Page 85 of Guardians of the Pack

‘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 butallwerewolves. 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.’

‘But how long would that take?’ Jess argued. ‘I’m not condoning the witches’ actions, but we can’t judge them with a twentieth-century mindset.’

Greg snorted. ‘As if the Connection would have done anything anyway.’

I groaned. ‘No politics, please. We’ve been through the wringer, let’s just chill for five minutes.’

As we finished our brews and garibaldi biscuits, we talked about lighter topics. Before I knew it, it was time to say goodbye to Jess and Gato. ‘More tea?’ I offered, hoping to draw out the moment.

Jess shook her head. ‘Best not, or I’ll need to stop a dozen times to wee on the way home.’ She picked up her holdall and I struggled to hold back tears. I didn’t want them to go. I followed them out to the driveway, feeling distinctly depressed.

Jess threw the bag in her car and turned to me. Her expression softened at the look on my face, and I tried to stretch my mouth into a smile. ‘Hey,’ she murmured. ‘I’m only a phone call away. If you need me, I’m here with bells on.’

‘Back at you.’

‘I know. You’re always there for me. You’ve one hundred percent got this, you know? You’re going to be the best alpha ever.’

I swallowed the lump in my throat. ‘You’re the best.’ We kissed goodbye one last time and I watched sadly as she climbed into her Mercedes.

Greg wrapped his arms around me. ‘You don’t need to be sad. You can visit her whenever you want. Liverpool isn’t so far away.’

‘I know, but it feels like an end of an era. She’s engaged to the king of the dragons and I’m alpha of a werewolf pack.’ When I called Emory the king of the dragons, I felt Greg tense. I looked up at him and he was grimacing. I decided to call him on it. ‘What does that face mean? You made a face. What gives?’

Greg stepped away from me; it felt metaphorical, as well as literal. ‘You know I worked for Emory for a long time and we were friends before that. I have to keep his secrets.’

‘There’s a secret to keep?’

‘If it helps, Jinx knows all about it.’

‘Great. So I’m the only one in the dark,’ I said bitterly.

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