'That may be true, but you still missed one.'
I followed his pointed finger, behind me and noticed the tiny glint of moonlight touching a lens high up in a tree nearly three hundred yards to my side. Sniper rifle. 'Impressive.'
'Not for anyone who crosses me.'
The warning was there for all to hear, but before I could retort he strolled off, waving Tommy and me to join him. 'Try not to get into a pissing contest,' Tommy said. 'He's not a push over.'
'I have no intention of getting into any sort of contest with him. I can't help it, but I like the guy.'
'He has that effect on people.'
'On you, too?'
'It's why I'm not the current alpha. I don't want to have to kill him.'
Matthew led us past the clearing and through some more woods, the whole time flanked by two werewolves who did their best to maintain a respectful distance, even with their obvious unease at having newcomers around.
After a few hundred yards of woods, we exited into a second clearing that contained a massive bungalow, which I assumed was Matthew's home, and a short distance away from it was… part of a castle. An actual castle. Admittedly it was only a twelve-foot-high portion of a rampart, but the tower behind it rivalled the trees for height, and it was still a damn castle. And unless you were standing in front of it, you'd never even know it existed.
'Come, this way,' Matthew beckoned and we continued toward the bungalow. The interior lights were ablaze, and a few more people, both men and women, were clearly visible inside, with armed guards, male and female, stationed around the property.
'You don't take any chances,' I said.
'I have to protect my entire pack,' he said. 'And it wasn't that long ago my kind was at war.'
'That war ended centuries ago,' I said.
Matthew nodded to the guards and opened his front door. The warmth from inside was a welcome addition as we all stepped inside and removed our coats, hanging them on pegs beside the front door.
'Our kind fought werelions for millennia,' he said. 'Far too many died, and there are people on both sides who would like to gain retribution for those they lost.'
'It was a needless war, fought by idiots,' a man said from the end of the hallway. He appeared to be about forty years old and wore a dark blue suit. He also leaned on a walking stick, an unusual sight for a werewolf. 'Matthew gives too much gravitas to what happened. There was no honour or justice in that war, and now it's over. May peace remain always.'
'Not everyone thinks as you do,' Matthew said. 'Hence the protection.'
The man scoffed at him. 'No one with a brain would attack you. You run one of the largest packs in Europe, and are a member of the Avalon council.'
'It's those with only half a brain that I fear most,' Matthew said, before turning back to Tommy and me. 'Anyway, welcome to my home.'
'Thank you,' Tommy said. 'It's very impressive.'
And indeed it was. The hallway was very tasteful, with no dead animals or weaponry displayed proudly-unlike the last alpha's home I'd set foot in. Instead, there were photographs, dozens of them, taken from what appeared to be all over the world. Each one of a different and magnificent view.
'Did you take these photos yourself?'
'I spent many years walking the world,” Matthew said. “I only came back to England a few years ago.'
He took us through the door at the far end of the hallway and into an expansive open-planned room. It contained a huge circular coffee table, surrounded by red couches. Bay windows looked out over the front of the property.
'I guess I should introduce myself,' the man with the walking stick said.
'I'm so sorry for being rude,' Matthew said. 'This is Gordon Summers, my pack aide.'
I shook hands with Gordon, and then he embraced Tommy, much like Matthew had. 'You should not have come, Thomas.'
'Tommy,' he corrected. 'And I didn't have a choice.'
'Still, Elijah will discover that you were here, and he will not be happy.'
“Who's Elijah?' I asked.
'An asshole,' Gordon and Tommy said in unison before laughing.
'We'd best be quick then, hadn't we,' Matthew said.
We all took seats on the couches and Gordon left the room, returning with three bottles of beer and a can of coke, which he gave to Matthew. 'I don't drink,' the alpha said as if he needed to explain his lack of alcohol to us.
I opened my beer and savoured the coldness as it ran down my throat, while Tommy explained the situation to Gordon and Matthew. Once he'd finished, Matthew sighed and rubbed his neck with one hand, a pained expression on his face. 'Well, that's going to cause a problem,' he said.
'I'm sorry for asking,' Tommy said. 'But we need to find Neil Hatchell, and you're the only pack for a hundred miles.'
' That man is not a member of my pack,' Matthew said. He stood, walked over to the bay window, and closed the blinds. 'I understand your coming here, but I can't let you just walk around my pack until you get a smell that fits.'
'You know him, don't you?' I asked Matthew.
'He's a violent little prick, who would have been skinned alive if I'd have gotten my way. And there's no way on earth I would have allowed him to use my pack to keep him safe.'
'Maybe he's under another's protection?' I suggested. 'Someone within the pack who wants to undermine you?'
Matthew thought for about ten seconds before a flash of anger came over him. 'Elijah, you fucking idiot,' he snapped to himself. 'I will not have rapists and murderers in my pack.'
'So Elijah took him under his protection,' Tommy asked.
'You must be sure of this, Matthew,' Gordon said. 'Accusing Elijah without evidence would only cause more problems.'
'Why don't you just kill Elijah if he's that much of an affront?' I asked.
'Politics,' Matthew almost spat.
Each alpha normally takes a selection of people as his council, elder wolves who have experience and power, but who couldn't be an alpha by themselves. He also takes a female alpha, someone who takes charge in his absence and deals with a lot of the day-to-day issues. The fact that I hadn't seen a female alpha was a little odd.
'When I ascended to the position of alpha, I removed several of the wolves chosen by my predecessor, as they were more interested in their own power than that of the pack. I assume you saw those men and women through the windows as we walked up to the house?'
I nodded. 'So, who are they?'
'They're my council. Gordon did not know that I was planning on bringing you both back here. Once he found out, he had them retire to the rear of the property to await my instructions. I'm sure that Gordon will voice his disapproval of my actions once you've left.
'But my point is that those men and women are utterly loyal to both me and the pack. Elijah is not. He is loyal only to himself. And he has aligned himself with those others whom I removed from my council, the same wolves who were upset that I appointed a two-hundred-year-old werewolf as my aide.'
As one, Tommy and I all turned to Gordon.
'Two-hundred-and-three,' he said with a smile. 'I was forty-four when I was turned.'
'Why do you need a cane then?' I asked.
'Silver bullet in the hip, but I got the bastard.'
Tommy laughed, but the expression on Gordon's face told me that the memory was not a pleasant one.
'Gordon, can you bring Ellie in? I think she's going to want to hear about this.'
Gordon immediately left the room.
