Tall, Dark and Wolfish

by Dare, Lydia

  Elspeth shook her head. "I really just want information about my father. Then I'll take my leave. I willna trouble ye for long."

  "You're no trouble at all, my dear," he said, his gaze lingering at her hair. A flash of pain crossed his face.

  "Are ye all right, Major?" She scooted forward in her chair, ready to jump up and help him if he needed it.

  "I think my eyes are fooling me, Lady Elspeth. Because you look just like her. The memories are painful."

  "I'm sorry, but I'm no' sure what ye speak of. Do I remind ye of someone ye once knew?"

  He simply nodded and sat back in his chair, his fingers steepled in front of him. He breathed out the words with a long sigh. "I knew your mother, lass, and you look so much like her that it nearly takes my breath away." Then he smiled softly at her.

  She pressed a hand to her chest. So close to solving the mystery of her parentage. "Oh? What was her name?" she asked, still skeptical about all the developments.

  "When I knew her it was Rosewyth Campbell. Her friends called her Rosie. To me, she was Rose." His eyes narrowed. "How is she?"

  "Dead," Elspeth said softly. She watched his face for a reaction, but he gave none. Aside from the look of sheer misery he'd worn since he walked in the door.

  "How did she die?" he asked as he crossed to the sideboard and poured himself a drink. His hand visibly shook as he raised the glass to his mouth.

  "She took a fever. Nearly the whole town was sick. I became very ill. Mother

  nursed

  me back ta health, then she died." There was no need to go into too much detail until she found her sire. "So do ye think ye can help me find my father?" she asked.

  He nodded. "Aye, lass, I believe I can."

  Relief washed over Elspeth. "How did ye ken her?" she asked. Thousands of questions ran through her mind, and she couldn't pick which to ask first.

  "I went to her to be healed."

  "Ye look hearty and hale. What was yer ailment?"

  "I had lost a part of myself. And needed to find it again. Your mother helped me." She could tell, even as he spoke, that he had memories running through his mind. Fond ones, if she had to judge.

  "I feel like we're speakin' in riddles here. So pardon me for speakin' bluntly. But what do ye ken of my father?"

  His eyes narrowed as though he concentrated hard to find the right thing to say. Then the words tumbled from his mouth like water from a spout. "I went to Scotland to find your mother, because I knew of her powers. The

  Còig

  is an ancient entity, and I'd been raised on the stories of their legend when I was a boy in Glasgow. I knew their healer was the only one who could help me find myself."

  Elspeth swallowed anxiously as she listened to him. The

  Còig

  was an ancient entity, and she'd left her sister witches for a man who didn't love her.

  The major leaned forward. "Would it surprise you if I told you I'm a Lycan?" he asked, one eyebrow arched.

  Not particularly, since they were sitting in Canis House. Elspeth shook her head. "Would it surprise ye if I told ye that I'm half Lycan?" she asked as she removed her glove to show him the mark of the beast on her wrist.

  "No." His dark eyes captured hers. "It wouldn't surprise me at all." The major smiled a gentle smile.

  "Was she able ta help ye?" Elspeth asked.

  "Oh, she did more than help me. She made me fall in love with her. Then she broke my heart and made me leave her in Scotland to return to my troops."

  Elspeth's heart jumped in her chest. Did he mean

  he

  was the one? She jumped to her feet. "Ye!" she gasped.

  He leapt up as quickly as she did and was around the desk in a flash. "I believe so." He pointed to the pewter wolves that held her hair back. "The combs you wear, they were hers?"

  "Aye, they were." Elspeth nodded as her eyes met his again. She wasn't quite sure what to say. She had imagined that she would get a name and directions to her father and would have time to figure out what to say. But here she was, staring right at him.

  "I gave them to her," he said quietly. "I wanted her to remember me when I was gone."

  "She wore them every day."

  "That brings me some comfort." He smiled softly. "As does knowing about you."

  He made it sound as though she were a new discovery. Surely her mother had told him, hadn't she? And he'd chosen to ignore all the letters and the spells she'd used to call to him. And now he would pretend to be happy about having a daughter?

  "Why did ye never come for us?" She couldn't keep the bitterness out of her voice.

  "I tried." She opened her mouth to protest, but he held up a hand. "I came back through Scotland a few years later and went straight to the Campbell cottage. Your grandfather wouldn't even let me in. But I'm of stubborn stock and planted myself on his porch. It didn't matter. I could have waited a lifetime, since Rose didn't live there anymore."

  Elspeth frowned. Her mother had lived in the cottage every day of her life.

  He continued quietly, "Then Fiona Macleod came out of the woods. She told me I was making a fool of myself. That your mother had gone on with her life, married a nice man from the other side of town, and had a daughter. That seeing her wouldn't do me a bit of good." He shrugged.

  Why would Cait's mother do such a thing? Why would she keep her mother from happiness? But she knew the answer, or thought she did. After all, Cait had tried to keep Ben from Elspeth. "She hated ye," Elspeth said, shaking her head.

  "Aye, she didn't like that a beast had tried to steal her healer away." The major rubbed his brow, as though the memories caused him pain. "I was so stunned by her words, I didn't even have the presence of mind to tell her that Rose's new marriage wasn't valid, since she was still my wife."

  "Yer wife?" she gasped, stepping backward. "My mother was

  never

  married ta anyone. I was born out of wedlock." She still bore the scars of that.

  The major leaned forward and touched her cheek. "Oh, no, my dear. I loved her too much to ruin her. We were married in Ormiston. When we came back the next day, Rose didn't want to tell her coven or your grandfather just yet. I needed to prove myself to them, your mother said. To be worthy."

  "So the courtship would come

  after

  the marriage?"

  "That's what it felt like. Only Bonnie Ferguson ever warmed up to me. And your grandfather wouldn't accept me, no matter what. When I asked for her hand, which was already

  mine

  "—he bit the last out in a growl—"he said no. Then I was called back to my regiment. I told Rose to pack her things. That she'd be coming with me."

  None of that made sense, and Elspeth shook her head. "And she refused?"

  "Aye, it was all foretold. A beast would come for Rose and try to take her from the coven, but she would resist him. Fiona's prophesy was correct. In the end, your mother loved the

  Còig more

  than she loved me."

  Elspeth didn't believe that for a moment, and she stepped away from the major. "She never stopped lovin' ye. My grandfather said ye killed her. Ye broke her heart and it just took her fifteen years ta die of it. When she got sick, she didn't have the strength ta fight the fever. She even summoned ye, and ye didn't come."

  "Summoned me?" The major frowned. "My dear, I never received word from Rose. Not one letter. If she had told me about you, I'd have never let her stay in Edinburgh, no matter what Fiona Macleod saw."

  Elspeth's mind was awhirl. Nothing seemed to make sense. Then the room began to spin, right before her world went black.

  Forty-two

  Ben stalked through the house, barking at all the servants, which made the maids skitter into corners and the footmen wince as he walked by. It wasn't like him to act so boorish. Even Polack, the unflappable butler, simply raised his nose and regarded him with surprise.

  "Elspeth!" he called again. Where the devil was she? He'd been l
ooking for her for hours. The sun was falling in the sky, and he couldn't find her anywhere. He'd entered every room in the house at least three times.

  Finally Ben retreated into the study and sat down behind his desk. There he found a folded note on the center of the desk and picked it up. The feminine scrawl immediately caught his attention.

  He unfolded the foolscap and couldn't hold back a gasp as he read the contents.

  My Dearest Ben,

  I have left specific instructions with the cook as

  to your diet in the days leading up to the moonful.

  Please do not be as difficult for her as you have

  been for me. Also, there are some potions with

  labels in the top drawer of your desk. The largest

  should be used as a last resort, if you do not feel

  the beast within you on the night when the moon

  is at its best.

  You deserve a wife who loves you, as I deserve

  to have a husband who loves me. I am aware that

  you do not, and cannot be that man. So I think it

  is best for us to sever our ties at this point. For what

  it is worth, I do love you.

  Always,

  Ellie

  Ben's heart lurched in his chest. She'd left him? Just like that? He could hardly believe it. Ellie was patient and compassionate. She wouldn't destroy him like this.

  What was it that Will had said earlier?

  When you've

  lost her, don't come running to me

  . Will knew she meant to leave and hadn't told him?

  Fury replaced his emptiness, and he strode from the room with the intent to kill his brother. "William!" he bellowed through the house. "William!"

  Polack approached him cautiously in the main hallway. "My lord, your brother is not here at the moment."

  "Where the devil is he?" Ben barked.

  "I'm sure I don't know, sir."

  "What about my wife? Do you know where

  she

  is?"

  Polack looked at his shoes. "I have inquired about her ladyship's whereabouts, as you seemed intent on locating her. Clarke says she left this afternoon on horseback."

  Horseback? She could be anywhere. "And he just

  let her go?" he asked, mortified. He would sack the groomsman this instant.

  As he started toward the back exit, Polack cleared his throat, stopping him. "She was with Lord William, sir. I'm certain Clarke would have had no reason to deny her a mount."

  A red haze filled Ben's vision, and anger bubbled in his veins. He'd find the blackguard if it was the last thing he did.

  After a half dozen bawdy houses, Will's usual haunts, Ben finally found his brother at a hell, sitting at a hazard table, seemingly foxed. The last several hours he'd spent chasing after Will hadn't dimmed Ben's anger in the least. He stalked up behind his brother and yanked him out of his seat.

  Will fell to the floor with a thud. "Ben?"

  If anyone noticed the interaction, they hid it well. The other fellows spread out at the hazard table, absorbing Will's vacated spot.

  "I am going to kill you," Ben hissed. "Where is she?"

  His brother's eyes narrowed, as though he was trying to focus on Ben. Then Will shook his head and scrambled back to his feet. "Elspeth?"

  Who else would he be asking about? "Where did you take her? And how dare you tell her I don't love her! What did you do, Will? Sweet-talk her with your damned irresistible charm? Did you console her? Did you touch

  my

  wife?"

  A number of men who had been ignoring them suddenly became interested and shifted their attention from the tables to watch the Westfield brothers' interaction. Will simply gaped at him. "Have you lost your mind?"

  "Where is she?" Ben pushed Will with both hands, sending him crashing against a hazard table. Money and markers tumbled to the floor while players protested the interruption of their game.

  "Hey," one of the burly footmen called loudly. "You two, out of here."

  Will dusted himself off and glared at Ben. "I was winning, you lout."

  Winning! Ben would see to it that the only thing Will would

  win

  was a broken nose. He rose to his full height, then marched out the door, with Will following in his wake.

  As soon as they were out on the dimly lit street, Ben grasped Will's jacket and forced him up against the stone façade of the hell. "Did you put her on a coach headed back to Edinburgh? Tell me, or I'll snap your neck."

  Will's light blue eyes glared daggers at him. "You have three seconds, little brother, to remove your hands from my person."

  "Where is she?" Ben hissed again.

  Will twisted from his grasp and pushed him with such force that Ben stumbled into the street. He looked up just in time to see a carriage led by matched greys about to trample him. He leapt out of the way, but the coach clipped his arm and spun him back to the ground.

  "Agh!" he howled.

  The pain from his shoulder spiked down his arm and across his back. He rolled out of the street back to the safety of the walk, groaning and grasping his bad arm with his good one. He wasn't unaccustomed to pain, but as a Lycan, it never lasted long. Not until now.

  Will stood above him, glowering. "Don't be a baby, Benjamin. You brought this fight."

  He winced when he felt a sticky wetness through his jacket. Still, the pain in his arm was dull in comparison to the loss of Elspeth. "Tell me what you did with her, William."

  Will heaved a sigh. "I'm sure she's patiently awaiting your pathetic hide at home, though I have no idea why she puts up with you."

  Ben shook his head. "No, she's gone. And you took her from me. Clarke said you rode off together."

  Will scoffed. "I took her to Canis House. Forster was going to return her home after they looked through some records."

  His heart ached as her letter echoed in his mind. "She left me, Will. She left a note. She's not coming back."

  "What?" Will asked, surprise in his voice. "I knew she was upset, but I didn't think she'd take it that far, not without giving you the chance to come to your senses." He looked down at Ben with a mix of sympathy and disgust.

  "Why was she upset?"

  Will heaved a sigh and pulled Ben back to his feet. He couldn't hide the painful grunt that escaped him. Will's expression turned to confusion. "You're not healed yet?"

  Ben shook his head. He wasn't healed. Not his arm. Not the Lycan in him. Not his heart. "Why was she upset?"

  "Why haven't you healed?" He heard the panic in his brother's voice.

  Ben didn't have it in him to hide from the truth anymore. "Because I'm broken, Will. I can't transform, and I can't heal myself." His eyes dropped to the ground, escaping the look of pity that must be in his brother's eyes. "Why was Ellie upset?"

  "I tried to tell you this afternoon. She heard us talking, you and me. She heard you say you couldn't love her."

  What had he done? His poor Ellie! He'd never meant to hurt her. If Will had plunged a knife into Ben's chest, it would have been less painful. "Oh, dear God."

  "I told her you didn't know what you were talking about," Will explained. "I told her to give you time."

  Ben glowered. "Don't speak for me, William. I know exactly what I'm talking about. I just wish she hadn't heard." Ellie was the kindest soul he knew. He would never have inflicted such pain. It was the reason he kept himself from giving her his heart, to keep from hurting her.