Lydia Dare - Wolf Next Door

"What's tomorrow evening?" Will asked.

Emory scowled. "Prissy has invited the entire Giddings' brood to join us for dinner and parlor games."

Darius winked. "Our little matchmaker is under the impression that Lizzie Giddings has set her cap for Emory."

Will choked on a laugh. "Lizzie Giddings? Isn't she the one who snorts when she laughs?"

Emory shook his head, a sour expression on his face. "That's

Sarah

Giddings, though she'll be in attendance as well. Lizzie is the one who wheezes when she breathes."

Ah, yes. Will remembered the chit now. "Lucky fellow. Set her cap for you, has she?"

Emory's glare darkened. "You can go straight to hell."

Will couldn't help but chortle. "You are in trouble, my friend. If Prisca has her mind set on something, she always gets it."

Something flashed in Emory's eyes. "I'm well aware of that. Why don't you join us tomorrow and keep her distracted? Help me out a bit, will you?"

Which would allow him to keep an eye on Prisca and Brimsworth. Will cocked his head to one side as though he was considering the possibility. Then he shrugged. "Why not? It sounds enormously amusing. Word of advice, however."

"Please." Emory rubbed his brow. "The whole idea makes my head hurt."

"Don't go anywhere alone with the Giddings chit. Prissy successfully got Simon leg-shackled to Lily when she put her mind to it. He's better for it, but he was wholly opposed to the idea in the beginning."

His old friend snorted. "That's why you'll be there to keep Prissy's Machiavellian mind off me." He sighed. "And I'll be sure to have a brother on either side of me all night."

If Emory thought that would stop his sister from dreaming up some scheme, Will was certain he was mistaken. What an entertaining way to spend an evening and keep an eye on Prisca at the same time.

Six

Will stalked into Westfield Hall with a single-minded purpose. "Have you seen my brothers?" he barked at the aging butler. "Quickly, man," he urged as Billings took his coat.

"In His Grace's study, my lord," he finally replied.

"Thank you," Will clipped out as he started down the corridor.

"We'll forgive your lack of manners this time, Will," Lily called to his retreating back.

Will winced as he realized he'd barely helped them alight from the coach, much less escorted them inside. He'd make it up to them later.

"Miss Hawthorne has a way of rattling his cage, does she no'?" he heard Elspeth remark quietly. "I've never seen him so out of sorts."

"That's because you'd never seen him with Prisca," Lily said, her words nearly concealed behind a giggle. Nearly, but not quite. Fine. It was just dandy that they all knew how he felt about her. At that moment, he didn't particularly care.

Will stomped into Simon's study without knocking and crossed the room quickly.

Simon jumped to his feet. "What is it?" he asked. But then he covered his nose with his hand and scrunched up his face. "Have you been rolling around with Emory's hounds?"

"What?" Will sputtered. How could Simon discuss hounds when so much more needed to be said? There was a strange Lycan about, for God's sake.

Ben got to his feet as well and leaned close to sniff him. Will growled low in his throat. "That's not a smell I know." Then Ben's eyes glimmered with mirth. "The lilacs, I can place. But not the hound."

"Lycan," Will clarified. Then he dropped into a seat across from his brother's desk and waited for them to speak.

"You say

Lycan

like it's an expletive, all of a sudden," Simon remarked. "And I hope you weren't dallying with Miss Hawthorne

after

seeing the hounds. That would be bad form."

Ben chuckled, and Will shot him a look that nearly quelled it.

"What you smell on me, dear brother, is another Lycan. He was at the Hawthornes'."

Simon's eyebrows drew together.

"And, no," Will continued, "I didn't dally with him, either."

"Oh, there was definitely some dallying going on," Ben murmured. "Otherwise, you'd not come home smelling like a flower shop. A randy one."

Will banged his forehead with the heel of his hand. They were insufferable.

Simon held up a finger, which immediately quelled Ben's laughter.

"Thank you," Will grunted.

"What's this about a Lycan?"

"There's one at the Hawthornes'. He's a friend of Blaine's. Visiting for the holiday."

"Someone you know from The Society?" Simon tinkered with his quill and inkwell.

"If I knew him, I wouldn't have rushed home to tell you about him, would I?"

From the doorway, someone cleared his throat. Will glanced over his shoulder to find Major Forster, Elspeth's father. The old officer stepped into Simon's study. "What's this about a strange Lycan?" he asked.

"Finally!" Will groaned, coming to his feet. "A voice of reason."

"Tell your Lycan he needs to wear sandalwood instead of lilac oil," the major said, finally allowing a smile to cross his old, weathered face. "Congratulations, by the way."

"For what?" The muscle above Will's right eye began to twitch.

"For getting her in your arms. A man doesn't wear a scent that strong unless…" He let his voice trail off.

Will sighed and stalked toward the door. "I don't know why I bother talking to any of you," he grunted.

"Oh, come back," Ben urged. "We'll stop." He motioned with his hands for Will to reclaim his seat. "With your work at The Society, you're well aware there are others of our kind. So why are you so surprised to find another one living within polite society? We only chase the moon one night per month. The rest of the time, we're quite honorable."

"No one is aware of what he is."

"Well, I would hope not." Simon frowned. "It's not something one goes around discussing."

"Of course not," Will growled. "But they don't know the danger they've put themselves in." Then he faced the major. "His name is Dashiel Thorpe. The Earl of Brimsworth, heir to the Marquess of Eynsford."

"Eynsford, you say?" the major asked as he stroked his chin and appeared deep in thought.

Major Forster headed The Lycanian Society and was privy to more information about those of their kind than the average Lycan. It was quite possible he knew something helpful about the earl's family. "You know of him?" Will asked.

But the major shook his head. "I vaguely remember some sort of scandal years back. But it has been a very long time."

"Eynsford is a powerful force in the Lords. One doesn't go up against him easily," Simon informed him. "Didn't know the man was a Lycan, though. I don't think I've ever caught his scent."

The major shook his head as though the information was new to him too. That didn't bode well.

"What about Lord Brimsworth bothers you?" Ben asked, breaking Will from his thoughts.

"He's got his eye on Prisca," he blurted out before thinking the better of it.

"Ohhhh," Simon and Ben both said at the same time, shooting loaded looks at one another.

Will wanted to shout. Actually, he wanted to strangle them both. "Don't say it like that. There's something about him. He seems a bit wild to me. And dangerous."

Benjamin leaned forward across Simon's desk, looking their oldest brother square in the eyes. "What are we going to do?" he asked quietly.

"It's not our concern," Simon replied with a frown.

Ben shook his head as his father-in-law patted him on the back. "I know you're worried about her, my boy, but—"

Ben looked over his shoulder at Major Forster. "Of course, I'm worried about her. Prissy is like a little sister to me. And Will—"

"Made his decision years ago," Simon added.

"My decision has changed," Will declared. One could have heard a pin drop, it became so quiet at the pronouncement.

Simon's shrewd silver eyes narrowed. "Are you quite certain?"