To Eternity

by Daisy Banks

  Reaching out, he took one of her hands and offered her a folded handkerchief from his pocket. “Here.”

  Tears rolled down her face. Each shimmering drop rang a death knell for their love. She shook out the handkerchief and used it slowly to wipe her eyes. All the time he ached to hold her, to plead with her to care for him still, monstrous as he was. Her complexion had paled. He hung his head. How could he torture her like this? She deserved so much joy and delight. All he could offer her was the wretched world of the wolf, and if he explained his fears, the bitterest truth of all might destroy her.

  “Magnus,” she whispered.

  He looked up,

  “Hold me? Please.”

  Joy quashed the fear in his gut. He moved to sit beside her, took her in his arms, and smoothed his hand over her hair, stroked her as he held her close. For now, for this moment, she’d allow him to love her. Soon, she might think again. “You have to know I am not sorry I bit Franklyn. I wish I’d finished the job.”

  Sian shook in his embrace.

  “You know I have killed in the past.” He stroked her hair again.

  “Yes, but this.”

  “I wanted to protect you from him. I still do.”

  She gave a tiny nod against his shoulder. “I know. But it was a mistake. You said you thought it was a mistake.”

  “Look at me.”

  Emeralds from the bottom of a pool, the wavering brilliance of her eyes, searched and probed. He caressed her face and prayed she would understand.

  “The error I made was to leave before he laid dead. By doing so, I have created something to haunt us both.” The shudders running through her transferred to him as she clung tight.

  She sniffed, swiped at her eyes again with the handkerchief. Tears tracked from the corners. “Tell me,” she whispered.

  “I hoped, because of all the blood transfusions and medication Franklyn had when in the hospital, this wouldn’t happen. I watched and waited. Even when he came to you in the dream state, I tried to convince myself it wasn’t true.”

  “Franklyn’s got into my dreams several times since.”

  He groaned at the news. “You should have told me. There can be no doubt my fears are justified.” He kissed her damp cheek, her lips, and her eyelids. “Gorsewell wants you.”

  She stiffened in his embrace. Her small chin firmed as she opened glittering eyes. The determined young woman, who had captured his heart with ease, shook her head. “Wanting isn’t getting. He can go to hell.”

  “I heartily concur. Believe me, by the end of the month he might think he has.”

  “You bit him.”

  The thought process flitted across her face. He watched the realization hit her. There was no need to try to reach into her thoughts or to keep his from her. She understood and blanched paler still. He could scarce breathe.

  “Magnus, he’ll become like you. Oh, my God! Franklyn will be like you.”

  “Sian! Look at me.” He held her tight in his embrace, cuddled her closer, yet still she shook. “You need to listen so you understand.”

  The wait for her response tested his faith.

  After more minutes than he cared to think on, she whispered, “He’ll kill me if I don’t—”

  “No, he won’t. You have to listen very carefully to what I’m going to say, and please try to understand. We need to talk and think in the way of the wolf. It is a path I can no longer shun. My body is making changes of its own to compensate for my mistake and give me the chance to deal with what will come. Franklyn’s condition makes it imperative I accept all the new wolf energy and take control of the situation.”

  Sian curled up in his lap, laying her head against his shoulder. “Tell me.”

  He wound his fingers through her hair, coiled a palm full of the twirled strands, and gave a gentle tug to urge her to look up. “You know a little about me, about this house and my ancestry.”

  She nodded. He pressed a kiss to her lips.

  “You know the curse that afflicts me. You have seen the thing I become.”

  Again, she nodded, but this time she leaned forward to press her lips to his.

  Eager for a taste of her, he allowed their kiss to bloom until he tasted her passion. Then he eased away. “This is the important part. You know my bite in the wolf form can alter a person?”

  “Yes.”

  The low-voiced word and her tense expression gave him pause. “This has nothing to do with love, desire, or the need I feel for you. It is a biological reaction. The process has always been a way for my kind to repopulate a broken pack.”

  “Pack?”

  Her scent provoked his need for another taste of her lips. “Yes. Lone wolves such as I, we are a rarity. Few can tolerate such isolation brought by the state of omega. The werewolf is meant to live in a pack, with a leading male and female, as wolves do.”

  “The alpha male and female,” she whispered.

  “Indeed. Along with the alpha couple, there should be other members of the pack. A hunting pack needs more than a couple.” He smiled. “No matter how much they care for each other.”

  “There should be beta members?”

  “Yes, and others, too.”

  “Magnus, are you saying Franklyn will be a part of your pack?”

  Words swirled in his mind for a few minutes. A pack of his own, and established with such a creature as Gorsewell in it, was a nightmarish prospect. He would never trust Franklyn. Even if it took decades for him to gain the courage, Franklyn would try in every way to lure Sian to him in dreams or reality, coerce her, or frighten her. Magnus shook his head. “The only way I will accept Gorsewell is with his profound understanding I am the leader of this pack and that you are mine. By the time I transform again I will be ready to protect my—” The need to say mate almost overwhelmed him. Sian was, and would always be, the mate he desired.

  “I want to be yours, Magnus. I want you to do whatever it takes to make me yours, eternally. Forever, I want to be yours.”

  She lay curled in his embrace, fragrant, beautiful, and so very, very willing. He loved her, and she offered herself to him with so little concern. If his moral scruples allowed, he’d have made her his days, weeks ago. Thankful he retained some vestige of the principles he had learned as a boy, he sighed. “Yes, I know.”

  Sian held his gaze, hers fixed, brilliant but sharp. “You will have to make up your mind at some point. I want it to be soon. Otherwise, I will be in danger all the time.”

  “Don’t say that. Franklyn is just a troublesome bully. I’ll put paid to his appalling behavior soon enough once the full moon brings him here.”

  “What about the dreams?”

  “You should have said. Together we are strong enough to send him running.” He caressed her hair, teased at the ripples on her shoulders. “Please permit me to help you if he appears again in your dreams.”

  “He keeps saying terrible things. I didn’t want to tell you what he said he’d do.”

  The hiss in his blood returned. A tremor juddered through his hand holding hers. “From tonight, there will be no more of his interruptions. All you need to do is call me. I will come to you immediately in your dreams. You can hide in your tower if you wish, or you can watch me teach him some very important lessons.”

  “I don’t want to see him at all.”

  “Then you shall sleep like Rapunzel in her beautiful tower. While I eat my way through anything the thorn bushes around your tower might hide.”

  Thank God. She laughed.

  Sian stretched in his embrace. She reached up to set her arms around his neck and looked into his eyes. “You will have to make me your mate for real.” There was determination in her gaze. “If you don’t, then Franklyn will sneak around or worm his way into my dreams and continue to do what he does.”

  “Can we wait until the e
nd of this month? When the moon makes of him what it will, I will have answers, and we can discuss our situation further. I’ll know much more when he comes here, because come here he will. He must.”

  “To this house?”

  “Yes, as a new wolf he must come to the home of his maker, to take up his place as the lowest pack member.”

  She shook her head so the ringlets spun. “Not here, Magnus. I couldn’t bear it.”

  “Yes. Please, don’t be afraid. When he comes, I’ll make sure he leaves as a very different individual, one who understands and accepts his lowly place if he wishes to live. He will not return thereafter, not until I call him to do so.”

  “But he’ll be free to kill outside the house?”

  “We all have to eat, and he will need to eat, in quantity at first. I’ll not deny him the opportunity. A starving wolf is one who becomes reckless and is dangerous to all.”

  She lifted her palms to cover her eyes. “Please no more, not now. I can’t imagine Franklyn like that.” A huge sigh followed.

  “I’m so sorry to have burdened you with this. I am at fault. You shouldn’t have to worry about these things.” He caressed her cheek, waited until she moved her hands. “Forgive me,” he said. “I’d no wish to spoil your triumph today, but you had to know.”

  She clutched his shirtfront. “There is something else. I didn’t want to tell you, but I must. Franklyn wants to see me, officially, to do a handover from my control of the company since he’s been ill. He sent me a text, and I must reply soon.”

  He nodded. “I’m not surprised by his method to try to lure you to meet with him. Franklyn is a manipulative creature. What do you want to do?”

  “I don’t want to see him. There is no way I ever want to be alone in a room with Franklyn again. I can give him all the information he needs in an e-mail. I couldn’t stand to meet him in person. ”

  “Then send him a message to say that is exactly what you will do. Tell him I am taking you away to recover from the strain of running his damn company, and you won’t be available to meet him. Like it or lump it, he’ll have to accept what you say.”

  “Away, Magnus? Really?”

  There was no reason why not, and every reason to take her to the mountains. He could remove her from the situation with Gorsewell and give her peace for a few days. Together they could prepare for what she wanted. At some point, she’d have to challenge the summit. “Yes, we could go this evening.”

  They’d have to return here come the full moon, in fact a few days before, but in the meantime, he could take her somewhere peaceful, protective, and treasured by his family for generations. A part of his past that carried the hope of his future. “There is a small cottage we could visit in Wales. The accountant’s office has a property manager who usually rents it out for me over the summer months. I’ve not been there for a very long time. I’ll call him. We’ll go there. Would going away to a secret address help you to feel safe and out of Gorsewell’s reach?”

  “Please. The more distance we can put between Franklyn and us the better. I can fight him off in the dreams if I don’t have to worry about him turning up here, or forcing me to meet with him.”

  His heart flipped, for her strength of mind shook him. The understanding Sian still allowed him into her life, when she might have fought him, added a further depth to his appreciation. “Then it shall be so. I’ll make the call to the accountant’s office now. I want you to relax and unwind for a while. When I’ve made all the arrangements, we’ll pack. We can travel to the cottage tonight.”

  “Isn’t it a bit short notice for the people who manage the property?”

  He laughed. “No. If I want to go there, I assure you they will see the place is ready for me. We’ll leave a note for Mrs. Tyson and Cook. I’ll tell them to do a spring-cleaning while we’re away.”

  “But, Magnus, it’s November.”

  “Then an autumn clean. I only want to give them something to do so I can pay them.”

  The tenderness he yearned to see appeared in her eyes.

  “You are amazing,” she whispered.

  He couldn’t answer for he’d no way to find the right words. Later, he’d try to show her in some small measure how much she meant to him.

  As he walked to the study, one thought blasted through his head. If Sian were to leave him, he’d not wish to live. If he took her to the mountains, she’d be safe from Gorsewell. In addition, she’d be in the right place to learn some of what she’d need to know as his mate.

  I have to make her mine. If I wait too long there are so many dangers to her and to us. I can procrastinate no longer.

  His newly discovered mature persona demanded an alpha female. He would defend her in both body and dreams. Sian would be his cofounder of a new pack. She was his perfect mate. He’d do everything he could to keep her, and Gorsewell would be damned to a living hell if he tried to touch her.

  Chapter 17

  Sian couldn’t relax. Their discussion kept repeating in her head, fueling a muddle of fear and hope. Along with the rest raced the nagging threat of a Franklyn who might be so much worse than she’d ever known before. What might a werewolf in a low depressive mood be like? What could happen if he had one of his high “master of the universe” flips? No one was going to calm that down with a cinnamon dolce latte. What if he changed after he’d indulged in his little white powder habit? The thought of a creature as powerful as Magnus in wolf form, perhaps speeding, filled with all that crazy energy, shook her. She could scarce sit still on the long, leather sofa.

  Prioritize. She’d learned a lot about doing that, and she’d start this minute.

  She’d deal with Franklyn first, then she’d be free to think on the other things. The magnitude of her conversation with Magnus rolled in her gut. Though he’d not said the words, she sensed either the threat to her, or the circumstances, had pushed him to decide their future. Grabbing her phone, she opened the text from Franklyn. Slow and careful, she constructed a reply to build a wall against Franklyn’s request to see her. No need to tell him where she would be or give him any clues.

  She didn’t like putting Evie in the spotlight, even if the blond receptionist made doe-eyes at Franklyn every time he walked in the office, but everything Franklyn needed sat in the files Evie had on her computer.

  She wouldn’t lie and wish him well. Not now. Not ever. Text sent she could deal with the rest. At present, knowing Franklyn had come here and what he’d done, her sense of security in the house had been rattled. She didn’t want Magnus to nursemaid her all the time. It wouldn’t be right if he did. She had to work out a way of dealing with Franklyn’s vileness herself.

  She’d make sure Franklyn couldn’t intrude in their physical world. Though she’d not done so since the day she bought it, she turned the phone off. She’d send him the e-mail from her iPad one day this week. Darn it, she should feel the weight of Franklyn’s threats gone, but she didn’t. He clung to her like the stink from some of the sleazier nightclubs he’d taken her to when she was younger.

  Eager for something to take her mind off those memories and any others involving Franklyn, she went up to their room to pack some clothes to take to the cottage. Warm things would probably be best. Perhaps, there would be the chance for her to pick up some walking boots while they were away.

  She hauled her vacation bag from the armoire and took it back into the bedroom. They’d be away for several days so she’d pack a mix of things she could layer. By the time Magnus came into the bedroom, she’d several outfits in the bag.

  “All will be ready when we arrive. Make sure you pack a waterproof jacket.”

  “I have, and a lot of warm things.”

  He smiled. “There is heating in the cottage, but yes, warm clothes will be good for when we go into the hills.”

  She embraced him. “I thought so. I’ll need some walking boots. I don
’t have anything suitable for winter hill-walking.”

  Magnus brushed his lips across her cheek. “We’ll call in at the local town. They have an excellent mountaineering shop with all the best equipment.” He glanced to his wristwatch. “It will take us about four hours to drive to the cottage, longer if we stop for something to eat on the way. I’ll get my things. I think we should leave by four if possible.”

  “I’ll be ready. Oh, will I be able to get a Wi-Fi signal?”

  He shook his head. “No.”

  “Oh, I suppose we could pick up a hotspot somewhere so I could send Franklyn his wretched handover e-mail.”

  “Yes, I expect we could, and perhaps will. There is nothing urgent he needs from you, is there?”

  “Not really. The next major shoot isn’t for several months. The rest of the stuff is small fry. His request for a handover is a poor excuse to try to get me to go see him. ”

  “Then, we’ll not mention him again today.”

  She grinned. The sense of escape powered through her. “You’re right. I’ll not say another word about him. On the way, you can tell me all about this cottage.”

  He caressed her cheek. “Indeed I will, but we both have to finish packing first.”

  “Right. I’ll race you!” She turned from him and began stuffing several pairs of thick socks into the corners of her bag.

  Magnus went into room where the armoires and tallboys held their clothes. He had far more garments to choose from than she did. She didn’t doubt for a minute she’d win the race to finish packing first. Her jaw fell when a few seconds later Magnus came back carrying a large army style holdall.

  “You can’t have packed already!”

  He smiled. “In one sense you’re right. I didn’t pack. This bag was packed some time ago.”

  She caught the unhappiness in his stance, a flash of it in his eyes, too. “Who packed the bag? Why does the thought sadden you?”

  “Until quite recently, I had a valet.” He smiled again. “I can hide nothing from you. Nathaniel Broomfield was a gentleman of considerable wisdom and charm. I was saddened to lose him, but couldn’t ask him to continue to work. He’d gone well beyond retirement age in my service. His grandson wrote to inform me Nathaniel died a few short months after he left here.”