My mother came over to take a look .”Oh, no, no, that’s not going to work.”
“What?” I asked.
“You can’t put Nancy Musgrave next to Carolina Standford. And Uncle Jim can’t be by Uncle John.”
“Mum, you already looked over this and said it was fine.”
“Did I? Well, it’s not.”
I handed the chart to Annabelle. “Will you excuse me for a moment?” I asked, and she nodded. I left the ballroom and followed the hallway to the back door. I pushed the doors open to the balcony, letting the sunlight hit me, the warm breeze carrying the scent of new spring flowers. I wandered to the garden, sitting beside the fountain, trying to calm myself.
Only a few more days. Just a few more days of living with my mother.
Only a few more days to get this wedding planned.
I rubbed at my temples and stood up, hoping that walking through the flowers would help. I turned down the brick walkway, my fingers trailing along the edges of the rose petals.
I didn’t see the wolf come out of the woods until he had already jumped me.
Chapter Twenty–Nine
The weight of the wolf knocked me to the ground. Had he not hit me from the side, I almost certainly would have cracked my head against the stones, and as it was, I narrowly missed slamming my head against the fountain. I opened my mouth to scream but all the air had been knocked out of my lungs when I hit the ground. The wolf’s heavy body pressed down on me, crushing me, nails digging through my gown and into my skin. He growled at me, muzzle inches away from my face, drool dripping from his jowls. This same wolf, the wolf with yellow eyes and brown and black fur, had found me once again.
I was paralyzed by fear. I wanted to move, to scream, but none of my muscles worked. It was as if I had been frozen in place. I forced my mind to work, to break from its paralysis. I needed to get this beast off of me.
I pulled my arm back and punched it in the nose. It stumbled back, releasing the pressure on my lungs, and air rushed in. I screamed.
I wasn’t allowed to scream for long, though, as the wolf launched himself back on top of me. I had to pray that the men inside had heard me, that I was loud enough and that their hearing was good enough to come to my rescue.
As the wolf landed on me again, it shoved me hard enough that I rolled onto my back and skidded across the stones. This time both arms were free, one wasn’t pinned under my body, so I was able to shove my hands up and push his face away. Its jaws and razor-sharp teeth snapped at me, trying to tear at my neck, but I couldn’t let it. I wasn’t going to let it kill me without a fight.
My back ground into the stones as I shoved upward, trying to keep the wolf away from my neck. My hands clutched at matted and dirty fur, desperate to get the mutt off of me. He smelled like wet dog, a scent that clogged my nose and throat as his weight pushed the air from my lungs.
“Get off of me!” I cried, but the words were faint. I wasn’t going to try again; I couldn’t afford to lose the air. My heart pounded terror and adrenaline through my body as I used all the strength I had to push, shove, pull. I reached my arm back to strike him again, but this time he was prepared and the blow landed ineffectually against his side. He snarled again, our eyes locking. His were yellow like amber, the pupils wide and dark like an eclipse against the sun. He was bigger than me, stronger than me, but I had to do something or I would become his next meal.
His nails dug into my chest and he put all his weight on his front paws, pressing down hard on my sternum. My vision began to get spotty as I ran out of air and I gasped, trying to get whatever shallow breaths I could. I wasn’t ready to die, not yet, but I could feel the energy draining from my arms. His jaws were getting closer and closer to my face as I lost my strength.
No. I wasn’t ready to die, not yet. Adam and I had been through far too much for this to be my fate before we’d even wed. The most special day of my life was only ten days away. I needed to live to see it. I had to.
With the little strength I had in me accompanied by a surge of adrenaline, I grasped the fur on the wolf’s neck and wrenched him to the side while rolling in the opposite direction. Now on my hands and knees, I clutched at the fountain as he tried to jump at my back and knock me to the ground again. I kicked up as hard as I could, the heel of my shoe landing between his back legs, and he let out a yelp.
As dizzy as I was, I didn’t have time to rest. I kept on my feet, circling the fountain.
“Adam!” I shouted as loud as I could, “Adam, help!”
As I circled the fountain, the wolf on the opposite side, I glanced behind me at the manor for the briefest of seconds. God, what was the point of marrying a werewolf if he couldn’t hear my cries for help?
I needed to find something to defend myself with as the wolf and I continued our dance around the fountain. Why hadn’t I taken Adam up on the offer to carry a weapon? A gun would have saved me here. Even a knife would have given me a leg up, but I had been too fearful. Now I would have to make do with whatever I could find in the garden, but flowers wouldn’t make very good weapons.
We continued to circle. I kept my gaze on him but my eyes were scanning my surroundings. Leaned up against a tree a few feet from the gardens were a shovel and a rake. I’d have to make a run for it, me, in my long skirts, up against the wolf. My only advantage would be the element of surprise. I would have to make a run for it as soon as I was near the stone pathway leading that direction.
My heart was still thundering in my chest, this time with the added anticipation of my only hope for escape. As soon as I took the step in front of the path, I turned, putting on a burst of speed unlike anything I’d ever felt. My fingers had just closed over the handle of the shovel when the wolf caught up with me, knocking me to the ground. This time, I was armed.
I swung so the metal blade of the shovel hit him across the face. He stumbled backward, dazed, and I scrambled to my feet, the tip of the blade pointing at him as he growled.
“Help!” I screamed at the top of my lungs. “Adam, Jasper, help!”
The wolf grew closer, growling a deep growl from the back of his throat. It made my hair stand on end.
“Leave me alone!” I cried, swatting at it again with the shovel. “Go away! I’ve done nothing to you!”
He snarled at me.
“Hazel!”
I glanced over to see Adam and Jasper rushing out of the house. The momentary distraction was all the wolf needed, and I had played right into his hands. With my eyes on the men, he jumped at me again, the shovel tumbling out of my hand and my body falling backward, head hitting the dirt. The ground was soft from spring rains, but pain shot through my head.
“Hazel!” Adam called again, but I couldn’t respond.
In my daze I could hear the sounds of transformation, bones cracking and twisting. Air and fur brushed my face and the weight from my chest was lifted. I rolled over, coughing, trying to take in as much air as possible. From here I could see three wolves, several feet away, a tangle of fur as they brawled.
“Hazel!”
Bridget knelt down beside me. “What on earth is going on? I heard screaming.”
“The wolf,” I said, swallowing, “he’s back.”
She looked over at the fight. “All right, come on, let’s get you up.”
Carefully she pulled me to my feet. I was all right except for my head. I struggled to walk in a straight line, and eventually she put her arm around me and guided me to one of the garden’s stone benches.
I watched as the brawl continued. Snarls and growls filled the air and my heart rate refused to calm. My chest continued to tighten as the wolf rolled away from Jasper and Adam, landing on its feet, barring its teeth.
Bridget put her arm around me, and I turned to her.
“Should we do something?” I asked. “To help them?”
She shook her head. “Stay out of it. It’s two against one, they can handle this. Come on, let’s get you inside.”
She ke
pt an arm around me, steadying me as I stood up from the bench and crossed over the pavers toward the stairs. I was about to step up when I heard a whine and was thrown to the ground once more.
I fell backward on top of Bridget.
“Oh no you don’t,” she said, scrambling off as the wolf snapped at me. She reared back and roundhouse kicked him in the head. He whimpered, stumbling backward, and the men began to encroach.
Bridget reached down to help me up. “Are you all right?” she asked me.
I nodded. “I’ll be fine.”
The wolf took off running. I thought that might be the end of it, but the men followed on its heels, heading straight for the woods.
“Come on, Hazel, let’s go inside,” Bridget urged.
I shook my head. “Not yet. I need to make sure they’re all right.”
“You can do that inside.”
I looked at her, eyes brimming with tears. “Bridget, no.”
She sighed. “Fine.”
We waited, the still air warm across my skin. The sun was still shining and it felt wrong. It should have been dark or raining or something; sunshine was too happy, it was too bright. It didn’t fit.
We heard nothing, only the faint sound of the waves lapping at the shoreline and a few chirps of little birds who hadn’t been scared off by the brawl. The grass near the garden was torn up, shredded bits of dirt and grass splayed everywhere.
We didn’t speak as we waited anxiously. I needed the men to come back, needed to know Adam was safe. Two against one, I reminded myself, but it didn’t help. It didn’t slow my heartbeat or relax my muscles or take away my nausea. My hands clenched into tight fists, nails digging into my palm as I fought off the anxiety.
The faint sound of snarls broke the air and began to grow louder. I rushed away from Bridget to the edge of the garden, hoping to catch sight of whatever was happening. The growling continued to rise in volume though I had no visual, but moments later I heard the crack of sticks and leaves and saw the plants at the edge of the forest began to rustle.
The brown wolf shot out of the trees, glancing behind him. Jasper and Adam were right behind, on his left and his right, herding him back toward the yard. Jasper put out a sudden burst of speed to overtake the wolf, and suddenly the wolf was trapped, Jasper on one side, Adam on the other, no direction to run but toward the mansion or the lake. He paused for a moment as Adam and Jasper descended, teeth bared, blond and white against the dirty brown.
My heart thundered in my chest as I watched. This had to be the end. There was nowhere for him to go. I crept closer, wanting to see, my hands on the tree I had found the shovel leaning against. The bark was rough against my hands but I didn’t notice, eyes worriedly watching the scene before me.
The brown wolf cowered as Adam and Jasper boxed him in. I thought he’d surrender, certainly he’d give up. Instead he snapped his head and pounced. The cry of a wolf filled the air and my heart dropped in my chest.
Jasper jumped him, knocking the wolf off of Adam. I rushed to Adam’s side, not caring about the brawl only a few feet away from us. Blood was staining the dirt from a wound in his shoulder, scarlet against blond. I knelt down and cradled his head in my lap.
“Adam,” I choked, “Adam, are you all right?”
He nuzzled me, then tried to stand.
“Don’t,” I said, tugging on his fur. “You’re injured. Let Jasper take care of him.”
He shook his head and pulled away from me, pulling himself into a standing position. Blood dripped down his front leg. His fur was too thick to see how bad the wound was, but the amount of blood he was losing worried me greatly.
“Adam,” I protested, but I couldn’t finish the sentence. I heard a high-pitched howl followed by “Hazel, look out!” as my body slammed to the ground once more. The wolf had escaped Jasper and hit me once again. I struggled to push him off until he yelped and released me. Adam had the wolf in his jaws, but his leg was beginning to wobble. The wolf took advantage, rolling him on his back, snapping at his neck as Adam fought.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw Jasper starting toward us, blood staining his coat as well, but he wasn’t moving fast enough. I scrambled to my feet, head swimming, and picked up the shovel. With all the strength I had in me, I swung, hitting the wolf upside the head with a resounding clang. He tumbled off of Adam and lay on the dirt, motionless.
I panted as I stood over him, sticking the blade of the shovel into the dirt and leaning against the handle for support. His body began to transform, though he hadn’t yet regained consciousness.
I heard snapping and popping and looked to see Jasper and Adam turning back as well. Bridget wandered over and tossed them their pants. Adam had a deep wound against his shoulder and Jasper had a gash over his chest. A few moments later they came over to where I was standing, looking over the bloody, naked, unconscious man who had been a wolf only moments before.
I glanced up at them. “So, who is he?”
Jasper shook his head. “I have no idea.”
Chapter Thirty
The men had hauled the attacker inside and strapped him to a chair in the Great Hall, tossing a blanket over his lap so we wouldn’t have to look at his nakedness. I’d never been in the Great Hall before; it was mainly stone, with a long, heavy wooden table and a massive fireplace housing a flickering fire. I wondered if Jasper had chosen this room because it was the most soundproof.
I sat down in one of the chairs surrounding the table and looked at the man. He must have been young, younger than I was. He had a smattering of acne across his cheeks and forehead and a thin dark mustache that looked like a sad caterpillar. His hair was matted and greasy, but I didn’t know if that was because he had been in the woods for who knew how long, or if it was always like that.
The man began to stir, and Adam and Jasper jumped to their feet, standing in front of him, their arms crossed, waiting for him to come to. The man’s head lolled to the other side and he blinked a few times. He looked down to see that his hands were bound to the arms of the chair and he tried to pull free.
“It’s no use,” Jasper told him. “We’ve got you tied tight.”
The man looked up at Jasper, his eyes wide. “Where am I?”
“Where do you think you are?”
The man looked around. “The mansion, I suppose.”
Jasper nodded. “That’s right. Now, who are you?”
“I don’t have to tell you anything.”
Adam growled, stepping forward, and Jasper put his arm out to prevent him from getting too close. The man’s eyes grew even wider. “Howard,” he said. “My name is Howard.”
Jasper nodded. “And what were you doing at Wolf’s Peak, Howard?”
“Wolf’s Peak?”
“That’s the name of this estate. What were you doing here?”
Howard pointed a shaky finger at me, his wrists still bound to the arms of the chair. “I’m here for her.”
Adam stepped protectively in front of me, shielding me from Howard’s view. I craned my neck to see. “What were you planning on doing with her?”
Howard looked down at the stone floor, not answering. Jasper grew closer. “Howard, what were you going to do to Hazel?”
Howard still didn’t answer. Jasper sighed and pulled a glove out of his pocket, sliding it onto his right hand. Howard watched with interest as Jasper picked up a candlestick with that hand, the silver glinting in the flickering fire light. He pressed the stick to Howard’s torso and I winced as the hiss of burning flesh filled the room.
“I can’t say!” Howard howled. “They’ll kill me!”
“Who’s they?” Jasper asked, pulling the candlestick back but keeping it only inches from Howard’s skin.
“I can’t say!”
“Trust me, it will make things much easier. I’ve already summoned the elders.”
Howard screwed up his face. “Elders? What are you talking about?”
Jasper paused. “Howard, how long have you been
a werewolf?”
Howard shrugged. “Few months.”
“You were bitten?”
Howard nodded.
“By whom?”
Howard wouldn’t meet his eyes. “I can’t say.
Jasper knelt down near him. “Howard, I can’t express this enough. You are in a massive amount of trouble. The more you tell us, the lighter your sentence will be.”
“She said I wouldn’t get in trouble.”
“She?” I asked.
“She lied,” Jasper told him. “Now, tell us everything.”
Howard still hesitated.
“We can help you,” Jasper said.
The man sighed. “I was an orderly at the asylum in Ervine.”
“That’s where you met Lillian,” I said. The pieces were falling into place.
He gave a small nod. “We fell in love. She told me I could be with her, but first I had to kill you.”
“Did she say why?” Jasper asked.
“She said it’s Hazel’s fault that Lillian is locked away.”
Adam rolled his eyes.
“She bit me. She told me if I took care of you, then came back to let her out, we could run away together. It took a lot longer than I thought. She began to get angry. She said she’d find somebody else.” He looked down at the floor again. “I couldn’t let her find somebody else.”
Crash. I jumped about a foot as the door to the great hall swung open.
“What in the bloody hell is going on here?” Christine asked, storming in with Lowell on her hip and Annabelle right behind her. “Why is there a man tied to a chair?”
“You found him?” Annabelle asked, looking on with interest.
“Found whom? What is going on here?”
Jasper had gone pale. “Christine, now is really not—”
“Oh, no, you tell me right now.”
Jasper opened his mouth to respond when Bridget came in, hand holding a brown rucksack. “I found this at the edge of the woods,” she said. “It’s got his clothes in it and such.”
The Wolf's Betrothed (The Wolf's Peak Saga Book 5) Page 23
