by Laura Taylor
The night was dark, the sky moonless tonight, and Eleanor was grateful for the chance to have a moment to herself as she roamed the woodland behind the manor. It was getting on for midnight, the hearing adjourned for the day, everyone tired and irritable after an afternoon of discussions that had seemed to lead nowhere.
Eleanor was feeling far too restless to sleep, however. The discussions of the afternoon had been revealing, everyone taking the breaking of the Treaty seriously, but the proposed solutions to the current situation had ranged from the mundane to the downright bizarre. One particular proposal had started gaining momentum in the late afternoon, but Eleanor wasn’t certain she could support the plan. Sleep had eluded her, so she’d come out here to try and sift through the problem, hopeful that a reasonable solution could yet be found.
A slight rustle of leaves caught her attention, followed by the tell-tale crackle of electricity that told her someone had just shifted in the vicinity.
“You must be proud of yourself,” a voice said from behind her, and Eleanor felt her lip curl and her shoulders tense as she was left in no doubt as to whom she’d stumbled upon in the darkness.
“What do you want?” she asked, turning around to face Sempre.
“You couldn’t wait for another chance to stab me in the back, could you?” Sempre said darkly, and Eleanor braced herself, placing a hand on the gun she habitually carried at her hip, suddenly grateful that she’d never quite broken the habit. It had been years, maybe a decade or more since she’d had to use it, but at her age, she could no longer rely on strength or speed, so a good solid weapon was her next best defence. “You’ve sent soldiers to kill my wolves,” Sempre went on, stepping in a slow circle around Eleanor, “you’ve undermined me at every opportunity, and now you’ve not only accused me of a crime you know damn well I didn’t commit, but you’ve taken my males from me as well. You must be well and truly pleased with yourself.”
“All of this is nothing more than what you’ve brought upon yourself,” Eleanor replied sharply. “You disregarded my advice in the past, and it took you down a dark road. Now you’re reaping the consequences of that choice.”
“Choice!?” Sempre spat. “I had no choice!”
“Of course you had a fucking choice,” Eleanor snapped back, for once well and truly losing her temper. “You dug your own grave the day you forced your way into the role of alpha, young and stupid, and far too eager to draw attention to yourself. You may as well have just lit up a neon sign in the middle of that goddamn forest of yours.”
“I was a pup!” Sempre snarled. “Our pack had just been decimated by the Noturatii, and we turned to you for help! But instead of giving us food, or shelter, or weapons, you told us to get the hell out of England, before we caused any more trouble. But your wolves go out of their way to blow up labs, and hunt down Noturatii convoys, and god knows what else, raining trouble down on all our heads, yet you won’t stand up and take responsibility for any of it! Mark my words, Eleanor, Sirius has a long arm, and he will punish those who betray him.”
“Speaking of betrayal,” Eleanor bit back, “how do you think he treats those who abuse his magic? Who subvert the course of nature for their own greed?”
“You left us in the middle of a forest with nothing. What was I supposed to do? I had to defend my pack. I had to stay a step ahead of the Noturatii. I was not willing to let the rest of my wolves die at the hands of brutal humans who wanted to dissect us while we were still alive!”
“You could have left England!”
Sempre went quiet and still all of a sudden, a dark and malevolent leer on her face. “And when your pack was facing that same choice, did you let them go gently into the good night, scampering off across the Channel to the safety of France? No, you didn’t.” She stepped up close to Eleanor, breathing her words into her ear. “You broke your own rules, defied your own Council, and propped up a dying pack who should rightly have been shut down. And then you have the gall to lecture me.” She grabbed Eleanor’s face, forcing her to look her in the eye. “There will be a reckoning over your mistakes, Eleanor. Not just yours, but those of your god-forsaken Council as well.”
Eleanor shoved Sempre back and drew herself up straight. “We shall see,” she said, with as much dignity as she could muster. “The Panel is close to making a decision, and by the end of tomorrow, we should know the result of the hearing, one way or another. May Sirius guide you,” she said, a bitter edge to her voice. “God knows he hasn’t done much of a job of it so far.” Without another word, she turned and walked away, retracing her steps towards the distant lights of the manor.
But as she walked, she could feel her heart thudding in her chest and a hot bile rising in her throat. Not from fear – she had no concern at all that Sempre would do her harm – but from the knowledge that Sempre was right. Eleanor had been younger at the time – twenty years younger – and though she’d already been a member of the Council, she’d been arrogant enough to believe that she could make sweeping decisions on her own, rather than seeking the advice of her comrades.
She’d made a bad call where Sempre’s pack was concerned. Their previous alpha had made enough mistakes that Eleanor had taken exception to her, and when their pack was attacked by the Noturatii, she’d seen it as an easy opportunity to rid themselves of a troublesome annoyance, recommending that rather than rebuilding the pack, Sempre, as the new and inexperienced alpha, should disband it and move the remaining wolves elsewhere in Europe, to join another pack of the Grey Watch.
It had been a grave mistake and an error of judgement that had come back to haunt her dozens of times over the years. Sempre was right. She’d left them in the middle of the forest, hungry, cold and vulnerable, and had lost not a single night’s sleep over having done so.
And now the past was coming back to bite her. Had she acted more kindly, been more insightful or more compassionate, then Sempre may well not have turned out to be the cold-hearted dictator she had become.
The hearing would resume in the morning, and Eleanor realised she knew exactly what she needed to do next. The proposal that the Panel had come up with was a workable idea after all, she decided, as she picked her way back through the empty forest. It could be argued that there was little justice in the measures they wanted to take, but under the current circumstances, peace was a higher calling than justice. With twenty years of history washed away under the proverbial bridge, the last hope Eleanor had to undo her own mistakes was to remove Sempre from power.
And she would do so by any means necessary.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
It was mid-afternoon, the sky a menacing grey as Genna stood on the wide lawn of the Scottish estate, her whole body trembling.
Tank stood beside her, his arm around her shoulder, and when Genna had told him that perhaps they shouldn’t be quite so open about their relationship, Tank had merely shrugged. “Everyone knows we’re together by now,” he said dismissively. “They’ll have been able to smell us on each other for days. I want to be by your side.” That had been the end of the discussion, as far as Tank was concerned, and, not knowing what else to say, Genna had decided to simply go with it.
Everyone on the estate was gathered here, Sempre and her pack standing in a tight huddle, Baron’s pack meandering about in a loose clump, and the Panel and the Council standing before them all in a long line. But there were three extra people standing near the Council, one woman and two men. They stood straight and still, grim expressions on their faces and a startling array of weapons scattered about their bodies. The assassins. Genna had seen them only briefly before the hearing had begun, and hadn’t caught so much as a glimpse of them since then.
“May I have your attention please,” Eleanor called loudly, and the gathered shifters fell silent. “Before we begin, we would like to ask Sempre’s pack to line up in order of rank, to facilitate proceedings.”
A wave of muttering followed, but the pack did as asked, taking less than a minute to sort
themselves out. Genna stayed where she was, not really sure whether or not she was still considered a member of Sempre’s pack, but since no one said anything, she figured she was being treated separately for the moment.
“Thank you,” Eleanor said politely, once they were done. “Next, I believe Kajus and Oana have something to say.”
Kajus stepped forward, a dark scowl on his face. “I would like to formally express my disagreement with the decision of this hearing,” he said bitterly, “and to have that disagreement noted on official documents. I believe this punishment is too extreme. I will, however,” he went on, “abide by the hearing’s decision and consider the breach of the Treaty to be rectified by the action they have chosen to take.” He stepped back, and then Oana and her translator stepped forward, stating that Oana, too, disagreed with the hearing’s conclusion.
It was no surprise to Genna that not all of the Panel would agree with each other. They came from vastly different backgrounds, after all, and held widely varying beliefs and values. But Kajus’s declaration that ‘the punishment was too extreme’ was cause for concern. It was Genna’s honest expectation that either she or Sempre – or possibly both – would be put down for their crimes. What punishment had the Panel come up with that was more extreme than death? She knew that Baron and his pack held firm views against the use of torture. If that was the case, then surely the Council would never condone such an act, regardless of how serious her crimes were?
But she didn’t have any more time to ponder the possible outcomes. Linnea stepped forward, ignoring the low growl that came from Kajus as she did so. “This is the declaration of the Grey Watch Panel,” she read from a document in her hand, her voice loud and clear, “and of the Council of Il Trosa, of the decision regarding the breach of the Treaty of Erim Kai Bahn, in the five hundred and seventy-ninth year of the Treaty. We hereby find Sempre-Ul guilty of conspiring with the Noturatii against Il Trosa, and we find Genna-Ul guilty as an accessory to conspiracy.” The words were no surprise, but Genna still felt a wave of nausea hit her hard. Tank pulled her closer, his arm like a steel band around her.
But Linnea went on. “It is, however, our considered opinion that Genna-Ul cannot be primarily held responsible for her actions. She was acting under the direction of higher ranking members of her pack and without proper training or instruction by which she might understand the consequences of her own actions. As such, she will be required to attend a period of training with the Grey Watch packs in both France and Germany, in order to ensure she has a proper understanding of the Treaty and for the purpose of teaching her to use her unique abilities in a constructive manner. She will also be demoted to the rank of omega, whether she decides to stay with a Grey Watch pack or defect to Il Trosa, and she will hold that rank for a full two years. She is also disqualified from ever holding the rank of alpha. Aside from that, is it evident that since joining Sempre’s pack, she has already suffered significant hardship, both physically and mentally, and on that basis, no further punitive action shall be taken against her.”
Linnea paused, and there was a moment of silence as everyone digested the news. After getting over the shock that she was to be allowed to live, the rest of the sentence wasn’t a great surprise. It was actually quite similar to what had happened to Mark after he’d been accused of treason, Tank having told her a little about that episode over the past few weeks. But...
“When Mark was sentenced, he got branded as well,” Genna muttered to Tank, confused, though she certainly wasn’t going to volunteer for the painful procedure.
“You’re still officially a member of the Grey Watch,” Tank pointed out softly. “Branding is something only Il Trosa does.”
Genna felt a trickle of relief at the news. Being omega for two years was going to be unpleasant, but all things considered, it was still better than the best possible outcome she could have imagined. But what had Kajus meant about the punishment being too extreme, then?
“With regards to Sempre-Ul,” Linnea went on a moment later, “as alpha of the pack, she can be given no such excuse. We hereby sentence Sempre-UI to death by gunshot. Il Trosa has provided trained assassins to ensure her death is fast and painless.”
“You brainless bloody mongrels,” Sempre snarled, and Genna supposed there was little need to adhere to protocol when you’d just been handed a death sentence. “I never had anything to do with that god-forsaken meeting, and if none of you can see that, I dread to think what the future of our species is going to look like with you idiots at the helm.”
The three assassins responded swiftly, hands on their weapons, each of them moving forward, prepared to either defend the Council, or apprehend Sempre, should she attempt to escape.
Not that she had anywhere to go.
But it seemed Linnea wasn’t done yet. “However,” she continued, once it was clear Sempre was not about to make any further disruptions, “an alpha does not act alone, but rather through the support and enablement of her pack. Peace and the restoration of the Treaty cannot be brought about only by punishing those responsible, but also by providing a sufficient deterrent that such a breach should not happen again.” She lifted her eyes to look sternly and seriously at Sempre’s pack. “The future of our entire species has been put at risk, in a time when we are already at a disadvantage against the Noturatii and struggling to hold our own against the encroachment of both humanity and technology. You have all spoken frankly about your objections to Sempre’s rule, and yet none of you have done anything to oppose her. Her rise to power and her actions in this matter have been enabled by your own inaction. Therefore, it is the decision of this hearing that the highest ranking third of your pack shall be put down, as bearing the responsibility for supporting Sempre in her position as alpha. The remainder of the pack shall be disbanded and reassigned to other packs of the Grey Watch.”
Stunned silence followed. “You can’t do that,” a solitary voice cried out, dismayed and uncertain. A wave of muttering rose, and from the comments around her, it seemed that even Baron’s pack were shocked by the decision.
“Can they really do that?” Genna asked Tank.
“They can,” he said grimly.
“That’s not fair!”
“Fairness and peace have little to do with each other at the moment.”
The assassins were already moving, and it was finally apparent why Sempre’s pack had been asked to line up in order of rank.
Luna’s heart was in her throat as she saw the assassin woman striding directly towards her. She glanced up and down the row, frantically trying to calculate where she stood. Was she in the top third? How were they counting the pack’s numbers? Were they still including the three males? What about Genna? Was she-?
“Over to your right,” the assassin ordered her, and Luna felt a stab of relief as she realised she was on the lower side of the split they had just created; she was going to be allowed to live. But the woman standing right next to her was directed to the left. How was it that she was somehow responsible for Sempre’s actions, when Luna wasn’t? How was that fair? How could they possibly do this?
Glancing up the line, Luna saw the horrified faces of long-time comrades shepherded away for the slaughter. Rift and Anya, Luna’s closest friends, both ranked lower than her, so they were safe, but then she saw Lucia, third in rank in the pack, standing so still she might have been a statue. Lucia closed her eyes, an expression of such abject failure on her face that Luna knew she couldn’t just stand there and let this travesty occur. She and Lucia had exchanged only a handful of words since last night, when Lucia had displayed such brazen support of Luna’s rebellion, but by Luna’s reckoning, she was honest and well-intentioned, and by virtue of her rank, she could well be argued to have come far closer to her goal of overthrowing Sempre than Luna had.
“Wait!” Luna shouted, rushing forward. “What if we had another solution?” She came to a sudden stop as one of the assassins forcibly got in her way, preventing her from getting any clo
ser to the Panel. “You’re right, Sempre’s leadership has taken the pack down a dark path. But what if we installed a new alpha? New ideas, new morals, no more abusing the magic, respect for the males? A completely new way of doing things?”
“And you suddenly want to do this now, after twenty years of standing behind Sempre?” Eleanor asked. “It sounds far more like an attempt to save your own hide than a sound strategy for change.”
“I don’t need to save my own hide,” Luna shouted back, infuriated by the woman’s blindness. “My head isn’t on the chopping block in the first place! But you’re about to kill innocent people who had nothing to do with this!”
“But the point remains that you have made no effort to change your alpha until your lives were at stake,” Linnea pointed out, logic unfortunately on her side.
“We’ve tried!” Lucia shouted, watching the argument from a short distance away. “Two high ranking wolves tried to kill Sempre, one five years ago, the other about two years before that. Both of them should have succeeded, but they both ended up dead. Their bodies were found abandoned in the forest to be food for wild animals. There are rumours that Sempre cannot be killed, and for as long as that witch, Lita, stood by her side, no one else was game to try.”
Eleanor snorted in derision. “You’re saying she’s somehow figured out how to make herself immortal?”
“No, you half-wit,” Lucia snapped, respect and protocol be damned. “I’m saying she knows things about the magic that make my skin crawl. We all saw what it did to Lita, so you’ll have to forgive me if I wasn’t quite brave enough to face a fate like hers.”
Even the Panel was growing restless now, muttered conversations breaking out among them, people milling about in agitation. “The hearing has made a decision,” Linnea insisted, over the chaos. “And that decision stands.”
Luna turned on Sempre then, who was standing back, watching the whole debacle with open amusement. “You have nothing to say?” she demanded. “You would rather let a third of your pack die than put your hand up and say you’ve made a mistake?”
