Page 27 of Resurgence of the Pack

Telling my brother about the Domini had apparently been a mistake because he’d seemingly gossiped right to Noah. I still felt like Ben had deserved to know who was responsible for changing his life, but maybe I wouldn’t tell him anymore secrets if he couldn’t keep his mouth shut. He had quit his job as a lawyer and now he was the pack’s solicitor, not to mention he now had Roan –Rohan – in his head, all because the Domini had wanted to teach me a lesson I had refused to learn.

My dad had been a victim too, but in a different way. He’d been resistant to the idea of magic from the start and now he’d walked away from all things magic. I should have seen this coming. Dad hadn’t wanted magic to be real, and I’d forced him to see it. Now he had his ignorance back, but I couldn’t help but think that ignorancewasn’tbliss. But to each their own, I guess.

I rubbed my eyes; they were gritty and sore. I hadn’t had a good sleep with Greg absent from my side, and then I’d been woken abruptly by Operation Wing-It, which actually seemed to be working out well. The birds had alerted me to the fires and prevented a great deal of destruction. We’d lost some lawn and bushes, but that was it. It could have been far worse: I could have lost Nina. The thought filled me with dread.

The mansion had a host of runes, including anti-fire runes, so the fire-elemental intruder couldn’t have burned it down even if he’d tried – but Nina and the gardens? They were vulnerable. ‘We need to get Nina runed,’ I said abruptly.

Greg nodded. ‘I’ll ask Amber to put a team together and get out there today.’

‘Thanks.’

I looked at Noah. ‘You’re right. It’s time to dig into the Domini and take the fight to them.’

Ben snorted. ‘Easier said than done. They’re called asecretsociety for a reason.’ Yes, and I’d be having words with my brother later about blabbing about thesecretsociety, because if he wasn’t careful he’d get himself killed. But that was a private conversation for later, between siblings.

‘They’ll have left breadcrumbs,’ I said firmly. ‘And we’re going to find them.’

‘We have another problem,’ Tristan said.

‘Oh goodie,’ I responded sarcastically. ‘That’s exactly what I want to hear.’

‘You kissed Manners in front of all and sundry. You may not have formally announced your intention to mate but your actions said it quite loudly.’

My skin reddened and I avoided meeting Greg’s gaze. ‘So?’

‘So, Alpha Elliott saw it too. He’s got designs on you. If he wants to disrupt your plans, he’s going to challenge Manners.’

I went cold. I hadn’t even considered that. ‘Why would he not challengeme?’

‘Because you transformed your head into a wolf’s and slayed your challengers with little visible effort. You’ve established yourself as a badass, and challengers are going to think twice before throwingdown the gauntlet. Manners, though … he’s just a wolf, and a beta one at that. Elliott is going to think he can take him.’

Fuck.

Chapter 15

Tristan gave one of his rare grins. ‘I have a solution.’

I brightened. ‘You do?’

‘Well, more like something that gives us breathing space rather than a solution that solves the whole thing, but it’s better than nothing.’

‘I’ll take breathing space. What’s your idea?’

‘Ichallenge Manners,’ Tristan offered.

I blinked. ‘That helps us how? You’d just be softening him up for Elliott.’

Tristan grinned. ‘Because you, my clever Queen, introduced a “one challenge a week” law. If I challenge Greg, that gives us a week to work out what to do about Elliott.’

He had a point. Maybe Elliott was just a sore loser and the rage I’d seen in his eyes would lessen once he’d had time to calm down. Maybe a week was all he needed to get his anger under control. Then again, maybe not.

I turned to Greg; it was his life at stake, after all. ‘What do you think?’

He folded his arms. ‘I think I can take Elliott.’

I nodded. ‘I agree, you probably could – but that would make you alpha of the Staffordshire pack.’ I kept my tone as even as I could. I wouldn’t stop Greg becoming alpha, if that was what he wanted. God knows, he’d be a magnificent leader; in the small hours of the night, insidious voices whispered to me that he’d be a far better King than I was a Queen.

He blew out a breath. ‘You’re right, I don’t want that. It’s an extra complication we don’t need.’

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