All The King's Wolves

A Fantasy Variation of Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice.

Chapter One

"There was once a great many wolves in England."

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that the noble lineage of king's wolves was dwindling. These shapeshifters, half man, half wolf, had dominated the ruling class for more than a millennia. In the more recent century less and less male heirs were born with the ability become the werewolf.

Mr. Thomas Bennet had more than a few ideas on why. He had spent most of the morning pouring over dusty old books that told the tales of the ancient line of king's wolves. The first conclusion he had settled as cause for this problem had just arrived into his study prattling on about one thing or another just as she always did, the Mrs. Bennet, his aging but still very beautiful wife. He was not of course placing the blame on her specifically. She had indeed been a caring wife in their three and twenty years of marriage. She was an excellent mistress of their estate Longbourn, and a masterful hostess. Though her nerves did run away with her most days. No, it was not her fault he had not fathered a wolf himself. It was his own.

He had become enamored with the beautiful Fanny Gardiner when he was barely a man, still more of a boy really. Even she had still be full on young at only fifteen. She was rather charming when she had not a care in the world, much like their youngest daughter Lydia, but perhaps not so wild. Fanny was so beautiful and vibrant, even at six years his junior he was willing to forsake everything for her. When she was eighteen he had finally won her heart. She had a small but reasonable dowry for being the daughter of a local attorney. It was enough that his own father considered it to be a more advantageous match than searching for his fated mate that could potentially have no fortune at all. And that right there was what Mr. Bennet believed was the crux of the matter.

Once upon a time mates were sacred, prized, treasured. Even in this new age of sciences it was still hard not define the mate blessing as something magical. Those gifted with the wolf change were endowed with their perfect match, their mate. They were born for each other alone. The mating mark would blaze across their palms at first touch signaling the fated match. They would be able to bond, as if their souls were aligned. Their thoughts becoming one. A bonded mate was also the only way of bringing forth a new generation of wolves. There was just the matter of finding each other. A woman would not know if she were a mate, nor have the inkling to search for her wolf. Though if these history records could be believed the mate of a wolf would appear naturally, the wolf need only to remain patient. Mr. Bennet had not.

For most though, it was not merely the immediate gratification of having a fair maiden love for a wife, but of matters of fortune and station. The peerage had always prioritized this but for centuries it was rare for a wolf to find his mate among anything other than the first circles. With centuries of wolves being only among the elite ruling class and mates always the descendant of a wolf, even if not directly, it had caused very few if any concerns. The cast falling wasn't until titles were no longer divided out to younger sons, and those same sons became the landed gentry. Thus wolves and mates a like were born into the landed gentry and the reason why even a country squire of little wealth like Mr. Bennet himself was endowed with the gift. This cycle continued though slowly over centuries with the younger sons of the poorer wolves of the landed gentry having no other option but to choose a trade as a way of living. It continued again and again till it was now a very simple understanding of cause effect of how mates could now be found among even the lowest class. The scale of wolf descendant now spanned so many classes a mate could be found in any of them. Still there were not many nobility who would tolerate their heir marrying the chambermaid. It was why his fathered had allowed him to pursue his course. A dowry of seven thousand was plenty tolerable and made a perfectly respectable wife out of a tradesman's daughter.

It had become come common practice by the time Thomas Bennet was born, to seek a fortunate wife instead of a mate. If the rumors were to be believed even the king himself had refused to allow his son, the heir apparent and now Prince Regent, to marry his mate that had turned out to be a commoner and worse, a catholic. Mr. Bennett's own father had fortunately found his mate in the beautiful daughter of a neighboring estate. Fathering a wolf was inevitable for him so there was never cause for concern. Since his father had not yet even inherited the estate of Longbourn at the time Thomas had requested to marry Fanny, neither was aware of the entailment that had been in place for more than eight hundred years since the estates founding. Only a wolfkin may inherit. Mr. Bennet apparently was the first to break the mating cycle. It wasn't till the birth of his and Fanny's first child, a girl, their sweet Jane that he discovered not only could she not inherit, none of his children would.

He was what many would refer to as a weak wolf despite his long heritage. He rarely had to give into the need to shift, rarely gave into his wolf instincts at all, much like his father before him. He had no desire to socialize with a pack, or hunt, and so never felt inclined to join one of the wolf clubs in town. In fact he rarely visited town at all and hadn't run with another wolf since his father passed. They had both been rather disconnected from their wolven heritage. It had been so many years since his last change, he had begun to wonder if his wolf was even there anymore. But as such he had also never felt the drive to seek his fated mate. He was quite content with Fanny, so much so that when his fated mated did inevitably cross his path a year after they married, he did not even acknowledge her. He moved on with his life never completing the bonding after that first contact. Even the marker on his palm had faded quite quickly.

But there were those that were closer to their wilder half. The need to breed, the need for wolven offspring, would be more demanding for them. The mate would call to them like a siren. They would not give up a mate so easily. While those of the first circle still always married for money and power, it also did nothing to stop the fated mate from crossing the wolves' path. Now more often than not an unsuitable mate would be relegated to the position mistress with no more purpose than to breed an heir. Mr. Bennet found this practice quite horrifying as had his father before him. Though it appeared very few actual ladies would degrade themselves in such a way. It did not take long for the number of wolf births to drop. Only a wolf could inherit the original hereditary peerage titles, it was why they were often referred to as the King's Wolves. In the last few years, out five hundred peers, less than a quarter produced viable heirs, even when taking the bastard children of mistress mates into account. This was brought to the attention of House of Lords when the Prince Regent took control. Census of the entire Kingdom yielded so few births that it sent the entire House of Lords into an uproar. They were dying out.

The new Prince Regent's urgent solution to this crisis had caught Mr. Bennet's attention some months ago. Just this past January in one of the Prince's first orders as official acting regent he decreed with the agreement of parliament, The Mate Protection Act. Mr. Bennet cared little for politics, but this was on that couldn't be ignored. It stated a mate once discovered became the rightful property of the wolf. A wolf merely needed to have the mating recorded with the local magistrate with the proof of the matching mating marks, and he had the power of full claim on the woman. Even to the point of annulling a current marriage, and even if the woman already had children. The woman had no right to refuse to breed with the wolf, and he was well within his rights to force the mating. As an acquiesce the act had been amended to add that only when the woman had provided an heir that was capable of the change could the mating bond be terminated. Despite its title, it was clearly a protection of wolf rights and not the other.

It was a letter he had received only this morning from Fanny's brother who lived in London that had him pondering grievously over the matter. This past season had caused a sort of uproar. More than the usual drama and fanfare of a season. Seven young ladies had been discovered as mates in town this season, the event of the maker was rather hard to miss especially in a ball room. It was not so rare an occurrence but had always created rather sensational news. Now news had taken on a darker tone as the new law had everyone on edge. Not a one of the ladies had been reported to be engaged or married even, and yet all had disappeared from social functions, nor were they found to be in the care of their families. It did not bode well for mates in the future. There were very likely more where the marker did not appear in so public a place as a ball.

Mr. Bennet had five daughters, and in a house full of women he had given a lot of thought to the rights of women or lack thereof. This was more troubling. Having his little girls at the mercy of any man was already terrifying. It bothered him to no end his wife was in a rush to marry them off altogether. Before, any suitor who might have come for any of his daughter's' hand, he could deny, or at the very least, even she could. And now wolf didn't even have to propose marriage, he could just take her. Neither of them would have any say in the matter if one of them was discovered to be a mate. With five daughters all of whom were even the direct descendant of a very strong long lasting wolf line, Mr. Bennet felt the likelihood of one or more of them being a mate was high. It had not concerned him till now. He had seen no reason to burden them with the possibility. Now the temptation to lock all of his daughters away was beginning to look like a better idea every day. If a wolf never had contact with them then they would never know. Not that he would have ever considered it an acceptable position for any of his daughter or a lady for that matter, this was so much worse than being merely a mistress. Mistresses had to be enticed and encouraged to stay, could even demand some level or fair treatment or end her services. There would be no respite for the mate of wolf. The mate used to be a prized and protected class, cared for with the utmost delicacy as the mother of their offspring. The Regent had now delegated them to nothing more than a broodmare. Actually horses were now probably better protected than mates. This was a slave.

Mr. Bennet grieved his social and political laziness. He had even turned out to be a rather lazy estate owner. He always preferred the company of his books. They often took preference over estate matters. He had no form of protection to offer his girls. Few friends, no connections, and very little in the way of wealth. No way to ensure a wolf treated them fairly. It was for this that he found himself leafing through an old box of box that had been in his family for generations. They were mostly a set of legends and fairytales of the king's wolves. Some though were detailed historical accounts and others further still were anthologies of the ancient culture of the wolfkin. He had read various parts of them as a young man when he had been more in touch with his wolf. As of now they had been locked away for more than two decades from the day he met the woman who would have been his mate. When he turned his back on her that day he had collected them all and locked them in a box deciding he was done with wolf kind. He was quite pleased he had done so, especially when two of his daughters turned out to be very scholarly minded. He had given them free reign of his library, it delighted him they found so much pleasure in his most favorite pastime. He did not mind them reading about the wolves per say but too many of the family texts included violent war and explicit mating rituals. The content was certainly not meant for maiden eyes, the writers had not spared any thought to curbing the details for more polite society. Some of them even made Mr. Bennet blush. It was best they all stayed locked up. Now though he was desperate for answers on ways to save his daughters from a horrible fate and he found himself frantically flipping from one text to another. He was so absorbed in his search he did not hear his wife calling him. To be fair though, he often ignored many of his wife's comments as they usually centered on her poor nerves.

"Mr. Bennet!" his darling wife squealed.

"Yes my dear?" he replied finally broken from his stormy thoughts.

"I asked if you had heard that Netherfield Park is let at last." Her face still showed delight though he had been clearly ignoring her.

Mr. Bennet replied that he had not. He could already feel that this would not bode well. There was only one reason Mrs. Bennet would address him so excitedly on such a matter.

"But it is," returned she; "for Mrs. Long has just been here, and she told me all about it."

Mr. Bennet made no answer.

"Do you not want to know who has taken it?" cried his wife impatiently.

"You want to tell me, and I have no objection to hearing it." He did object but there would be no use hiding from it.

This was invitation enough.

"Why, my dear, you must know, Mrs. Long says that Netherfield is taken by a young man of large fortune from the north of England; that he came down on Monday in a chaise and four to see the place, and was so much delighted with it, that he agreed with Mr. Morris immediately; that he is to take possession before Michaelmas, and some of his servants are to be in the house by the end of next week."

"What is his name?" He tried to keep his interest light as he mentally cycled through the wolf families he knew. A man of wealth was more likely to be a wolf then not.

"Bingley."

"Is he married or single?"

"Oh! Single, my dear, to be sure! A single man of large fortune; four or five thousand a year. What a fine thing for our girls!"

"How so? How can it affect them?"

"My dear Mr. Bennet," replied his wife, "how can you be so tiresome! You must know that I am thinking of his marrying one of them."

"Is that his design in settling here?"

"Design! Nonsense, how can you talk so! But it is very likely that he may fall in love with one of them, and therefore you must visit him as soon as he comes."

"I see no occasion for that. You and the girls may go, or you may send them by themselves, which perhaps will be still better, for as you are as handsome as any of them, Mr. Bingley may like you the best of the party." His thoughts were soothed and fell back into his more humorous nature. A single gentlemen might just as well assume to marry his mate. Especially since five thousand a year was truly not so very grand a sum. He was not a lord or heir, it would be perfectly acceptable to marry the daughter of a gentleman even if she was not wealthy. He remembered what it was like to be a young man and after all, and all of his girls were quite pretty.

"My dear, you flatter me. I certainly have had my share of beauty, but I do not pretend to be anything extraordinary now. When a woman has five grown-up daughters, she ought to give over thinking of her own beauty."

"In such cases, a woman has not often much beauty to think of."

"But, my dear, you must indeed go and see Mr. Bingley when he comes into the neighborhood."

"It is more than I engage for, I assure you."

"But consider your daughters. Only think what an establishment it would be for one of them. Sir William and Lady Lucas are determined to go, merely on that account, for in general, you know, they visit no newcomers. Indeed you must go, for it will be impossible for us to visit him if you do not."

"You are over-scrupulous, surely. I dare say Mr. Bingley will be very glad to see you; and I will send a few lines by you to assure him of my hearty consent to his marrying whichever he chooses of the girls; though I must throw in a good word for my little Lizzy."

"I desire you will do no such thing. Lizzy is not a bit better than the others; and I am sure she is not half so handsome as Jane, nor half so good-humored as Lydia. But you are always giving her the preference."

"They have none of them much to recommend them," replied he; "they are all silly and ignorant like other girls; but Lizzy has something more of quickness than her sisters." He said such things often enough but never meant them meanly or seriously. After all he still had no desire to marry them off and saw no reason to expound on those virtues that would make them a sought after wife. He did favor Elizabeth though. His Lizzy was indeed special but as quickness of the mind was rarely a valued commodity he did not fear that to be the reason a man might seek her out as a wife.

"Mr. Bennet, how can you abuse your own children in such a way? You take delight in vexing me. You have no compassion for my poor nerves."

"You mistake me, my dear. I have a high respect for your nerves. They have been my constant companion these twenty years."

"Ah, you do not know what I suffer."

"But I hope you will get over it, and live to see many young men of four thousand a year come into the neighborhood."

"It will be no use to us, if twenty such should come, since you will not visit them."

"Depend upon it, my dear, that when there are twenty, I will visit them all." His anxiety returned. He would have no choice but to visit, he wanted to be aware of any wolves that entered the neighborhood.

Wolves had always been few in this part of the country. And Mr. Bennet was so reserved in his wolf, his wife and much of the surrounding county often forgot all about it. In general he was odd a mixture of quick parts, sarcastic humor, reserve and caprice. While having never been social he was usually found to be in good humor. It would be uncharacteristic of him to be found in a brooding mood such as he was today. So much so that Mrs. Bennett seemed to miss his concern entirely. Mrs. Bennet certainly knew of the entail. And though it caused her undue amounts of nervousness she had completely forgotten the exact details. She had come to believe it was simply a matter of the estate being entailed away from the female line. With only five daughters and that entails were a common enough occurrence, it was the simplest conclusion to reach. She was determined she would have all her daughters secured, so neither she nor Mr. Bennet would have to worry about the silly entail. She had decided she did not care what happened to Longbourn after they passed. She was certain that Mr. Bennet could not either so all that mattered was to be sure their daughters were settled. Thus the business of her life was to get her daughters married; its solace was visiting and news. It had never occurred to her that one of her daughters could be the mate of a wolf.

AN: I'm a sucker for a good werewolf romance and I've always wanted to write one. There is a severe lack of good P&P Fantasies out their so I'd thought I'd try my hand at it, hope you'll enjoy it.