Defender of the Pack, page 5
‘Morning, ladies,’ I said, as I grabbed a coffee.
‘Morning, alpha,’ Marissa beamed. There was no sign of the sulkiness I’d witnessed yesterday.
Seren got up and walked out. Nice. Marissa flicked me a glance and gave a slight shrug before following her.
I sighed. Mrs Dawes tossed me a smile. ‘A new alpha is a big adjustment. Lord Samuel was alpha for a long time.’
I nodded; I knew that. Jess had told me that Mrs Dawes had held a candle for Lord Samuel, but despite that she didn’t seem at all hostile. Maybe she accepted that I’d acted for the greater good.
She made me a bacon sandwich doused liberally with tomato ketchup, and I fell upon it with gratitude. When I’d devoured my breakfast, I decided to go to my office – and made the mistake of taking the route that took me through the pack living room. It fell silent as I walked in. Way to make a girl feel paranoid.
The room was unusually busy, with far more pack members gathered there than I’d seen before. Tristan and Oates were openly glaring at me; Liam was sitting opposite them on the couch; Seren was sitting near Oates, looking at him with Bambi eyes, and Marissa was next to her friend looking a little put out.
I offered Liam a small smile, which he didn’t return. Before I became alpha, Liam was quite nice to me, but I guessed those days were gone. It looked like Oates was holding court, whipping up support against me. It wasn’t ideal.
Let me bite Oates, Esme suggested. Then the rest will fall into line.
I don’t want us to rule by fear. You’ve told me a pack should be family.
It should be, but first we need to survive. Oates is looking at us like I look at a deer. I don’t like it. We should kill him.
We are NOT killing him. You can’t just kill people because they don’t like you.
We are alpha. If he kills us, he becomes alpha. We are a target until we convince the pack we are not weak. Killing Oates would make that clear. Her tone was patient and slow, like she was explaining something complex to a toddler.
Absolutely not, I said firmly.
I knew you would say that. That’s why we should bite him – just a bit of light mauling, she wheedled.
No! No mauling.
It was Esme’s turn to sigh. Sometimes talking to you is like bouncing on a dead horse.
It took me a moment to grasp her meaning. Flogging a dead horse, I corrected.
Flogging, bouncing, both are silly activities to carry out on a dead animal. They should be eaten.
At least she had distracted me from the animosity in the room. Tristan and Oates were whispering to each other in such low voices that I couldn’t make out what they were saying. Their eyes didn’t leave me, though, so it was obvious who they were discussing. Tristan was sporting a puffy red eye; it must have been a very recent acquisition because werewolves heal fast.
I had been staring at them too long. ‘Gentlemen,’ I greeted them.
Neither responded, and I kept my smile on my face with effort. The only one who acknowledged me was David. Even Sonia, Bobby’s mum, wouldn’t look at me.
I walked through the living room with my spine crawling; all eyes were on me and it was hard to walk through with my back exposed to the enemy. I kept my eyes on the windows around me, so I’d see movement in the reflections if they went for me. Finally I shut the door behind me and let out an explosive breath of relief. That was tense.
I hurried the last distance to the relative safety of my office. When I opened the door, I was relieved to see it wasn’t empty. Manners was there, sitting in my guest seat.
‘Good morning.’
‘Morning, alpha.’
I wanted to ask about his night, but that was rude and intrusive so I bit my tongue. It wasn’t easy, though. I sat down behind my desk and swivelled the chair to look at him. ‘Tristan has the start of a black eye I’d say. Do you know anything about that?’
Manners gave a fractional shrug. ‘He made some uncomplimentary comments about you.’
I didn’t want to ask for the specifics if he didn’t offer them. ‘Did you punch him in the face?’
‘Amongst other places.’
‘How many people have you hurt in the pack?’
‘Just Oates and Tristan so far.’ The ‘so far’ was a bit ominous. How many people did he think he’d have to hurt before things settled down?
‘How many people have you threatened?’
He smiled a little. ‘A few more than that.’
‘Aren’t I supposed to be the intimidating one?’
‘They see you as a pretty little white girl. Intimidating is a hard sell just now.’
I tried not to feel happy that he thought I was pretty. ‘Esme thinks we need to bite someone.’
‘She’s probably not wrong,’ he admitted. ‘A dash of violence and unpredictability might give Oates and the others pause.’
‘I’ll think about it.’
There was a knock on the door, then Liam opened it without waiting for me to invite him in. ‘There’s someone to see you in the pack living room, alpha.’ Despite the title, his tone wasn’t deferential in the slightest: I was being summoned.
That got my back up. Maybe it was time I listened to Esme and Manners. I’d been yapping at the pack, I’d been smiley and friendly, but it obviously wasn’t working. All that was happening was that Manners was fighting my battles for me.
‘Is there now?’ I replied coolly.
Liam faltered a little. ‘Oates asked you to come.’
I steepled my fingers. ‘I’ll be along when I’m done here. You can go.’ He beat a hasty retreat and shut the door behind him. ‘Who do you think they’ve brought to see me?’ I asked.
‘No one good,’ Manners answered. He pushed his jeans back under his ankle holsters so his weapons were accessible and visible. Shit was about to go down.
Esme was vibrating with energy. Are you ready? I asked her.
Always.
Her eagerness steadied me. Whatever was waiting for us in the living room, I had no doubt that she, Manners and I could deal with it.
‘I hope it’s not a troll,’ I muttered.
‘Trolls aren’t so bad. It’s ogres you have to be wary of,’ Manners explained.
‘Great. Way to make me feel better.’
‘It’s probably not a troll or ogre.’
‘What do you think it is?’
‘Not much point in guessing, so let’s go and see. We’ll deal with it, whatever it is. I’ll walk in first.’
I shook my head. ‘No. I need to take point on this. Just be ready to back me up.’
‘As you wish.’
We fell silent as we walked down the corridor, then stopped outside the living room, to listen for clues. We couldn’t hear anything. I was stalling, but more time wasn’t going to help me; I needed to get my act together and kick some ass.
I’m going to miss these jeans, I sighed to Esme. They make my bum look great.
We might have time to strip before we shift.
I don’t think Oates is going to play by the rules, I warned her.
We’ll see. We’re ready for him.
As I pushed open the door and walked into the living room, Oates was smirking, triumph written all over his face. It felt premature for him to celebrate – I wasn’t down yet.
Archie was there too, with Noah and Elena, and I felt a sting of disappointment. I thought I’d made some progress with them, but it seemed they were here to watch my downfall.
I moved further into the room with Manners by my side. As the crowd moved out of the way, I finally saw what was making Oates smirk. Tristan was holding our ‘guest’.
It wasn’t a troll or an ogre, it was someone worse: my ex-boyfriend, James. The incubus that had fucked me, told me he loved me and condemned me to certain death. My former lover stood with his arms bound tightly behind him, glaring at me with all his might.
‘I’ve got a gift for you, alpha.’ Oates smiled widely as he laced the last word with sarcasm. ‘This man stands before you for judgment. He is accused of crimes against the pack, including seducing you and causing you harm. We cannot let that stand. Obviously.’
‘Obviously,’ I agreed. Oates thought he was so clever undermining me, making me look like a blonde bimbo who’d been seduced by an incubus. He clearly thought I wouldn’t be able to deal with James appropriately. It didn’t matter that I hadn’t known about magic back then; fairness wasn’t the name of the game.
Luckily, I was done with playing fair, too. I couldn’t summon the Connection to deal with James or it would be a terminal admission of weakness. No; I had to get my hands dirty. Unluckily for James, my patience had been stripped away by days of bullshit pranks and barely concealed contempt. It was time to let the pack know who their alpha really was.
The gloves are off, I murmured to Esme.
We’re not wearing any gloves, she said, confused.
It means it’s time to get aggressive.
I felt her happiness run through me and she chuckled darkly in the confines of our mind. That’s my favourite time.
I know. Let’s do this.
With pleasure, Esme purred.
James wasn’t going to know what hit him. I almost felt sorry for him. Almost.
What’s Next?
Continue Lucy's story in Protection of the Pack, book one of the complete Other Wolf series. Available in Kindle Unlimited, E-book, Paperback and Audio!
Blurb for Protection of the Pack:
I have a wolf in my head. Her name is Esme and she likes killing things.
I’m Lucy, a regular accountant turned alpha werewolf. A tryst with the wrong incubus ripped me from my ordinary life and sent me tumbling into a magical realm that I never even dreamed existed.
I was just adjusting to pack life when I was asked to mercy-kill the current alpha. I'm not a total bitch so I did what he asked, but it's left me as alpha of a pack I don't know, full of werewolves who resent that I still live and breathe while their old alpha doesn't. If I’m to survive in this dog-eat-dog realm, I’m going to have to win my new pack over – and fast.
I'm still trying to find my way in this violent new world when my third in command, Mark, is brutally murdered right under my damn nose. To regain control of the pack, I need to find the killer and bring him to justice – werewolf justice. Luckily my wolf, Esme, is more than happy to get her paws dirty.
When the werewolf council show up to question me, things get a little dicey. Thank goodness I have the deadly Greg Manners, former dragon brethren and general ass-kicker, to back me up. Now I just need to unravel who'd want to kill Mark – and there’s a really long list of suspects because he was shadier than an oak tree.
I'm hip-deep in suspects and I need to move swiftly before the killer strikes again...
What's Next?
Next up on the writing schedule is more from Jinx and Emory! Jinx has to get to grips with Emory's dragon court in Challenge of the Court, coming 2023 – the exact date is yet to be decided, after I've written the series, but I've put up a little pre-order now if you want to grab that so you don't go forgetting all about little old me. If you haven't read Jinx's stories yet then what are you waiting for? Start the complete four book series with Glimmer of The Other.
I have been working hard on a bunch of cool things, including a new and shiny website which you'll love. Check it out at www.heathergharris.com.
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Also By
Heather G. Harris' Other works:-
The Other Realm - series complete
0.5. Glimmer of Dragons, a prequel novella,
Glimmer of The Other,
Glimmer of Hope,
Glimmer of Death, and
Glimmer of Deception.
The Other Wolf – series complete
0.5 Defender of The Pack, a prequel novella,
Protection of the Pack,
Guardian of the Pack, and
Saviour of The Pack.
The Other Court
Challenge of the Court.
About the Author
About Heather
Heather is an urban fantasy writer and mum. She was born and raised near Windsor, which gave her the misguided impression that she was close to royalty in some way. She is not, though she once got a letter from Queen Elizabeth II's lady-in-waiting.
Heather went to university in Liverpool, where she took up skydiving and met her future husband. When she’s not running around after her children, she’s plotting her next book and daydreaming about vampires, dragons and kick-ass heroines.
Heather is a book lover who grew up reading Brian Jacques and Anne McCaffrey. She loves to travel and once spent a month in Thailand. She vows to return.
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Heather G. Harris, Defender of the Pack
