Page 2 of Wolf's Prize

The man growled.Growled.Like a real, live animal. Kathryn’s eyes widened.

Her aunt’s expression grew stern. “I should not be here with you alone. Jacques will find out, and he will be furious.”

Oh my, yes.

Even Kathryn knew how wrong it was for her aunt to be here, meeting a man in secret. A man other than her husband. The man stepped forward, raising his hand to touch her aunt’s face. Long, brown hair hid his features.

Kathryn clenched her fists.L’enfer! Who is this man?

Good thing her father, or the maids, could not censor her thoughts. They would scold her for cursing, for certain.

He brushed his hand against her aunt’s cheek. “Jacques need never know.”

Her aunt slapped the chevalier’s hand away and stepped back from him. “Hewouldknow, and you are making a presumption I want to be here. Alone. With you.”

The chevalier huffed. “Come now, Elise. You knew I sent the message. That is why you came. Why you snuck out of the house without your brother knowing. Do you not miss the time we had together? Before Jacques took you away from me? We grew up together, spent all our time together. We had a connection, you and I.”

With one large step toward her aunt, he swallowed the distance between them.

Kathryn’s hands clenched tighter.

Her aunt snorted. “We were children and we played in the meadow. All of us. Not only you and I. And we had fun, but I am a married woman now with two grown boys. Men.”

“All the more reason for it to be our time. You have done your duty. Provided Jacques with male heirs, and I have built up my fortune. It may not rival Jacques’, but you would want for naught, Elise. Now I can give you all you crave.”

From the shock on her aunt’s face, the man had misjudged the situation. And her aunt. He leaned closer, perhaps to kiss her, and her aunt’s expression darkened. Kathryn had seen that look on her aunt’s face before. The man was in imminent danger of getting a tongue lashing.

And I will witness it firsthand. How exciting!

Aunt Elise, with her red hair and fiery temper, brought an energy with her every time she visited, but this was a whole new level of interesting.

“I have caught the heated looks you send my way when you think Jacques cannot see,” said the chevalier. “You cannot possibly deny this heat between us. You have hungered for this, for us, as much as I have.”

Oh boy. Here it comes.Kathryn could not look away.

But Aunt Elise did something Kathryn did not expect. She laughed.

The man growled again.

A shiver ran up Kathryn’s spine. Howdidhe make that noise with his throat?CouldIlearn how to do that?She could come back to this very spot, when the village boys were here again, and scare them silly with it. Let them think a wild animal lurked close by in the forest. She smothered a giggle, clamping her hand over her mouth just in time.

Unperturbed, Aunt Elise stood her ground. Respect for her aunt’s courage swelled in Kathryn’s chest. She would be terrified in her aunt’s place.

“I really do not know what I have done to give you the impression there is something between us. Yes, I care for you. You are one of my closest friends, but it is Jacques who I love, and Jacques I mated.” Her aunt reached out, rubbing the man’s arm in a comforting gesture. “One day you will find your mate and you will see what we share is naught more than a friendship.” She turned to leave.

With a snarl, the chevalier grabbed her shoulders, wrenching her aunt around to face him. “Do not turn your back on me. He may be a d’Louncrais, but Jacques does not get to have everything.”

“Let. Me. Go. If Jacques hears of this, he will punish you no matter how much your friendship means to him. Think about what you are risking.”

“I have. And I will not be denied what is mine any longer.”

He pulled her against him. Her aunt struggled, and his hand gripped her throat.

Kathryn’s lungs seized and panic fluttered in her chest.

Aunt Elise’s cheeks flushed. “I am not yours. I never was and I never will be.”

The man growled again, deeper, angrier. “You will not fight me forever.”

---