Queen Wolf

by Erin M. Leaf

  “Gorge Rock Pack has been without an Alpha for over twenty years now,” Fletcher said.

  “Yes.” Paige didn’t need to explain any more.

  “And the one guy is the son of the woman who used to be married to their old Alpha. Well, shit,” Mitch swore. “They’re back to take it over. What the hell kind of mess is this going to make?” He glanced at Paige. She looked … stressed the hell out. What will it mean for us if those two strangers are her mates? He empathized with her. How could he not? She was Fletcher’s sister and Avery’s best friend. “It’ll be okay,” he told her.

  Paige shrugged uneasily.

  “It’s probably a good thing,” Fletcher said, nodding thoughtfully. “Having them take over Gorge Rock Pack can’t be any worse than what’s going on right now with their lack of leadership.”

  “Rafe told me that his mother had recently died, and that he’d had no idea about his true origins until he went through her stuff.” Paige shrugged. “He’s nice. So’s his Beta.”

  “Nice,” Mitch said, almost choking. “An Alpha, out to take back control of his birthright pack. Nice.” He clamped his mouth shut when he saw Fletcher’s warning glance. I suppose if the guy is her true mate, then he’d be nice to her, but I don’t know of any Alpha who people would call nice. He looked at Fletcher, and almost laughed out loud. Fletcher looked every inch the Alpha: muscled, fierce, and definitely not nice.

  “Do you have any way to contact them?” Fletcher asked her.

  Paige shook her head. “No. I met them in wolf form. None of us were human.”

  Fletcher’s expression turned grim. “We’ll have to petition Gorge Rock Pack formally, then, for the return of the archives.”

  “No! Don’t do that. Just wait. Give it a few weeks, okay?” Paige asked.

  Fletcher sighed. “Why should I?”

  Paige flushed. “I just … I have a feeling.”

  Fletcher stared at his sister for a long moment, then turned to his Beta. “Mitch?”

  Mitch thought about it. “The archives don’t contain anything that we need immediately. We could’ve used the histories to solidify Avery’s position as Queen, but I don’t think anyone is going to question her position after what’s happened, especially if my grandmother behaves herself.” He scowled. “And I will make sure she lets everyone know what’s happened, and that she fully supports Avery as Queen.”

  Fletcher nodded. “Good. Anything else?”

  Mitch continued. “There are probably some old member lists, from before we converted to electronic records for that stuff, and our genealogical records. Those are shared among different Packs anyway, or rather, they used to be, when dealing with inter-Pack matings. And we know who broke into the archives cabinet, so we don’t have to hunt down a traitor anymore.” He stared at Kurt’s body for a moment, then lifted a shoulder. “It can’t hurt to wait, in my opinion.”

  “I agree. Even if they have information on my bloodline, it doesn’t matter. I’m already mated. I already know he wasn’t my father,” Avery said, giving Kurt’s body a dark look. “It doesn’t matter if I was the old Alpha’s daughter or not. My loyalty lies here, with Boulder Pack.”

  Fletcher nodded. “Okay, Paige. We’ll wait, but not forever.” He pulled his sister in and hugged her. “I’m really glad you’re okay. When I heard the gunshot, and I knew both Avery and you were in here…” He trailed off.

  “I know, but we’re okay. Look, see? I don’t even have a scratch anymore.” Paige showed him her arm and then hugged him again before stepping away. “I’m worried about Lillian.” She crouched back down by the older woman. “At least her wound closed up. But she isn’t waking up.” She looked up at her brother. “Shouldn’t she be waking up by now?”

  “Her color is good and she’s strong, but it was a deep wound. Those take longer to heal. She’ll be okay,” Mitch said. He looked at Fletcher. “Did anyone call her husband?”

  “I did, right after I called nine-one-one,” Paige said. “Uncle Marcus will be here any minute now.”

  “Paige? What’s going on?” Lillian suddenly said, sounding groggy. “Oh, wow. My shoulder is killing me.”

  “Don’t try to move. You lost a lot of blood,” Mitch said, crouching down by her. He took her hand. “What’s the last thing you remember?”

  She frowned, then winced. “Avery’s father lost his mind. Bridget lost her mind.”

  Mitch had to laugh at that. “Succinct, but all true.” He squeezed her fingers. “You’re going to be fine.”

  She blinked, then struggled to sit up. “Help me.”

  Mitch and Paige helped her up as Fletcher crouched down. “The authorities will be here any minute.” He glanced over his shoulder at the carnage, then turned his attention back to Lillian. “I had to kill Avery’s father. Turns out he wasn’t her real father, and he was working with Gorge Rock Pack to kidnap Avery. Bridget was working with him and took advantage of the situation to attack you.”

  Lillian sighed. “Bridget has held a grudge against me for years, ever since Ann and I took Avery in. She didn’t like Avery hanging out at the big house with Paige, but what were we supposed to do? She was a girl who’d just lost her mother. I couldn’t let her grow up without someone to help her. She’s Pack, and what the elders did to her mother was a disgrace, in my opinion, and I know Ann felt the same. It was too late to do anything about it by the time Marcus became Beta.”

  “My grandmother was one of that group of elders who pushed Avery’s mother out of the Pack before Avery was born,” Mitch explained. “She had archaic ideas about out of wedlock children, and her prejudice bled over onto Avery. She also had a problem with her own lack of status.” He sighed. “She should’ve known better. We’re not human. She shouldn’t have been trapped by those kinds of attitudes.”

  “It was a terrible time.” Lillian shook her head. “I was only just mated to Marcus, and he wasn’t Beta yet when it all happened. I know Susan went to Gorge Rock Pack, but I didn’t know Kurt wasn’t the father of her child. When she came back with him after she had her baby, we thought…” She trailed off. “Well. I don’t know what I thought, but that’s no excuse. At the time, I was trying to deal with finding out that I couldn’t have children. It was a horrible few years.” She frowned, eyes shadowed. “I’m so sorry, Avery. I know I told you to ask Kurt about your mother, but I had no idea he wasn’t your biological father.”

  Avery had come over while she explained. “Don’t, Aunt Lillian. You’ve been nothing but kind to me. None of this is your fault.”

  “But if I’d paid better attention to things back then—” Lillian protested, but Avery cut her off.

  “No. You couldn’t have known. My mother didn’t even tell me about all of that. I had no idea she’d even gone anywhere, let alone fallen pregnant with me before she was married.” Avery explained.

  “If Kurt wasn’t your father, who is?” Lillian asked. “Do you know?”

  “I think it was the old Alpha of Gorge Rock Pack,” Avery said, running a hand over her face. “But he’s long dead, so it doesn’t matter.”

  Lillian stared at her. “But that means you have the blood of two Alphas running through your veins.”

  “What? No.” Avery sat on the floor and took Lillian’s hand. “My mother wasn’t the daughter of an Alpha. My father might have been an Alpha, but my mom was just an ordinary werewolf.”

  “No, she wasn’t. She was a descendant of Alphas.” Lillian glanced at Fletcher. “Fletcher’s grandfather was a wandering Alpha. He took over the pack from the old Boulder Alpha, who at the time had only daughters.” She looked at Avery. “You’re the great-granddaughter of Boulder Pack’s original Alpha line. Me and Ann were delighted when you and Fletcher and Mitch formed a triad. So were Marcus and Boris. It seemed only fitting.”

  “What?” Avery stared at her. “Are you serious?”

  Lillian nodded. “It’s in the genealogy archives. Didn’t your mother tell you?” She smiled at Avery, then looked
at Fletcher. “Your father showed us the records. I’m still in the process of converting over the older genealogy lists to our new electronic database. I didn’t get to your grandfather’s generation yet.”

  “Wow.” Mitch laughed. “That explains so much.”

  “What do you mean?” Avery asked. “Explains what?”

  “It explains why you’re a Queen Wolf,” Fletcher told her gently. “It’s not a myth. You’re a descendant of two Alphas, and if you were male, you’d be the strongest Alpha of us all.” He grinned, then took Avery’s hand and kissed the back of it. “I’m so lucky.”

  “That’s why you have the voice power,” Paige said, nodding. “It makes sense.”

  “That’s why we’re a triad,” Mitch said.

  “Then why the hell couldn’t I shift until now?” Avery asked, standing up.

  “The stronger the blood, the later the shifting,” Lillian said, smiling faintly. “Fletcher didn’t shift for the first time until he was sixteen. He’s a very strong Alpha.”

  “I forgot about that,” Paige said slowly. “I was a late shifter, too, but I didn’t even think about it, because of Avery. Shifting at age seventeen didn’t seem weird to me.”

  “Because I couldn’t shift at all,” Avery said, shaking her head. “It would’ve been nice to know all this. I thought I was defective.” Her eyes were haunted.

  Mitch wished he could take all of her bad memories and make them disappear forever. But that would erase who she is. Her life has made her into the amazing woman she is now.

  “Your children will know of their heritage. We’ll all make certain of it.” Lillian sighed. “The lack of education of our heritage and bloodlines is the fault of my generation. We should’ve done better,” she said, closing her eyes. She leaned her head back against the wall.

  “It’s not important now,” Avery told her, crouching down again. She took the older woman’s hand. “Just rest, Aunt Lillian. We’ll take care of everything.”

  Lillian smiled faintly and patted Avery’s arm. “Thank you, dear.”

  Avery stood up, then walked over to Mitch and Fletcher. “I want this day to be over so badly.” She glanced over at her so-called father’s body and shuddered. “I never got along with him, especially not lately, but he was still my father. The only one I ever knew.” She grimaced.

  “You’re allowed to feel what you feel,” Fletcher said softly, touching her cheek.

  She leaned into his touch. “I know,” she whispered. “But it hurts.”

  Mitch’s heart broke at the sadness in her voice. “You’re not alone, love. We’ll always be here, through the good days and bad days.”

  She nodded, tears in her eyes. “I hate that I had to kill Brian. And I hate that my father let his bitterness twist him into doing these things.”

  “I know.” Mitch gathered her in his arms and tucked her head into his shoulder. “I know.”

  She sniffed, hugging him hard. “Dammit.”

  Mitch met Fletcher’s gaze and shook his head slightly at the helplessness mirrored there. Inside, his wolf whined, wanting to help their mate, but not knowing how. “Let yourself grieve. You’re allowed to be sad.”

  She snorted softly. “It’s not like I have a choice.”

  They stood like that for a few minutes, and then she pulled away. “I’ve got to get myself together.”

  Mitch cocked his head as he heard distant sirens. “They’re coming.” He looked at Avery. She was beautiful, even with tears on her face and blood on her hands. She was his Queen. “I just want you to know, I would’ve chosen you even if you’d never shifted. I would’ve chosen you for your fortitude, your intelligence, and most of all, for your heart.” He tipped her face up to him. “You’re my mate. I love you.” He lightly kissed her lips.

  “You had to say it first,” Fletcher said, sounding grumpy. His fake annoyance coaxed a brief smile from Avery, though, so Mitch couldn’t complain. “Show off.”

  “If I’m a show off, you’re a loser,” Mitch countered lightly. He could sense Fletcher’s love through their bond, and his lover was as worried as he was about Avery. “You snooze, you lose.”

  Fletcher shook his head, then turned to Avery and kissed her slowly and gently. “Mitch is right. I would’ve chosen you anyway, too, because I love your spirit and your strength and your compassion. I love you. You’re my Queen Wolf.”

  Avery hugged them both tightly, tears in her eyes again. “You guys suck, telling me this now. I love you both so freaking much.” She swiped at her cheeks. “Even though you made me cry again.”

  Mitch hugged her again, and then pulled Fletcher into it, relishing the solid feel of his Alpha. He loved them both. He’d defy anyone who tried to tell him he wasn’t allowed to love his mates the way he wanted to. Sure, a triad wasn’t the norm these days, but he had a feeling that they might start seeing more of them as other packs started to remember that there were multiple ways to live and to love. “We can’t let humans dictate how we’re supposed to live,” he murmured.

  “Agreed,” Fletcher said, his low voice rumbling through all three of them.

  “It’s not going to be easy, though,” Avery said.

  “We’ll get through it together,” Mitch assured her. “I promise.”

  Avery nodded, wiping her eyes. “I know we will.” She stepped back from their embrace and looked around with purpose. “And now it’s time to get to work.”

  Epilogue

  “So, then he called me a Witch, as if he knew something I didn’t. I’m telling you, Avery. It was weird. It was like it was a title or something,” Paige said, standing by the front door of the big house. “And it felt true, but I don’t even know what it means.”

  Avery frowned. It had been over a month since the altercation at the Sanctuary building, and things were slowly getting back to normal. She’d let herself grieve her father, not for what he’d done, but for what she’d always wanted him to be. It had taken her a while to figure out that she mourned the loss of an idea more than a person. That’s on him, though, she reminded herself. Her mother’s husband could’ve raised her like she was his true daughter, but instead he chose cruelty. And his awfulness affected too much of my life. I’m not going to let it infect the rest of it.

  Paige adjusted the baseball cap she wore, catching Avery’s attention. Her friend looked tired, and she wished she could do something more than listen. “And we were all in wolf form. It’s not like we could have a detailed discussion. You know how hard it is to communicate when our beasts are in charge,” Paige said, frowning. “They don’t really care about the nuances.”

  Avery nodded. “Maybe it was a compliment?” she asked as she forced herself yet again to stop thinking about her father, and Brian, and the bloody end of a situation that was never her fault. This was the first time in weeks that she and Paige had found time to just hang out, and her best friend deserved her full attention. “I mean, you told me that the wolves were gorgeous, and that they weren’t aggressive towards you. Perhaps they were merely being flirtatious?”

  “Flirting?” Paige laughed. “I don’t know, but it definitely wasn’t a compliment. They used the word like a title.” She smiled wistfully. “They smelled really good. My wolf likes them.”

  Interesting, Avery thought, eyeing her friend. Paige wasn’t the kind of woman to jump to conclusions about people, but this meeting had really jarred her. They’d only now been able to talk about Paige’s confrontation with the two strange wolves, girlfriend to girlfriend. Paige had described their appearance to Fletcher and Mitch, and recounted what they’d said, which hadn’t been much, but this particular juicy detail hadn’t come to light until now. “Why didn’t you tell me this before?”

  Paige flushed. “I didn’t want my brother to know.”

  Avery lifted an eyebrow. “You didn’t want him to know that the wolves smelled good?”

  “It feels … intimate. You know?” Paige glanced behind Avery, then blushed. “I think I’m meant to fin
d these two again.”

  “You did say that you thought they might be your mates.” Avery hadn’t forgotten that. She hadn’t forgotten any detail from that awful day.

  “Yeah.” Paige didn’t elaborate.

  Avery understood. She knew how she’d felt when she’d first seen Fletcher and Mitch again, and calm hadn’t been the emotion foremost in her mind. She recalled her flying leap out of the window. She flushed with remembered embarrassment. “If they’re meant for you, you’ll find your way to each other,” she assured her friend.

  “I don’t know,” Paige replied morosely.

  Avery could feel the golden thread of her mating bond linking her to Mitch and Fletcher, and nodded slowly. “I’m sure of it.” Her wolf agreed, and she let some of her power bleed out into her eyes. She hoped Paige believed her.

  Paige stared at her, and then let out a heavy sigh. “You think?” She chewed on her lower lip. “I really want to hope, but I’m afraid. And then I see you with my brother and Mitch, and I can’t help it, but I want that so bad.” She looked away. “I’m lonely, Avery.”

  Oh, honey, Avery thought, but she didn’t say it out loud. She wanted her best friend to know the kind of love she had, too. “I know that you will find love, Paige. I know it.” Avery hugged her friend, then stepped back. “Go on. You said you were going for a run tonight, and it looks like you need it.”

  “You sure you don’t want to come?” Paige asked, hand on the doorknob. “It’s so cool that you can shift now.” She grinned. “And you’re seriously badass. I love running with you. You’re the only female who can keep up with me.” She laughed. “Hell, you’re the only wolf who can keep up with me, except for Mitch and Fletcher.”

  Avery looked up at the landing to find Fletcher and Mitch standing at the top of the steps, waiting for her. When did they get back to the house? she wondered, then smiled and turned back to Paige. “No. I have other plans for this evening.”