When Alpha Created Omega

Conclusion/End

The knife came down through the roast with a heavy, wet thud, and Kent paused long enough to stare at the cut he'd just made. Steam curled lazily from the meat, carrying the smell of rosemary, garlic, and whatever expensive seasoning the kitchen staff had decided to use this time.

He had stopped asking where the food came from years ago. There had been a point when lunch meant whatever could be found in the old kitchen.

Usually something Theo had forgotten about or Iven had demanded at the last minute. Now their were cooks, gardeners, servants, guards, and enough food being prepared for one family gathering to feed an entire pack.

Kent glanced over his shoulder at the enormous kitchen.

"One day," he muttered, "I'm going to make every single one of you bring your own food."

The servant beside him lowered her head, hiding a smile.

Kent narrowed his eyes at her. "You think I'm joking."

"I didn't say anything."

"You didn't have to."

He turned back toward the roast and began cutting again, the knife sliding through the tender meat with considerably less resistance than it had any right to.

Outside the tall kitchen windows, sunlight spilled across the eastern gardens. Beyond them, the estate stretched farther than the original property ever had.

It still surprised him.

Sometimes Kent could stand in the middle of the place and remember exactly what had been there before.

The old stone walls.

The narrow corridors.

The rooms that had once smelled like medicine and blood.

Theo's office.

The battlefield.

The broken windows.

The front lawn that had become a graveyard.

None of it looked the same anymore.

The original estate remained at the center because Theo had refused to let Iven destroy it, but everything surrounding it had grown outward over the years. New wings had been built from pale stone that caught the sunlight almost white during the day and turned silver beneath the moon.

Towers rose at the eastern and western ends, each topped with the new symbol of the werewolf government: a wolf curled around a single thread.

Covered walkways connected the palace to the administrative buildings, the medical wing, the training grounds, and the residences for visiting officials. Beyond those were gardens, orchards, greenhouses, stables, barracks, and a long stretch of land reserved for the children.

Calling it an estate had almost become a joke.

It was a kingdom's heart.

And Kent was still being forced to cut lunch.

He slid another piece of meat onto the serving board.

Something moved at the edge of his vision.

Kent didn't bother looking.

"No."

A small voice answered from behind him.

"I didn't say anything."

"You were thinking about asking for meat."

A pause.

"How did you know?"