“Is there anything else I can do for you, my lord?” She stood near at hand, her gaze on his face. The throaty purr in her voice and the sultry look in her eyes told him she was only too willing to do anything he asked.
For a moment, he was sorely tempted to take what she was so brazenly offering. Perhaps satisfying his lust would enable him to think more clearly but even as he considered it, he knew he would not touch the girl. He wanted no woman in his bed but Shanara and if he could not have her, then he would continue to remain celibate, unpleasant as that might be.
Placing her hand on his forearm, Alyce looked up at him through the veil of her lashes. “Perhaps you would like a warm bath,” she suggested. “It would help you sleep.”
He took a deep, calming breath, certain that, after accepting what she was offering, he would sleep like a newborn babe. Again, he shook off the temptation.
“Go along with you now, girl,” he said, dismissing her with a wave of his hand.
She lingered a moment more, then turned and flounced from the room. Reyes watched the enticing sway of her hips, then, muttering an oath, he left the hall for the room he planned to occupy until Shanara was his bride. Unfortunately, since he knew he would not be able to share her bed without possessing her, it was the room he would be occupying after the wedding as well.
On that dreary note, he stripped off his boots and shirt and sought his rest, grateful that tonight there was no full moon.
~ * ~
Wearing a dark cloak over her gown, Shanara crept out of her room, down the stairs, and out the back door of the keep. She cast a wary eye behind her, giving thanks for the lowering clouds that hid the moon and the stars and, hopefully, her progress across the yard toward the mews.
Once, certain that someone was watching her, she glanced up at the windows overlooking the yard. No lights shone. No moving shadows betrayed a watchful eye. Telling herself there was nothing to fear, she hurried onward.
The small white-washed chapel, topped by a carved wooden cross, stood in a copse of ancient oaks and elms. Opening the door, she paused at the threshold. Hearing nothing, she stepped inside the dark building.
“Alyce,” she whispered. “Are you here?”
Silence was her only answer.
Heart pounding, Shanara took a step backward and then, hearing a noise off to her left, she whirled around, reaching blindly for the door. Her hand was on the latch when she felt a sharp pain on the back of her head, and then she felt nothing at all.
~ * ~
Reyes woke suddenly, not knowing what had roused him. Sitting up, he stared into the darkness that surrounded him, his head cocked as he listened to the sounds of the night. He could discern nothing amiss yet he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was terribly wrong.
Swinging his legs over the edge of the bed, he reached for his boots, then changed his mind. Padding barefoot across the floor, he left the room and walked quickly down the corridor to his bedchamber. He pressed his ear to the door, listening. There was no sound from within.
He was about to return to the other chamber when some inner voice urged him to try the latch. The door opened at his touch. Without stepping inside, he knew the room was empty.
Muttering a vile oath, he stalked down the stairs and out the kitchen door. Once he was safely in the shadows, he removed his trousers and summoned the wolf. Ah, the pain of it, the wonder of it. He dropped to his hands and knees, stared at his hands as they turned into paws. He groaned as muscles and tendons stretched and changed shape, his body contracting here, expanding there, the whole of it sprouting a thick black pelt.
When the transformation was complete, he shook himself all over, let out a low whine as Shanara’s scent filled his nostrils. She had been here not long ago, and she had not been alone. Alyce’s scent also hung in the air.
He broke into a trot, his nose to the ground. Alyce’s scent was soon left behind, but Shanara’s led him to the small chapel behind the mews.
His hackles rose when he reached the door. Her scent was strong here, and overlaying it, he detected the scent of a man. A scent he recognized. Ragan. He growled low in his throat at the thought of her sneaking out of the keep to meet another man. A man who had sealed his doom the moment he laid his hands on Shanara.
Reyes intended to have Shanara for his mate, and wolves mated for life.
~ * ~
She was afraid, so afraid. Her head throbbed with every breath. She could feel the sticky warmth of her own blood trickling down the back of her neck. She glanced from side to side, though there was nothing to see but blackness. She had no idea who had struck her or where she was now. She knew she was lying on her side. There was dirt beneath her cheek. When she tried to lift a hand to her head, she discovered that her hands were tied behind her back. When she tried to sit up, she realized her feet were also bound.
Willing herself to be calm, she began to twist her hands back and forth in an effort to loosen the ropes that bound her wrists. She had to get out of here, where everherewas. Tears burned her eyes and she blinked them back. She would cry later. Shaking off her self-pity, she thought of Alyce, the lying wench. It was Alyce who had done this to her. But why?
Because of Reyes, of course. The girl had declared she was in love with the lord of the keep. Had Alyce thought that, by gettingrid of her lord’s intended bride, she might be able to win his love?
Shanara frowned. There had been no need for Alyce to do her harm. She had told the maid she didn’t want to marry Reyes, that all she wanted was to return to her father. Either Alyce had not believed her, or she had decided to make certain that Shanara would never return to Black Dragon Keep. Deep in her heart, Shanara knew that should Fate decree that she never see Reyes again, she would miss him far more than she would ever admit to herself or anyone else.
Shanara winced as the thick rope cut into the tender skin of her wrists. There was no time to worry about the maid’s motives now. She had to get away before it was too late. Had to find her way home…
Home. She thought of her father’s keep and the people in it. His knights were taciturn and sullen. The servants were the same. Her brothers spent their days honing their battle skills and their nights whoring, seemingly happy only when they were on the battlefield, or preparing for war. Her sisters had little time for her, preferring to spend their days pampering themselves behind closed doors or gossiping about their neighbors when they weren’t simpering over one man or another. Shanara had spent most of her days in her chambers learning the fine arts from her old nursemaid. She saw her father only at meals, considered herself fortunate if he deigned to notice her presence at the table.
