Page 125 of The Wolf Queen’s Curse

The last time we walked through this courtyard, it’d been at Bishop’s lowest point. His Pack had been massacred, their home destroyed, and he’d come to the Caledonian Alpha for help and thought he’d received it … only to have Hamish attach a stipulation that not only endangered but humiliated Bishop. And even if he’d done it, he’d never have seen that help. Instead, he’d have found himself overthrown and exiled from his own Pack.

And now?

Now he has achieved success beyond even his ambitious imaginings.

Bishop never planned to kill Doyle and assimilate the Cambrian Pack. He never planned to initiate a coup against Hamish and win over the Caledonian Pack.

But if Bishop learned anything from what happened, both at Trevelyan and here, it was to stop fashioning stone bridges to his goals. Instead of locking himself into a single path, he had surveyed the landscape and mapped all possible routes.

Before we departed for Glasgow last week, he’d spoken with Edwin to get a sense of what the brothers wanted. Then he left Kenric behind to get a sense of what the Caledonian wolves wanted. Bishop had let Hamish think he was doing his bidding in Wales. Then he’d met with Doyle and listened to him, but also observed and investigated and, when he thought he saw the true state of affairs, he’d opened a dialogue with Jesse.

Be ready. That’s what Bishop learned. Be ready for anything and don’t be afraid to launch small plans, regardless of whether they’ll be needed or whether they’ll succeed.

Even before Trevelyan fell, Bishop dreamed of uniting the British Packs. He presumed it’d take years, but he foresaw a day when the British werewolves would stand together, a true force to be reckoned with. Even then, he presumed he’d be a junior Alpha, forced to listen to his elders until they acknowledged his power and potential.

And now three of the four Packs stand together, with Bishop being beholden to no one. He orchestrated this, and the Campbell brothers know it and they will work with him as equals. The four of them already plan an envoy to the Hibernians. While the Irish werewolves keep to themselves, they should be apprised of the situation with Beryl. They should also have the chance to join the alliance.

The current concern is Beryl, and they all recognize it. The Campbell brothers know the value of a strong Albion Pack, guarding London, a bulwark between the other British Packs and the rest of the world.

All that will come later. For now, my husband is relaxed in a way I don’t think I’ve seen him before. Even in our best moments, he’s never been able to fully shake the chains of responsibility that seemed to grow heavier with everything that went wrong.

We run through that courtyard, and he is grinning like the boy he must have been once, a boy with schemes and dreams and the confidence to think he can pull them off.

He leads me into a strip of forest, and we emerge in front of a stone structure, half in ruins.

“Was this the original castle?” I ask.

“Part of it,” he says. “Edwin brought me here to talk the last time. They tore down the ruins around it, but left this part because it’s … significant.”

He takes a heavy key from his pocket and unlocks thick oak doors. A few seconds later, he throws open the doors and stands there, grinning so wide I’m dazzled, as if I’m caught in a binding spell.

He tugs me into a cavernous room lit by candles in sconces. It takes a moment for my eyes to adjust but when they do, they immediately land on two massive chairs at the other end of the space.

“Is this … is this a throne room?” I say.

“The castle was once used by the Scottish king, when there was a Scottish king.” Bishop leads me over to a cabinet, which he uses another key to unlock. The door swings open. Inside are only two items on a shelf.

Two crowns.

He takes one and holds it out. It’s very old and little more than a hammered gold circle, all the more beautiful for its simplicity.

“That’s … that’s…” I can’t even find words.

“Fit for a queen?” He takes it in both hands and puts it onto my head. “It is indeed.”

He takes my hands again, standing in front of me. “What you did today…? I’m not even sure I can find the words. You were magnificent. I’m terrible at relinquishing control, as you well know, and I feared if I let you speak for me, I’d find fault, think of how I might have said things differently, and I would have hated doing that.”

He moves closer, lifting my hands. “But the only thing that went through my head was that I couldn’t have said it better. I couldn’t even have said it as well.”

His hands slide up my arms. “You stood on that field, and you said everything that needed to be said, while I did what I needed to do. And then you did what you needed to do. Proved that you are so much more than my wife. You are my mate. You are my partner. You defeated an Alpha. Do you know what that makes you?”

He leans to my ear. “An Alpha.”

I open my mouth to protest, but he puts a finger to my lips. “You weren’t challenging him for his Pack, but you still won an Alpha challenge, and I want you to know that. I want everyone to know it, even if you stopped me from saying it tonight.” His lips twitch. “Which would have been, yes, impolitic. It’s their Pack. But you won it for them. And you won this alliance for me.”

He adjusts the crown on my head. “My queen.”

With that, he scoops me up and carries me to the throne. He seats me on the larger of the two. Then he bends to one knee.