Chapter 7

Their journey was uneventful and made in quick time, and the house that they were driven to looked big, and the estate surrounding it was a massive sprawling affair.

The cars drew to a halt in the centre of the main driveway and formed a semicircle around the large double front doors.

“All right then everyone out!” A big burly looking man stood in the doorway, and car doors opened immediately.

Michael strode forward and greeted the other man warmly. “Father ... it’s been a while!” he said clasping the other man’s hand and shaking it vigorously.

James walked across to Iris and held her to him, and Aunt Trudy moved to join them.

Mathew stood watching Trudy with a look of open mockery on his face, and she spared herself a moment to glare across at him, before deliberately turning her back on him.

“So, would you be so good as to introduce your ... companions?” Michael’s father was saying to Michael.

“Yes, of course, father...” he looked across to James, and caught his eye, and then gave a little nod.

James gave a sigh, as he gently pushed Iris away from him. “Come along you two,” he said in a low voice.

“Father, this is my landlady, Ms Rowena Beaumont,” he indicated the older woman. “And her niece Iris, and Iris’s mate and husband – James Atherton,” he glanced quickly at his father and half smiled. “And this is my father – Jonathon Richards.”

“Welcome to my home,” Michael’s father greeted them formally.

“Are we? Are we welcome – are we here as your prisoners or as your guests?” Trudy cut in belligerently.

Jonathon glanced quickly at Mathew before fixing his molten gaze on Trudy.

“Of course, you are all welcome, as my guests ... providing you behave as my honourable guests.”

“Hmmm...” Trudy muttered in open disbelief.

He led them inside and across to a large stairway.

“The hour is growing late; Michael please can you show our guests to their rooms ... I think they should stay with you in the west wing.”

“Very well, father.”

He watched his son leading the small group away, and then turned to Mathew. “It’s good to have you back so soon, my brother, now come along – there is much to discuss and not too much time – I believe.”

They walked through to a small drawing room and Jonathon directed his brother to take a seat on one of the comfortable chairs near the fire.

“Whiskey?” he offered from the corner cabinet.

Mathew nodded. “It’s been a god-awful day – I could use a shot or two,” he sighed.

“Oh?” Jonathon carried the two tumblers across and sat across from his brother. “Tell me.”

It was not an invitation but an instruction, and so Mathew complied in succinct tones with detail but no drama.

“And so, the girl has bonded into Frawning’s Pack?”

“Yes, that was the unfortunate conclusion,” Mathew sighed regretfully.

“You did not agree with her decision? The pack has some power if I remember right, and Bill’s offspring are strong, and capable.”

“And only just this side of being feral,” Mathew cut in. “The home – if that is what you would call it, was not even fit for use as a dog kennel.”

“That is not the first time I have heard of our kind descending into more animalist behaviour,” Jonathon murmured sombrely, “and it is almost always down to lack of females in the pack.” He paused to sip his drink and then looked across at his brother.

“Yes, but what comes first, I wonder?” asked Mathew thoughtfully. “The lack of – or loss of females ... or the animalistic behaviour?”

Jonathon stared into his glass for a moment. “We have yet to discover what became of any females that there might have been, in the few packs that we have come across, and so I cannot answer that one.” He looked across at Mathew who looked bone tired.

“And the council? Have they launched an investigation? Do they have any opinions – what is their view on what is happening to our people?” Mathew asked although he already knew the answer to that – judging by his tone.

Jonathon snorted. “The council – ha!” They do as they always do ... bury their heads and hope for the best ... rely on our superior strength and genes ... and so what if a few weaker females can’t handle a few strong males?”

“You disagree with their thinking?” Mathew sat up and his eyes lit up with a cautious hope.

Jonathon held his hand up. “Not so fast my brother, the council is old and set in its ways, but they hold great power still, great influence ... if only in the male half of our culture.”

“They have always held low values on the females!” Mathew sighed in frustration.

“Yes,” they would not step in to aid or assist – other than to approve or disapprove of a bonding – as long as they can stay safely on the side lines.”

“So, no help from the council then – for any females in trouble.”

“No” Jonathon agreed sadly. He looked at his brother again. “And this girl?”

“She was a slight female, looked like a gust of wind would knock her out, I was more than a little surprised to find that she is one of our kind – she seemed so human ... and Frawning’s pack have been without any females for a generation – or more.”

“You think they will mistreat her?” Jonathon sat forwards a little. “You think that I should intercede and ensure she is safe and treated well?”

Mathew sighed again. “I fear that everything happened so fast ... I worry her bonding was a means to an end and not a true merging of two souls, I fear that the lad in question will not have the strength to protect her, from others in the pack.”

Jonathon looked at his brother sharply. “That was a lot of worries and fears for a girl that you barely met?”

Mathew looked his brother in the eye. “I fear your son – my nephew met her already, I worry that he knew her better and for longer.”

“Well, nothing like that could happen between him and her anyway! “Jonathon snapped forcibly, as he instantly understood the message in his brother’s eyes. “As one from the old blood and in line to succeed me as pack leader, and take my place on the council when the time is right, he must mate with another of the old blood, and they are getting scarcer with each generation’s bondings.” He sighed and shook his head.

“But I suppose those should be worries and fears for another hour. What of the mission I sent you on, what of the illness, I assume that you have brought them all here for a reason and I surmise that it must be something to do with your task and this illness, and so my brother I ask you – what do these people have to do with that?”

Mathew’s gaze fell away from his brother’s and Jonathon noted with surprise how he clenched and unclenched his fist a few times.

“I wish I knew!” he finally snapped out in exasperation. “That they knew something was obvious, but none of them would talk, except that woman, Rowena – and she was about as forthcoming as a brick wall, and almost as tough to dismantle!”

Jonathon surprised his younger brother with a sudden chuckle. “I am beginning to see a trend with this family ... I wonder who their pack is – this Rowena ... her name seems familiar ... I wonder... ?”

He was pulled from the thought by his phone ringing.

“Why don’t you go and freshen up, Mathew, I know that you are tired but please indulge me for a little while longer, recharge you batteries with whatever you need and then you can join me for a light supper, and we can talk some more.”

He strode away even as he answered the phone. “Richards here!”

Michael played the dutiful host and showed his ‘guests’ to a set of rooms at the end of a long narrow landing.

“Take any of the three rooms on this side; they should all be ready for use. My rooms are about half way down, and there is a small living area there where we can gather and talk if you should wish to.”

Trudy gave a disdainful sniff. “I hardly think we have anything to talk to you about!” she opened the first door she came to and luckily it was a bedroom. “As a prison I suppose this will suffice, and so I will wish you all a rather pleasant good night.”

She would have swept into the room and slammed the door right in his face, but his hand stopped it dead in its tracks before she could put so much as a foot over the threshold.

“This is not a prison,” he told her softly. “but I will warn you now that the windows are bullet proof, the bars outside are more about security than prisoner detention, and the major security of this property consists of armed men on all floors at all times, and they also spread out through the entire grounds.” He smiled coldly. “My father allows for no possibility of anyone entering or leaving without his say so and knowledge. And so, unless you have learned to shift to something on the size of the insect level, then I suggest you and your family stays put!”

Trudy shrugged her shoulders grumpily. “For now,” she snarled through gritted teeth.

She looked pointedly at the door. “It has been a long draining day to say the least and I think that we could all benefit with some rest.”

As she stepped inside, he tugged the door and it swung back almost catching her but thankfully she skipped out of the way and it closed with a thud.

Michael turned to James and raised a brow.

“We’ll take the room next door, shall we?”

Michael nodded. “Yes, and I have your word that you won’t try anything foolish?”

James gave a half smile that never reached his eyes. “Plots on tired minds never end well, and so for tonight we will all agree not to try anything ... but it won’t be forever.”

“Good enough,” Michael nodded as he accepted James’ word. “I will have refreshments sent to your room shortly ... and a range of clothing for you all – I am sure something will be suitable.”

He strode away without waiting for a response, and once in his own room he picked up the phone and issued a few instructions. He pulled his clothes away and strode into his bathroom and straight into the shower, where he simply let the water wash over him.

He dried and then dressed in black jeans and a black shirt, and then walked into the small living area that he had mentioned earlier.

Michael sat down in front of the fire, and for the first time allowed the day’s events to register.

He had kept a rigid control of himself since Laurie’s bonding with that callow young man, never allowing anyone to see just how devastated he was.

His mate, his one true mate now belonged to another and he could never have the future with her that he had dreamt of.

He didn’t even realise that he was crying until the first tear drops splashed down onto his hand.

He had not allowed the pain to be felt, the pain of loss and hopelessness – of the knowledge that his future was to be empty and devoid of anything even remotely resembling happiness.

He sat forwards and buried his face in his hands, and his shoulders shook as he mourned for Laurie.

He did not hear the door open, and only realised that she was there when her hand touched his leg lightly.

For one heart stopping moment, he thought it was his beloved come back to him, but then he realised that it was only her sister.

Iris smelled fresh as though she had washed and changed, and as she looked into his tear-filled eyes sadly, her lips trembled.

“How could she do that?” he whispered brokenly. “How could she bond with one of – them?”

Iris hesitated briefly and then simply shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know,” she sighed. “I guess ... I think that she just needed to protect herself – after your abandonment of her, she had to do something to feel secure again.”

“I did not, never intended to abandon her, my plan was always to keep her close to me and safe until we could initiate the bonding.”

Iris looked surprised. “But ... I thought that you were already bonded, I thought that the link you shared was because you had completed the bonding with Laurie – after the elevator ... it was only you who could finish it and I thought that you had, that was why the two of you could communicate even when you were not together ... and that was why she could not really bond with one of them because she was already pledged to you?”

“We never got around to even talking about it properly, I tried to pledge to her, to make my intent clear, but everything happened so fast, and then I had obligations to tend to, and so I never pushed it because I thought that we had time to resolve everything, once other things were sorted.”