Tall, Dark and Wolfish (35 page)

None of that made sense, and Elspeth shook her head. "And she refused?"

"Aye, it was al foretold. A beast would come for Rose and try to take her from the coven, but she would resist him. Fiona's prophesy was correct. In the

end, your mother loved the
Còig more
than she loved me."

Elspeth didn't believe that for a moment, and she stepped away from the major. "She never stopped lovin' ye. My grandfather said ye kil ed her. Ye broke

her heart and it just took her fifteen years ta die of it. When she got sick, she didn't have the strength ta fight the fever. She even summoned ye, and ye

didn't come."

"Summoned me?" The major frowned. "My dear, I never received word from Rose. Not one letter. If she had told me about you, I'd have never let her stay

in Edinburgh, no matter what Fiona Macleod saw."

Elspeth's mind was awhirl. Nothing seemed to make sense. Then the room began to spin, right before her world went black.

Forty-two

Ben stalked through the house, barking at al the servants, which made the maids skitter into corners and the footmen wince as he walked by. It wasn't like

him to act so boorish. Even Polack, the unflappable butler, simply raised his nose and regarded him with surprise.

"Elspeth!" he cal ed again. Where the devil was she? He'd been looking for her for hours. The sun was fal ing in the sky, and he couldn't find her

anywhere. He'd entered every room in the house at least three times.

Final y Ben retreated into the study and sat down behind his desk. There he found a folded note on the center of the desk and picked it up. The feminine

scrawl immediately caught his attention.

He unfolded the foolscap and couldn't hold back a gasp as he read the contents.

My Dearest Ben,

I have left specific instructions with the cook as to your diet in the days leading up to the moonful. Please do not be as difficult for her as you have

been for me. Also, there are some potions with labels in the top drawer of your desk. The largest should be used as a last resort, if you do not feel the

beast within you on the night when the moon is at its best.

You deserve a wife who loves you, as I deserve to have a husband who loves me. I am aware that you do not, and cannot be that man. So I think it is

best for us to sever our ties at this point. For what it is worth, I do love you.

Always,

Ellie

Ben's heart lurched in his chest. She'd left him? Just like that? He could hardly believe it. El ie was patient and compassionate. She wouldn't destroy him

like this.

What was it that Wil had said earlier?
When you've lost her, don't come running to me
. Wil knew she meant to leave and hadn't told him?

Fury replaced his emptiness, and he strode from the room with the intent to kil his brother. "Wil iam!" he bel owed through the house. "Wil iam!"

Polack approached him cautiously in the main hal way. "My lord, your brother is not here at the moment."

"Where the devil is he?" Ben barked.

"I'm sure I don't know, sir."

"What about my wife? Do you know where
she
is?"

Polack looked at his shoes. "I have inquired about her ladyship's whereabouts, as you seemed intent on locating her. Clarke says she left this afternoon

on horseback."

Horseback? She could be anywhere. "And he just

let her go?" he asked, mortified. He would sack the groomsman this instant.

As he started toward the back exit, Polack cleared his throat, stopping him. "She was with Lord Wil iam, sir. I'm certain Clarke would have had no

reason to deny her a mount."

A red haze fil ed Ben's vision, and anger bubbled in his veins. He'd find the blackguard if it was the last thing he did.

After a half dozen bawdy houses, Wil 's usual haunts, Ben final y found his brother at a hel , sitting at a hazard table, seemingly foxed. The last several

hours he'd spent chasing after Wil hadn't dimmed Ben's anger in the least. He stalked up behind his brother and yanked him out of his seat.

Wil fel to the floor with a thud. "Ben?"

If anyone noticed the interaction, they hid it wel . The other fel ows spread out at the hazard table, absorbing Wil 's vacated spot.

"I am going to kil you," Ben hissed. "Where is she?"

His brother's eyes narrowed, as though he was trying to focus on Ben. Then Wil shook his head and scrambled back to his feet. "Elspeth?"

Who else would he be asking about? "Where did you take her? And how dare you tel her I don't love her! What did you do, Wil ? Sweet-talk her with

your damned irresistible charm? Did you console her? Did you touch
my
wife?"

A number of men who had been ignoring them suddenly became interested and shifted their attention from the tables to watch the Westfield brothers'

interaction. Wil simply gaped at him. "Have you lost your mind?"

"Where is she?" Ben pushed Wil with both hands, sending him crashing against a hazard table. Money and markers tumbled to the floor while players

protested the interruption of their game.

"Hey," one of the burly footmen cal ed loudly. "You two, out of here."

Wil dusted himself off and glared at Ben. "I was winning, you lout."

Winning! Ben would see to it that the only thing Wil would
win
was a broken nose. He rose to his ful height, then marched out the door, with Wil fol owing

in his wake.

As soon as they were out on the dimly lit street, Ben grasped Wil 's jacket and forced him up against the stone façade of the hel . "Did you put her on a

coach headed back to Edinburgh? Tel me, or I'l snap your neck."

Wil 's light blue eyes glared daggers at him. "You have three seconds, little brother, to remove your hands from my person."

"Where is she?" Ben hissed again.

Wil twisted from his grasp and pushed him with such force that Ben stumbled into the street. He looked up just in time to see a carriage led by matched

greys about to trample him. He leapt out of the way, but the coach clipped his arm and spun him back to the ground.

"Agh!" he howled.

The pain from his shoulder spiked down his arm and across his back. He rol ed out of the street back to the safety of the walk, groaning and grasping

his bad arm with his good one. He wasn't unaccustomed to pain, but as a Lycan, it never lasted long. Not until now.

Wil stood above him, glowering. "Don't be a baby, Benjamin. You brought this fight."

He winced when he felt a sticky wetness through his jacket. Stil , the pain in his arm was dul in comparison to the loss of Elspeth. "Tel me what you did

with her, Wil iam."

Wil heaved a sigh. "I'm sure she's patiently awaiting your pathetic hide at home, though I have no idea why she puts up with you."

Ben shook his head. "No, she's gone. And you took her from me. Clarke said you rode off together."

Wil scoffed. "I took her to Canis House. Forster was going to return her home after they looked through some records."

His heart ached as her letter echoed in his mind. "She left me, Wil . She left a note. She's not coming back."

"What?" Wil asked, surprise in his voice. "I knew she was upset, but I didn't think she'd take it that far, not without giving you the chance to come to your

senses." He looked down at Ben with a mix of sympathy and disgust.

"Why was she upset?"

Wil heaved a sigh and pul ed Ben back to his feet. He couldn't hide the painful grunt that escaped him. Wil 's expression turned to confusion. "You're not

healed yet?"

Ben shook his head. He wasn't healed. Not his arm. Not the Lycan in him. Not his heart. "Why was she upset?"

"Why haven't you healed?" He heard the panic in his brother's voice.

Ben didn't have it in him to hide from the truth anymore. "Because I'm broken, Wil . I can't transform, and I can't heal myself." His eyes dropped to the

ground, escaping the look of pity that must be in his brother's eyes. "Why was El ie upset?"

"I tried to tel you this afternoon. She heard us talking, you and me. She heard you say you couldn't love her."

What had he done? His poor El ie! He'd never meant to hurt her. If Wil had plunged a knife into Ben's chest, it would have been less painful. "Oh, dear

God."

"I told her you didn't know what you were talking about," Wil explained. "I told her to give you time."

Ben glowered. "Don't speak for me, Wil iam. I know exactly what I'm talking about. I just wish she hadn't heard." El ie was the kindest soul he knew. He

would never have inflicted such pain. It was the reason he kept himself from giving her his heart, to keep from hurting her.

"You're an even bigger fool than I've always thought."

No matter what, she was stil his wife, and Ben wouldn't let her leave him. He turned his back on his brother and hailed a hack, stil clasping his arm,

which he was certain was broken. He barked out an address. Perhaps Major Forster knew where she was headed.

Forty-three

Elspeth blinked her eyes open, light from the halfmoon filtered in through the window. Where was she? After rubbing her eyes, she yawned.

"Awake, dear?" the major's voice asked from the darkness.

She sucked in a surprised breath and managed to sit up in the bed. "Major Forster?"

He stepped out of the shadows and sat on the edge of her bed. "You gave me quite the scare."

"Where am I?"

"In my apartments at Canis House. Would you like some tea?"

She nodded. Her throat was a bit parched.

"I sent word to Benjamin so he wouldn't worry." He walked to the corner of the room and tugged the bel pul .

A lump formed in her throat and tears streamed down her cheeks. Now Ben would know where to find her. "I-I wish ye hadna done that."

The major turned back to her and noticed her distress. "What is it, Lady Elspeth?"

She choked on a strangled laugh. The major was her father and yet he cal ed her Lady Elspeth. Ben was her husband and yet he didn't love her. How

had her life become such a tangled mess?

He rushed forward and pounded on her back, a bit more forceful y than was needed. "Are you al right?"

Elspeth nodded, though tears poured from her eyes.

The major seemed at a complete loss, as though women crying in his presence were a new experience for him. "What can I do?" he asked, offering her

his handkerchief.

"I-I doona want ta see Ben," she managed to get out.

"Al right," he agreed quickly. "Just please stop crying."

Elspeth blew her nose in the handkerchief and tried to bring her sobs under control. Thinking about Ben would only make her cry harder. "Tel me about

yerself."

Even in the dark room she could tel that his dark eyes warmed a bit. "What do you want to know, dear?"

She dabbed the tears on her cheeks. "I doona ken. Anythin', everythin'. I doona ken the first thing about ye."

Again the major sat at the edge of her bed. "I don't even know where to begin."

"Ye said ye were from Glasgow?"

He nodded. "Aye, but most of my life has been spent in England or on one battlefield or another."

She listened quietly as he talked, not wanting to miss one detail.

"I went off to Harrow as a young lad. My mother's family had a tidy sum and wanted me educated in England's finest schools. They wanted me to go on

to Cambridge, but I bought my commission instead. I was stationed in Canada, then on the Continent. After Waterloo I sold my commission. I've been

heading up the Lycanian Society ever since."

"In Glasgow ye'd heard tales of the
Còig
?"

His answer was interrupted when a scratch sounded at the door. "Come," he cal ed.

A young girl in a mop cap pushed open the door, carrying a tea service, and placed it on a bedside table. When she left, the major rose from his seat

and started to pour. "How do you take it?"

"Two sugars, please."

He returned to the bed and handed her a cup. "Just like Rose. I should have known."

The mention of her mother made Elspeth frown. "Did ye say Mama never summoned ye? Her journal said otherwise."

The major sighed and settled his large frame in a seat near the bed. "How would she have even known how to get in touch with me, lass? I didn't have a

permanent address. If she sent me letters, I never received them."

"But she used a summoning spel . I-it drained what was left of her strength." As soon as the words left her mouth, she wished she hadn't said them. He

looked as if she'd struck him.

"Trying to find me?" he whispered in horror. "Oh, my poor Rose."

His anguish brought fresh tears to her eyes, and she didn't try to stop them as they trailed down her cheeks. Even here and now in a dimly lit room, she

could see the love and pain reflected in his eyes. "I'm sorry," she offered numbly.

"It's my fault. I shouldn't have left her."

"She resisted the vision ta stay with the coven." It was a strong pul . One that Elspeth could understand, one that she should have fol owed herself.

"Resisted the vision?" he echoed. "No, lass. She wasn't supposed to go with me. That vision was why she wouldn't budge."

That didn't make any sense. Elspeth sat up straight. "But that's no' what Cait said."

"Cait?"

"Our seer. Caitrin Macleod. She said her mother saw ye come for Mama and that ye'd take her away. It was the same vision Cait saw about… Ben."

It was painful even to say his name, and Elspeth swal owed the ache that formed in her throat. Did the major—her father—remember the past

differently?

He shook his head, and his eyes darkened. "No. Fiona Macleod said that I would come for Rose but that she would stay with the
Còig
and resist the

temptation. I've heard it echoed in my heart every night since, Elspeth."