And when he finally succumbed, I buried Hellequin with him.'
The memory of Henry's blind and bloody form flashed in my mind, his pleas had long since silenced because I'd removed his tongue. I hadn't wanted information from him; I'd just wanted to make him suffer. Before he'd lost his ability to talk, he'd told me that someone had paid him to do it, but he never said who. No matter what I did to him, he took that secret to his grave. And after a few years of searching, I decided he'd been lying. Trying to prolong his life for a short time more, hoping for mercy where there was none to give.
'I no longer had the desire to go by that name,' I continued, still talking to Olivia's back. 'I no longer wanted to instil fear with a word. I hoped that the legend would die, but it didn't, it grew, became more… fanciful.
'You're right, I'm a killer. I've killed thousands, and very few of them have ever stained my conscience. I can go to a dark place and do whatever I need to. But for those I care about, those I love, I will move fucking mountains to keep them safe. And I care about Tommy and Kasey, whether you grant permission or not.'
I turned to walk away.
'I'm sorry,' Olivia said, and placed a hand on my bicep to turn me around, her tears flowing freely as we stood in silence. 'Will you promise me that we'll get Tommy and Kasey back?' she asked.
'I promise.' My words were spoken with utter conviction. 'And no one will stand in our way.'
Olivia stepped toward me. 'They have my little girl,' she said softly. 'They have my princess.' Olivia took another step and broke down in my arms. Her sobs continued against my chest and shoulder, quickly drenching my shirt. She collapsed herself in my arms, and I had to sit us down on the damp grass before we fell. I held her for a long time, until her cries of anguish brought Sky to check on us. She took one look at Olivia and me, and tears fell from her eyes.
Sky helped Olivia back to her feet, with more than a little struggle. 'I'll take her to clean up,' she told me.
'Thank you,' I said as Olivia, let go of me.
'I'm so sorry,' Olivia choked out. 'I had no idea what you'd been through.'
'Not many do,' I said. 'Go get yourself ready, we have a long night ahead of us.'
Olivia straightened up. 'What do you need?'
'Blueprints of the LOA building,' I said. 'We need to know what we're dealing with.'
'Then you'll get them,' Olivia told me. And with that Sky led her away.
I wasn't really sure what to do after that. I felt drained. I rarely talked about Jane. Very few people knew about her, even fewer than those who knew that I used to be Hellequin. But it had been the right thing to tell Olivia. I'd needed to regain her trust, and sometimes you can only do that by revealing out the things you most want to keep private.
I started walking through the expansive grounds that belonged to Elijah. Although I supposed that used to belong was probably the more accurate phrase. I had no idea what would happen to Elijah or his property after he'd confessed to being a traitor.
'Nathan,' Matthew called out.
I turned to find him sat beneath a tree. The low hanging branches created shadows to partly obscure him, and I'd have never noticed his presence if he hadn't called for me.
I walked over and Matthew smiled at me, it was an easy expression and one of friendship. I exploded at him.
'This is your fault, you know,' I snapped. 'All of this shit that we're going through, it can be brought back to you.'
Matthew stammered for a second, clearly not having expected me to go off at him.
'You created a situation where that stupid prick down in the basement got enough support to challenge you. If you hadn't done that, he would never have even thought about challenging you. Hell, the first time he mentioned it to someone, they would have shopped him straight to you.'
Matthew got back to his feet, fire in his eyes. 'How dare you insinuate that this is my fault? That this is something I could have avoided by not being gay.'
'What the hell are you talking about? I don't give a shit what you are. This is to do with that fact that your sexuality is your weakness, because you're making it one.'
'Fuck you,' Matthew snapped.
'So, you're telling me it's not your weakness? Okay, where's your female alpha?'
Matthew recoiled like he'd been slapped. 'I don't have one.'
'Why?'
'Because I'm gay.'
'What does that have to do with anything?'
'I would think it had everything to do with it. I'm not about to pretend that I'm something I'm not. Not so I can appease a bunch of assholes who would be against me no matter what I did.'
'It's not about appeasing anyone; it's about having a strong pack. The female alpha is half of your rule. She deals with the female pack members, she backs you and keeps the pack strong. That's her job.'
'I have Gordon to do those things.'
'No matter how nice Gordon might look in drag, he's neither an alpha nor a woman.'
'Nathan has a point,' Gordon said from behind me. 'My lack of a vagina does get in the way of dealing with the ladies.'
'That's not what I meant,' I said, exasperated.
Gordon laid a hand on my shoulder. 'I was just joking.' He turned to his alpha. 'Nathan is right. You're missing a large part of your hierarchy by not having a female alpha. I've told you this several times.'
Matthew placed one hand on Gordon's shoulder and Gordon covered it with his own and for the first time I realised something.
'You're together,' I said. 'That's why Elijah hated Gordon, too.'
Matthew nodded. 'I love this man, and I will not belittle that by bringing a woman into our house to pretend that we're something we're not.'
'Then don't,' I said. 'Everyone in your pack probably knows you're gay, you're not trying to pretend otherwise. You don't have to fuck her, Matthew. You just have to bring her into your life and allow her to do the job a female alpha is meant to do. Without it, you're going to have more people using that as a way to hit you, making your sexuality your weakness.'
'I pretended to be straight for centuries, always knowing I lived a lie. I will not go back to it.'
'Then don't,' I said. 'But don't let your hang-ups cause something like this again. Yes, Peter would have found someone else to use, but probably not in your pack. Elijah would have been an annoying little shit instead of someone who arranged to bring you down so he could put himself into that position. Get a female alpha, someone you trust. You don't have to live with her or marry her, but you do have to have a woman in that position. Otherwise you might as well step aside and let someone else take over. Because sooner or later, another wolf is going to succeed where Elijah failed, and next time you might not catch it in time to stop it.'
Matthew stared at me for several heartbeats. 'Are you truly the Hellequin?'
'Change of subject?'
Matthew smiled. 'I will think on the female alpha situation. My pack deserves to be strong, and I will ensure that nothing like this happens again. Maybe the centuries of living a lie have caused me to think unclearly when it comes to other people's perceptions of me.'
'And I shall shout at him until he relents,' Gordon said, taking out a cigar and lighting it. 'It's a dreadful habit, but we all have our vices.'
'So, do you plan on answering my question?' Matthew asked.
'Yes,' I told him. 'I'm really the Hellequin. Did you expect me to be taller?'
Matthew shook his head. 'More intense. I thought you'd be all fire and brimstone. Do you really think we can get Kasey and Tommy back in one piece?'
'Yeah, I do. Peter wants Olivia to suffer, so he's not going to do anything until she arrives. He won't want to jeopardise his revenge.'
'Matthew,' Gordon said, and pointed over to a young man who was running toward us.
'Yes, Simon?' Matthew said to the newcomer.
Simon stood up straight, clearly proud at being spoken to by the alpha of his pack. He was well over six feet
