Tall, Dark and Wolfish (34 page)

come this far."

"And my brother wil never forgive me," he mumbled.

Major Desmond Forster rubbed his brow, looking at the file in front of him. Poor Captain Redding. He was a good soldier and a better man. Matthew

Redding had served under Desmond's command al throughout the Peninsular Wars; returned the previous year, after Waterloo; and sold his commission.

Within weeks he had married his childhood sweetheart, and last night the lass had gone into labor. Neither the girl nor the babe survived the event.

Redding was nearly out of his mind and rejected al the assistance the Society had offered. It broke Desmond's heart. But he couldn't help someone

who refused to let him. He closed the file and rose from his desk. He started to descend the steps from his office, but stopped midway down the stairs.

His foot nearly slid out from under him as his knees gave way.
Rose?
It couldn't be. He blinked in astonishment. At the foot of the steps, a young, red-

haired lass stood quietly, fidgeting with her hands. Dear God, she was the spitting image of Rosewyth Campbel . The same compassionate green eyes,

alabaster skin, fiery hair.

Just as he made up his mind to turn around and go back to his office, the girl's eyes flashed up the staircase. She smiled tentatively, and his feet

dragged him the rest of the way down the stairs. "Miss, are you lost?"

She shook her head. "I've come with Lord Wil iam, he asked me ta wait here."

The girl's Scottish lilt nearly knocked Desmond to the ground. She not only looked like Rose, but she sounded like her, too. Why would Wil bring a girl

here? He knew the rules. Desmond scratched his head. "The thing is, lass, ladies aren't al owed here. Would you like to wait for Lord Wil iam in my office?

"

She bit her lower lip. "I suppose that would be al right. Can ye get word ta his lordship?"

The lass wasn't Wil 's usual sort of conquest. Desmond found himself smiling at her. "Of course. My office is at the top of the stairs, first door on the right.

What's your name, lass, so I can tel Wil ?"

"Elspeth. Lady Elspeth Westfield."

Desmond's mouth fel open. He'd known the Westfields for more than three decades. There wasn't a Scot in the mix. But
he
had sent Benjamin to

Edinburgh to find Rose.

An uneasy feeling washed over him. He knew instantly that this girl was Rose's daughter. There wasn't a doubt in his mind. Rose had obviously gone on

with her life while he'd mourned her loss every day.

"Top of the stairs, first door on the right," he repeated numbly. Then he stepped into the drawing room and caught sight of Wil in the far corner.

Why the devil had the scoundrel brought Rose's

daughter here? Desmond stalked across the room, ready to tear into the lad, but as he approached, Wil seemed to sigh with relief. "Major, I was just

looking for you."

Desmond frowned at the overgrown pup. "Would you care to tel me why you've brought a woman here, Wil iam?"

"You've seen her?" Wil frowned. "She's Ben's wife."

"I figured she belonged to one of you. That doesn't explain why she's
here
, Wil iam."

Wil gestured to a seat in the corner and col apsed into one himself. "She's here to see you, Major. Ben told her he thought you could help her find her

father."

Her father? The last person he'd want to find was Rose's husband. "How the devil would I know where to find the man?"

"He's a Lycan. One of us. She bears the mark. Ben thought you could help her figure out who he is."

The air whooshed out of Desmond, and his mouth went dry. The odds that Rose knew another Lycan were minuscule. He did the math in his head. The

girl looked to be about twenty. He stumbled into the seat Wil had indicated earlier.

It wasn't every day a man learned he had a grown daughter.

"She doesn't know who he is?" Desmond managed to ask. Why had Rose kept the girl in the dark? Why had she kept
him
in the dark?

Wil shook his head. "Scoundrel apparently abandoned her mother before she was born."

He hadn't known Rose was with child. He never would have left if she'd told him. He would have made Rose come with him. Damn Fiona Macleod and

her vision to hel . "What does she want with him?"

"Ben says she wanted to kil him, but I can't imagine that. She's real y the sweetest girl. Compassionate. She actual y loves Ben, for God's sake, if you

can believe it—though that's a whole other matter."

Desmond's mind was awhirl. His
daughter
sat in his office, and he didn't have a clue what to say or do with her. But he had to see her again, to look at

her with his eyes. His daughter.

He was rocked to his core.

Elspeth fidgeted in her seat. What was taking Wil so long? He said the major was always here. Then the door opened and the gentleman she had met

earlier walked into the office, a look of confusion marring his brow. "My dear, Wil iam says you are here to see me. I am Major Forster."

"Oh." She rose from her seat. "Major, it's so nice ta meet ye. My hus— Benjamin speaks so fondly of ye. Did Wil tel ye why I've come?"

"I told him, Elspeth," Wil replied from the door. "He thinks he can help."

She smiled at the older gentleman. He raked a hand through his dark hair, sprinkled with bits of grey. His brown eyes seemed so distant, not fil ed with

the warmth she had noted earlier. "Oh, that's such a relief. I'm sorry ta barge in here without any notice."

The major locked eyes with hers. "It's no trouble, Lady Elspeth."

Wil glanced at Forster. "You'l see her home tonight?"

The old officer agreed with a curt nod. Elspeth had no intention of returning, but neither of these men needed to know that. Once she had a name and a

direction, she'd be off.

Wil bent and kissed her forehead, just as he would a sister. "Good luck. I'l see you later, Elspeth." She avoided meeting his eyes as she nodded. If he

looked too closely, he would see her planned subterfuge written al over her face, as she was a terrible liar.

The major motioned toward a chair and encouraged her to sit again. "May I get you some tea?" he asked politely.

Elspeth shook her head. "I real y just want information about my father. Then I'l take my leave. I wil na trouble ye for long."

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

"Are ye al 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, stil skeptical about al the

developments.

"When I knew her it was Rosewyth Campbel . Her friends cal ed 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 il . 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 tel , 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 swal owed 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 al ." The major smiled a gentle smile.

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

"Oh, she did more than help me. She made me fal 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 al the letters and the

spel s she'd used to cal 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 Campbel

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 al , 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 tel her that Rose's new marriage wasn't valid, since she was stil my wife."

"Yer wife?" she gasped, stepping backward. "My mother was
never
married ta anyone. I was born out of wedlock." She stil 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 tel 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 cal ed back to my regiment. I told Rose to pack her things. That

she'd be coming with me."