Wolf of Arundale Hall

by Jennifer Leeland

  Joshua remained cool and raised one eyebrow. “Oh? I remember only one promise. I promised to take care of your son. That vow has not been broken.”

  Melinda glared at him. “What of me? You will cast me into the streets?”

  “Of course not. You will go to your grandmother’s house. Lady North has a knack for handling young ladies.”

  Elizabeth almost laughed. That was a double-edged insult, but this was no laughing matter.

  Melinda was drunk and causing a scene. There would be talk.

  Joshua snapped his fingers and a footman appeared. “Escort Mrs. Latimer upstairs to…freshen up.”

  Melinda jerked her arm away from the footman. “Don’t touch me.” Her face contorted into a mask of fury. “I will see that bitch dead before she breeds.”

  The way Joshua’s gray eyes changed to blue made Elizabeth shudder. When her husband rose to his feet, Melinda took an unsteady step back and almost fell. “Go with the footman, Melinda. Pack your things and leave this house. You will not speak of my wife in that way and remain under my roof.”

  Melinda’s face lost its color. “What of Gerry?”

  “You may write to him. Frankly, I can’t see that he will miss you.”

  “Curse you, Joshua Arundale,” Melinda spat.

  Joshua bowed. “Good night, madam.”

  The footman gripped Melinda’s arm and she left the room with her chin held high. Elizabeth sighed, then smiled at one of the young ladies from a nearby house. What was her name? Oh yes, Anne Cory. “Anne, would you mind playing? I think we need some music.”

  The girl’s face lit up and she sat at the large piano, a gift from Elizabeth’s mother when she and Joshua were married. Soon the sweet sound of Bach filled the room and the loud voices of gossip were muted for the moment.

  “I’m sorry, my love,” Joshua said quietly.

  She gazed up at her husband, her heart pounding. “You did nothing wrong, my lord.”

  Once again he sat on the armrest of her chair and leaned closer. “Still, I wanted your party to be unmarred.”

  She reached up and touched his cheek. “Melinda was not in your control.” One side of her mouth rose and she teased, “Not like the rest of us.”

  He groaned. “Don’t say things like that. I’ve been trying to—” He stopped and glanced around the room.

  “Trying to what, my lord?”

  “To court you. To make amends.” He held her gaze, his gray eyes stormy.

  “I’m not some clucking female who needs flattery. I’m your wife.”

  They stared at each other for a full minute before he broke the silence. “When will all these people leave?”

  She laughed and many people turned disapproving glances her way, but she didn’t care. Joshua kissed the palm of her hand and she sighed happily. All would be well.

  Finally the guests took their leave, disappearing in carriages through the thick fog that blanketed the moor. There was still talk about Arundale Hall, but now it was about Melinda’s appalling behavior, not Joshua’s absence or his marriage to Elizabeth. Even the murders seemed to have faded into memory, though Donaldson’s solid presence had been felt.

  When she closed the front door, finally free, Joshua pounced, lifting her into his arms. She squeaked her surprise and tried to calm her erratic heartbeat.

  He tossed her over his shoulder and carried her upstairs. When they reached his chambers, he dropped her on the bed and lay on top of her. “That seems a lot easier in theory than in fact,” he said, out of breath.

  She giggled and squirmed beneath him, her corset digging into her flesh. “What now, my lord?” she asked.

  “One moment, wife. I need to regain my strength. By faith, you’ve put on weight since I’ve been home.”

  She chuckled. “Maybe I’ve weakened you with my sexual demands.”

  His head rose and he glared at her. “Let’s put that to the test, shall we? Four days I’ve had to control my urges, waiting for you to feel safe with me again.” His fingers sought the complicated ties of her corset. “But you said you are my wife. So, wife, I want you. And I will have you.”

  She trembled, knowing she could deny him nothing. His eyes changed to the familiar blue glow of the Beast. His claws extended, ripping through the hard material of the corset, freeing her breasts to his hungry gaze.

  As natural as spring, her hands reached up to grasp the iron bars of his headboard. He growled, a low, beautiful sound that thrilled her.

  Suddenly, there was a pounding on the door. “Lord Arundale,” the footman shouted. “Mrs. Latimer has run out onto the moor.”

  A muted rumbling sound from Joshua’s throat made Elizabeth both terrified and aroused. He levered himself off the bed and covered her almost naked body with a quilt. Then he opened the door. “What is the meaning of this?”

  The footman’s hair was plastered to his face. “She said she’ll commit suicide if she has to leave her child.”

  Joshua pulled on his coat. “I’ll handle this.” He pressed a kiss to her lips. “I’ll be back, wife.”

  She held his gaze. “I’ll be waiting.”

  *

  The night waned and Elizabeth began to worry. When Joshua wasn’t back within the hour, she dressed and paced the room. Another half an hour passed and she put on her sturdy boots, determined to follow him.

  Her shawl was little protection against the cold night fog, but she pressed on. All the servants were gone to bed except for her manservant. He was asleep, propped up in a chair in the front hall. The house was quiet and deserted when she stepped out onto the front porch and into the darkness.

  The lantern she carried illuminated very little, so she walked carefully onto the moor, following a familiar path. “Joshua!” she called.

  Then she heard it. A mournful howl. Without thinking twice, she ran toward the sound. It echoed on the moor and she had to stop to try to locate the source. It came again, a heart-wrenching sound that spurred her on in the dark.

  Finally she reached a clearing and the sight almost made her vomit.

  Melinda lay on the ground, bloody and dismembered, her arms missing and her legs tossed to the side. Her neck was ripped open, with fresh blood spilling out all over the brush. A large, cavernous hole yawned over her breast where the emptiness revealed the horrible truth. Her blue eyes were sightless and staring at Elizabeth.

  Across the clearing, unconscious, blood on his mouth, lay her Beast.

  Fear was a coppery taste in her mouth as Elizabeth approached the animal. Larger than a normal wolf, it was wounded, its shoulder ripped like ground-up meat. She’d only seen Joshua’s wolf form once, but it had been memorable. As the lantern light illuminated the prone form, she recognized the thick, dark hair and the familiar white patches. His eyes were the luminous blue she knew, but it was the expression in them that convinced her that this was her husband.

  She ripped her petticoat into strips and staunched his wound. But there was no way she would be able to carry him, wolf or man, back to the house. She stroked his dear face, now a snout with a black, wet nose. “I have to get help, Joshua. I will return. I promise.”

  Weakly, the animal’s tongue licked her hand to show that he understood.

  She rose to her feet and sped back down the path. Who could she get to help her? When she reached the house, she dragged her manservant out of the chair he slept in. “Go to Jaimison’s house and see if he’s back from London. I need him.”

  Luckily, Perry’s escapades had trained her household to accept these late-night demands and the servant didn’t ask questions. She hated the wait. Would Jaimison be home? What if he wasn’t? She prayed.

  When Jaimison appeared on horseback half an hour later, she thought she’d collapse from relief. Instead she held out her hand and let him swing her into the saddle. “On the moor. He’s wounded.”

  Though she’d been less than coherent, Jaimison spurred the horse and followed her directions to Joshua. The animal was barely breathing,
but alive. Jaimison cursed when he saw the scene, but he lifted the wolf and carried it while Elizabeth held the reigns of the horse.

  It seemed like an eternity but they reached the house and Jaimison laid Joshua on the bed in her chambers. She stroked the wolf’s fur and glanced at Jaimison. “What do I do?”

  “I know what to do, my lady.” His face was set in stone.

  The wolf stirred and she petted his fur to calm him. He whimpered, a frightening sound to Elizabeth.

  Jaimison left the room and galloped away from Arundale Hall. Elizabeth stared at the wolf form of her husband and wondered if he’d die in this shape.

  When Jaimison returned, he had Dr. Angus MacDonald with him. Elizabeth gasped and stared at Jaimison. “How could you? The secret!”

  “Keeping it will kill him. Do you want him to die?”

  “You know I don’t,” she said passionately.

  Jaimison’s jaw clenched. “Then let Dr. MacDonald help him.”

  Reluctantly, Elizabeth backed away and allowed the little man closer. He clucked and studied the wound. “Another wolf did this,” he said, his green eyes pinning Elizabeth. “Did you see another wolf?”

  She shook her head. What did it mean? Another wolf? There’d been no wolves on the moors for centuries. No wolves except the Arundale men. She bit her lip. Perry? Lord Everret? They were also men who changed into the Beast of Arundale.

  While MacDonald cleaned the wound and began to stitch it closed, he talked. “My father was doctor here, as was his father before him,” he said. “And we know much about the families here. My father told me about the Arundale curse.” He finished and straightened. “Now, Jaimison said there was also a dead body. I need to see it.”

  “If word got out—” Her voice froze in her throat. Memories of the swarms of men searching the moor to kill the Beast of Arundale flooded her mind.

  The doctor sighed. “Lassie, let me see what I find. I know you’re worried I’ll think Joshua Arundale did it, or perhaps Perry, but if one of them did, we should know.”

  She buried her face in her hands, shaking uncontrollably.

  “Shock,” she heard the doctor say, far away. Hands helped her to a chair. “Sit down, Lady Arundale. You’ve had a bit of a turn.”

  Someone pressed a cloth to her forehead and she leaned back. Jaimison was talking and Elizabeth focused on his voice.

  “There was a fight. I’ll wager my last penny that Lord Arundale fought with Mrs. Latimer’s killer.”

  “Mebbe so, laddie, but we’ll have to see what’s there.”

  “The sun is coming up.” Jaimison’s tone was flat.

  “Then we’ll have to hurry,” the doctor said. “Lady Arundale?”

  She blinked her eyes open. The man was bent over her, peering into her face. “I dinnae want you to move.”

  Slowly, she nodded and gripped the man’s arm. “He didn’t kill anyone. He couldn’t.”

  “Lassie, he’s been gone for ten years. How do you know that?”

  “I know,” she said strongly. “I know my husband.”

  “I hope you’re right.” The doctor straightened and checked the wolf again. “Don’t let him move, either. We’ll be back straight away.”

  He and Jaimison left the room and Elizabeth stared at the wolf on her bed. She rose unsteadily and stumbled to her husband’s side. She laid her head down beside his and placed her hand on his face.

  Sleep claimed her and she fell into restless nightmares.

  Chapter Twelve

  A hand clenched in his fur and Joshua didn’t want to move away from that touch. It was her touch. His mate’s. The scent of her drowned out the smell of the other, the enemy that attacked him in the night. He nuzzled her hand, reveling in her closeness.

  He had to change back. The Beast had to be caged, but the energy it took was beyond him. Surprisingly, the wolf part of him didn’t fight him, as if realizing that Joshua would be helped better by his human form. Just as it had also known Joshua needed the wolf part to fight that other creature, one like him.

  Back in his human skin, the pain in his shoulder increased. His gasp made his wife start away. “Joshua?” She stood up and leaned over him, concern etched on her features.

  “You saved me,” he stated and grabbed her hand. Too weak to pull her down, he tugged as hard as he could and she sat beside him.

  “What happened?” she asked him.

  “Another wolf. Killed Melinda. I don’t know why.”

  “Was it Perry? Or Lord Everret?”

  God, he wished he knew. He met his wife’s gaze. “I don’t know.”

  Elizabeth’s hands twined together. “You sent Jaimison after Perry.”

  Joshua nodded.

  “And he was here, in Arundale, when I found you.”

  Joshua swallowed and closed his eyes as he nodded.

  “So Perry is here.” Her lips pursed. “We have to save him, Joshua. If he killed Melinda, he had a reason. Even if he was a mindless animal, he wouldn’t have murdered her.”

  Joshua winced at her “mindless animal” comment. It was one of the things he hated about the change. He was mindless. The only things that mattered to the Beast were his mate, his territory and his stomach. The fact that occasionally higher thought was allowed to function didn’t change that truth.

  “Sarah,” he said, his mouth still dry.

  Stricken, Elizabeth stood up too suddenly and Joshua saw her face turn white. “Oh God. Sarah. Would Perry have killed her? Like Melinda?”

  “Sit down,” he said as loudly as he could and Elizabeth sat. “Wait for Jaimison.”

  “I hate waiting,” she said sullenly.

  This made Joshua smile. He tugged on his wife’s hand and got her to lie down with her head on his good shoulder. “I wonder why. I love you. It was the only thing that saved me. I wanted to see you, to hold you again.”

  Silent tears dampened his shoulder and she buried her nose in the crook of his arm. “I love you, too, Joshua.”

  Finally she dropped off to sleep, but Joshua stayed awake, his mind turning over every scrap of the fight he’d had with the other wolf. He’d bloodied him, that was certain. The wolf would have a wound on his right haunch. That would make this Beast easier to find.

  A knock at the door a little while later startled Elizabeth and she scrambled into the chair as Joshua said, “Come in.”

  Jaimison looked exhausted and the man behind him was a complete stranger. Joshua sat up, but Elizabeth was there to keep him in bed. “It’s Dr. Angus MacDonald. He saved you last night.”

  Joshua eyed the newcomer. He’d heard of the doctor, since Dr. MacDonald had studied the other bodies, but he’d not met the man. His thick brown hair was a mess and his green eyes were bloodshot, but he seemed as if he could handle himself in a fight. And he was young, which surprised Joshua.

  “What did you find?” Elizabeth said, getting right to the point.

  “The bite marks on Melinda were different from your husband’s.” He cleared his throat. “He didn’t kill Melinda. I noted that Lord Arundale has all four of his canines. The killer only has three. That is clear from the marks on the body.”

  Elizabeth waved her hand. “I already knew Joshua didn’t murder her. What else did you find?”

  Joshua smiled. He loved her so much. What had he done to deserve her? Nothing. Not a damn thing. But he was going to keep her anyway.

  “This.” Jaimison held up a medallion about the size of a tuppence, hanging on a chain. It nagged at his memory. Where had he seen it before?

  “I’ve seen that necklace,” Elizabeth said with a frown. “I can’t remember who had it.”

  “Was it Perry?” Jaimison asked.

  “No. It wasn’t someone I knew well. And not Lord Everret either. But who else?” She gazed helplessly at Joshua.

  “Could there be another Beast of Arundale out there?” Dr. MacDonald asked. “After all, Lord Everret is the bastard son of William Arundale. Couldn’t there have been another
?”

  “I don’t know,” Joshua said honestly. “My father died when I was twelve. That’s not something I would have known about.”

  “You said the wolf wasn’t Lord Everret,” Elizabeth said. “The only alternative is Perry. And I won’t believe it.” She said the words confidently.

  “Where is Perry, Jaimison?” Joshua asked.

  “I followed him to London, but when he caught a whiff of Miss Sarah he hightailed it for home. I tracked him to Lord Everret’s and left him to it, knowing he’d come home when he was ready.”

  “You have a man there.” Joshua knew how Jaimison worked.

  The man nodded. “Waiting for when he comes out. Then he’s to follow Mr. Arundale wherever he goes.”

  “And Sarah?” Elizabeth asked.

  “I brought her here, Lady Arundale. I hope you don’t mind.”

  “Of course not,” she said.

  Joshua threw the covers off. “Where’s my boots?”

  “I dinnae think so,” the doctor said and pressed Joshua back with a surprisingly strong push. “You are in no shape to deal with errant brothers or wounded wolves. You let your man here handle it.”

  “But—”

  “But me no buts. Stay.” The doctor glanced at Elizabeth. “That goes for you too. You’ll have to trust us with your secrets.”

  “Everyone will think I killed her,” he said thoughtfully, remembering his public argument with her at the party.

  “Perhaps, but we’ll find out the truth,” Jaimison said.

  The two men left and Joshua convinced Elizabeth to sleep. When she’d fallen into a deep slumber, he slipped from the bed and dressed. It wasn’t Jaimison’s job to find the wolf that had killed Melinda. It was his.

  He winced as he bent to put on his boots, but he kept going. Down the stairs, Gerry jumped up from a bench in the front hall. “Uncle Joshua!”

  “What is it, Gerry?”

  The boy seemed panicked. “It’s Sarah. She made me promise to give you a message before she left. I’m really scared,” he whispered.