Lydia Dare - Wolf Next Door

"You don't know where she is?" Will asked.

Emory shook his head. "Blackmoor said she

was

here?"

"She was. But she said she was headed to the Giddings'."

Emory looked tortured. "She's not there. That was the first place we looked. I think she's run off."

"She wouldn't," Will said, though as soon as the words left his mouth, he knew Emory was right. She would only take so much before she'd try to escape it.

But all of her brothers were at Langley Downs. So where

would she go?

"We need to find her. If anything happens to her…"

Will grasped Emory's shoulder. "We'll find her."

"Did she seem upset when she was here?"

Furious. Though Will wasn't ready to divulge that bit just yet. "She seemed like Prisca," he hedged.

Emory shook his head in frustration. "I know Harris returned her to Langley Downs safely. But from there, her trail's gone cold. Her horse is still in the stables. I can't imagine where she would go. Only my sister would pick up and leave on foot in the middle of December."

A chill raced down Will's spine. "What about Brimsworth?"

Emory frowned. "Helping Blaine search the property. Why?"

Will took a deep breath, relieved she wasn't with the earl. "We can use all the help we can get."

***

"I must be the most cursed woman in all of England," Prisca mumbled to herself as she stopped to remove a clinging spider web from her hair. She shook the sticky string from her hand, disgusted at the very thought of the thing clinging to the top of her head.

What had began as a quick walk to clear her head had become hours and hours of walking in circles. Or at least, she assumed she was walking in circles.

With Brimsworth chasing her skirts all over Langley Downs and Will invading her every thought, she needed a temporary escape. Her mind made up, she'd taken a path from the garden into the forest. Although she'd walked the same path hundreds of times when she was younger, it had been years since she'd stepped foot into the thick woods that backed up to the estate.

Just as she'd grown, so had the forest. Nothing looked the same. None of the old landmarks were present. She'd very quickly found herself lost, though she hadn't realized it at first. Not finding her way home wasn't a fear initially—it had been early in the day and the sun was shining. Though it was cold, she was nice and warm in her wool coat. But the farther she'd walked, the darker the sky had gotten. There was a nip in the air that hadn't been present that morning.

Prisca hugged her arms tighter around her body and spun slowly in a circle. She could swear she'd passed that croft of trees at least three times in the last hour. But then, all trees looked the same when what you truly wanted to find was home.

A drop of water landed on her nose. "Oh, perfect. Rain." Within moments, a slow drizzle began to fall. She picked up her pace. If there was ever a time she needed to find home, this was it.

Yet, she walked. And walked. And walked. And nothing looked familiar. The drizzle turned to a shower that quickly became a chilling downpour. Finally, as the sun sank in the sky and when she could no longer feel her fingers or toes, or her nose, for that matter, she stopped. Surely, if she just stayed in one place, someone would find her. But, then again, she'd thought that hours ago. No one had appeared to ease her torment.

Surely, someone had to know she was gone. Her father would have missed her presence at all three meals, which was uncommon. Her brothers would have noticed she wasn't around to pester them. And Brimsworth had been shadowing her every move for days. Certainly, he'd realize she was missing.

Prisca picked up her skirts and walked a little faster. "Ah!" she cried when she misstepped, her ankle twisting painfully as she fell to her hands and knees on the drenched forest floor. She rolled to her backside, reaching for the offended ankle and gasped as she tried to flex her foot. A curse word flitted through her mind, though she was too much of a lady to voice it.

Prisca levered herself to a standing position on her good leg and tested her weight. Oh, definitely not. It would not accept any pressure on it at all. Drat!

Disheartened, she dropped down on a fallen log, sheltered under a large tree, and extended her leg, cursing her blasted luck. Her teeth chattered from the cold. Her hair hung like a sodden, cold mess with wet tendrils sticking to her face. Her clothes were heavy and uncomfortable. And freezing cold. She rocked back and forth as she sat there and shivered while the light of day was replaced by the darkest of nights.

Someone would come for her soon.

***

Will drew his reins in front of Westfield Hall just as Lily ran out the door to greet him. "Did you find her?"

"Not a trace. Simon? Or Ben?" he asked, knowing the answer already. Lily wouldn't have asked him, if his brothers had been successful.

Lily shook her head slowly. "No sign of her. They went back out to search, along with the Hawthorne brothers. They're checking the local inns and the coaching houses, just in case." Lily placed a hand on his sodden calf. "Come in and put on some dry clothes. You'll be no good to anyone if you catch your death."

"I can't stop, Lily. She's out there somewhere. Damn this storm." He glared at the darkening sky.

"Be careful," she said quietly as she stepped back from his horse. He nudged the mare with his heels and rode toward the neighboring estate. As he neared the stables, he caught a scent in the air. He raised his nose to sniff. Nothing. Unfortunately, the blasted rain made it harder to find the scents that came so easily to those of his kind. But, there was still hope. For a moment, he had smelled the faint scent of lilacs.

Will tossed his reins to a waiting groom and turned to walk toward the house. He smelled it again.

That

was most definitely Prisca. His heart began to thump in his chest. Dear God, where was she? He

had

to find her. He had to be sure she was safe.

"You smell it, too?" a male voice called out.

Will looked over his shoulder to find Brimsworth riding toward him. He held up one hand, stopping Will. "You needn't raise your lip at me like that. I caught the scent about an hour ago. I searched as far as I could, but then I lost it before Blaine and I headed toward the village."

"Which way?" Will growled.

The earl pointed as he turned to Will and said, "We should call a temporary truce, Lord William."

"Which way?" he nearly screamed. Prisca was out there somewhere, perhaps injured, and this dolt wanted to call a truce. Brimsworth was the last thing on Will's mind.

"I know you're one, too," Brimsworth continued calmly. "I've never met another like myself before now, but I imagine two snouts are better than one. I'll accompany you."

The devil he would. Will leapt off his mare and charged the earl, knocking him from his steed. "If you've done anything to hurt her," Will snarled. "I will

kill

you."

Stunned, Brimsworth gasped and tugged at Will's arm. Suddenly, Will released the man and he slumped to the ground. "Why would I hurt her?" he croaked out. "I plan to marry the girl."

A light lilac scent tickled Will's nose, and he turned to the east. "If you want to keep your bloody head, you'll be gone when I return." He didn't wait for a response as he mounted his horse and started for the thick forest that called to him.

After a mile or so, it was so dark and the brush so thick that he couldn't continue on horseback. But he knew he was on the right path. Under the shelter of trees, Prisca's scent had only grown stronger. He dismounted and slapped his mare on the rump. She'd find her way home and hopefully alert the others. For a normal man, the dark, wooded area would seem like an endless pit of gloom. But his eyesight allowed him to see, despite the fog that hung over the area and the lack of moonlight in the heart of the forest.