The Alpha's Daughter Read online

  Now, it was past midday and she could feel Walter's agitation. It was the same agitation her father and brother showed when the full moon was closing in on them. The fact that she recognized it did nothing to ease her fears.

  Her gown and kirtle were covered in mud and the bottoms were starting to fray. She would look a terrible mess when they arrived on Crake land and she couldn't help but feel ashamed. She had wanted desperately to make a good impression on her new family but that would not happen in her current state.

  "We are not going to make it, are we?" Tamsin asked softly.

  "It is not much further. Another day or so," Walter said.

  "Tomorrow is the moon," Tamsin said. Walter would change into a werewolf tonight when the moon rose.

  "I know," Walter said.

  "What should be done?" Tamsin asked.

  "There is a cave. It is not perhaps as deep as I would like but it is deeper than a rock shelter. I am sure we can make it there tonight though there will be little time before the moon to settle you in. I will leave you in the cave and go into the forest," Walter said.

  "Will you stay nearby?" she asked.

  "I will try. It is difficult to know what my wolf self will do. I have been without my pack for a long time. I fear my instincts might make me search for them though they are too far from here for even my wolf to travel in a night."

  "What is it like to turn into a werewolf?" she asked. She remembered the first night Thomas had changed into a werewolf.

  Sarah, a witch who served in their home, had noticed the change in Thomas' demeanor. She locked Thomas in his room. Tamsin had cried and pleaded for Sarah to let him out as the noise behind the door grew horrific. Tamsin was sure something was hurting her brother but Sarah would not give her the key and no matter how she worked at the door she could not get it open. Tamsin had even threatened that her parents would throw the witches off their land when they returned if Sarah did not obey. Of course, Sarah had known better than Tamsin had and her parents had rewarded Sarah handsomely for her care of their son.

  She had asked him about that night and about the nights after as a werewolf. Try as he might he had never been able to give her a satisfactory answer. Now, she wondered if Walter who was older and wiser would be able to share what the change was like with her.

  "It is hard to tell another about. There are just not words made to describe it," Walter said.

  "Thomas did say that it was harder to control his mind when he was a wolf," Tamsin said.

  "I am two people. Man and wolf. When I am in the form of a man I think as a man though the wolf is there and he can influence me. I have better senses than a man and am drawn to my pack in a way most are not to anyone except perhaps a child to her mother. When the moon is upon me I am a wolf. I am influenced by the man in me but his influence is small and can be overridden by the wolf in me. I can think like a man but the thoughts are not clear and they are filtered through a wolf mind," Walter said.

  "What does a wolf mind want?" Tamsin asked.

  "Mostly to hunt. The wolf is a predator," Walter said.

  "What do you hunt?" she asked.

  "Whatever I scent. Deer. Rabbit. Bear," Walter said.

  "You will be hunting tonight?"

  "Or trying to join my pack. The pull of a wolf to their pack is overpowering," Walter said.

  Tamsin gulped. Where would she be left if Walter's pull to his pack was too much and he left her alone in the cave and did not return for many days? The idea of spending a night alone in the cave terrified her and she could not imagine spending three days and nights there until Walter regained his senses.

  "Bring me back a rabbit," she said as a lark. He looked at her gravely and she turned her face away no longer finding humor in it either.

  They walked in silence and she could feel the weight of the impending wolf between her and Walter.

  Dusk was upon them when Walter finally spoke again.

  "There," Walter said pointing to the entrance of a cave up ahead. It was small and if Tamsin had been walking alone she would not have seen it.

  Walter took her hand and led her into the cave. The light from the entrance gradually gave way to the darkness within and by the time Walter stopped Tamsin could not see anything but blackness. Walter took her hand and placed it on the smooth cool wall of the cave.

  "I will lay the cloak down for you," Walter said.

  "Thank you," Tamsin said. She squinted her eyes but it was still far too dark to see anything. She heard rustling and she supposed it was Walter laying out the cloak for her.

  "It is at your feet," he whispered. Tamsin kept her hands against the wall as she lowered herself onto the ground. The cloak would give some warmth but not much without Walter's body beside her. She wrapped it around herself and curled up against the wall.

  "You are sure this cave is safe?" Tamsin asked. The hair on her neck was standing on end but that could have been her sensing the werewolf fighting to surface in Walter. The moon must nearly be in the sky.

  "I do not sense any danger," Walter said. His voice was hoarse. If she was another woman and he another man she might have thought him aroused and desirous of her. They had been together for several nights and most nights they had ended up making love. She had grown accustomed to the sounds his voice made when he wanted her just as she had the subtle changes in his body. She had never been so aware of another person before.

  "You should go," she whispered even though she didn't want him to.

  "Try and sleep. Morning will be here soon. I will need to rest in the early hours but perhaps, if I can find the strength, we can continue on. My pack will not be at Crake estate but there are servants who tend to my youngest children. You would be safe with them until I returned," he said.

  "I look forward to meeting them. Your children," she said softly. It had taken some time but she had accepted that she would have no children of her own body. Walter's seven children would be hers and she would be theirs as much as they would allow her to be.

  "I look forward to introducing them to their new mother," he said gently. Then added, "but I must go now."

  Tamsin nodded. She heard the swish of his clothes and the sound of his shoes on the stone floor as they grew fainter and fainter until they disappeared completely.

  She shivered. She had not felt so alone since the night Thomas died. She tried to put her brother out of her mind and think about the children she would meet. She knew that she could never replace their real mother but she would give them all the love she was able. Perhaps the fact that she had known pain and loss would allow them to heal together.

  ***

  Walter took a deep breath of the night air as he stepped out of the cave. His wolf was restless and it desperately wanted to be free.

  Walter broke into a run. He wanted to put as much distance between himself and Tamsin as he could.

  Eventually, he knew that he could not struggle any longer. He took off his clothes and stashed them under a tree. He made a mental note of their location so he could find them later.

  Then, he let his wolf loose. His body and mind felt relief as he changed from a man standing on two legs to an animal standing on four. The first time he changed had been painful but he barely noticed it now.

  He shook his coat and sniffed the air. All of his senses were stronger. He could smell a hare being stalked by a fox.

  He could hear an owl swoop out of a tree and capture a mouse.

  His eyes could see the forest around him as clearly as if it was noon instead of night.

  He felt the desire deep in his chest to be with his pack. Panic rose in him and he sniffed the air but he couldn't scent them.

  Walter followed the smell of the hare. He had evaded the fox but was no match for a werewolf. Blood filled his mouth and bone crunched between his teeth giving him temporary relief. Then, once the hare was devoured he began searching for his pack again. He sniffed the ground. There was the faint smell of other werewolves. The scents were ol
d and not his pack but they were there.

  He was fascinated by their scent. He sniffed the ground trying to learn more.

  Suddenly, a new scent caught his attention. It was rank and smelled of decay but also of horse and of man.

  He sniffed more deeply as both his wolf and man mind tried to register the scent. When it did he felt his heart race.

  He howled out of instinct, his wolf hoping to chase the monster away. His man mind remembered Tamsin. She might be in danger if a marceffynol was loose in the forest.

  He rushed forward in the direction of the cave. His man mind worried over the safety of his wife while his wolf readied for a fight.

  ***

  Tamsin was not sure how late into the night it was. All she knew was that she couldn't sleep. She had tossed and turned for what seemed like forever then she sat up against the wall, wrapped her cloak as tightly around her as she could, and began to sing.

  She sang of new beginnings, a mother with a new child, and a woman on a journey. The songs were new and from her heart. She hoped that singing them would help the night pass. Once Walter returned she would feel safe. She would lean against him, enjoying the heat from his body. They might even make love before drifting off to sleep again side by side. It was the first night they had been apart since their marriage. She didn't know how she could miss him so much when they had been together such a short time but she did.

  The comfort of marriage agreed with her and she hoped their love would continue to grow once they returned to a much calmer life on Crake estate.

  She tried to imagine it in her head. It would be simpler than Wolstenholme. It might even be quaint. None of that mattered as long as she and Walter were together.

  She was just trying to imagine the bedroom she would share with her husband when she heard a rustling noise.

  "Walter?" she called though she did not really expect an answer. He should be far away from the cave. She convinced herself that the noise could have been a bat.

  She tried not to think of it as she started to sing again. She stopped when she heard a sound on the stone ground.

  Whatever she had heard wasn't a bat.

  She took a deep breath to steady herself and her nose was filled with the most repulsive scent she had ever smelled. It made her stomach nauseated and she gagged and began to cough. The sound of rustling and something moving on the hard stone floor of the cave grew closer.

  Terrified, Tamsin let out a scream. It echoed off the walls and was almost deafening to her ears.

  She pushed herself into a standing position against the wall of the cave. She thought she remembered what direction would lead her to the cave mouth but she couldn't be certain. Still, she couldn't stay there any longer. Using her hands to keep her firmly against the wall she quickly began moving to her left.

  The smell grew more and more overpowering as she moved and she hoped that meant she was getting closer and closer to the entrance of the cave. Then, her foot hit something hard and she stumbled backwards. She felt around desperately trying to locate the wall again but she could feel the panic building up in her chest. She wished she could see what she was doing. She wished Walter hadn't left her alone in the dark. She would rather have risked being with his wolf on the full moon than alone and helpless in the cave at that moment.

  "Walter!" she screamed unsure if he could hear her. He might already have found his way back to his pack leaving her alone and vulnerable.

  "Walter!" she screamed again.

  Something hard and wet like mud grabbed her by the arms and lifted her into the air. She kicked at the beast but her foot sunk into the wet flesh and made a sucking noise when she pulled it back before landing another blow.

  The smell was so intense she was sure she would throw up. The foul odor had to be coming from the creature that was holding her.

  She tried to wiggle free of the grip but it tightened on her. Then, she felt movement beginning. Whatever creature had hold of her was taking her away.

  She began to scream again though this time there was only sound and no words. She had no idea what the creature intended to do to her but she knew she wasn't going to like it.

  ***

  Walter's pace quickened as he heard Tamsin calling his name. He arrived at the cave entrance just as the marceffynol emerged. He was holding Tamsin in his arms and she was struggling to free herself. Tamsin let out a growl of rage but the marceffynol's only response was a terrible laugh.

  Walter knew he had no choice but to let his wolf have full control. It was the only chance he had at saving Tamsin.

  The marceffynol began to gallop away and Walter lunged at his back hock. Walter clamped his jaws as tight as they would go and tried not to gag at the taste of dirt and maggots combined with rotting flesh. The marceffynol gave a mighty kick and Walter's teeth slid along the length of damp flesh until he lost his grip. The force threw him against the nearest tree. Walter struggled back to his feet and a moment later was again in hot pursuit.

  Walter came alongside him and lunged at the creature’s belly. A mouthful of flesh loosed in his jaw and as he fell the marceffynol trampled him with his back hoof. Walter winced in pain but pulled himself back up. He let out a howl of terror and rage. He couldn't let his injuries slow him down. He pushed through the pain as he rushed forward again.

  Walter clamped his jaw around the marceffynol's front leg but the flesh there was gelatinous and came off the bone causing Walter to slip. He let go of it spitting out the foul flesh that remained on his tongue.

  The marceffynol didn't slow.

  In desperation Walter pushed with all his might against the ground with his hind legs and projected himself onto the marceffynol's back. He clamped his jaws around its beefy neck. The flesh there was stringy which allowed him to maintain his grip.

  The marceffynol tossed Tamsin to the side and used his now free hands to grab Walter by the scruff of the neck and yank him off his back. The deep teeth marks Walter left in his flesh did not seem to register with the marceffynol who wrapped a muscled arm around his victim and began to squeeze.

  Walter could hear the crunching and feel the cracking as every rib within his chest broke.

  It was difficult to take in a breath and if one of those ribs entered his lungs Walter knew he would die.

  He wanted to scream to Tamsin to run but even if he had been in human form it would have been impossible. He couldn't get air into his lungs and the pain was making him dizzy.

  He hoped she could intuit his order and for a moment he thought she had as she raced away from the marceffynol but a moment later she returned with a fallen tree branch. It was thick as the arm of a man and Walter was sure she was having difficulty maneuvering it. Only fear was making it possible for her to swing the branch. She cracked the monster alongside the head twice. The second time broke the branch though the marceffynol seemed oblivious to her attack.

  ***

  Tamsin stepped back trying to gather her thoughts. The monster was killing her husband and she didn't know how to stop it.

  She had never seen anything like it before. He had a square head and the muscled body of a man until his waist ended in the lower body of a horse. He resembled a centaur except that the flesh on the body of both the man and horse appeared to be rotting. The creature had long hair but it was tangled and gray. It also had a long tail which was equally tangled and gray.

  She found a rock on the forest floor and threw it at the beast. She hit it square in the temple but it didn't seem to even notice. She tried again, hitting it in the eye, but it ignored her. Tamsin felt her panic rising and she let out the loudest scream she could muster.

  The creature glanced in her direction as if noticing her for the first time. He tossed Walter to the side, apparently disinterested, and he rushed at Tamsin.

  She started to run in hopes of drawing the creature away from Walter though the creature was faster than her and closing the small gap between then swiftly.

  He was one good lung
e away from her when from every direction werewolves burst forward. She thought there might be a dozen of them. It was hard to see in the dimness of the night but the sounds of snarling and tearing flesh allowed her to imagine what was happening. The werewolves were shredding her attacker. She might have felt relief except that once those werewolves were through there was a real possibility they would come after her as well. She looked around her but there were no trees with branches low enough that she could climb them. There was no way to run from the werewolf pack. All she could think to do was hold very still.

  ***

  Walter could see the wolves destroying the marceffynol. They were not werewolves from his pack nor were they wolves he knew. He pushed with his back legs in an attempt to move forward towards Tamsin but the pain was too great. It took his breath away. He could feel the bones healing themselves but his wounds were severe and the healing would take time. He could do nothing in that moment but wait and watch.

  The largest wolf, probably the alpha, seemed to notice Tamsin. He left the kill and moved forward in her direction. He was growling and salivating but to her credit Tamsin stayed completely still.

  Walter tried to rise but again the air wouldn't fill his lungs.

  The alpha's nose twitched and Walter knew the wolf was catching her scent. Then, the wolf stopped growling. His tail wagged slightly. It wasn't in the friendly excited way of a family dog but instead it was meant to tell her that he would not harm her.

  The alpha sniffed her again moving closer. She remained still as his nose explored her hands and legs.

  It was only then that Walter noticed that her gown and kirtle were shredded. She was in little more than her chemise.

  The alpha flicked out his tongue and licked Tamsin's hand. She turned her palm to him and he snorted.

  The alpha turned around and returned to his pack. Then, with a howl that Walter recognized as a command the alpha ordered his pack to follow him.