Page 69 of Resurgence of the Pack

In silence, Langston and I watched Torrance’s body burn. Ashes to ashes.

I’m sorry,I said to Terrance miserably,I shouldn’t have let you come with me.

I don’t regret any of it, my Queen. After all, Nina needs a companion.

He was right: his companionship had saved Nina’s sanity. To be alone and hungry in the darkness would have been too much for anyone to bear. Terrance had saved her as much as I had.

I looked at Langston. ‘He forgives you, you know.’

He looked up. ‘What?’

‘Torrance. He forgives you for what happened with the girl.’

Langston’s eyes were agonised. ‘He may well do,’ he whispered, ‘but I never will forgive myself. I will carry it with me forever. If I’d known she was pregnant I would have married her. It would have been difficult getting out from Timmy’s yoke, but I would have done it for her. I will regret her death and my actions that led to it until my dying breath.’ He licked his lips. ‘Is he really in there?’ He nodded at the crown.

‘Yes.’

‘Prove it.’

His harsh statement surprised a laugh out of me. ‘What?’

‘Prove he’s in there.’

I sighed.Terrance, tell me something only you would know about Langston.

He is a rogueand a brigand,he said with humour.But once he rescued a kitten stuck in a crate and he fed it his own supper.

‘He says you once rescued a kitten that was stuck in a crate and you fed it your dinner.’

Langston froze. ‘What did I call the kitten?’ he asked finally.

Big Boss Meow,Terrance snickered.

‘Big Boss Meow,’ I repeated dutifully.

Cats arenotthe big bosses,Esme sniffed.

Langston was staring wide-eyed at the crown. ‘Fuck me, he really is in there.’

‘Yes, he’s really in there.’

‘He forgives me?’ he asked brokenly.

‘He forgives you.’ I clapped the large man on the shoulder and left him as his tears started to flow again. It would take him a while to accept that Torrance had forgiven him, and I suspected it would take him even longer to forgive himself.

Forgiveness from others could be earned; forgiving yourself was significantly harder.

Chapter 35

Greg and the Staffordshire pack were working together to put out the fire in Nina. Look at him, making friends everywhere he goes, I thought, then left them to it and took the crown with me back into the seat of power.

‘Nina?’ I called. ‘I have the crown for you.’

And the orb?she asked eagerly.

I grimaced. ‘Not the orb. Sorry.’ As I set the crown on the floor, the planks moved and in a moment it was gone.

‘So.’ I cleared my throat. ‘There’s a spirit in the crown now and his name is Torrance. He can keep you company for a while until the Great Pack restores your ability to talk to the wolves that visit you.’

---