Lydia Dare - Wolf Next Door

"Unlike

you

…" He shot Will a pointed glance. "I normally try to stay out of your affairs. But I have a feeling you're going to bungle this beyond redemption if I don't intervene."

"This?" Will asked.

"Your marriage," Simon confirmed. His voice softened a bit. "You've been a royal idiot so far. So, I thought I'd offer my counsel, if you've a need of it."

"I

don't

have need of it," Will growled. "The only thing I need is my wife. And I intend to go and retrieve her."

"I will be quite happy when you do. And I hope you retrieve the other ladies as well."

Will began to stand.

"

However

…" Simon held him with a pointed glance.

Will sank back into the chair. "However?" he sighed.

"We've some things to discuss. With regard to the moonful."

"Such as?"

"What about the moonful?" Ben asked as he sauntered into the study.

"Not you, too," Will moaned.

"Yes, me," Ben shot back, flopping into a seat beside Will. "If not for you, I'd be tucked into bed with Ellie. Do try to keep your wife happy so she won't have to convene with ours so late in the evening, will you?"

"About the moonful…" Simon attempted to get them back on track. "We've never had so many Lycans in one place before, along with their wives. And I'm afraid it will cause problems."

"In what way?" Will scratched the bristles on his chin. "I can assure you I've no plans to spend the moonful with either of your wives."

"I'd hate for all of us to show up at the crofter's cottage," Simon clarified. "Particularly as there is no longer a bed there."

"And since you've yet to claim

your

Lycan mate," Ben added.

"I wish I wasn't in a position where I have to claim her or risk forfeiting her to Brimsworth," Will said clearly. Both his brothers raised their eyebrows. "You all know how she responded to the fact that I'm Lycan. She actually doubts my masculinity now that she knows I'm not a man."

"Oh," Ben groaned as he raised an imaginary knife to his chest and feigned plunging it deep into his heart. "That hurts."

"Benjamin," Simon scolded, though a smile hovered about his lips for a moment.

"This isn't humorous," Will growled. "I actually

helped

both of you with your wives, way back before you came to your senses." He shot looks from one man to the other. How dare they poke fun at him? Perhaps they'd forgotten.

He pinned Simon with a gaze. "You had decided you'd never claim Lily as your Lycan mate." Then he followed with Ben. "And you refused to take Ellie, because you were afraid you'd lose control with her."

"And you didn't learn from our follies?" Simon asked.

"No," Will barked. "My situation is completely different.

My

wife does not love me as yours did. She was forced to marry me. And she's hated it almost every day since then."

"You don't truly believe that, do you?" Ben asked, incredulity clouding his expression. "Honestly, Will, she's been in love with you for years."

"If she was, she is no longer. Now that she knows what I am, she's questioning everything about me. And she lost any love she may have had for me when she realized what sort of beast I am." Will flicked at an imaginary piece of lint on his trousers, suddenly discomfited by their piteous stares.

"You've no idea why she was so hysterical this evening?" Ben asked as he sank back into his chair and regarded Will with concern. "She was practically at a loss for words. And Priss is

never

at a loss for words. Not where you're concerned."

"Because my brothers told her what a beast I am, before I had the chance to do so."

"True. She is a bit out of sorts about that," Ben agreed with a nod. "But I don't believe that's why she was

so

put off."

"You came home shackled to a damned bed, for God's sake, you dolt!" the duke grumbled.

Will scratched his head. "There was no other way to get home. It was your idea, Simon."

"That's neither here nor there. You've been quite the lothario, Will." Simon didn't even smile with the last.

"Of the worst order," Ben added.

"And now I'm married," Will finished for them. Really, what did any of that have to do with anything?

"She thought you'd just come home from a tryst, I believe," Ben informed him. "If her sudden intake of air was any indication."

Will snapped his head around as his breath escaped him in a rush. "She thought

what

?"

"You'd obviously been

in

a bed, since you were still shackled to part of it. What else was she supposed to think?"

Will hadn't even considered that she was angry at him because of a misguided lack of faith in him. "I took a vow of chastity, for God's sake!" he finally informed them.

"A what?" Ben asked, his mouth agape.

"Never mind," Will murmured.

"You've a lot to atone for, William," Simon provided. "Only five days until the moonful. So you'd better get started."

"How do I do that?"

Ben stood up and patted Will on the shoulder. "Women have made it much too easy for you for much too long." He laughed all the way out of the room. Will turned to Simon, who rose from his seat.

"Don't look at me." The duke evaded him with a half smile.

"What are you saying? Am I supposed to court my own wife?" Will called to their retreating backs.

"It might be a good start," Simon called back.

Will slumped against the chair and raked his hand through his hair. How could she not trust him? He'd promised her on their wedding night he'd never dally with another.

She should have been relieved to see that he was safe.

Thirty-One

Prisca had so much on her mind that she couldn't even force the words from her mouth in any coherent manner. There were so many things she couldn't say, not with Caitrin Macleod in the room, anyway. It would be hard enough talking to Lily alone, and

she was Prisca's deares

t friend. So, instead of pouring her heart out, she relaxed in a comfortable chintz chair and just listened as Elspeth, curled up in one corner of the settee with her feet tucked under her gown, told one story after another.

"Ye should see her," the fiery-haired witch gestured to the pretty blonde next to her. "Men from all over the three closest counties have tried ta win her hand over the last two years."

Miss Macleod rolled her frosty eyes. "Ye exaggerate as always, Elspeth."

"Aye," she replied mordantly, "that is such a habit of mine." Then she giggled. "Cait pretends that she doesna notice the lads, that she's oblivious ta them, in hopes they'll go away."

Lily sat forward in her seat, her hazel eyes sparkling. "Have you no desire to marry, Miss Macleod?"

The blond witch heaved a sigh. "Sometimes I think it would be easier if I couldna see the future. If life could be a mystery. It can be a bit frustrating to meet a handsome lad and ken that ye doona see yerself with him. It's pointless ta even waste yer time on him."

Prisca frowned. How would she have lived her life differently if she'd had the gift of clairvoyance? If she'd seen how things would end up with Will, would she still want to go down that path?

"Speaking of handsome lads with whom ye doona have a future," Elspeth began. "Ben and I spent a few days in London before arriving in Hampshire, and we enjoyed a very pleasant dinner with Alec MacQuarrie."

"Who is Alec MacQuarrie?" Lily asked, apparently enjoying the inane chatter.

"A man of very little consequence," Miss Macleod answered. "I do wish he wasna such a handsome devil, though. It's been an age since he…"

Prisca knew the instant Will entered the small sitting room. The air crackled with his energy, and she glanced over her shoulder to find him regarding her with a sullen look. "Prisca, may I have a word with you?"