Defiance at Werewolf Keep (Werewolf Keep Trilogy) (12 page)

‘I am staying here in the same cell as Will. That
is
the end of it. If offspring occur, then I’ll love it or them, regardless.’

For a moment
, no one said another word. Then, one by one, they nodded.

CHAPTER TWELVE

‘She’s a sweet young thing, that lass of yours,’ Ellen said as Will carried the old lady along the dark corridor and down the stone staircase
into the entry hall.

‘She is that. You’re not one of those who stand
s against us sharing the same cell?’ Will asked curiously, studying the oldest of his kind with more interest.

Ellen grinned her gummy smile and patted his cheek. ‘Of course not, you can
ny Scot. Anyone with eyes in their head could see she makes you happy. How could I put barriers up between two people in love?’

‘Tis not love,’ he said reflexively.

Ellen laughed and patted his cheek again. ‘You keep telling yourself that, Will my boy. You keep telling yourself that. But I’ve seen the way you look at her. If that ain’t love, I don’t know what is.’

‘My wolf sees her as his mate,’ he argued. ‘That’s what you see.’

‘He’s not the only one who sees her that way. But you keep holding on to your crazy ideas. One of these days you’ll see the truth. I’m just pleased that girl knows what’s good for her.’

They had reached the top of the stairs to the cellar, and Will ducked his head
to get under the lintel. Then he carefully took the uneven and slippery stone stairs one at a time. The heat that came up to meet them from the furnace had him sweating. But in a few minutes, when he threw off his clothes, he knew he’d start to appreciate the heat.

Then again, this night he would have his woman at his side, keeping him warm. That thought filled his empty heart with joy.

‘You’re a rutting boar, you know that, don’t you?’ Charlotte told him as he placed Ellen on the cold stone bench atop her pillow. Charlotte had just entered the cell next to the old lady and was already removing her jacket. It almost looked like she was flaunting herself at him as she drew the dark velvet off one shoulder and then the other. Most of the time, it was easier to ignore Charlotte and her barbs and games, but he was tired of the censor he was getting from everyone.

‘I’m not
a boar, I’m a werewolf. And I‘ve found ma mate. I’ll say no more on the matter,’ Will growled out as he strode back down the tunnel without a backward glance.

In the red glow of the furnace, he could see Lily waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs. She looked beautiful and nervous.

‘Ready, Lass?’ He took her shaking hand in his and kissed it.

‘
I wish we didn’t have to go against so many people. It’s bad enough that this goes against everything I was taught by my mother. That these people who respect you should be so against us, too, feels…wrong.’

‘Donna fash yourself, love,’ he said as he kis
sed her knuckles again. ‘They’ll come around. It’s just new. Wolves don’t take kindly to change.’

They headed down the third and newest tunnel
, and the wall of heat eased with the dimming of the light. They entered the cell Will had used the night before, and with quick, efficient movements, Will began to peel off his clothes. He couldn’t help watching as Lily did the same.

They had spent the afternoon in her bed, exploring each other’s bodies until they fell asleep in joyful exhaustion. Now, watching her slim
, fragile body revealing itself one shed piece of clothing at a time, he felt himself harden yet again. Charlotte’s attempts at provocative teasing paled to nothing beside this woman’s innocent practicality. Even in his randy youth, he couldn’t remember being this perpetually aroused.

As the last of her smalls
was removed and folded neatly, Lily turned to face him, her face flushed with embarrassment. It was one thing to lie abed, naked. It was a totally different experience to stand together in this vulnerable way, surrounded by bars and stone. He could tell she felt the vulnerability of her nakedness intensely.

Phil cleared her throat as
warning that she was coming. Will drew Lily in front of him so that if Phil should look their way, all she would see was Lily’s back. But Phil didn’t look up as she walked into the cell, held her hands out for their clothes, then took two steps back out of the cell and turned the key.

‘I hope we are not making a terrible mistake allowing you
to do this,’ she said as she turned to walk down the tunnel.

‘I’ve told Byron to use his gun if I do anything to hurt you,
’ Will whispered into her ear as he stroked Lily into calmness. She trembled beneath his hands.

‘I hope he doesn’t mistake mating play with something more sinister, then. Because I don’t know what I would do if I woke to find you dead.’ She kissed his chest and his arousal
grew longer and harder. If there weren’t so many people so close, he would take her again before the wolf took over. But though she was becoming less self-conscious in the bedroom, she was not ready for something like that.

Instead, he kissed her hair and stroked the whispy pieces of dark honey back from her damp face.
‘This is the first time I’ve ever looked forward to the full moon,’

She blinked several times in surprise. ‘Looked forward to it?’

‘Aye, the thought that ma wolf will have you at his side excites me. I have no real fear he’ll do anything to hurt you. He’s as protective of you as I am. I feel less restless than usual, more content…’

She smiled tentatively up at him. ‘I
, too, feel better about this change than the last. But it still all feels like a dream, somehow. This last day has been surreal. I have been things and done things I could never have imagined in my old life, and yet, for all its unfamiliarity, it has felt so natural. More natural than all my years spent in a bed reading about life from books. It is like I’m not the same person. I can remember everything about that life but I can’t recognise me in that life anymore. Do I make sense?’

‘Aye, l
ass, you do… Och, here it comes.’

He saw the wildness claim her as her legs gave way under her. He lowered her to the stone floor and joined her there, pressing his body against hers as the darkness washed over him.

* * *

Byron and Phil stood at the entrance to the third tunnel, listening intently. He shifted the rifle he held from one hand to the other. It was only a precaution, one Will had insisted on, but Bryon took his promise to protect Lily very seriously. If Will’s werewolf hurt hers, then he would act.

‘It will not come to that, Beloved.’ Phil placed a calming hand on the one that currently held the rifle. ‘If Will had thought it even likely, he would never have suggested sharing a cell with her. He loves her.’

‘He says he does not.’

Phil grinned cheekily. ‘Men are fools, especially the big, tough, manly ones. They do not know what they feel most of the time.’

Byron grinned back at her and kissed her forehead tende
rly. ‘I always knew what I felt. I just believed I could escape it.’

‘More fool you
are, then. But listen…’ They heard the mournful howls of wolves begin to chorus around them. The first and loudest came from the third tunnel. Will was the pack leader, although no one had ever used that term for him in human form. But on nights like this it was always he who set the pace, he who began the call to the unseen moon.

But tonight his howl was not mournful. It
held a note of joy. When a high-pitched howl joined his, it became a strangely melodic song.

Phil smiled. ‘They sound happy.’

‘They do. I have never heard the like.’ Byron drew his wife in close and dropped a quick kiss to her lips. ‘I will go and check, just to make sure.’

If he thought Phil would let him go alone, he was very much mistaken. He heard her light steps on the marble floor behind him. As they entered the cavern that held ten cells, only one of them occupied, he was glad that she had decided to join him. The sight that met his gaze was one he wished to share.

The wolves, one big and steel grey, the other smaller and lighter in colouring, sat in the middle of the cell together. The big wolf was licking the snout of the smaller one as he pressed himself against her. Then the smaller wolf rubbed her snout along the male’s neck, almost playfully. Byron wondered if Phil was as surprised as he when the pair began to nip and frolic about the confined space like puppies. They yipped and growled and the big wolf bowled his mate over and they tumbled across the tiled floor all playful fur and teeth.

‘I think this may be a mating ritual,’ Byron said, suddenly uncomfortable to be witnessing something that
could become private.

‘I think you may be right. And from the look of her, she’s holding her own. In fact, she seems to be in charge. I doubt we have to fear for her safety this night. Come, before more serious intimacies are shared.’

Accompanied by the sounds of another joyful wolf chorus, Byron and his wife walked slowly back down the dark tunnel.

* * *

Lily awoke to find a heavy weight pressed down on her back. The marble tiles beneath her naked body were warm to the touch, and smooth as glass. She stroked her cheek along the stone and felt a contented purr rising from deep inside her. Her sense of smell told her that the weight she felt belonged to Will, still in wolf form. She shifted her head so that she could look up at him.

He was asleep, his head and shoulders pressed into the curve of her back. She had the strongest desire to reach out and stroke his fur. Memories of stroking that fur with her snout returned to her, just as more erotic memories of their mating flooded her mind. Embarrassed
, but also smugly gratified, she watched as the great wolf morphed back into the greying Scotsman.

For her, it didn’t matter what form he took, the sight of him stole her breath away. He was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. And that he was her mate, and soon to be her husband, was like a dream
come true. One she had never allowed herself to dream,.

His dark eyes opened and after a momentary sleepy vagueness, they focused in on her. Hastily he levered himself off her. The sudden cold had her moving up to keep contact. Sitting on the floor, Will wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his lap. She could feel him hardening beneath her. The evidence of his ardour had shocked and embarrassed he
r when she’d first witnessed it. Was it only the day before? But now it pleased her. That he always wanted her, always wanted to be inside her, part of her, was reassuring.

He still denied he loved her, and she was happy for him to keep doing so as long as he needed to. Now that she understood his reasons for closing down, she was happy to wait until he felt safe enough to open up to his feelings again. In every way that counted
, he let her know she was loved. Verbal acknowledgement of it was unnecessary.

They heard the sound of footsteps on the tiles coming down the tunnel. Will used his arms to cover her as bes
t he could, although, as far as Lily was concerned, she felt no need to have her nakedness covered, even from a comparative stranger. The wolf’s nature was still with her and it felt natural to be naked. Far more so than being covered with cloth that was starchy and smelled bad.

She sniffed at Will’s neck and then licked the salt off his skin. He nipped at the top of her ear as the door was unlocked and Phil came in to place the folded clothes on the stone bench. Glancing up, Lily caught Phil smiling as she backed out of the cell, gaze still firmly fixed to the floor.

‘Thank …you,’ Lily said slowly, her voice still gravelled and difficult to manage.

‘You are both very welcome. I think we will have to find mates for all our residents. It certainly makes for a much happier confinement.’ Phil chuckled as she strode off down the tunnel, leaving them in peace.

Very slowly, and with much reluctance, Lily eased herself off her man’s lap. For a moment, he held onto her, as if he, too, would have preferred to stay where they were forever. But the hard floor was not good for him, and already the chill was settling into her bones. It was time to become human again, with all its necessary trappings.

* * *

Will lay back against the pillows on Lily’s bed, his arm curved around the naked form of his mate. This would be their first night together in human form, the full moon now behind them, and the last night they could spend together before they were married. Before dawn, they would set out for London to set their wedding plans into action.

The last few days had passed in a blissful blur.
Every moment of his day and night was spent close to the woman who had come to mean so much to him in such a short space of time. Those two weeks before the full moon had been some of the longest in his life, tortured as he was by thoughts of her and the need to make her his. But in real time, two weeks was nothing; too soon, really, to know another person well enough to decide to spend your life with them.

Twenty years would have been too short a time for him to decide to spend his life with someone. He had never wanted to marry, had never wanted to be tied to another person in that way.
He had never trusted anyone enough to risk rejection. People left you. That was a fact of life, especially if you were a werewolf. Will had never planned to give anyone that kind of power over him.