‘That’s easier to do now that lives aren’t on the line. Before you dash off, can you do me a favour? Discreetly?’

  ‘Discreet favours are my bread and butter. What can I do for you?’

  ‘There’s a new wolf here, Thea Frost.’

  ‘Frost? Is she related to that asshole Ace?’

  ‘Yeah, the poor girl is his sister. She’s asked to transfer here.’

  ‘Suspicious timing.’ Jess’s eyes narrowed.

  ‘I need to know if she really wants to be here or she’s been sent by Beckett Frost to stir up trouble or dig into Ace’s disappearance.’

  ‘Most of the pack know what happened to Ace. If she joins you, how’s she going to feel about his death?’

  ‘I don’t know – and that’s another thing I could do with you poking into. Can you do your walking, talking, lie-detector thing, and see if I can trust the poor girl?’

  ‘What’s so poor about her?’

  ‘She’s – off. Timid. Nothing like Ace. I wonder if she’s been abused in some way.’

  ‘No problem. I’ll talk to her.’

  ‘I’ll come with you. We’ll say we’ve come to talk to Archie – he’s become quite close to Thea.’

  ‘Archie? Are we talking about the same insensitive nineteen year old?’ Jess sounded incredulous.

  ‘Yeah. He’s mellowed a little since his dad’s death. He’s a little more thoughtful.’

  ‘Glad to hear it, but I’m sorry it took his dad dying to transform him.’

  ‘Me, too. I’m sorry Lord Samuel had to die at all.’

  Jess slung an arm around my shoulders gave me a squeeze. ‘I know, Luce. When we talk to Thea I’ll give a little sniff if she lies. It’ll be believable because I’ve got a cold coming on.’

  ‘Well, don’t sneeze at the wrong time,’ I joked.

  We walked down to the pack living room. It was still early, but the room was crowded. Centre of attention, and absolutely loving it, was young Bobby.

  ‘You should have seen it,’ he was saying. ‘They had to go through the corridor of fire to reach the house, and then bust through a secret door. One of the kidnappers, James, tried to escape but there’s no escaping our alpha. She was after him like a shot. She chased him and pinned him down, and when he pulled a gun on her, she ripped his throat out. Blood sprayed everywhere.’ He used his hands to simulate the blood spray. Lovely.

  I cleared my throat and the room fell silent. ‘Thank you for that dramatic rendition of the rescue, Bobby. We’re all incredibly happy to have you home safely. Your kidnapping has reminded us all of the dangers that we face in this realm. Together we are stronger. Tristan, I believe that you teach martial arts. Is that correct?’

  Tristan nodded, a mixture of hostility and curiosity in his eyes.

  ‘I would like you to start training all of our pups in self-defence at whatever age you deem appropriate. The pack will compensate you for these lessons.’

  Tristan brightened. ‘Yes, alpha. I think any pups over the age of four should be able to start learning defensive measures.’

  Bobby gave a whoop of excitement. ‘I’m going to be the next Jackie Chan!’ He leapt up from his chair and started slashing ineffectually at the air. I winced internally; I should probably have checked with Sonia before I made that announcement. I was relieved to see that she was smiling indulgently as Bobby butchered karate.

  ‘Mrs Dawes,’ I called over the rising noise level. ‘Could you provide breakfast for everyone? Noah, perhaps you could do a pastry run.’

  Noah jumped to his feet. ‘I’m on it.’

  The pack separated into its natural friendship groups. Archie and Thea were sitting off by one of the window seats, and I made a beeline towards them.

  Chapter 27

  ‘Is it too noisy?’ I asked Jess as we walked over, worried she wouldn’t be able to use her lie detector skills with all the hullabaloo.

  ‘That’s not how it works.’ She grinned. ‘We’re good.’

  ‘Hey, Archie, Thea,’ I said. ‘Thea, this is my friend, Jess.’

  ‘Nice to meet you.’ Thea gave Jess a wobbly smile.

  Archie gave her a wider one. ‘Hey, Jinx, it’s good to see you.’ Before she could react, he pulled her into a big hug.

  ‘I’m sorry about your dad,’ I heard her whisper.

  He nodded, his face against hers. ‘Me too.’

  They stepped back and we all pretended not to notice Archie swipe at his eyes. I wanted to offer comfort or a tissue, but I didn’t think his machismo would take it. For all we’re in the modern world, the old adage ‘boys don’t cry’ is still in toxic circulation.

  ‘So,’ Jess turned to Thea brightly, acting for all the world as if she wanted to change the subject, despite her hand lingering on Archie’s arm. ‘I hear you want to join Lucy’s pack.’

  ‘Yes. I’m looking forward to being somewhere other than Devon.’

  ‘Sure,’ Jess joked. ‘All those beautiful beaches and afternoon teas get old.’

  ‘Not those, but violent, controlling alphas certainly lose their appeal,’ Thea said drily, with the first hint of backbone I’d seen. She was watching Jess’s hand on Archie.

  Jess noticed and let her hand fall away. ‘I’m sorry to hear that. I thought your brother was the alpha?’

  Thea reddened. She’d lied and told me Beckett was her cousin; now she’d been found out. She swallowed hard. ‘He is,’ she admitted. She looked at me. ‘I’m sorry I said he was my cousin. I didn’t think you’d let me in if you knew I was his sister.’

  ‘He’s your brother, and he’s controlling and violent to you?’ Jess sounded shocked.

  ‘To everyone. It’s not personal; it’s just his way. Our parents weren’t enlightened werewolves, they were very traditional.’ She said it without recrimination.

  ‘Why do you really want to join us?’ I asked.

  ‘A lot of reasons. By all accounts you’re not controlling and violent to your wolves, so that’s a big plus.’

  I decided to change tack. ‘When everyone thought I’d been taken, you didn’t shift – why not?’

  She winced and slid a reluctant glance at Archie before pushing back her shoulders and lifting her chin. ‘I can’t shift anymore.’

  I’d liked Thea since I met her, but I couldn’t help wondering for a second if she was the witch who’d been stealing magic to help her shift. It made sense. I looked down at her nails. The only clue I had, courtesy of the children, was that the witch had turquoise-painted nails. Relief washed over me at the sight of Thea’s nails: they were bitten to the quick with not a trace of polish. The elusive witchy bitch wasn’t Thea.

  I needed to find that witch, whoever she was, so that I knew this episode was completely over. She was on my shit list. I was going to track her down and end the threat to the pack one way or another.

  ‘What?’ Archie blurted, eyes wide in horror. ‘You can’t shift? I’ve never heard of that happening.’

  ‘My wolf refuses to come.’ Thea shrugged like it was no big deal, but she wasn’t fooling anyone.

  ‘Can you feel her at all?’ I asked, trying to hide my own horror. I couldn’t imagine Esme not riding shotgun.

  ‘Yes, she’s there. She just won’t come out.’

  ‘Why not?’

  ‘I have no idea,’ she said drily. ‘I don’t speak wolf.’

  She didn’t, but I did, though perhaps not here and now, surrounded by all of the pack. Next to me, Jess sniffed; Thea was lying. She knew full well why her wolf wouldn’t come out.

  Thea shrugged. ‘It could be worse. If my wolf had taken control from me, I’d be a gargoyle by now.’

  ‘What?’ I blurted.

  Archie’s jaw dropped.

  ‘Oh yes,’ Thea said, sounding slightly superior. ‘We still teach the old stories in Devon, even if they’ve fallen out of fashion.’

  ‘What old stories?’ I asked, desperate for more information.

  ‘I probably shouldn’t talk about it outside of the Devon Pack.’

  ‘If you want to transfer here,’ I said, ‘then you definitely should.’

  Thea’s eyes flashed with an emotion I couldn’t label. She leaned forward conspiratorially and lowered her voice. ‘Some say that knowing the threat we face makes it harder to wrestle control because the consequences are too dire. But in the Devon pack we’re taught the truth: lose control to your wolf for long enough, and the witches’ curse will take you and twist you into a gargoyle. You’ll never turn human ever again.’

  ‘Witches’ curse?’ Jess asked.

  ‘The legend goes that the golden-eyed wolves started taking over the Other realm.’

  ‘What are golden-eyed wolves?’ Jess asked.

  ‘Werewolves that have lost control of their wolves, either willingly or on purpose. When our wolf is in control, our eyes turn golden. We call them feral wolves,’ Thea explained. ‘Anyway, in panic, the Others turned to the witches and begged them to curse the feral wolves. It took hundreds of witches chanting in unison to make the curse work. When it struck the golden-eyed wolves, it turned them grey and pallid and tied them forever to the night, twisted them forever into gargoyles. To win the battle, all the Others had to do was stake out a gargoyle just before sunrise and wait until they turned into stone with the sun, then they could shatter them into a thousand pieces. The curse was only supposed to target the vicious, golden-eyed wolves but it affected every new werewolf that was born or made after that. The witches’ curse lives on.’

  Her voice rose and fell in the rhythm of someone repeating a story they’d heard a million times around a campfire. ‘But like all curses, it didn’t work quite as intended, for the gargoyles were gifted with an immortal lifespan. In the years that followed, the remaining gargoyles hunted down the witches that had cursed them and killed them one by one.’

  ‘Then what happened?’ Archie breathed.

  ‘Absolutely nothing. They had hoped that with the death of the last witch the curse would be broken, but it was not. The stories say that one witch slipped away, keeping the curse forever intact. Even now, if a werewolf loses control of their wolf, they will become a dark one, a gargoyle. The curse remains, and the threat of it always hangs over us wolves.’

  ‘Well, shit,’ I muttered, thinking of all the times Esme had referenced the dark ones and refused to say more. It made sense; that was why the gargoyles saw themselves as guardians of the wolves – they were pack.

  ‘Why wouldn’t the gargoyles say something?’

  ‘The old tales are out of fashion. About a century ago, the werewolf council declared that anyone telling the tales would be put to death. They feared that spreading word of the curse would make it a self-fulfilling prophecy – if we feared losing control of ourselves to our wolf, we’d be more likely to do so.’

  In that case, I could understand Reynard’s reticence but why hadn’t Esme told me? She knew I would never tell the council.

  ‘You’re not scared of the council?’ Jess asked. ‘You could get in trouble for telling us the story.’

  ‘We’re all told the old stories, regardless of the edict. If the council came after me, they’d have the whole of the Devon pack after them. Beckett wouldn’t let them hurt me – only he’s allowed to do that.’

  ‘He won’t hurt you now,’ Archie glared, putting an arm around her. She looked pleased.

  ‘And you won’t tell the council on me, will you?’ Thea said lightly.

  ‘No,’ I agreed. ‘I’m not going to tell on you for breaking a stupid one-hundred-year-old law about telling tales.’ Not when it had enlightened me on so many things. I cleared my throat and tried to appear less shell-shocked. ‘Anyway, how are you finding it here at the Home Counties Pack?’ I asked. ‘Do you still want to stay?’

  ‘Absolutely,’ she answered without hesitation, looking at Archie.

  I decided to do some fishing. ‘I was sorry to hear about your brother Ace going missing.’ I wanted to hear her response while Jess was there to tell me whether she was lying or not.

  ‘I wasn’t,’ Thea retorted. ‘Ace was an asshole. Do you know he gave himself his nickname?’ She cleared her throat. ‘I think I’ll get a coffee. Archie?’

  Archie stood. ‘Sure. I can always drink coffee.’

  ‘Nice to meet you, Jinx.’ Thea excused herself with a friendly smile and we watched the pair of them go off.

  ‘So?’ I asked. ‘Only the one sniff.’

  ‘Yeah,’ Jess agreed. ‘She only lied once.’ She hesitated.

  ‘What?’

  ‘Maybe I’m being unfair, but there’s still something off about her.’

  ‘Maybe it’s the fact that she can’t reach her wolf,’ I suggested.

  ‘Maybe,’ Jess agreed.

  ‘Do you think I shouldn’t accept her into the pack?’

  ‘I don’t know. It’s your call. She was telling the truth when she said that Becket was controlling and violent towards her, and that she thought Ace was an asshole.’ Jess paused. ‘Did you notice that she spoke about Ace in the past tense? She knows he’s dead.’

  ‘Yes, I caught that. Apparently Beckett tried to scry for Ace, so he already knows that he’s dead. The pack had a funeral for him.’

  ‘It’s good they’ve had closure, I guess.’

  We can’t send Thea back to an alpha that hurts her. It’s not right.

  Oh, so now you speak up. You were silent whilst she explained about the dark ones. My tone was accusatory.

  Esme gave a soft whine in my head. It is forbidden to talk of it.

  By the werewolf council?

  Not just them. She turned around in my mind and went silent once more. What on earth was Esme afraid of?

  Chapter 28

  If there was a curse flying about that affected werewolves, I needed to know about it. One witch came to mind, so I dialled Amber DeLea and put her on speakerphone so Jess could hear the conversation.

  ‘What?’ Amber answered, her tone distinctly harried.

  ‘I need to pick your brains about curses.’

  ‘Just once it would be nice if someone rang me to chat.’

  ‘Oh, sorry. How are you?’

  ‘It doesn’t work when I already know that you’re ringing to talk about curses. What do you want?’

  ‘The witches cast a curse on the werewolves a couple of hundred years ago, and it turned any werewolf that was feral into a gargoyle. The curse is still active. How do I break it?’

  There was a beat of silence. ‘You don’t,’ Amber said finally. ‘To break a curse, you need some restricted ingredients that are strictly controlled by the Connection and only provided to a handful of witches. Not to mention that you also need the blood of one of the witches who was present at the time the curse was cast. It’s one of the reasons witches are reluctant to cast a curse, because ultimately it paints a target on our backs. It’s not something we do lightly. But in this case, the witches who cursed the wolves into gargoyles are long dead.’

  ‘By all accounts, there were a lot of witches behind this curse.’

  ‘Yes, but it was two hundred years ago, give or take, and the gargoyles massacred the witches for it.’

  ‘You can hardly blame them. They were trying to lift the curse.’

  ‘If they’d spoken to a witch at the time, they would have known that wasn’t the way to go about it.’

  ‘The witches were not exactly friendly,’ I pointed out. ‘Given that they had just unilaterally cursed a whole species.’ It was hard to keep the accusatory note out of my voice.

  ‘I would never agree to curse a whole species like that, but the grimoires – the witches’ bibles and journals – tell a very dark tale. The feral werewolves were attacking and turning others indiscriminately. Something had to be done. You must remember there was no Connection at that time, so there was no one to turn to. The witches took matters into their own hands. The purpose of the curse was to separate the feral werewolves from their wolf counterparts, but it failed in a lot of ways. It turned the feral werewolves into gargoyles and made them vegetarian so they wouldn’t attack anyone else.

  ‘But the curse reached further than the witches had intended. It didn’t just affect the feral werewolves but all werewolves. It separated the werewolves from their wolf, but only in so much as it removed a method of communication between them. The wolves were left in situ, unable to speak to their humans. If anything, the curse made matters far worse, even though it eliminated the feral werewolves.’

  ‘And it made the gargoyles immortal.’

  ‘Yes – and they bore a grudge. And who could blame them? Curses always have a sting in their tail, and this one was bigger than most. Now, if that’s all, I’m busy.’ She rang off before I could answer her. Testy.

  Jess whistled. ‘She was telling the truth the whole time. This is a real mess. I kind of like the irony of the witches cursing the gargoyles to make them vegetarian. The gargoyles killed them anyway. They should have cursed them to be non-violent.’

  ‘Live and learn.’

  ‘Or not, in this case.’

  ‘Indeed. At least now I know why Reynard keeps glaring at Amber. That’s been bugging me for a while. I hate being in the dark.’

  Greg joined us and told me that the fire elementals and dryads had gone off site. I felt bad for not saying goodbye; my mum would be disappointed by my hostess skills, but today I couldn’t adult. I needed time. I’d face them, soon enough.

  Mrs Dawes popped in with some tea for us all as we filled Greg in on the curse saga. ‘It sounds like the witches got a bit high-handed,’ he commented.

  Mrs Dawes frowned angrily. ‘Absolutely outrageous,’ she muttered under her breath.

  My exceptional hearing picked it up and I gave her a sympathetic smile. ‘I know. Imagine cursing a whole species because of a tiny subset. Absurd.’

  ‘I get what Amber was saying,’ Jess said. ‘With no Connection, it must have been hard for everyone when the feral wolves started attacking like that.’

  ‘That’s what the werewolf council is for,’ Greg explained. ‘Any species can petition them with an issue.’

 

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