The Wolf's Pregnant Bride

by Jane B. Night

  Chapter 11

  Sophronia found the family unusually quiet at breakfast. Eldon was not enjoying his usual alcohol and Nathaniel did not appear to be eating at all. Wolstenholme was reading a paper at the head of the table.

  Vivian and Claire had not arrived at the table at all and Sophronia wondered if they were packing for their excursion. They had been most tight lipped about where they were going and what they were doing. If she was not feeling so exhausted she might have been put out about the whole business. Instead, she was glad to have the house nearly to herself. She thought the peace and quiet would do her good. She would have Mercy for company and she would be rid of Vivian.

  "Perhaps you should take your wife for a walk in the garden before we depart. It would not due for her to fall ill from your absence," Wolstenholme said. At first Sophronia thought that he was speaking to Eldon but then she remembered that Eldon's wife would be journeying with them. Since the only other married man in the room was Nathaniel she realized Wolstenholme must be speaking to her husband.

  "The weather is pleasant enough," Nathaniel said without enthusiasm.

  "Only if you are sure you have the time," Sophronia said. They had been doing so well at avoiding each other since their visit to the circus. It seemed a shame to stop their avoidance now when he would be gone for several days.

  "I can make the time," Nathaniel muttered.

  "Very well," Sophronia said. She took the smallest amount of food she could get by on and once she was finished Nathaniel offered her his arm and led her out to the gardens.

  He had been meaning to talk to her but he kept getting distracted. There had been a complication with one of his bitches and he had lost a promising litter of pups over the last two days. Between that and the preparations for the trip his intentions of spending time with Sophronia had continued to be delayed. He might have waited until his return had his father not interfered. One of the few positives about the relocation his father was forcing on him was that his father would not be at the breakfast table to stick his nose in Nathaniel's marital relations.

  "The weather is pleasant," Sophronia said after several moments of silence.

  "It is."

  "That will make your journey comfortable?"

  "Passable."

  "You are set to return in four days?"

  "That is correct. Mercy will be here to keep you company and Ruth will see to your needs."

  "This is a visit you make frequently?"

  "Monthly, though Vivian doesn't often accompany us. She is only along as a guest of Claire's for this trip."

  "If it helps assuage your fears I can assure you that your absence will barely be noticed and that it will in no way make me ill to find myself under a roof where you are not," Sophronia said. He supposed her words were meant to rile him but instead he wanted to laugh. He had not really thought that even after their passionate night together she was attached enough to him to be heartbroken by his departure no matter what his father might have thought.

  "I am relieved to hear it. I would hate to spend my nights lying in bed worried about your welfare," Nathaniel said. He made sure his voice was playful. He did not want to start a fight before he left. Instead, he wanted to attempt to make some repair.

  Leaving for the full moon was always unpredictable. Most moon cycles things were calm and the worst that happened was an injury from a bear that was hunted while everyone was in wolf form.

  Still, sometimes accidents happened. There had been a death during a moon cycle six months ago. Werewolf hunters had found them out on the mountainside. His pack had killed the hunters but not before they had used a silver bullet to end the life of a wolf. His father's alpha order not to go into the woods when his instincts were telling him to give chase had saved his life. The wolf killed had been his friend and Nathaniel had intended to follow him out from the brush where most of the pack was hiding. His father had sent wolves out to creep up behind the hunters. Nathaniel and Mathew had not wanted to wait. Mathew was not a member of their pack and so did not have to heed the alpha command. Had Nathaniel not been given the command to stay in hiding where he was then he would almost certainly have died along with Mathew.

  New precautions had been put in place so that was unlikely to happen again but still there were always certain dangers that came with the full moon.

  "You will not be doing anything dangerous?" Sophronia asked.

  "Only a hunting trip. There is very little danger involved," Nathaniel assured.

  "Except to your unsuspecting prey," Sophronia countered. He should have seen that coming after her argument at the circus about animal rights. Still, had she not eaten bacon that very morning?

  "You can lecture me on the cruelty of hunting once you give up eating the flesh of hunted beasts."

  "I suppose that was hypocritical of me to say," Sophronia said with a sigh.

  "It is good for a lady to forget how her food comes to the table," Nathaniel said. It was hard to imagine a lady in a fine silk dress with white gloves splattered with animal blood. Peasant women might be fine up to their arms in a turkey carcass but not women like Sophronia.

  "If a lady should have distance from hunting then why are Vivian and Claire going?"

  "For the same reasons you and Mercy are not," he said. He would need to tell her about werewolves one day he realized. It would not be that day or any day soon but there was no way she could live under his roof and raise a were-child without knowing.

  He was surprised that she gave no protest though he guessed that with the babe in her belly the idea of hunting held little appeal. She was not really desirous to go. She just hated being told that she could not go.

  "Take care of yourself while I am gone. Ruth can get a message to me if we are truly needed," Nathaniel said. Sophronia nodded.

  They were near the garden exit and it was almost time for them to leave. On impulse, he leaned forward and kissed her cheek.

  "I will not need you," Sophronia whispered.

  The house was quiet once everyone had left. Sophronia took a nap until her body was so rested that sleep was not an option. It was evening but not fully dark. She asked Ruth to bring her a tray of food and when she was finished eating she made her way to the library.

  Mercy was on a chaise lounge upholstered in red velvet. She had a book in her hands and only turned her head for a moment when Sophronia arrived then brought her attention back to Pride and Prejudice.

  Sophronia scanned the shelves. She was not in the mood for books of love but she also had no desire to read Greek tragedies or Shakespeare. Instead, she plucked the story of Don Quixote from the shelves and settled herself in a chair.

  "I love my brothers dearly but I do enjoy the peace when they are gone," Mercy said. In Sophronia's book Alonzo, who would become known as Don Quixote, was comparing the bravery of Cid Ruydiaz with the Knight of the Burning Sword. She had not read very far. Alonzo had not yet left his estate and gone off on a quest to try and save the world.

  "I like the peace as well," Sophronia agreed.

  "I suppose we should enjoy it while we can. Once the little one arrives I think there will be less peace and quiet."

  "I think you are right," Sophronia said. She vaguely remembered when her sisters were small. They had been wailing little things at times.

  "It will be a change, though a welcome one. I wondered how long it would be before I had a niece or nephew once Eldon and Claire set a wedding date. It is much quicker than I anticipated."

  "I am glad that the family will welcome the baby," Sophronia said. She did know that she was fortunate. She might not have the life she had planned but as a fallen woman her fate could be much worse.

  "Do you have a nursemaid in mind or will you allow us to find a woman from our estate. The nurse who cared for me and my brothers is still young enough to care for a child. I believe she was who Eldon intended to hire to care for his children. I can sent word to her and ask if she would be willing to care for your child."r />
  "As Nathaniel and I will not be living at the main house would it not be better to have separate nurses for separate nurseries?"

  "I suppose that will depend on how old your child is when Claire has a child," Mercy said, "Though I doubt Claire would begrudge you the nursemaid until her child was born. She is sensible except where my brother is concerned. With Eldon she is perhaps a bit blind but I do believe that is the kind of love my brother needs. He needs a woman to give him the same blind love he misses from our mother."

  "It is a very difficult role mothers have," Sophronia said. Her own mother was a woman to be in awe of but not to love. She did not want to be that sort of mother but she was not sure how she would love her child. The child was neither given to her by the man she loved nor something she had planned and wanted. She supposed if the child had been fathered by a man she loved or at least been the result of a marriage where the child had been hoped for and wanted that she might have true love and affection for it. Even now when she often felt it moving within her she felt a great distance from it. She had not thought of who would care for the child once it was born nor had she thought twice about a nursery for the child. Likely, the house Wolstenholme had promised Nathaniel would not be built before the child was born and the first year of the child's life would be spent in the main house. It did seem appropriate that the child be in the same house as the man who had fathered him though that man would act as his uncle. It all was so confusing.

  "I am sure that Ruth can be of some help to you if you are in need. If my mother was here she would be able to advise you. Or, I suppose, you could write to your own mother for advice though I worry the correspondence will take too much time," Mercy said.

  Sophronia would not ask her mother any advice about parenting. She would not have even if her mother had lived in the same town instead of across the ocean. Still, the distance was a reasonable excuse as to why she needed the advice of a woman closer by.

  "I think I shall ask Ruth tomorrow what we will need to prepare for the child," Sophronia said.

  "I will help with the preparations if you like. Claire will want to help as well," Mercy said.

  "Perhaps it is better if we do it during the times they are away. It must be difficult for Claire to see me giving Nathaniel a child when she has not yet given Eldon one though Nathaniel and I are just married," Sophronia said. Her situation was not enviable but if Claire never gave Eldon a son and Nathaniel inherited then her sons could potentially inherit the estate. Until Claire birthed an heir there would always be some discomfort surrounding Sophronia's child if it was a son. Things would be even worse if Claire ever came to know or suspect the truth. Sparing her feelings would be a good reason to keep some distance between Claire and her child which would give them the best chance of preventing Claire from discovering the truth.

  Chapter 12

  Nathaniel kept his eyes on the landscape as the carriage approached their country house. It was less of a house if truth be told and more of a lodge. It was up in the mountains. Once all the wolves were assembled guards would be placed at the end of the only path. The guards were witches trained to subdue wolves but not to kill them. Magic barriers encouraged the wolves to stay away but they were supposedly not foolproof. In Nathaniel's life he had never known of the guards encountering a werewolf but it was comforting to know that they were there if needed.

  Additionally, the witches' magic kept away anyone who had not been given the location of the mountain by a pack member. After the attack by werewolf hunters six months before the new safeguard had been put in place. Any incidental visitors would feel a desperate fear that would force them to relocate to a safer place. Once the wolves arrived the mountain paths became invisible to anyone who had not been invited. Since that magic had been put in place there had been no further harm from werewolf hunters. Personally, Nathaniel thought that some magic to prevent people from entering the mountain should have been put in place long ago. At the least there should have been some adjustments made after the incident with Ezra.

  The nights of a full moon were spent hunting together as packs. Usually, enough humanity remained in a werewolf even during the actual night of the full moon that he was unlikely to harm others. Still, there were occasions when the wolf overtook a man completely. He had seen it happen once and the pack leader, his father, had been forced to kill that wolf. Nathaniel had been seventeen at the time and the man not much older than twenty. His name had been Ezra and he had been a farmer on the Wolstenholme land. Even as a human, Ezra often showed poor judgment and a foul temper. Nathaniel wanted to blame Ezra's human failings for what happened that night.

  Unbeknownst to the pack there was a small band of gypsy refugees that had climbed the mountain. Ezra had caught their scent during a hunt and while the rest of the wolves had been pursuing a bear he had left the group. The gypsies’ weapons did little to fend off Ezra but they did alert the pack to something unusual.

  His father had led the pack towards the noise and Nathaniel had stumbled into the horrific scene right behind his father.

  Three men and a child lay mauled to death on the periphery of the campsite. Two women had wounds consistent with being violated and mauled. When they approached Ezra had his jaw locked on the neck of a young woman whose wounds were already fatal.

  Nathaniel's father ordered Ezra to release the girl which he begrudgingly did. Then, Ezra turned on the pack. He charged at his alpha. Nathaniel still did not know if he was in some kind of rage created by feeding on human flesh or if Ezra had simply gone mad but Nathaniel watched as Ezra and his father fought.

  Several werewolves tried to intervene but his father called them off. It was his job as the alpha to subdue a lesser member. Ezra would not submit. Ezra fought fang and claw until his alpha finally dealt the killing blow.

  As a werewolf much that happened during the time when he was transformed was vague. It was like a dream that he woke up barely remembering. That night was as clear in his mind as any memory made during his human existence.

  The lodge was made of wood and it was much more primitive than the house on Wolstenholme estate. It was even cruder than most of their tenant's homes.

  There was no pump on the land so all water came from a stream that flowed past the lodge and down to the base of the mountain where it joined a rolling stream from which villagers fished.

  Nathaniel stepped down from the carriage and helped Vivian and Claire down after him. Owen carried the single trunk filled with the supplies they needed over the threshold and into the large room where everyone was gathered. It was important for the packs to stay together and for the packs to meet, conduct any wolf business, and strengthen alliances through friendship. As werewolf numbers dwindled it was becoming even more important.

  Towards the back of the room was a stairway which led up one level where there were partitioned areas for supplies. A few wolves could also use the area for resting if they wished.

  "Shall we take a walk? I am not ready to be stuck inside yet. There is one more pack to arrive and besides that the heat is stifling. In an hour the sun will start setting and the air will be cooler." Vivian said.

  "I need to stay," Claire said taking Eldon's arm, "Your father wants Eldon to take a more active role in pack leadership and I need to learn what I can from the other wives of the alphas."

  "If you care to accompany Vivian for a walk just be sure to return before the sunset," Eldon said. Nathaniel nodded even though it was not something he had needed to be told. His brother would one day take over the pack and it would not benefit him to show his brother disrespect in the circumstances.

  "Do you need me to find anyone to chaperone you?" Claire asked.

  "I do not see any impropriety in walking alone with Nathaniel. After all, we are family now that his brother and my sister are married," Vivian said. Something in her tone of voice made Nathaniel momentarily uncertain but he pushed down the reaction. This was Vivian. He had nothing to fear from her.

&nbs
p; He offered her his arm and led her out of the lodge. Several other people were also outside walking. Apparently, they also felt the heat of the day mixed with the cramped conditions of the lodge were stifling.

  As long as they avoided going further than a mile away from the lodge they would be relatively safe. Claw marks on the trees showed the boundaries of their territory.

  The alphas kept those boundaries well marked with their scents so that local predators would stay away. It was incredibly rare to see any creatures on the marked land. Bears and bunnies avoided it equally.

  "The sky is very blue today," Vivian whispered.

  "It is," Nathaniel agreed.

  "It is a pleasant day to be outside," Vivian said.

  "Yes," Nathaniel agreed.

  "Do you remember that meadow just before the boundary? The one with the rich blue flowers?"

  "I do."

  "Will you accompany me there? I think I will gather some flowers to press. I brought a book for just that purpose," Vivian said.

  Nathaniel knew the meadow she was talking about. There was a hill before it that would make them invisible to anyone not also in the meadow. He was not sure why the idea made his skin tingle. They had picked flowers there a dozen times together as children but something felt different. Not least of which that they were no longer children. Still, he was not about to refuse her such a small request.

  He led her to the meadow and watched as she examined several flowers seeming unsure of which ones were just right to meet her needs.

  When she spoke the sound almost startled him because of how long they had been standing in silence.