Romancing the Werewolf

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Romancing the Werewolf by Gail Carriger

April 1876 — After the fight with Lady Kingair in Timeless, we know that two of our favorite werewolves, Beta to the pack Lyall and, at this time, baby werewolf Biffy, shared a bed. When they awoke, they shared much more, Biffy gently taking control because he somehow knew that's what the Beta needed. They then discussed Lyall leaving the London pack for Lady Kingair’s for a time because it was the right thing to do, and Lyall always does what's right.

December 1895 — It's only been a handful of months since Biffy has taken over leadership of the London pack from Lord Maccon. New in his position as Alpha, Biffy has decided it's time to move the London house away from their nextdoor neighbor, his former lover and everything else the vampire was to him, Lord Akeldama. Biffy is in the midst of selecting new curtains and wants them to be purple, but the rest of the wolves say that purple is a vampire color, which is just ridiculous. He knows his Beta would have supported him in his purple decision, but he's still away, and Biffy misses him, both romantically, even though that only happened the one time really, and supportively. He chooses the purple curtains because he is Alpha and he knows best.

Biffy goes next door for probably the final time to say goodbye to Lord Akeldama, and, in what comes as a surprise to Biffy, the vampire already knows they are moving and is wholly supportive of the idea. The supernatural set needs to expand past their one corner of London and there will be more opportunities for Biffy to gain more clavigers near the theater. The vampire soon becomes busy with the acquisition of two new kittens and so Biffy leaves his former love, his former drone life, his former dreams, officially behind.

Professor Lyall finally returns to London after some twenty years. He meant to return right after Biffy became Alpha, but he still had a few duties to attend to. New Beta Phineas has securely been installed with the Kingair pack along with his partner, the Wicker Chicken. Lyall wonders what the Dewan will do without his prize intelligencers, but he's got more pressing matters to attend to. He can not smell his pack! Where did they go? Did Biffy fail? Are they all dead?! Lyall visits Lord Akeldama and learns that they have moved to Greenwich, but doesn't say where, but he gives a clue as to where Biffy might be so close to Christmas. 

Obviously Biffy is at Chapeau du Poupe, his lovely hat shop that once belonged to our favorite pants-wearing lady scientist. Even though he is Alpha now, he still maintains his shop, makes his hats and even sells them, they're just that good as to defy all sense of propriety. As Biffy is helping a young lady, a werewolf enters, but not one he is familiar with by scent. When he finally realizes who is beneath the smell of sands and the slightly longer hair, he almost loses it and feels a claim in his head: Mine. It's Lyall. Finally. 

Biffy and Lyall take a carriage to the new pack house. Along the way, they begin to discuss what Lyall missed during his time with the Kingair pack. Gamma werewolf Channing Channing of the Chesterfield Channings challenged Biffy for Alpha and failed, obviously, but now he is the head of BUR, installed there by Biffy and the Queen. She also provided the estate they now have at a very reasonable price. Things were a little shaky during the transition of Alphas as things weren't so great with Lord Maccon at the end of his time, and things are still a little shaky now, but with the new house and now with Lyall back, things should get better, right? 

Unfortunately, when they arrive at the house, things are not better. Everyone is in an uproar! Of the pack, Adelphus, Quinn, Phelan, Hemming, Rafe, Ulric, and Zev were there, Channing Channing of the Chesterfield Channings was likely still at BUR, and they were all in a kerfuffle and one seemed to be squealing like a tea kettle. Oh wait, no. That's… a baby? All the werewolves and the clavigers fuss around trying to decide what to do with the baby and what it needs and how to care for it. Biffy steps in, hoists the baby to his shoulder and gives him a pat, causing him to spit up his dinner all over the Alpha’s nice jacket, and then he has to strip out of it, which gains some longing looks from Lyall. The baby, which they decide to call Robin because of the Christmas season, calms and they eventually find a nice hatbox to put him in as a bassinet. Everything and everyone settles and then they realize that their Beta is finally home!

Biffy sends a few of his werewolves out to the local church to see if they might know who this baby belongs to and to the workhouse in search of a wet nurse. They don't find out about the baby but they do learn that there is another pastor in town that is causing trouble, so they'll need to investigate. They do acquire a wet nurse, Mrs. Whybrew, and she has her own baby daughter with her. After a slight faux pas, Mrs. Whybrew thinking Biffy is too pretty to be Alpha, she and the babies settle in nicely, too. Everything taken care of for the night, Lyall goes to his room, right next to Biffy’s. He wonders about being so close since Biffy has shown no romantic interest in him since he's returned. If only they each knew about all their pining for one another, of which there is a lot. The pining! The pining!!

The next day, James, Biffy's claviger, attempts to dress the Alpha in an outfit most unbecoming, and when Biffy suggests a different outfit, James admits to being flustered because another baby has been delivered. After the poor cravat tying, Biffy tries to be nicer to the claviger and sends him on his way. He heads out of his room and, being brave, he is Alpha after all, knocks on Lyall’s door. Lyall is getting dressed sans claviger and so Biffy offers to tie his cravat for him. They are very, very close and Biffy worries about putting strain on their non-relationship. He doesn't want them to be together fearing his Alpha influence, so instead he just sexily ties the cravat and they go to deal with the new baby delivery, which has interrupted their meal.

This baby, a girl, is slightly older, more a toddler than an infant, and runs out into the hallway just as Channing Channing of the Chesterfield Channings is heading toward the door. Biffy hesitates as the little one grasps the haughty Gamma werewolf’s trousers, preparing to shift to protect the child if need be. This is unnecessary as Channing Channing of the Chesterfield Channings looks down at the toddler, strokes her little red curls, and goes about his business. Biffy, probably puzzled a little bit, suggests that Mrs. Whybrew keep the little ones away from Channing Channing of the Chesterfield Channings and out of the hallways altogether.

Over breakfast, all the werewolves break into chatter about needing to decorate for Christmas with a tree, a yule log, evergreen boughs, cider, and even wassail, but for the nippers, of course. Always everything for the children. Biffy suggests not going so overboard as it's not quite Christmas yet, and everyone seems satisfied. Then he sets them on tasks to find the children's parents, even though they all just want to keep them, but that's ridiculous! The wolves all split up to begin their search.

Lyall sets off alone in wolf form to use his superior snoot to try to sniff out a trail. He follows Robin’s scent but it only goes a little ways, which probably means he was dropped off from a carriage. Rosie, the toddler, he tracks to an empty warehouse, which he and Biffy go check on after a fruitless chat with the townsfolk. The warehouse has a sort of stage at one end and smells overwhelmingly of vinegar. They can tell that people have been coming and going frequently but they don't know why. Biffy reluctantly says he'll set a claviger to watch out during the day and his reluctance leads to a serious conversation that he has been worried about.

When they get back to the pack house, everyone still out searching, Biffy and Lyall go to Biffy's room. They are both feeling feelings about this but neither says anything and instead, Lyall listens to his Alpha's troubles. Biffy has lost several clavigers and is afraid that he will lose the pack as well because he doesn't think he's a good Alpha, or he doesn't look the way a good Alpha should. Lyall tries to comfort him, in a friendly way, and says that packs are tethered to each other, not just to the Alpha and not to a place. Clavigers are not pack so they are not tethered and often come and go in times of transition. He goes on to talk of trust, which leads Biffy to realize that he needs to change the curtains. The two then spoon together on the settee, as friends they both want each other to think, and companionably doze off.

Biffy wakes and moves them both to the bed, again, companionably. When he wakes, he sees that Lyall has left the room and learns that another baby has been delivered. The clavigers and several daytime staff made chase and only learned that the carriage that dropped the baby off was headed to the warehouse district. As the pack eats, a couple of them alert the rest that an American preacher has moved into the area. Sure that this loud, shouty American will be anti-supernatural in his leanings, Biffy, Lyall, Rafe, Ulric and Adelphus go investigate. Soon enough, people dressed in their Sunday best begin arriving. When Biffy realizes it is in fact Sunday, he realizes this must be the church meeting and sends Lyall and Rafe in.

What they discover is the service is not what they were expecting. Instead of a rabble-rousing American preacher spouting supernatural hate, they find a rabble-rousing American Alpha werewolf spouting supernatural worship. He demands sacrifices that they leave for the local pack, expecting them to be eating them apparently, and accepts another one during the service. It took a little bit for Lyall to realize the preacher was an Alpha because it seems he bathes in vinegar to hide his smell. Yuck. Lyall and Rafe leave to report to Biffy and the others. They heard everything of course. Now it's time for Biffy to deal with this new pickley Alpha.

Biffy tries to duel only with words and get the American Alpha, named Thadeus Monday, to submit or leave, but being an obnoxious American, Monday instead insults Biffy’s size and dandiness. They discuss his leaving of babies on their doorstep and Monday implies that they were not sacrifices, they were a challenge, a very old, improper form of challenge by non-American standards, but it was indeed a challenge and Biffy accepts. He strips out of his suit, leaving only his shirt, which rips away when he transforms, and his top hat, which remains perched on his wolf head. Monday's transformation is much less impressive than Biffy's. He struggles and howls and shreds his clothes, all except for his waistcoat, which is rather ugly. Now the duel begins. 

It's not much of a duel. The American werewolf charges over and over at Biffy and Biffy easily dodges over and over, effortlessly scraping Monday with his claws at each pass. Lyall wants Biffy to end it and he does, again effortlessly. He flips the American over onto his back and clamps down on his throat. He refuses to submit, so Biffy quickly finishes the fight, breaking the wolf’s neck. Lyall invites the few churchgoers who somehow remained to join them the next night wherein they would teach them properly about werewolves and hopefully return the babies to their rightful owners. Back at home, Biffy goes right to bed, feeling a little queasy but not telling anyone. Lyall knows though, and brings up tea and biscuits.

In this moment of tenderness, Biffy asks Lyall, essentially, if it is inappropriate for them to be together because he is Alpha and Lyall is Beta. Lyall, being 400+ years old, knows a lot about werewolf traditions and customs that Biffy, in his only 20+ years, does not know. Lyall assures him that it isn't done often, but it is not forbidden, as long as there is mutual respect. Biffy shares that he was not with anyone else in their time apart and doesn't want to know about Lyall, but we can assume that he is the same. They finally come together and feel their tethers snap perfectly in place, stronger than ever before, even for Lyall, who has been a Beta for a very very long time. 

Things wrap up nicely after this. Lyall moves into Biffy's room and only Channing Channing of the Chesterfield Channings has anything to say about it, and mostly he just says “about bloody time.” They deal with the churchgoers as well, instructing them that werewolves do not prefer baby sacrifices as babies are too fatty to be good for eating and instead act out a scene where Ulric brings a sacrifice of a squash to a dapper Channing Channing of the Chesterfield Channings werewolf. He eats the squash and then leaves about his business. Everything is well and good after that, well, maybe not the squash.