to Sempre, even when you knew it was a losing battle. You’ve shown us all what true courage is and given us something to live up to. I’m sorry for my failings, Genna. Will you forgive me?”

  Oh, flaming heck, this was all wrong. After all, Genna was actually the one who had betrayed Il Trosa. She’d proven herself to be the worst sort of shifter, and while she might have learned a lot from it, she still had a long way to go before she could ever claw back her honour and integrity. “There’s nothing to forgive,” Genna told Luna sincerely. “We were all caught under Sempre’s control, and none of us had the strength to change things on our own. You’ve pulled the pack together, against enormous odds. I think it’s time we all put the past behind us.”

  Luna beamed at her and stepped forward, opening her arms for a hug. Genna accepted the embrace far more willingly than she had the last time Luna had tried to hug her. “I don’t know what your plans are from here,” Luna said, once she’d let Genna go. “I know you and Tank are… Well, maybe you have plans together. And you’re due for some training in France and Germany. I don’t know if you want to make that a long-term arrangement, but…”

  “But?” Genna prompted, when Luna failed to finish her sentence.

  “But I was talking to Lucia and Rift and some of the others last night. And we’d all be very happy to have you back in our pack. If you’d still feel at home with us, of course. Il Trosa has a more comfortable life, after all. Maybe you’d prefer to live with them. Or maybe… maybe there are too many bad memories with us. It hasn’t been easy for you, right from day one…”

  Luna trailed off, and Genna could scarcely believe what she’d just heard. She had assumed that, regardless of how things worked out for Luna’s pack, she herself would not be welcome with them. Tank had told her – full of apologies – that his pack was not likely to allow her to stay, so she’d been thinking of applying to join the pack in France. With their interest in her abilities, she’d been fairly sure they would accept her. But to be allowed to stay in England…

  “I’ve missed you,” she said, feeling her heart thumping hard at the unexpected invitation. “I miss the sound of the trees at night. I miss chasing deer through the forest. I miss drinking icy water out of the stream.” She glanced over to her left, where the cottages were just visible through the trees. “But having somewhere to get out of the weather is nice, too. We have a lot of work to do to put our pack back together. But I would be honoured to be a part of it.”

  One lone pair of hands began to applaud, quickly joined by a second, and a third, and then cheers rose up, congratulating Luna, Genna and the whole pack. And, just because Luna didn’t seem able to help herself, Genna once again found herself engulfed in a fierce hug from her new alpha.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  Baron carried Feng’s bag down the stairs and out the door of the manor, stowing it carefully in the back of the van. Caroline did likewise with Paula’s bag, offering a smile to the three assassins lingering in the background. Since Eleanor’s death, they had barely left the Councillor’s sides, and even now they seemed nervous – as much as an assassin would ever display such an emotion. But after nearly a year of watching Andre in private moments, Caroline was beginning to recognise the tells.

  Eleanor’s body had already been placed in the van, carefully cocooned in a hastily purchased coffin, and once back in Italy, the Council would hold a proper funeral for her, burning her body and repeating the ritual that had already been performed by the pack here, releasing her spirit into Sirius’s care.

  Baron paused to place a reverent hand on the smooth wood of the coffin, before stepping back and closing the van’s door. The Grey Watch Panel had already been returned to their homes – aside from those who were staying to help Luna get her pack back on track – and the two males from Sempre’s pack were on their way downstairs, Tank having helped them prepare for the journey.

  “I can’t thank you enough,” Baron told the Councillors sincerely. “War between us would have destroyed far more than just this pack.” He glanced at the back of the van. “We wouldn’t even be here if it weren’t for her. We owe her more than we could ever repay.” His voice caught on the last word, and Caroline could see a tell-tale brightness in his eyes. Baron and Eleanor had always been close, and she made a mental note to have a debrief with him later. With John off the scene and Tank wrapped up with Genna and the Grey Watch pack, he was likely feeling short of support just at the moment.

  “She’ll be hard to replace,” Feng said, sounding like he, too, was fighting back tears. “There’s no hierarchy within the Council, but we’ve all looked up to her for a long time.” Creases lined his face, and he seemed to have aged years in the last few days. “We’ll need to begin the process of choosing a new Councillor, of course,” he said, the thought clearly bringing him no joy. He glanced over at Caroline. “I don’t suppose you would reconsider our offer? You were our first choice last time around, after all.”

  Caroline smiled, a wistful expression, then shook her head. “I’m sorry, but no. My place is here.” Automatically, she glanced over towards Andre; in a lot of ways, he had made her life here complete, and despite the momentary temptation to consider the Council’s offer, she knew she would ultimately regret leaving this pack, regardless of the need for strong leadership in Italy.

  But Andre was currently paying no attention to her. He was saying goodbye to the assassins – even as they managed to keep an eye on the Council – and was muttering something into Liam’s ear. He handed over an ornate leather pouch, and Liam nodded, quickly disappearing the item into his travel bag.

  What the hell was that about, Caroline wondered briefly, though she knew she would never get an answer. Despite having moved in together, despite Andre’s declaration that he’d been in love with her for the past fifteen years, there were still aspects of his old life that were off limits. For the past two nights, he’d mysteriously disappeared for an hour or so, after dinner was finished with and the manor settled for the night. The first night, she’d asked him where he’d gone, and he’d stammered a moment and then replied that he had ‘a minor issue to take care of’. When he’d disappeared again the second night, she’d realised it was something to do with the three assassins roaming the property and wisely shut up. She didn’t begrudge him his ties to his old life. But sometimes she still felt a little excluded.

  “W
hen will you be heading back to Misty Hills?” Paula asked, shaking Caroline’s hand as Feng shook Baron’s.

  “In two or three days,” Caroline told her. “We want to make sure the Grey Watch are as settled as possible. But at the same time, we don’t like leaving Misty Hills unattended for too long. Sean will be needing to head home, and we’ve still got the Noturatii roaming the Lakes District.”

  “We never really got the chance to discuss what you plan to do on that count,” Feng said, overhearing the last part of the conversation as he came to shake her hand.

  “Distraction and misdirection,” Caroline said succinctly. “Make a few waves in places we rarely visit. Start a few rumours. Lead them away from the estate and get them to run in circles for a while chasing false information. It’s not a permanent solution. But then, you’re already working on one of those, aren’t you.” Officially, the plan to go public was still top secret. But Caroline was rapidly getting sick of all the obfuscation and misplaced guile. Not to mention running out of time, with the Noturatii breathing down all their necks.

  “We’ll be discussing that as a matter of urgency,” Feng said, a warning in his eyes, though he clearly understood her frustration at the same time. “Replacing Eleanor will take some time. But I, for one, am not prepared to wait until a new Councillor is found before we start making some tough decisions.”

  Paula, it seemed, didn’t share Feng’s outspoken frustration with the situation, or at the very least, didn’t consider it appropriate to be discussing it with the general population. “Perhaps we should be on our way,” she prompted him, as Robert and Alex, the two men from the Grey Watch, climbed into the car and strapped themselves in.

  “We’ll be in touch,” Feng told Caroline, with a look of patient forbearance sent Paula’s way. “May Sirius guide your days and guard your nights.”

  “And yours as well,” Caroline said, waiting while he climbed into the van. Sven, now an ordinary wolf, was in a travel crate, already loaded into the back of the vehicle. As with previous incidents of shifters being separated from their human sides, he was not at all bothered by the presence of humans around him and seemed perfectly happy to sit in the crate for the journey to his new home. Catching a glimpse of him curled up in the dark, Caroline felt a bittersweet mix of relief and sorrow. As far as endings went, this wasn’t exactly a happy one. But then again, it was hard to imagine a story like Sven’s ever having a truly successful ending. With a sigh, she stepped back and slid the door closed.

  “Watch yourselves out there,” she said to Silas, as he joined Andre in the front of the van. Tank, for the time being, had been banned from being seen in public, given the photo of him that the Noturatii had been waving around. By all rights, no Noturatii operatives should be this far north, but they were long past the point where they could take anything for granted.

  “We will,” Silas said, checking his gun and holstering it, before putting on his seatbelt. “With four assassins in the car, what could possibly go wrong, eh?”

  “Don’t even get me started,” Caroline complained. Through the window, Andre winked at her, then he put the van in gear and began the slow, winding trip back to the main road.

  Skip huffed out a puff of air as she wandered around the outside of the manor, watching as her breath fogged in front of her. Winter was nearly here; it would be Christmas before long, then the new year, and life was looking up, just in time for the festive season.

  It was the last night that the Lakes District Den would be staying on the Scottish estate – until, of course, they came back again next summer for their regular meeting with the Grey Watch. And they would be keeping in touch in the meantime, Skip reminded herself, as she picked her way along the gravel path and out to the back of the manor. With Luna running the pack, relations between the two groups were certain to take a turn for the better, and with Tank and Genna struggling to stop shoving their hands down each other’s pants at every opportunity, there were sure to be regular visits between the two estates.

  But even so, it was kind of sad to have to pack up and leave. The Scottish manor was huge, the estate new and exciting, and as much as Skip loved Misty Hills, it would have been nice to spend a bit longer here, to get to know the landscape a little better.

  But there was someone else already loitering here, she realised as she came around the corner; John was sitting on the stone wall near the start of the lawn, Skip easily identifying him from his lanky body and the way he always sat with his shoulders hunched. She thought about going back the way she’d come… and then shrugged and continued heading towards him.

  Unlike most of the Den, Skip felt no hesitation in approaching John. Ever since his early days, when Heron had all but adopted him as a son, he and Skip had been as close as brother and sister, and for all his often foul temper, John had never once so much as raised his voice to Skip. He’d sometimes asked her to leave him alone, or stated that he wasn’t in the mood to talk, but he’d never been rude or harsh about it.

  So she wandered over now, curious as to why he was out here. While sitting outside and staring at the sky was one of John’s firm habits in summer, in the winter months his aversion to the cold usually kept him indoors.

  “Hey,” she said by way of greeting, hopping up on the wall beside him. “Whatcha doing?”

  John shrugged. “Thinking,” he replied, and Skip wondered for a brief moment whether she should leave him alone. But then he continued. “Just thinking. About all sorts of stuff. It’s been crazy round here lately, so many people…” He shook his head. “Genna really fucked up.” The bluntness of his words took Skip by surprise. “I mean,” John went on, “she met with the Noturatii, and killed Feriur, and lied to us, and then ran away, and even if Sempre started the whole thing and told her what to do, now she just gets to go free and go back to her pack.” He chewed a thumbnail, then glanced over at Skip. “How is that fair?” There was no anger at all in his tone. No assumption that things should have worked out differently. No accusation that Genna should have paid a harsher penalty for her crimes or that either the Council or the Grey Watch had been remiss in their treatment of the issue. There was just a quiet attempt to understand.

  “In a way, I guess it’s not fair,” Skip said. “Genna did the wrong thing, and our pack has been put at risk as a result. But sometimes, if people can learn from their mistakes and realise that there’s a better way to do things in the future, then they get a second chance. Not everyone, and not all the time, but sometimes, that’s the way it works.”

  John seemed to chew over the idea for a moment. Then he turned to her, a serious look on his face. “Would you give a second chance to the men who hurt you?”

  Skip cringed, dark memories swirling in her mind for a moment. “No,” she answered honestly. “No, I wouldn’t.”

  “Yeah, me neither,” John told her. “Not the ones from the lab. If I ever met them again, I’d kill them.”

  Skip nodded. The declaration of murderous intent was no surprise, given what she knew about John’s past, and in all honesty, she couldn’t disagree with him. From the sounds of it, what John had been through had been even worse than what she had endured, and while she wasn’t particularly prone to violence herself, she could well understand John’s reaction to the idea.

  “But Genna got a second chance,” he added, clearly still working through that idea in his mind.

  “Yeah,” Skip said, not quite sure what to make of that result herself. “Funny how life works out sometimes.”

  “Talk to me, Leon. What’s the story?” By God, Melissa was hoping for good news. Something along the lines of the captive shifter had tried to escape all by himself, he’d now been found dead in a ventilation duct, and she didn’t have to worry any more about someone having broken into her lab. Again.

  Leon raised a wary eyebrow and closed the door behind him. “Not much to tell,” he said darkly. “So in this case, no news is definitely not good news. I’ve spoken to everyone in security, incl
uding the men who weren’t on shift that night. No one saw or heard anything. We’ve done a full sweep of the building. There’s no sign of an entry or exit point anywhere, no disruption to any of our security systems. And the guard in the foyer says he certainly didn’t leave by the front door. No large crates or deliveries have left the building in the last week, so it’s not possible that we accidently shipped the guy out of here in our own equipment. Whoever pulled this off was clearly an expert.”

  “Damnit.” It was more a sigh than a word, a heartfelt expression of disappointment, though Melissa was a little surprised to find she blamed herself for the failing, far more than anyone else in her staff – though someone in security was bound to end up feeling the brunt of her displeasure in the not-too-distant future.

  She’d been so confident in her own ability to get things done, to get things right. But barely a month into her new job, she’d already hit her first major failure.

  “What are you going to tell headquarters?” Leon asked, looking apprehensive about the answer. Melissa was aware she was getting something of a reputation for having a short temper, but in this case, Leon wasn’t the target of her irritation.

  “Nothing,” she said, after a moment’s consideration. “Well, nothing about the escape, at least. I haven’t told them about finding out how to force the shifter to change forms yet, so I’ll start with that. And then I’ll tell them that the subject unfortunately died as a result of the stress of the experiments. And then I’ll ask for a new captive, if they have one available, to build on our most recent success.” She gave an exaggerated shrug. “What else can I say? Gerber warned me about failing, right from the start. And I don’t have anything like Jacob’s history to back me up.” She suddenly looked at Leon sharply, her eyes narrowed as she sized him up. “You’re not going to tell them what really happened, are you?”