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‘Are gargoyles always … vulgar?’ I asked abruptly.
He looked at me curiously. ‘When did you see a gargoyle?’
‘One of them hid from the vampyrs with me,’ I explained. ‘In a kids’ park, under a climbing frame.’
He grinned. ‘Yeah gargoyles are all pretty offensive. Why do you think I left you outside while I went in to speak to them at the church?’ He was referring to one of our first battles, when we fought the giant ouroboros together.
‘Oh, sothat’swhy. I just assumed you wanted to take control of the situation.’
‘No, I didn’t want to get told off by Emory for taking you in to meet the Other’s most obnoxious creatures.’
‘He wasn’tthatobnoxious.’
‘Then he was on his best behaviour.’ He coloured a little. ‘Trust me, they can be obscene.’
‘That sounds like a fun story.’
‘Another time maybe.’
‘I guess. I’d better go and check on Archie,’ I said. ‘Have you called Steve about the attack?’
‘No. Should I have?’
I thought about it. I was info sharing with Steve, but this wasn’t a murder, just an attack, and pack politics were at play. Bringing in the Connection undermined me, like a child hiding behind her mother’s skirts. ‘No, that’s fine,’ I confirmed. ‘Let’s go see the patient.’
Chapter 18
Archiewasbeingtreatedin his room and we had to cross the communal living space to reach it. The room was packed and it fell silent as I walked in. I glanced around. As far as I could see there were pack wolves, more than had attended the feast, and wolf pups dotted amongst the adults. The pack had rallied and come together in the face of an attack. It said something that they had rallied for Archie but not for Mark.
Mark had been number two in the pack, and he may have had their respect or even their fear, but they’d had no great affection for him. I looked around the room and was pleased when many wolves made eye contact and inclined their heads. It was a vast improvement over my first large pack gathering, which had been met with stony silence and glares. Of course, at that time I’d been explaining that Lord Samuel was dead by my own hands so I hadn’t exactly expected a warm fuzzy welcome. Lord Samuel had been eccentric but well liked.
I couldn’t see the council wolves, for which I was grateful because this felt like a moment just for the pack. However, there were still too many wolves that I couldn’t recognise and put a name to; I would have to do better.
As I was chastening myself, Liam slid abruptly from the sofa and knelt before me, head bowed. There was an audible gasp around the room, then everyone seemed to hold their breath until Marissa copied Liam and Seren followed. It started off a Mexican wave of kneeling.
One of the kids, Bobby I think his name is, remained standing. ‘Kneel to your alpha,’ his mother, Sonia, whispered to him. He frowned in confusion.
‘But I thought we didn’t like her,’ he said loudly into the silence.
Sonia blushed bright red. ‘We respect our alpha. Kneel!’ she hissed and pulled him down by his sleeves. A titter of laughter went around the room, easing the tension.
The last standing wolves finally knelt; they trusted Liam’s and the others’ judgement of me. Even Tristan knelt, though he kept his eyes locked on mine in challenge.
What the hell?I asked Esme, stunned.
They are acknowledging us as alpha!she crowed triumphantly.Let’s turn, so we can howl acceptance of their offer.
Their offer of what?
Loyalty.
I slid off the beautiful dressing gown reluctantly. As I went to pass it to Manners, I was startled to see him kneeling too, right next to me. And now I was naked. Which put his eyeline at… Thank God his head was bowed.
I let the change rip over us. The instant we stood on four legs, we tossed our head back and let out a long triumphant howl. All around me my pack looked up, exchanging smiles, looking pleased. Once again, I’d passed a test I had no idea existed.
Enough of this. We need to check on Archie and his wolf.
We do,Esme agreed, but happiness was bubbling through her at the pack’s acceptance. I didn’t fully get what had happened, but I gathered it was a big deal.
