Tempest of Passion (21 page)

“
Come then.”

They walked in silence down the stairs.
The house was quiet, seemingly empty except for them.

“
Charles is reunited with
the Council of Elders. They’re deciding what to do with the
traitors that joined George in his plan to overthrow the order of
things. Now that he’s dead, we’ve discovered that his plan ran deep
into the roots of the family.”

They stepped outside. Sunlight warmed
her flesh and she sighed.

“
Emily.”

“
Are the coachmen…?” Emily
swallowed.

“
Shifters?”
Mary shook her head. “No, they’re human.”

Emily nodded. Relief surged
through her and must have been visible on her face for Mary’s eyes
drooped.

“
We aren’t evil, Emily. George
was a bad apple. And,” she hesitated as if deciding on her next
words. Finally, she lifted her gaze to Emily’s. “You’re William’s
mate.”

“
What does that mean?” Emily
whispered, surprising herself.

A fleeting smile crossed William’s
mother’s face.

“
I
t
means that you’re his soul mate. You’re his companion, his other
half. You’re everything to him.”

Emily
took a step back.
She shook her head. “We barely know each other. I barely know who,
what, he is.”

“
You know his heart,” Mary
supplied.

Emily descended the short steps
to the waiting coach. She brushed off assistance from the driver
and grasped the door handle. Mary followed a step behind her. Emily
veered around.

“
No, I do not.
I knew
or I
thought I knew the heart of a man, once, but not the heart of an
animal.”

“
He’s not an
animal.”

Emily shrugged.

“
He is to me.”

She climbed into the vehicle and
made to close the door. William’s mother stopped her with
surprising force.

“
William told me that your
greatest dream was to be free of all society’s restrictions. You
wanted to be your own person, your own woman. Being the mate of a
wolf allows you that privilege. Succumbing to the love and
happiness you feel, becoming one of us, will allow you to be free,
Emily,” she whispered.

“
I have to
g
o.”

“
William
was afraid you didn’t love him so he didn’t tell you. He
made a mistake, a human mistake … don’t let that destroy your
future. In our world, the male wolf always knows who his mate is,
but the woman, she has the power of choice. She can reject him or
accept him.”

“
I had no
choice,” Emily snapped.
She stared at Mary’s face. It was finely lined
with age and filled with inner strength that shone through her
eyes.

“
Of course you
did. T
here’s
always another path we can take … but you were attracted to William
and he knew it. If you’d hated him with all your heart, he
probably…”

“
He
probably would have
married me anyway because he’s bent on saving everyone. William
likes to be the hero of the story, Mrs. Dalton, but he made a
mistake with me. He didn’t become my hero as he hoped but my warden
instead. He trapped me into a loveless marriage, and has forced me
into the confines of a married woman’s life.”

“
You know that’s not
true.”

Emily shook
her head.
What was the point of arguing with William’s mother? She
needed to get away from him, her, this house, the shifters, the
animals, all of them, before she went insane.

“
I want nothing to do with
William or your family, again. Please, if you will, communicate
this to him.”

“
You won’t be able to stay away
from him.”

Emily scooted to the far side of
the bench and closed her eyes. If she pretended she could not hear,
then maybe she’d go away.

“
You’ve already bonded. Your
heart has decided for the both of you. You will return to William,
and you will be one of us.”

Emily’s heart jolted. Become a
beast? Never. The door closed with a quiet clack. The coach started
to move. Emily sighed, a breath she hadn’t been aware of holding
whooshing out of her lungs.

Chapter
Twenty-
Six

Somehow, she’d managed to elude
everyone in town for a full week. No one knew she was back in
Brookenshire except for the servants at William’s service. Why
she’d accepted to come here, she wasn’t certain. She’d never set
foot in William’s house before, but it seemed to be the only place
where she would be able to be alone.

Alone
. She wished she could be alone. In this house, it was
impossible. Not because of visitors or the servants. They left her
to her own devices. No, it was William. His presence permeated the
house. Every little thing in the manor reminded her of him. From
the dark hues of his desk to the nearby forest, they all screamed
William. Yet, she could not will herself to go elsewhere. Where
could she go? She depended on her husband’s allowance and he was
not there.

Emily stood
at the door to his study. Somehow, she always ended up here. She
tried to keep away from it, but her feet dragged her back to the
sunny room. It was the most peaceful room in the house. Perhaps,
she reasoned, as she settled in the leather chair behind the
medium-sized desk, it was because of the
floor-to-ceiling windows that
presented stunning views of the fields and forests behind the
house. They were different to anything she’d seen before. The
curtains that framed them were white and light, giving the room an
ethereal appearance when the moonlight shone through the glass.
Emily slipped off her shoes. Her toes curled over the thick carpet.
The last rays of the setting sun warmed her cool flesh. What would
it feel like to run wild in the fields? To leave everything behind?
To not have a care in the world? To leave your body behind and run.
To enjoy the taste of the water on your tongue, the feel of the air
against your flesh, the thickness of the ground beneath your feet …
what would it be like to be part of nature?

She closed
her eyes as the last drop of sunshine blinded her. What was she
thinking? Why was she even considering these things? She turned the
chair around and grasped the edge of the table. She was going to
stand and leave, but the smooth wood called to her.
Emily ran her
fingertips over the pure craftsmanship, bending over little by
little until her head rested on the surface. Emily closed her eyes.
Even his furniture smelled like him. What was William doing at this
moment? Was he still in bed? Did he still have that awful cough? Or
did he heal faster because he was an animal? Was he running as a
wolf through the London streets, terrorizing the citizens that were
not like them? Was he howling to the moon? Or was he perhaps
already rescuing another maiden in distress? The thought had her
pulling away from the table and storming out of the
room.

***

Emily woke up
in a cold sweat
. She huddled beneath the blankets, shivering. Only now, in
the impenetrable darkness of the bedroom would she admit that she
missed William’s warmth at her side. She turned to one side and the
other, but sleep would not come again. She dragged herself out of
bed and stood disoriented in the middle of the room. What was she
going to do? Mentally shaking herself, she slipped into her robe
and slippers. Quietly, she opened the door to her bedroom and
padded down the hallway. The house was silent and empty. She passed
several rooms and the thought struck her that they were scarcely
furnished. Had she and William had a happy marriage it would have
fallen to her to decorate the place and make it
homey.

She chewed on her bottom lip.
Chandeliers and silk wall hangings would go well in this room. In
this other one, the windows were not that large and mirrors would
certainly help create the impression of more light. This one—Emily
paused. She sighed. Here she was again, back at William’s study.
This one was perfect. She turned on her heel and descended the
spiraling staircase. She tiptoed to the back of the house and
escaped into the garden. A cool breeze tousled her hair and her
slippers slipped on the wet grass but she plunged ahead. William’s
garden opened up into vast fields and finally into a lush woodland.
She roamed through the garden, finally settling down on a stone
bench beneath a tree that was quickly losing its leaves.

Bringing her
knees up to her chest, she circled them
with her arms, and leaned her head on
them. Emily sighed and closed her eyes, hoping for peace. Instead,
the dream she’d had earlier slammed into her conscious. She
struggled upright.

It was the same dream again. The one
where she’d be with William atop a hill, beneath the moonlight.
He’d cup her cheek and she’d lean into him. He’d shift and
then—Well, previously she would wake up. Now, now the dream became
a nightmare. William would shift and she’d lean forward to pet him
only to discover that she too was a wolf. She’d wag her tail and
look at William with excitement, only to discover that he was lying
in a pool of blood at her side. When she’d go to him, she was human
again. She would wrap her arms around him and feel the warm liquid
seep into her nightgown. Wailing, she’d wake up.

Emily
rubbed her eyes,
willing the image to vanish. She glanced at the house. She couldn’t
stay here anymore. William was too close. Besides, he was bound to
come back eventually and she couldn’t bear to see him. She had come
to the conclusion, that they’d be one of those couples that lived
in separate houses and led different lives. He’d be free to have as
many mistresses as he’d want, and to come and go as he pleased,
while she’d be confined to being Mrs. Dalton, abandoned in a house
somewhere where no one remembered her, heart-broken, with
loneliness consuming her day by day. Emily wiped a stray tear from
her eyes.

Damnation. She never cried. At
least, not until she’d met William. Lately, it seemed it was the
only thing she was capable of doing. Anger slammed into her.
Enough. She’d had enough. She’d write a letter to him requesting
her allowance to travel to a coastal town. The farther away from
him she went the better.

Chapter
Twenty-
Seven

Emily hurried
to the window hoping to see the young servant bearing the post.
Instead, what she saw forced her to hold on to the curtain, lest
she collapse. Two men walked slowly toward the house.
One was tall,
lanky, with a mane of blond hair and an easy smile. The other made
her heart speed up. He was taller, broader, with a mane of dark
hair that spilled to his shoulders and glinted red under the first
rays of the sun. He was serious, as always, the scar that traveled
from beneath his eye to his lips giving him an aura of mystery and
command. Yet, her heart skipped a beat, as she realized that he was
not himself. He was limping, his shoulders slumped as he made his
way toward the house.

As if he knew
she
was
looking at him, he glanced toward her window. Emily hid behind the
curtains, her heart on her sleeve. What was she going to do? She’d
sent the letter hoping he would send her the money and be rid of
her, not come back to Brookenshire. Her teeth chattered as she sat
back down. She would finish her breakfast. She would demand he send
her away. Yes, that was what she’d do. She stared at her plate,
unable to take a bite of the buttered toast she’d been sampling
earlier. Her hands itched for something to do. She forced her
tapping feet to be still. She waited, her breath bated, for the men
to appear.

She saw them before they reached
the entrance to the dining room. Her heart faltered as she caught
sight of William. Slowly, she stood. They stared at each other in
silence like two strangers meeting for the first time. Graham
cleared his voice and she forced her attention onto him. He smiled,
but she was incapable of doing the same. He was one of them too.
Half human … half beast. His smile faltered.

“
Go
od
day, Mrs. Dalton,” he said softly.

Emily cringed. Her married name.
She hadn’t heard it in weeks. She didn’t want it. She sat back down
and stared at her food. She couldn’t look at William anymore. His
face was bruised and his limp was more pronounced as Reeves helped
him move further into the room and sat him down in front of her.
She felt his heavy stare on her, penetrating her, trying to read
her. Her heart constricted. She tightened her hands into fists so
tight that her nails bit into her palm. She didn’t want them to see
her weakness, to realize that there was still some inkling of
emotion left in her.

“
I’ll go see the luggage,” she
heard Reeves say. She heard the clap of his shoes against the
hardwood floor as he left them alone. Alone. Shouldn’t a man and
his wife be happy to be reunited? Shouldn’t they share passionate
kisses? Loving embraces? They did nothing. They sat in silence for
long minutes. Emily wanted to run. She cursed herself for not
leaving sooner, for not sending him a letter sooner. Then again,
she had never expected him to make the trip to the house so
soon.