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Giggling broke out behind him. Over his shoulder I saw two young girls playing tag. He followed my gaze. ‘Ava and Abigail were born lone,’ he said softly. ‘Both of them are the product of rape.’
My gut clenched. ‘Tell me who.’
‘The mothers have never spoken their names. They knew the rest of us would exact revenge no matter the cost, so they refused to speak.’
I studied both girls: one of them looked entirely too familiar. ‘How long has this lone community existed?’ I asked.
‘Decades.’ Finlay shrugged. ‘It has to move constantly to avoid the Council’s detection and the black tourney’s net.’
I shook my head in disbelief. ‘Then you’re not lone, not truly. You are your own pack.’
He sighed. ‘I wish we were, but we’re not. They can’t be a pack, not without anyone willing to be alpha to them. They rule by committee as best they can, but none of the wolves like it. It adds an uneasiness that shouldn’t be there.’
It was on the tip of my tongue to offer myself as alpha, but I couldn’t; if I took any more packs under my wing I would paint an even bigger target on my back. Esme had said that taking control of each pack would be one sure way to become Queen, but I didn’t want to rule through constant death and challenges, nor did I want to become a dictator. The Werewolf Council had its place, too; we just needed to work together to find out what it was.
‘We will find you the perfect alpha,’ I promised. ‘We will make you into a proper pack.’ I had originally envisaged absorbing the lone wolves into my pack, but their numbers were far bigger than even Greg had envisaged. The records had suggested maybe twenty or thirty but there must have been triple that number or more. ‘Why are there so many?’
‘Many faked their deaths to escape their packs and evade the black tourneys,’ Finley explained.
I looked at him levelly. ‘You didn’t.’
‘No, I didn’t,’ he said fiercely. ‘I wanted the black tourney to come for me so that I could kill as many of the bastards as possible.’
‘A worthy goal,’ I agreed. ‘But we’ll bring them down another way.’
‘How?’
‘For now, through politics. And funding.’ I winked then pulled out my phone and texted Kearns. I asked him to announce that I was making it illegal for any werewolf to fight in, or attend, a black tourney. It was already illegal under Connection law, but I added my own hefty fine.
Next, I emailed Inspector Elvira of the Connection to let her know that if they caught any werewolves at a black tourney, they could throw the book at them – and I would financially cripple anyone stupid enough to attend.
With our fast healing, werewolves had been a huge part of the tourneys’ attraction. Remove the wolves, take away the cash incentive and I hoped that the tourneys would die a slow, painful death, taking their antiquated philosophy with them.
Chapter 38
I tapped David on the shoulder. ‘Come with me.’ A flash of apprehension washed over his face and I grinned. ‘Relax, it’s nothing bad. I wanted to give you a new responsibility.’
He straightened his shoulders and smiled. ‘Yes, ma’am.’
‘Come and meet Nina.’ I walked to the cabin, but before I could knock her door swung open in welcome. I stepped inside; the cosy fire was going and it was warm and homely. A cup of tea winked into existence.
You came back! Nina said excitedly.
‘I said I would,’ I said aloud for David’s benefit. ‘And I’ve brought you a werewolf to talk to, as well. His name is David. Give me a moment and I’ll link you.’ I hummed a song, stretched my magic out to both of them and established a light communication binding. ‘There,’ I said with satisfaction. ‘Nina, say hello to David. David, meet Nina.’
Hello David, Nina said shyly.
Eyes a little wide, David bowed and held a hand to his heart. ‘My honour to meet you, Miss Nina.’
She gave a coquettish giggle.
‘Nina has been alone for a very long time,’ I explained to David. ‘She would love someone to come and talk with her every day, so I thought that when you come out to do some gardening you could pop in here and have a chat with her.’
He smiled. ‘It would be my honour.’
‘Wonderful. Nina, I also wondered how deep your roots go. And by that, I mean how many rooms do you hold? I appear to have called a large volume of lone wolves to my door. Could you help with housing them.’
Inhabitants? she asked excitedly. The walls juddered, like she was jumping up and down with joy.
