Guardian of Werewolf Keep (Werewolf Keep Trilogy) (12 page)

‘He attacked his housekeeper when she came up to see what the noise was
all about. The woman died from her horrific injuries. And his wolf utterly destroyed the house, before morning. When he came back to himself, he was confronted with what he had done. At first, he did not believe it was he who had caused the calamity. But then the brief glimpses started to come through. When he realised he was responsible, he was inconsolable.

‘
The Task Force identified the situation as soon as it arrived on the scene. They brought Jasper straight up here as soon as the full moon was passed. His parents know. And they accept him. But he will not see them, because he does not accept himself.’

Phil snuggled into his arms
for comfort, as the first howl echoed through the tunnels. She couldn’t stop the shiver that ran up her spine. The sound was so eerie and mournful. All the anguish those poor souls experienced was expressed in those howls.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

They
had remained together all night long. Jamey had tried to stay up with them, but two sleepless nights had taken their toll on the lad, and he was sent off to bed just after midnight.

Then they had settled in together
on the floor beside the cellar door, wrapped in each other’s arms, only separating long enough to stoke the furnace, and check on the wolves. It was a remarkably quiet night, Byron thought, as he nuzzled in to his love’s neck. If it had been a bed beneath them, they might well have slept the night through.

But it wasn’t safe to sleep that soundly. So the floor was the best option. And truth be told, if he had this beautiful woman in a soft bed, he wasn’t sure sleep would have been the only thing on his mind. It was getting harder and harder to resist her. He knew heartbreak awaited him down that path. But he was helpless to resist it.
Only his honour kept him from claiming her fully.

As first light lit the hallway from the open door to the morning room, Byron edged the sleeping woman from his arms. She was instantly awake. Groggily she looked about her, as if trying to work out where she was.

‘Another night over. Do you want to put that porridge out?’

‘I will give it another half an hour. Until they all start coming up. Then I will move it into the m
orning room. I now know they will not be ready to eat for a while yet.’

‘You learn quickly, my dearest
. You would have made a wonderful soldier. It is a pity you were not born a man.’

She eyed him
mischievously, her dimples appearing in her cheeks. ‘You want me to be a man?’

‘Not me. But you might have preferred the freedom it offers. The opportunities to succeed in the world.’

‘I rather like being a woman, when I am with you. I would not be in any hurry to change my gender, while ever there was the possibility of a kiss from you.’

He grinned, willing to let her tease him into a better mood. Knowing that she was
hinting, he obliged her with a kiss. For several long minutes they were lost in their embrace.

Then he reluctantly stood up
, and offered her his hand. She reluctantly allowed herself to be drawn to her feet.

‘Next month we are going to find a more comfortable way of doing this. I ache all over,’ she complained.

‘You can go to bed. You do not have to stay up with me.’

‘So you can be the only martyr to the cause? I think not. Ouch!’ She gripped her back as her face registered a stab of pain.
He turned her around so he could feel down her back. The whalebone corset gave nothing away.

‘You would feel less pain if you gave up wearing this torturous undergarment. Such items of apparel are not meant for dozing on hard floors
, outside dungeons, all night.’

She chuckled
, and nodded her agreement. ‘You might be right. Maybe next month I will wear less support, and see what happens. Come on, enough discussion of my unmentionables. What would Queen Victoria think of such a conversation between two unmarried people? In fact, I would have to wonder if she would consider it a fitting topic for conversation, even for married couples. Can you imagine Albert asking about her stays?’

Byron grimaced as he opened the cellar door. ‘No
. If tables must have their ‘limbs’ covered at all times, and the word ‘leg’ avoided in relation to even a piece of furniture, I cannot imagine corsets figured highly as a topic of discussion with her spouse. I sometimes wonder how they ever had children.’

‘Byron,
that is going a little far. It is a moral outrage, even to think such thoughts.’

‘I imagine there are many men who have had such thoughts.’

‘She is the Queen, for goodness sake!’ Her mock horror made him chuckle.

‘And a starchy one at that. Does she wear a corset to bed, do you think? How would Albert ever find his way through all those garments?’

He was enjoying their game, and he laughed all the way down the stairs. His good mood even lasted until all the inmates were released, and they had gone back upstairs.

Then
, thoughts of what he would find at the croft sobered him. He had made light of Bobby’s situation. The fact was, he’d been forced to manhandle the boy back into the small cottage, and had felt like the worst kind of fiend when the boy banged on the door in terror. He had been so afraid of being locked in with his wolf, not fully understanding that, had he been free to roam the moors, the wolf would still have been with him every step of the way.

Listening to the wolf tear the small dwelling apart had kept him awake all night. Over and over again, the beast had thrown itself against the
door and walls, until the croft shuddered from the impact and dust fluttered down on him from the eaves. Had the building not been one of the older, sturdier constructs of weathered stone, the wolf would not have been contained. He was still worried that another night of continued assault might have weakened the door enough for it to be dislodged. He didn’t think it would happen, but he could not be sure. He had been forced to weigh up the situation. Where was he most needed? Back at the Keep where a helpless woman and inexperienced child stood guard over sixteen werewolves, or there with one wolf, imprisoned securely in an isolated dwelling.

If he had known Phil w
asn’t quite as helpless as he’d imagined, nor Jamey so unprepared, he might have stayed. But he’d been too worried about them to remain. It was a lesson learned. Now he had to hope that his decision hadn’t led to dire ends. Though he was dead on his feet, he had to get out to the boy as soon as possible. And he needed Will with him, if he was going to be forced to coerce the lad into returning. Even a young werewolf was strong. It had taken all his strength to manhandle him back into the dwelling, and lock him in.

As soon as Will came back down stairs
, he was ready with the three horses, and enough food to sustain the hungry wolves after a night of enforced captivity. And with a quick goodbye kiss, he left Phil to her porridge.

For the first half an hour of the ride, both men kept silent. Then, when Byron was sure that Will was back to himself, he raised the subject that had been eating at him since the night before.

‘She is a good woman. She does not deserve the treatment you mete out to her.’

Will shot him an angry glance, before turning back to the rough path they were following up the moor
-side.

‘You’re too attached to her. That lassie
will break your heart, man. And none of us can afford for that to happen.’ He paused before going on. The silence was pregnant with Byron’s angry, unspoken denial.

‘And you
canna tell me no. I see it. We all see it. And even if you weather her leaving, the others are coming to love and rely on her, too. They willna handle the rejection, when it comes.’

‘It is not rejection to want to have a life away from the Keep! For god’s sake man, would you
want
her to willingly give up her chance for happiness, out of misplaced loyalty to us?’

‘No I wouldna. And I hold no enmity toward the lass. She’s bonnie and strong, and it’s sad that the Cap’n dinna bring her to us earlier, so he could see the lass he’
d sired. But the truth of it is; she will go. She should go. But the more she wheedles her way into our hearts, the harder it’ll be when she does go. I’m tryin’ to protect us!’

‘And hurt her every time you do! She is not trying to wheedle her way into our hearts. She is being herself. Can you not see that every time she extends a hand to us, it is out of compassion and caring? She wants to help, for as long as she can. Because she cares. And I am worried she is starting to care too much. I do
not want her to be forced into this life because she cares too much!’

‘Then keep her at a distance. Every time you kiss her, you bind her tighter to you.
You will break her heart as surely as your own, if you donna keep her at a distance.’

‘Do you think I have not tried! I have been trying to keep her at arm’s length since the first night. But I cannot. All my resolve disappears as soon as I am with her.
And it grows harder every day.’

‘Then stay away from her! You will bed her
if you donna, and then you’ll hate yourself for it. You ken that already!’

‘How do I stay away? You have no idea what it is like. She is like… like the most intoxicating liquor to a drunkard. I have no control where she is concerned. I love her!’ Byron felt the tears of frustration and despair stinging his eyes. He would not give in to them.

‘Go to London for the next month. It is long overdue, anyway. You ken we need to form closer alliances with the constabulary, and those members of the parliament who ken of us. Unless we improve our standing with those organisations, there will be open season on all of us, if the public ever finds out werewolves are real. A month apart might cool your blood and hers, enough for you to be sensible.’

B
yron considered Will’s advice. Although the idea of being separated from Phil for a whole month made his heart ache, he could see the sense in such a move. The truth was, the longer he remained close to her, the more likely it was that he would take her innocence. They had already come so far since that first virginal kiss that first morning.

Phil was a hot-blooded woman who wanted him as much as he wanted her, but she didn’t realise what that meant. He did. Not only would her reputation be ruined, and her future husband’s rights usurped, but she might end up with child. In that case, he would marry her, and that was the last thing she needed. It was as good as a life prison sentence for her and their child.

For a moment, he indulged himself with the fantasy of fatherhood he’d never considered possible. Phil would be the perfect mother, and he would adore raising a child with her, and love it with all his heart. He was the last of his line, and it would be wonderful to know his blood lived on in his child.

But how could he even consider bringing a child into the world he inhabited? How could a child ever b
e safe surrounded by werewolves? All a child of his would inherit was pain and duty. What kind of life was that?

No, Will was the voice of his conscience. He knew he was right, and hated him for it. But, the more he considered his options, the
more he realised the only rational thing for him to do was to stay as far away from her as he could, until she made the right choice, the only choice – to leave the Keep for ever.

‘I’m sorry
, my friend. I ken what this means to you. If there was any way that we could survive without you, I would say go, be with your lassie. But, if you go, you may as well put a bullet in each of our heads.  It would be the kindest and safest option.’

‘I know.’

By midmorning they had reached the desolate croft, and the sky was heavy with unshed rain. Will looked up and frowned, as he pulled the collar of his shirt up higher on his neck.

‘We’ll be caught in this downpour. Jas said we would.’

‘There was not much choice. We could not leave the lad up here any longer, without food or water.’

‘No, we couldna. But I donna have to be happy aboot it.’

Byron gave a grimace that passed as a smile, as he watched his gruff friend grouse about the weather. He knew Will was of hardy stock, who had lived through far worse situations than a little rain. His complaints were no more than idle chatter.

When the croft was in sight, Byron breath
ed a sigh of relief. He had begun to convince himself that he would find the door missing, and their captive escaped. But he had worried for nothing. The building was as impregnable as ever.

Bobby must have heard the horses approaching, because he was banging on the door, yelling to be let out, the moment they brough
t their mounts up in front of the cottage.

‘Aye, well, you can give that a rest, young Bobby. We’ll get to letting you out when we’re ready,’ Will yelled out to him from the saddle. ‘The faster you behave
, the faster it will happen.’

Bobby instantly ceased banging, and Byron felt relieved that the lad was so willing to co-operate. Yesterday he had been hysterical
, and couldn’t be reasoned with. Maybe the lad would see sense now, after a second night stuck in the shambles his wolf had wrought.

But
, both men were ready for anything, when they finally unbolted the door, and opened it. Luckily, their caution was unnecessary. Bobby stood on the other side of the door, a scrap of blanket wrapped around his waist, his body bleeding and bruised black and blue, and his shoulders drooped in defeat.

‘I don’t want this,’
he said sadly, his voice hoarse from screaming.

‘
We ken that, laddie. None of us do. But you canna run away from it. This is your lot now. Best make what you can o’ it.’ Will put a hand on the youth’s bare shoulder.

‘I can’t believe it
did all this,’ Bobby said, indicating the destruction around him.

‘Think how m
uch worse it would ha’ been if you’d been loose. You’d ha’ mauled sheep, and maybe a lone shepherd, if he dinna shoot you first. The cells aren’t perfect, but they do the job.’