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Despite technically being on the right side of the Anti-Crea, I didn’t have an iota of sympathy for their ideologies. Emory was a creature and he was one of the finest men I’ve ever met. I’d also met Mrs Dawes, who’d been on the human side of the divide – and she’d kidnapped children in a bid to steal their magic and extend her life. Evil didn’t come neatly packaged in one gender, race or ethnicity, it mouldered through society dressed up as apathy and indifference.
‘Do we know anyone who is openly part of the Domini?’ I asked.
Greg shook his head. ‘If it truly exists, it’s a secret society. Think Illuminati – but worse. I’ve only heard whispers and rumours of their existence, which I’d discounted as tall tales.’
‘More secrecy,’ I huffed. ‘Just what this realm needs. I bet they have a secret handshake too.’ I sighed. ‘I suppose I should be impressed that they’d even let a woman join.’
‘By all accounts, they respect power and you have that – more than they know.’
I rubbed my forehead. ‘Obviously I’m not going to put the rose on the mantelpiece, but I guess we need to set up a camera to see who comes looking for one.’
Greg nodded. ‘I have a few cameras for remote monitoring. I’ll set one up discreetly.’
‘I’ll call a pack meeting,’ I suggested. ‘Get everyone to come to the dining hall, have a meeting and do a buffet dinner. You can set up the camera while we’re talking and eating in the dining hall.’
‘Good idea. I’ll send a pack-wide text.’
‘And I’ll watch the mantelpiece in the meantime,’ Jacob suggested stiffly. ‘It is of more immediate concern than the roof.’
‘Agreed.’ Greg grimaced; he really had a thing about the roof.
Jacob bobbed a half bow and walked out, turning his back on me as he went.
He trusts us, Esme said, sounding pleased.
Because he turned his back on us?
Yes.
She was chuffed with this development, but I was more concerned about the meeting I’d just called. What the heck was I going to say? And how was Finley going to feed them all at such short notice?
The dining hall was heaving. Finley had been baking up a storm ever since I’d informed him that we’d be holding a meeting at 7pm. He’d also ordered a tonne of pizzas; the aroma of tomato, cheese and oregano was permeating the room and making me salivate. I decided it would be best to make the announcement section of the meeting short because I wouldn’t be the only one with my eyes on the food.
I took myself and my cup of tea to the centre of the room, where Greg had helpfully placed a small lectern, and stood behind it. With the addition of the members of the marauding Devon pack as well as the Council, the room was full and hot.
There was also a sense of uneasiness in the air: so many wolves should not gather in one place. I’d have to send the Devon wolves home sooner rather than later, but they needed their leader and I was their alpha. However, I couldn’t be alpha of the Home Counties and the Devon pack and be in two places at the same time.
The answer struck me suddenly and clearly: I needed a steward, exactly like the Samuel line had installed here. I needed someone who could hold the Devon pack for me for now – but the question was, who?
Greg was the obvious choice, but selfishly I didn’t want to send him down to the south of the country because it would inevitably lead to the end of our burgeoning romance. I knew myself well enough to accept that I couldn’t cope with a long-distance relationship – but I also knew that by denying him the opportunity, I was withholding his chance to lead. I should at least offer him the option. I took a sip of my brew as I thought it through.
He won’t go, Esme said confidently. He’s your lobster.
Her observation made me spit my tea everywhere. I knew you were watching that episode of Friends with me!
She gave her paw a casual lick and didn’t deign to answer.
Actually, lobsters are super-promiscuous and don’t mate for life. They’re horny buggers.
Wolves are better, she said with satisfaction. We mate for life. We should mate with Greg and Red.
Esme had pushed this agenda a time or two partly because once we were formally mated with Greg and his wolf, he couldn’t challenge us for the alpha position. I thought it was a ridiculous proposition, and I wasn’t being hurried into anything formal when Greg and I had only been together for a matter of a few weeks. I loved him – but I’d thought I’d loved James and he’d almost killed me. I had a live-and-learn ethos and I wasn’t stumbling into mating – marrying – just anybody, no matter how much he made my stomach and other parts flutter.
I cleared my throat and focused on the room. To me, Greg and Jacob were conspicuous in their absence, but I trusted that it was so crowded that their absence wouldn’t be noted by anyone else. Besides, I hadn’t formally introduced Jacob to the pack yet, though Greg had sent a pack-wide text so no one would be alarmed when they suddenly saw a dark-winged dude floating around.
‘Thank you all for coming,’ I said loudly. ‘I’m sure you will all have learned of the deaths of Scott Larsden and Nicholas Ramsay. I can confirm that Ramsay took his own life and no further individuals are being pursued in respect of that.’
No individuals, just a huge organisation. It wasn’t a coincidence that Ramsay had pointed the finger at Domini and hours later we’d received a letter from that organisation. The Domini were wading hip-deep into werewolf matters and I would show them what an error of judgement that was.
