Page 21 of Wolf's Bane
The wound on his shoulder thrummed, and the silver ink embedded in his skin burned. He would never contain his beast during the full moon if he let his anger take control.
He knew Solenne or Luis needed to marry well, to bring an infusion of coin into the family’s coffers. The Marechal children would have to be practical. Marriage to another hunter, while common for the previous generations, would not give them the help they needed now. The once proud family could not afford love.
“It seems your circumstances have changed,” Alek said, his voice cold. The beast inside him clawed and snarled, wanting out to finish the job at which the other beast failed. Who was this man to tell him no? To decide he was not good enough for Solenne?
To deny him his mate?
The beast would take what he wanted and answered to no frail man.
Alek snarled. His teeth felt sharper, like they crowded his mouth and needed to bite, bite, bite.
“You’ll stay away from Solenne,” Godwin said. “She has an understanding with a very good match. You’ll not confuse the issue or turn her head.”
“You sorely misjudge your daughter if you think she can be confused,” Alek said, working the words around a mouthful of teeth.
He struggled to contain the beast, to remember that Godwin had saved Alek and took him into his home, mentored him, and gave him a profession. That man, the man Godwin had once been, deserved Alek’s respect.
Deferring to an obviously weaker man felt wrong to the beast, whose thoughts were no more complex than the gratification of seizing and dominance. The beast respected only raw strength. Godwin could not defend himself, not half-blind and limping. He should kneel before Alek, thankful that the strength of the wolf wanted to protect his home and family, not claim those for itself.
Civility, tattered and frayed, held Alek in check. Thiswasthe man who saved him. This was the man who took him into his own home, when Alek’s own family had been slaughtered by a monster.
Silver burned, containing the beast. Alek might be more monster than man now, but his rational mind was still in command. The beast might hold dominion over his body, but his mind controlled his actions.
For the moment.
“You will not enter my home until I have your word,” Godwin said, either unaware of his peril or uncaring.
“Very well. You have my word.” Alek held out his hand to shake as a peace offering.
Having reached accord, they shook.
The beast howled in frustration. Alek knew all the sound reasons a union with Solenne was foolish and doomed to unhappiness. He could not give her what she needed. He could not be the partner she deserved.
“Come inside. You’ve had a long journey if you came from the West Lands,” Godwin said. “You must want nothing more than a hot bath and a good meal.”
Alek wanted several things, but he would settle for a good meal and a comfortable bed. “I washed the worst away at the cottage,” he said.
“Then a soak, but I suppose you’re young enough that you don’t feel the miles in the saddle,” Godwin said, even as the groomsman led Alek’s horse to the stable.
Inside the front entrance, the house remained the same, as if frozen in a memory. The wooden floor had been axed and polished to a deep, reddish hue. Grand doors lined the foyer to the left and right. From memory, Alek knew the drawing room and the other tidy little rooms of social convention to be to the left and the dining room to the right. A staircase curved up and around to the second floor. A corridor tucked neatly to the right side led to the downstairs kitchen and baths. Beyond that, around a corner or two, was the oldest part of the structure.
The fading sunlight filtered in through tall windows that could use a good washing. The draperies appeared a little more worn and faded. A console table sat between two closed doors, a bowl of fresh flowers perfuming the air. Alek bet if he checked, he’d still find his and Solenne’s initials carved into the back of the table when he had been eleven and she nine.
“Solenne said you were injured,” Godwin said, pausing at the foot of the stairs.
“A beast attacked our coach. I handled it,” Alek replied.
“I am sure. I’ll send her up with her kit to patch you up.”
“Perhaps not, all things considered.” The beast inside him howled with displeasure.
Godwin gave him a withering look. “I need you in fighting shape.”
“A good night’s rest is all I need.” Lies. So many lies.
Solenne
Godwin announced that Alek had arrived but would not be joining them for dinner. Instead, he sent up water for bathing, a meal on a tray, and eventually Solenne with her kit. She schooled her expression to remain neutral. Too eager and Godwin would lock her away in her room. Too insolent and Godwin would rage at her rudeness. She struggled not to rush through her meal in her eagerness.
