Tall, Dark and Wolfish (36 page)

An awful thought entered her mind. Mrs. Macleod wouldn't…? But it was the only thing that made sense. "Why would she lie?" she muttered under her

breath.

But with his Lycan hearing, her father heard her. "To keep Rose. To keep their coven intact."

Even Cait wouldn't do such a terribly selfish thing.

Elspeth's heart plummeted. Al those years she and her mother had been alone. Al those years that her mother spent mourning him, he'd apparently

spent mourning her, too. She'd grown up with a stigma that she could never live down, no matter how many people came to her for help. Al those years

they could have been together. It was a waste.

"Did ye real y marry her?" she asked softly.

His eyes met hers and he nodded. "I stil have the license."

Another scratch came at the door. The major's eyes never left hers, and another wave of sadness washed over Elspeth. Al the years they'd lost weren't

his fault. Al the years she'd spent blaming him were in vain.

"Come," her father cal ed.

The same little maid pushed the door open. "Major, Lord Benjamin would like to see Lady Elspeth."

She drew in a breath and shook her head. "I canna see him."

"What did he do to you?" her father asked, his brow furrowed.

Elspeth simply shook her head. "Please."

He glanced at the maid. "Tel Lord Benjamin I'l be there shortly."

When she shut the door, he turned his attention back to Elspeth. "Did he hurt you?"

She closed her eyes and shook her head. "Not in the way you mean. He… he doesna care for me. Please, I doona want ta see him."

"Then he won't bother you." The major rose from his spot and left her alone.

Ben paced around the private drawing room, thanking God once again that he'd received the note from Forster. El ie was safe. He could stil make things

right. How could he explain things to her so that she'd

understand? That question had plagued him the entire ride to Canis House, which wasn't terribly easy with a broken arm. Though now that he was here,

he no longer noticed the throb in his arm. Al he wanted was the opportunity to see his wife.

"Benjamin," Major Forster said from behind him.

He spun around. "Oh, Major. Thank you so much for the note. I was half out of my mind with worry."

The major frowned at him. "She's not up to seeing you right now, Ben."

"What do you mean? Is she al right?" Ben growled.

"No need to show your teeth, pup. She's fine." The major didn't growl, but his voice held a subtle warning nonetheless. A gust of wind blew as the door

flew open behind them and Wil burst through. "Nice to see you, too, Wil iam." The major shook his head.

"Why did you come here?" Ben snarled.

"Because you left a trail of blood in your wake that a blind wolf could fol ow. I don't care how much you hate me right now. I'l not leave you when you're

injured."

"Injured?" the major scoffed. "His heart is not involved with my daughter, from what she tel s me. So I doubt Elspeth's leaving has caused him any injury."

"Your daughter?" Wil and Ben asked in chorus.

The major ignored their question and turned to pour a drink.

Ben weaved a bit unsteadily on his feet as he moved toward the major, a growl stuck in his throat.

"Look at you, Ben," Wil said. "You can't even walk." Then he turned to the major. "Why isn't his injury healing?"

"Injury?" the major echoed. The sound of Wil 's teeth as they ground together was the only noise in the room. The major looked down at the floor, where a

steady drip of blood ran from beneath the sleeve of Ben's jacket to hit the rug at his feet. "You're truly injured? And have not healed?"

Ben nodded weakly.

"You should have told me," he said.

"You were having such a grand time bringing me to heel, I didn't want to ruin your fun," Ben breathed out, gasping in pain as the men pul ed his jacket

from his shoulders to get a better look at the wound.

Darkness clouded the corners of his vision. Thankful y, Wil hooked one foot around the leg of a chair and drew it near, just before Ben would have

swooned and hit the ground.

"Honestly, Ben," Wil chided, his eyes clouded with worry. "I would think you were wearing garters if you didn't have al that blood dripping from your

body." As they final y removed his jacket, Wil whistled softly when he saw the way Ben's shirt was stained with blood, his arm twisted at an unnatural

angle.

"The day I wear garters is the day you'l marry Prisca Hawthorne."

"Not bloody likely," Wil whispered.

"Exactly," Ben hissed as they adjusted his broken arm. Wil final y gave up and ripped the shirt cleanly from his body. Why hadn't they thought of that

earlier? It was much less painful.

"It's worse than I thought," Wil said as he tested the edges of the deep wound.

The major cal ed to a maid in the corridor. "Have one of the men fetch the doctor, wil you?"

But then Ben was cal ed from his weak stupor as he heard a voice with a lilting Scottish brogue say, "No need. I can heal him myself."

She looked so beautiful there in the doorway that Ben could barely get his breath. She'd removed her combs, and her hair hung wildly about her

shoulders. Her image swam before his eyes. "Elspeth," he breathed. "You wil
not
heal me."

"No man has ever told me what ta do, Benjamin Westfield. And I'l no' start with ye." She walked toward him slowly. Her image split into two. He shook

his head.

"I'l not let you put yourself at risk," he said quietly. "I've seen how it affects you."

"I'l no' let ye be injured when I can help ye." She gestured toward the settee. "Can ye move him so he can lie down, please? He's about ta fal from the

chair."

Wil moved to help and barely caught him as he did just that. Then darkness was al Ben knew from that moment forward.

Forty-four

Elspeth did her best to fight the panic as she descended the stairs. She'd already known something was wrong with him; she'd felt it in her soul. She didn't

understand the connection they had, since he professed not to love her, but they were tied to each other, regardless.

When they'd settled his big body on the settee, Ben was so deeply unconscious that he'd not uttered a sound.

"Ye say a Lycan can normal y heal his own self?" she asked the men.

"Yes, we heal almost immediately. I've never known anyone who is unable to heal. Have you?" Wil asked the major.

Major Forster got a faraway look in his eye before he shook it off and said, "Yes. I have seen it. It's rare, but it happens."

"What causes it?" Wil asked as she gently probed the wound. Ben didn't even move beneath her fingers. She halfheartedly listened to the response.

"Usual y an imbalance. Some unrest within the soul. Or the heart, as the case may be. It's often an event that tests a Lycan's confidence and weakens

him. It's not in a corporeal sense. It's internal. And it can be deadly to one of our kind if we can't find a healer."

"Can you heal him, Elspeth?" Wil asked.

"Aye, I can." There was no doubt in her mind. She could heal him and make him whole, in body and in spirit. She wished she'd realized it before. The

answer could not be found in blueberries, flowerscented baths, or potions. Al she had to do was love him. And make him believe it. "Can ye give me a

moment alone with him?"

"Why?" Wil wanted to know.

She smiled a gentle smile at him. "Because I need ye ta leave us be. And let me do my work."

"We'l be a few steps outside, Elspeth. So cal if you need us."

"Aye, I can already imagine ye passin' each other in the corridor as ye pace in opposite directions. Go on, now. Out." She pushed her hands at them

impatiently.

When they were gone, Elspeth took a moment to look at Ben's sleeping form. She brushed the hair back from his forehead. He looked as peaceful as a

child.

Then she touched her hands to the area of his wound, bringing the edges of the gaping cut together with her fingertips. She closed her eyes and

focused al of her power on the job she had to do. His flesh warmed and slowly knitted together. The edges of the wound went from red and jagged to

being completely healed. She lifted her hands and was quite content with what she saw.

Ben stil slept peaceful y. She touched his arm above the break with one hand and below it with the other. When it was completely healed, she tested his

arm by bending it at the elbow. She stopped to smile at her own work.

But she wasn't done. There was more that needed to be healed. She didn't know why she hadn't seen it before. She placed her hand above his heart.

Her power immediately flowed into him, as though this was what his body waited for, what his soul yearned for. Her palm heated against him as her power

flowed into him, and she imagined it moving through his body, nourishing his soul and feeding his needs.

Elspeth tried to open her eyes so that she could gaze upon him as she fixed him, fixed her broken wolf. But her lids refused to lift. Her power continued

to wash into him, now pulsing through his entire being. She felt the pieces of him that were broken unfurl. She felt the insecurity vanish. She felt the doubts

and fears about himself and his ability to control his Lycan side replaced by her healing warmth.

Elspeth found she could no longer support her weight and sank down slowly onto his chest until her face rested against his skin. Her hand fel off his

chest and hung limply toward the floor. And there she final y gave in to the need for sleep that so clutched at her.

Ben woke slowly, wrapping his arms around Elspeth's body as she slept on his chest. He could wake like this every day for the rest of his life. Why did he

have his shirt off while she was clothed? He raised his head and looked around the room. They weren't at her cottage. Or his house in London.

He ran his hand down her back and cooed gently

into her ear. "El ie, wake up, love." She didn't move. He jostled her slightly, but she didn't raise her head. "El ie?" he said more loudly, panic taking over.

Wil and Major Forster bolted into the room. "What happened?"

"I have no idea. I woke up and she was sleeping on my chest." He turned her hand over and gasped when he saw blood. "Is she injured?" he croaked.

"No, it was you who was injured, Ben."

It slowly dawned on him. "You let her
heal
me?" he cried. He sat up and adjusted her body so that she was cradled in his arms. Her head hung back

limply. "El ie! El ie!" he cal ed to her. He brought a hand up to touch her face. "She's freezing! What have you done?" He glowered at the men.

"She said she could heal you—" Wil started.

"And put herself in jeopardy!" Ben cried.

Wil glanced frantical y toward the major.

"We didn't know that she would be injured in the process. I would have let you die before I'd let you hurt my daughter," the major bit out as he moved to

take Elspeth from Ben's arms.

Ben stood up quickly and moved out of reach. "You'l not take her from me."

The major put his hand under Elspeth's nose. "She breathes, Ben."

"Yes, I can hear her heart beating. But it's much too slow. And she's so cold." He moved toward the stairs. "Where is the bedroom?" he barked.

"Top of the stairs."

Ben ran up the stairs, taking two steps at a time. He burst into the nearest bedroom, slammed the door shut, and pul ed back the counterpane. If this

was like the time she'd healed Caitrin, she would need warmth from his body. Quickly he undressed her and himself and laid her on a pil ow before he

pul ed her frigid body close to his and raised the counterpane, tucking it tightly around her.

A knock sounded at the door.

"What?" he barked.

"I'm coming in," Wil said.

Ben didn't respond. He just ran his hands up and down Elspeth's cold body, trying to use the friction of his touch to warm her.