Page 73 of Resurgence of the Pack

I whirled around to the huge man next to me. ‘Denby? Langston is yourfirstname?’

The large man looked amused. ‘It is. Denby is my family name.’

Of course it was. He was the spit of Debbie, so why hadn’t I seen it before? God damn it, Debbie wasn’t alpha of the Birmingham pack, he was alpha of the Derby pack. Langston was in the wrong fucking place.

‘You need to go to the Derby pack,’ I blurted abruptly. I turned to Krieg. ‘You need to let him go.’

Krieg’s eyes narrowed. ‘Needto?’ he said, his voice low and dangerous. ‘I don’tneedto do anything you tell me, Queenling Lucy.’

Ugh. I had no time for this bullshit. We were boarding a sleeper train to London and from there going to Ali, the portal and home. God, how I yearned for home. I wanted to see Ben and Liam and Noah – heck, I even wanted to see Tristan. I wanted to have one of Finley’s Danishes and I wanted to see Nina to apologise for leaving her hungry and miserable for two damned centuries. I was drowning in regret and fresh out of patience.

I also wanted a shower. I was so filthy that my skin felt like it was crawling – scratch that, my skin was so filthy it was doing the conga down my spine. I hadn’t moisturised my face for two days, my skin was drying up and wrinkling, and I was standing here arguing with a power-hungry megalomaniac.

An idea struck me. If it was power he wanted…

I’d alreadydone so much damage to the timeline, what would one more tap dance over it matter? I stepped closer to him and whispered in his ear, ‘Send him to Derby and in the future, your grandson will be the High King of the Ogres. The High King ofallogres. The Krieg name will be one to fear, not just now but for centuries to come.’

As I moved back, I saw a slow smile cross his face. ‘Well, now,’ Timmy Krieg said, rubbing his chin. He turned to Langston. ‘I have things for you to do here, my man, but after that … you’re bound for Derby.’ Smirking and clicking his fingers for someone else to leap to his aid, he walked away.

I exhaled with relief as he left. Things were coming together – theyhadto. I gave Langston a quick hug goodbye – highly improper in those times, no doubt, but I didn’t care. I’d seen the sadness in the man’s eyes and he deserved a freaking hug. ‘Take care,’ I murmured. ‘Forgive yourself.’

He looked at me, eyes suddenly sparkling with admiration and fervour. ‘You’ve freed me,’ he murmured wonderingly. ‘Freed me from him. When your reign comes, the Denby family will be waiting.’

I looked at him, shocked.

‘Werewolf hearing,’ he murmured, tapping his ear. ‘I heard what you said to Krieg. You’re from the future,and in the future you’ll need my family in Derby so that’s where we’ll be.’ He gave me a low bow full of respect then he followed Krieg and melted into the crowd.

I collapsed against Greg. ‘Take me home,’ I begged, ‘before I tell anyone else something they shouldn’t hear. Icannotkeep a damned secret. Take me home!’

‘I’m working on it.’ He pressed a chaste kiss to the shell of my ear. ‘Let’s go.’ He took my arm and gently tugged me to our platform. Our train couldn’t come soon enough.

Shitty Victorian transport.

Chapter 37

I awoke when the carriage pulled to a stop, pushed myself up from Greg’s shoulder and stared around bleary eyed. I spied a dark stain on the shoulder of his shirt. ‘Did I drool on you?’ I asked, mortified. My hand flew to my mouth to – yep – wipe away the spit gathered there. I wassosexy.

‘It was cute,’ Greg said with a smile. ‘And funny.’ I glared. ‘But mostly cute,’ he added hastily.

A laugh stuttered out of me. ‘Please God, tell me we’re nearly home.’

He winked. ‘You don’t need to call me God. Greg is fine.’ I rolled my eyes and he relented. ‘We’re at Ali’s,’ he confirmed. ‘And a shower is moments away.’

I wondered if he needed one as much as I did even though he hadn’t been buried under hundreds of layers of petticoats. I had beensweating.

The Victorians may have been prim and proper but they knew bugger all about personal hygiene; a weekly bath wasnotenough, and whatever had passed for dental care had been totally lacking. Krieg didn’t need any more weapons than his noxious breath – and mine wasn’t much better. I could knock down Big Ben with it.

‘Let’s go!’ I threw myself out of the carriage as Greg followed me, laughing.

We knocked loudly on Ye Olde Rosie’s and Ali answered the door. He looked as tired as I felt. ‘Did you achieve what you wanted to?’ he asked.

I sighed. ‘Kind of – and more that we didn’t know we needed to achieve. I’m going to call it a success, but one that I want to end right now. I need to bathe.’

Ali looked faintly amused. ‘You really do,’ he agreed. ‘Come on. Let’s get you out of my time.’

‘Gladly.’

He did his thing and cast iridescent flames over the portal. I hesitated before I stepped forward and turned to him. ‘I’m not always kind to you, Grandy, but I do love you with all my heart. We all do. You’re important to us.’ Feeling oddly tearful, I gave him a hug that he returned awkwardly.

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