Tempest of Passion (22 page)

“
I see you are well.” William’s
grave voice penetrated the chamber and resonated deep into her
core. That hadn’t changed.

“
Yes, thank
you. You seem to be doing better, too.” She continued to stare at
the plate in front of her, unable to raise her gaze to William’s.
She still remembered his eyes, the yellow
wolf eyes that had pleaded for her
understanding and had shone with emotions she didn’t want to
reciprocate.

“
I wanted to get home as
soon as possible. I have no place in London anymore.”

“
The
Council
…”

S
he
left the sentence unfinished, wondering if the Elders had already
come to a decision regarding the future.

“
They have not come to a firm
decision as of yet, but father says it will all end in our favor.
With George dead and his lackey’s prisoner, proof has been
uncovered. I will, hopefully, be excused of my crimes and able to
regain contact with my family. I have made sure that you are free
of charge as well.”
She nodded, recalling that someone had told her that since she was
not an official member of the pack per say, the Council would have
to decide if she was a danger to their secret or not.

“
You don’t seem too happy
about it,” she remarked, giving him a fleeting glance. She averted
her gaze as soon as his eyes turned toward her.

“
What I have lost is as
precious to me now as the loss I once suffered of my
family.”

Emily’s heart fell to her
stomach. Her nails on her flesh bit so hard she wanted to scream.
She knew he was referring to her, but she couldn’t look at him,
couldn’t succumb to a man she didn’t understand. She remained
silent. William’s forlorn sigh squeezed her heart and she found it
difficult to breathe.

“
The bruise on your
eye…?”

“
I am using an ointment for all
the bruises. It shall pass.” She paused, biting her lip and
wondering if she had the courage to continue. “Maybe if I traveled
closer to the sea it would heal faster,” she ventured. “I sent you
a letter, mayhap you have not received it.”

“
No.”

She saw out
of the corner of her eyes as William ran his hands through his
hair. Silence grew thick in the room. She swallowed drily, the
sound seeming to echo in her head. Fear grappled with her mind. She
was his wife and should he wish it, he could keep her in the house,
prisoner. She depended on him now, on his allowance, since her
parents had left n
o dowry for her. Emily’s began to shake. Not only did the
man have power over her, the animal did too. One bite of those
sharp teeth and she’d lie in a pool of blood. The animal would keep
her prisoner here and then she’d die. Die of anxiety, fear,
anxiousness, or a broken heart.

“
Is that what
you wish?” Will
iam’s soft voice reached her ears so suddenly, she snapped
her head upwards and met his gaze. She once thought that there was
sadness in his eyes, what she saw now was devastating. Tears
prickled at the back of her eyes. He was destroyed. Where once
stood a man that commanded respect at first glance was now nothing
but a shadow of that. His face was riddled with cuts and bruises.
She didn’t dare think about the rest of her body. She knew it would
all heal, but would the look in his eyes ever be the same? Her
heart traveled to her mouth and she found that she couldn’t find
the words. His dark sad eyes kept her frozen, unable to utter the
words that would separate them.

“
Is it?”

He cocked his head, causing the
sunlight pouring through the open window to sparkle over his flesh
and bring out the hazel in his eyes.

Fear
strangled her
. “Yes, it is so.”

William
closed his eyes and sighed. He turned his body so that he
was no longer looking at her. Her heart plummeted, her hands became
clammy and she started to tremble. She fisted her skirts and
waited.

“
I’ll make the
preparations. Will Bath suit you?”

“
Yes.”

He nodded, still not looking at
her. Emily stared at him. He was lost in thought. Slowly, she rose
and walked past. She stopped at the doorway. The fine hairs on her
neck stood on end. She tucked in her lips. He wasn’t human. He
wasn’t real. He was half man, half animal. He’d lied to her. He
hadn’t trusted her. He’d rescued her out of his own selfish need.
He’d stolen her heart and broken it into a thousand
pieces.

She didn’t
leave her bedroom until the very next morning. William came to see
her off, but she scrambled into the couch, afraid that if they
spoke, that if he looked at her again she would decide to
stay.
She
couldn’t do that. Not to him, not to herself. She needed to be free
as she’d always wished and the only way was for her to leave …
indeterminately.

Chapter
Twenty-
Eight

Emily asked
the maid to not announce her presence. Instead, she slipped off her
shoes and padded silently to Will
iam’s study. It had been a month since
she’d last seen him. Almost two, since the incident in
London.

She wished she could say that
her days in Bath had been filled with happy walks by the sea, good
meals and rest. Sadly, they hadn’t. Every day had been a painful
excursion into her own mind and soul. She’d spent a month in
solitude, thinking. Her thoughts were, in majority, unpleasant.
Emily had nightmares about the incident in London, about the
wolves, about being a shifter. She had trouble coping with the
knowledge that such beings existed. That there were humans out
there who could run so fast they could become invisible among the
multitude. Who could be so strong they could crush a man’s windpipe
with their bare hands. That her husband was one of them.

It was too much for her. She
needed peace, quiet, to have her life restored to normal. At least,
that’s what she told herself every day. Yet, with each passing day
Emily could do naught but think of William. She missed him. For a
while, she attempted to lie to herself, but it was impossible. She
replayed their conversation in her head, their moments of intimacy.
She missed his boisterous outbursts of laughter. She missed his
hard-headedness. She missed his calm reassurance. She missed his
touch. She missed his scent. She missed looking into his eyes and
feeling butterflies dance in her belly.

She missed and she
ached.

Emily
slept, she bathed,
she walked, she breathed, and always there was an ache in her
chest, as if something important was missing. It was almost as if
someone had reached deep inside her and taken something, leaving
her empty and worn.

She argued with herself. She was
finally free. Free of her parents’ rule. Free of her husband’s
demands. She didn’t have to give explanations to anyone. She no
longer cared. She was a prisoner in her own mind and as the days
went by, she realized that she’d only been truly free with William.
He let her speak her mind more than her parents ever had, he
listened to her and he spoke with her. He let her be her own person
without taking insult. He gave her wings when she needed them. He
let her run from his side even if, perhaps, he wanted her to stay.
Perhaps. That was her greatest fear: that he no longer wanted her
or that he never had wanted her. He didn’t ask her to stay at his
side. He let her leave without a word, giving her access to
whatever she wished. Then again, she knew that William was
selfless.

Emily paused
at the door to
his study. It was open. Her heart beat wildly and her legs
shook. She wasn’t sure he was in there, but something told her that
he was. Taking in a deep breath, she squared her shoulders and
entered.

The sight of him stilled her.
She crossed her arms over her chest and bit her bottom lip. He had
his back to her. His large hands were laced tightly together at his
lower back as he stared out the window. The soft glow of the
moonlight bathed him in its white light, making the streaks of red
in his hair stand out.

Her heart
squeezed
in
anguish. She wanted him to turn around, but he didn’t move. He
seemed lost in thought. Lost. Forlorn. Like a shadow or a ghost …
an unearthly being that hoped for life and freedom but found
none.

She trembled
from head to toe as she moved further into the room.
She had missed him,
unbearably so. She missed his voice. She missed his laughter. Her
heart skipped a beat remembering that sound: Boisterous and full of
joy, would she ever be able to hear him laugh again. The month and
a half she had spent away from him had been close to torture. More
than once she thought about returning, but she didn’t dare. Until
now. The questions were still there: What if he didn’t love her
anymore? What if he’d never really loved her? Could she accept his
true nature? Could she accept becoming one of
them?

She could.
She would. For William, she’d do anything. She recalled Mercy’s
words to her before she left:
Succumbing to the love and happiness that you
feel, becoming one of us, will allow you to be free,
Emily.

Freedom. Being with William was
freedom. It was passion, it was laughter, it was anger … it was
love. It was a wide array of emotions that she could not feel
otherwise.

She
stopped
a
few steps behind him. He still hadn’t moved or acknowledged her
presence. What if he didn’t love her? What if their separation had
broken them apart forever? Maybe, she wasn’t truly his soul mate.
Maybe, there had been a mistake. Maybe—

She started as his soft, deep voice
reached her ears.

“
It’s a full moon
tonight.”

Silence filled the room again as
neither of them moved or spoke.

“
Seasons come and seasons go but
the moon is always there,” William said so quietly she was forced
to cock her head and inch closer. Still he did not react to her
presence.

“
The moon is magical to us. We
are not certain of the reason, for the truth was lost many
centuries ago, but on nights like these we feel stronger,
healthier, ready to stand any challenge.”

Emily cringed. He didn’t need to
speak the words, as she could tell by his demeanor that he did not
feel that way.

“
There’s a legend.” He
shrugged.

“
Tell me,” Emily
whispered.

William was silent for so long she
thought he had not heard her or he refused to share his tale with
her. Desperation clawed at her chest. She took another step toward
him.

“
There was once a shifter by the
name of Taikei. He was a human by day and a wolf by night. How he
came to be is unknown. He was blessed. He had everything a man
could wish for and everything a wolf could wish for. Yet, he was
unhappy. As a man, he felt that there was something missing in his
life. As a wolf, the solitude was even more
excruciating.

He had no
pack for he knew no other wolves and though nature was a good
companion, it was not enough.
Men were good companions during the day as well,
but it was not enough. Specifically, during the night. It was then
that Taikei would shift into his animal form and roam the land,
thinking. Every night he’d run to the highest peak he’d find, and
there he would sit and contemplate on his
solitude.”

Emily held her breath, waiting for him
to continue.

“
Gradually, the loneliness
poisoned him. Humans were not good enough and neither was nature.
He ran through the wild, he drank from the freshest streams, he saw
the brightest skies and yet, it was never enough. At night,
desperation would settle in his soul. He’d climb up his hill and
cry. His howls were heard far and wide. A cry for help, a cry of
solitude and misery. He was drowning in his own sorrow.”

Emily chewed on her lips, holding back
the urge to cry. She understood Taikei. She understood that
desolate loneliness and craving for another.

“
The moon spirit, Eliasan, heard
his frantic howls and decided to help him. She’d known Taikei since
he was a pup and had born witness to his ongoing seclusion. One
night, she came down to earth in her human form. At her side, a
young woman walked. This is Ayalasan, she told Taikei. She is my
child and she will be your wife. Ecstatic, the wolf thanked the
moon. His howls and cries turned into ones of happiness and love.
His joy was short-lived. Ayalasan was not like him. Ayalasan was
human and could not run with him as a wolf. Ayalasan could not see
the world at night as he saw it. Taikei the man loved Ayalasan, but
Taikei the wolf was once again alone.”

E
mily waited. William unclasped his hands and dropped them
to his side. He stared at the moon, like Taikei. Alone. Arming
herself with valor, Emily closed the distance between them. She
stood at his side hoping, her heart in her mouth, for him to
acknowledge her. He didn’t have to hold her, or kiss her or—she
just wanted a glance from his dark eyes, something that confirmed
that he still cared. He did nothing.