The Wolf's Pregnant Bride Read online

  A moment later Sophronia caught a foul smell in her nose and a second later Amelia rushed forwards and swept the child out of Nathaniel's arms.

  He pulled a chair alongside the duchesse where Sophronia was seated and took her hand.

  "I do not suppose you have had time to finish reading the book," he said.

  "What book are you having her read?" Eldon asked.

  "Frankenstein," Sophronia said.

  "Perhaps not the best book for a new mother," Eldon said. She could see a twitch in his cheek. Perhaps he cared more about her and Keturah's well-being than he was letting on.

  "It does have some dark themes," Nathaniel conceded.

  "But it is a quite enjoyable read," Sophronia added.

  "I suppose it is if you like those types of books," Eldon said indicating he clearly did not.

  "I can understand the deep desire of a person to bring back what they lost," Claire said. Sophronia wondered if she was speaking of her mother.

  "It would be unnatural. How could anyone think that reanimating dead flesh could create anything but an abomination," Eldon said.

  "It was not in the creating as much as abandoning the monster that made it an abomination," Sophronia said.

  "Frankenstein did have a duty to the monster," Claire agreed.

  "He would have been better off killing the foul beast once he saw it was an abomination," Eldon said.

  "But it was alive then. It would have been murder," Claire said.

  "Was it really alive? It was dead flesh reanimated. The thing could not speak. Frankenstein could not even know if the monster had thoughts or feelings. One would think reanimated flesh would not. Beyond all that, the monster could not have a soul," Eldon said.

  "If it could learn to speak and feel loneliness how can you say it had no soul?" Nathaniel argued.

  "Perhaps that is one of the questions the reader is meant to ask," Mercy said.

  "I will finish reading it while you are away. Must you really go?" Sophronia asked. Nathaniel, Eldon, and Claire along with some of the household staff and some of the tenants would be leaving for another hunting trip.

  She had hoped that Keturah's arrival would convince him to let his brother and father go alone on the trip but it did not seem to have crossed his mind.

  "It is my duty," Nathaniel said. She did not argue that his duty should be to her and Keturah.

  "I will pray for your safe return," Sophronia said.

  "Do that," Nathaniel said bringing her hand to his lips and kissing her knuckles.

  Amelia returned with Keturah a moment later and Nathaniel stood to go.

  He likely was going to check on the dogs. Once he returned she thought she might join him at the stables to see how his dogs were doing. She might even have Amelia join them so that Keturah could enjoy the sight of the fluffy puppies.

  "Have all the arrangements been made for your sister to help you in your mother's absence?" Claire asked. Sophronia turned her head to face her sister-in-law and realized she was speaking to Amelia.

  "My sister will arrive at sunup," Amelia said.

  "I did not authorize her to go anywhere," Sophronia said.

  "I know you did not. I did," Claire said.

  "But Keturah-"

  "Amelia and her sister Emily will see to her. Alice must be allowed to go," Claire said sternly. Sophronia was taken aback. In matters of her daughter she should have the final say but it was Claire's household and not her own. She wondered if any progress had been made on the home that her father-in-law had promised her and Nathaniel. It would be nice to have servants who could not be excused without her permission. Amelia was capable enough under the instructions of Alice but Sophronia did not like the idea of women caring for her child who had little experience with babies. If something went wrong would they know what to do?

  "Is she going on the hunting trip?" Sophronia asked.

  "She is. She is very essential. She has family that we meet with," Claire said.

  "Perhaps I should have Ruth find me a nurse who is not essential to your hunting trips," Sophronia said.

  "Alice is the right nurse for Keturah. Three days is not long. She will barely be missed," Claire said.

  "Emily has helped raise my nieces and nephews near to grown," Amelia volunteered.

  "I suppose there is nothing that can be done," Sophronia said begrudgingly. She wanted to argue with Claire but it would do little good and she knew it. She needed to remind herself that she was only a guest in her sister-in-law's home even though it was starting to feel like home to her. She needed to remind herself that it was not. Her husband was not the heir. He would not be inheriting the Wolstenholme estate. Eldon would inherit. He might let her and his brother stay for the sake of Keturah but she was hesitant to push the issue too far. Her own mother had sent her away for differences of opinions.

  Nathaniel climbed into his bed. He wished that the full moon had not come so soon. He was loathe to leave both Sophronia and Keturah.

  Winter and Snow snuggled against his sides but they did not bring the comfort that the affection of his dogs usually did.

  He hoped that the new lodge for the pack would be safe. If it was not then he was not sure what his father would order done. The death during the last full moon weighed heavily on his mind. He needed to stay safe. He needed to come back. Sophronia and Keturah needed him.

  Chapter 20

  The dining table felt empty with only Mercy there to join Sophronia for breakfast. Mercy had one of Jane Austen's books beside her breakfast plate.

  "Do you plan to read in the parlor after you are through?" Sophronia asked. She had stopped in the nursery to see Keturah but her daughter was fast asleep and she was loathe to wake her. Until her daughter awoke she was not sure what to do with herself.

  "Not today. I was invited to visit with a friend. Do you know the Simpkins?" Mercy asked.

  "I do not believe so," Sophronia admitted. There were many people she still had yet to meet.

  "The oldest Simpkins girl, Juliet, is almost my age. We had our coming out together. She was married but made a widow very shortly after and has returned to her parent's home. She invited me to luncheon and I accepted. She did say I could bring a guest if I please but I did not think to invite you since it is so soon after Keturah's birth.

  You could come if you wish," Mercy said.

  "Thank you, no. As you said it is too soon after Keturah's birth to call on strangers. I think I shall stay and read. I have only a few pages left of Frankenstein," Sophronia said.

  "Did you enjoy the book?" Mercy asked.

  "It was very kind of your brother to give it to me. I enjoyed it though I think the next book I read will be something light. Perhaps one of your Jane Austen stories of love," Sophronia said.

  "I continue to forget to return those to the library. I have quite the stack of books on my dressing table. You can slip into my room and take a look. If one of the books appeals to you then you may borrow it. I have read almost all of the books that I have stacked there. I really should ask my maid to return them but I often end up going to the library and fetching them again to reread a few pages or try to remember one special line."

  "I quite understand," Sophronia said.

  "Once you have mended from your ordeal I promise to introduce you to Juliet and her family. She has one other younger sister at home and three brothers. There is an Earldom that the oldest brother is set to inherit though his grandfather remains well and his father lived to be almost one hundred so he will likely be an old man by the time he inherits."

  "Are the younger brothers eligible men?" Sophronia asked. A younger son might be a perfect match for Mercy since it would not matter that she could give him no children. She might have to resign herself to life on a smaller estate than Wolstenholme but as long as Mercy was given access to plenty of books Sophronia thought Mercy could have a comfortable life.

  "They are not," Mercy said with a slight shake of her head. Sophronia sighed. Marriage w
as something that Mercy clearly hoped for. Mercy was so unlike her. Sophronia could have lived out her days without marrying and been content though now that motherhood agreed with her she was not sure that spinsterhood doing noble deeds would have been quite all she hoped. Not that any of it mattered now. She was the mother of Keturah and wife of Nathaniel. Mercy was wife to no one and mother to no one. She did not even have any desire to rescue slaves or fight for the rights of animals. Mercy was content just to read books and dream.

  Some things in life really were not fair.

  The carriage arrived at the new lodge much too close to dusk for Nathaniel's taste. They would have less than an hour before the moon shone down on them. He joined Owen, Reggie, and Dalton in unloading the carriages and settling the dogs at the bottom of the hill where they would be staying.

  They had set up a reasonably comfortable camp for all of the non-were servants. At the previous lodge the non-were servants and the witches had rested in the nearby village when they were not needed for duties. This new lodge was not close to any settlements. The fact that the camping gathering was conspicuous made Nathaniel uneasy and he might have said so if he had been with his father and brother when the location was chosen.

  After being loaded down with all he could carry he followed Owen up the trail to the lodge. He took a deep intake of breath when he saw it. The structure would hold and it would provide shelter for the almost two hundred wolves that would be staying there during the moon but it was crude and primitive. Mud and timber had been used to make the walls of the lodge and the roof was thatched. Inside was a single large room. The floors were dirt and there was no fireplace but instead a rough fire pit.

  He found Eldon and Claire against a wall. She offered him space on the blanket she had laid on the floor and he sat down beside them.

  "This will be my first full moon without Vivian and my father," Claire said softly. Her family had been assigned a different area. Nathaniel hoped they had been able to make something less primitive than the current lodgings.

  "Father said that we have a new wolf with us today. Joseph turned during the last moon," Eldon said.

  Nathaniel shuddered as he remembered the first time he had turned. He had been almost thirteen when it happened and his body had started changing to that of a man. The first hairs had appeared on his chest, under his arms, and in his nether region. His father and Eldon had gone to the lodge for the moon and he had been left under the close eye of Ruth whose non-were father and werewolf mother had served in his grandfather's home.

  He had felt sick that evening with a stomachache and a headache and so he had gone to bed early. He had awoken to the light of the almost full moon streaming through his windows. His arms started to tingle and he looked down at them. They were covered in hair. Of course he had been warned by his father about the signs and so he rang for Ruth. She hurried to his room, assessed him, and then calmly told him that he would need to be moved to another room. At the far end of the house's east wing was a room that had furniture made of strong metals and rock. There was no mattress and the blankets in the room were old and tattered. Most importantly, the door was thick, reinforced, and lockable.

  The first night he did not fully transform but rather he just seemed to develop swelling in his arms and legs along with hair.

  In the morning his body was back to normal though he felt tired. Then, the night of the completely full moon came. He could not sleep for feeling so restless and ill. His head pounded and he was so nauseated he was sure that he would bring his dinner back up. His muscles began to ache until he could not move. He lay frozen on the floor in agony. He tried to cry out but he could not. He wanted his father. He wanted his brother. He wanted anyone to make the pain go away. The pain seemed to last forever but when it finally started to subside his muscles began to twitch involuntarily. He could not remember much after that since his wolf mind was difficult to focus. The third night was easier. His body cramped but then the change was swift. He remembered exploring the room he was in with his heightened senses, sharp teeth, and claws. The stone of the chair in the room was smooth and relaxing to chew. The blankets ripped as he pulled them with his teeth. The metal table tasted both strange and intriguing. He might have mouthed it all night if his gum had not scraped against the corner cutting him slightly.

  He left the furniture and began running around the room. He leapt up the walls and pushed himself off of them to land near the center of the room. He felt euphoric until he began to miss his father. He wanted to be with his father with a kind of longing he had never known before. He rushed to the door and began clawing at it and biting at it as he tried to go to his father. He could not get a good angle to bite at the door and his claw marks left only light impressions that faded a moment later. His lack of progress infuriated him as his wolf tried to get to his alpha.

  He had fought to get to his pack until he was so exhausted that he collapsed on the floor. When he awoke he was a human again. Ruth had unlocked the door and left him a breakfast tray.

  Once his father and brother arrived home his change was announced and celebrated.

  He hoped Joseph, who was one of the tenants, had enjoyed a safe change as well.

  "That brings our current number up to seventy two," Nathaniel said. There had been seventy one pack members before Joseph had turned.

  Of those numbers the Wolstenholme household and werewolf staff made up fifteen. The rest of the wolves in the pack were tenants on Wolstenholme land.

  Twenty two of the members were widows or females married to non-werewolves. Fourteen were youth. One was an elderly wolf whose wife had passed two years before and who had chosen not to remarry. The remaining twenty wolves were werewolf pairs.

  Additionally there were a dozen young werewolf males who were currently abroad and in the service of the king. They were no longer technically part of the pack but instead were part of a warrior pack serving the interests of the kingdom. Once they had served for ten years then those who survived the ordeal could return and farm on the land for their lifetime at a tenth of the rent other tenants paid their landlord.

  Nathaniel looked around the room for his father. He could feel the moon pulling on him. He needed the signal from his alpha to throw off his clothing and let his wolf release.

  His father, who had been talking to Ahab and another alpha, met his eyes and gave an almost imperceptible shake of his head. Nathaniel dropped his eyes back to the dirt floor.

  "There must be much business to discuss amongst the alphas," Claire said. Nathaniel looked over at her and he could see her fists clenching. She too must feel the change starting to creep upon her.

  "There is. They must decide if this location is suitable, if this splitting of packs is acceptable, and what safety precautions should be put in place to prevent the loss of life of another werewolf." Eldon seemed unbothered by the coming change.

  "It makes sense for Ahab's pack to be here. They are close to us in proximity. I am not sure Caius thinks his pack should be here. There has been much intermarriage between our packs but with this location it is almost impossible for them to get here in a single day. They must have had to leave well before morning to arrive. A few of the other locations would have worked far better for him and I believe that Octavio's pack has a lodge closer to them and has almost the same amount of intermarriages," Claire said.

  "But Octavio does not have as much history with Caius's pack as we do. Our packs were once one. They split during the reign of James the sixth. Since James was ruler of both England and Scotland it was felt that the Wolstenholmes did not need as much power near the Scottish border. Before that Scotland was a real threat to England," Eldon said.

  "I am aware of the history," Claire said.

  "The Wolstenholme alpha of the time, also an Eldon, decided to split the pack as it was growing unsustainably large and the border which they had previously defended was now safe. There was little need for guards up and down the border which was primarily what non-
married werewolf men did then. They were not sent to the king's service as they are now.

  He sent his daughter to marry a rogue werewolf landowner. He sent half of the pack with his daughter. Caius and his pack are made up mostly of the offspring from that split," Eldon explained. Nathaniel had heard the story a few times before but he had not paid it much attention. Now, it was only something to pass the time which seemed to be crawling.

  Nathaniel's teeth had started to chatter when his father finally called out the signal. All the pack members stripped off their clothes and their wolves rushed forth.

  Sophronia finished the last pages of Frankenstein and then wandered into the nursery but Keturah was napping peacefully and she loathed waking her. She went to her bedroom and laid down in an attempt to nap but sleep would not come. After half an hour she decided that one of Mercy's novels might be the only way she would be able to pass the time.

  She walked down the hallway and found the room Mercy occupied. As she had said there were books piled on the dressing table. In fact, the mirror was almost fully obscured by books.

  She picked up the top book and read through the first page. She decided it would not suit and she put it down again. She performed the same ritual again and again until five books were piled before her and she still had found nothing to her liking.

  She glanced out of the window wondering if enough time had passed to return to the nursery but she decided to give one more book a try. She looked over the covers carefully before happening upon the book that Mercy had claimed was a diary of her ancestor. Curious, Sophronia picked up the book and opened the cover. The pages were worn and had grown thin with time. The hand the diary was written in was pretty and clear enough to read though somewhat faded.

  My mother has given me this diary that I might record my time at the court of King Henry Tudor. Anne Boleyn has given the king a daughter and rumors abound that he is displeased with her and willing to set her aside should the right woman come to his court. My father of course has no use for me at home and so has sent me to see if I might entice the king. I must confess that I have no intent of doing any such thing. Still, it will perhaps be a comfort to be at court with other women who are like me instead of being a daughter my father is ashamed to call his own. He has never heard of any woman in our family who was born without the wolf gift. If I cannot breed fine wolves for the pack than perhaps I can win favor in the court for the pack.