Dare, Lydia - Tall, Dark and Wolfish

Please do not be as difficult for her as you have

been for me. Also, there are some potions with

labels in the top drawer of your desk. The largest

should be used as a last resort, if you do not feel

the beast within you on the night when the moon

is at its best.

You deserve a wife who loves you, as I deserve

to have a husband who loves me. I am aware that

you do not, and cannot be that man. So I think it

is best for us to sever our ties at this point. For what

it is worth, I do love you.

Always,

Ellie

Ben's heart lurched in his chest. She'd left him? Just like that? He could hardly believe it. Ellie was patient and compassionate. She wouldn't destroy him like this.

What was it that Will had said earlier?

When you've

lost her, don't come running to me

. Will knew she meant to leave and hadn't told him?

Fury replaced his emptiness, and he strode from the room with the intent to kill his brother. "William!" he bellowed through the house. "William!"

Polack approached him cautiously in the main hallway. "My lord, your brother is not here at the moment."

"Where the devil is he?" Ben barked.

"I'm sure I don't know, sir."

"What about my wife? Do you know where

she

is?"

Polack looked at his shoes. "I have inquired about her ladyship's whereabouts, as you seemed intent on locating her. Clarke says she left this afternoon on horseback."

Horseback? She could be anywhere. "And he just

let her go?" he asked, mortified. He would sack the groomsman this instant.

As he started toward the back exit, Polack cleared his throat, stopping him. "She was with Lord William, sir. I'm certain Clarke would have had no reason to deny her a mount."

A red haze filled Ben's vision, and anger bubbled in his veins. He'd find the blackguard if it was the last thing he did.

After a half dozen bawdy houses, Will's usual haunts, Ben finally found his brother at a hell, sitting at a hazard table, seemingly foxed. The last several hours he'd spent chasing after Will hadn't dimmed Ben's anger in the least. He stalked up behind his brother and yanked him out of his seat.

Will fell to the floor with a thud. "Ben?"

If anyone noticed the interaction, they hid it well. The other fellows spread out at the hazard table, absorbing Will's vacated spot.

"I am going to kill you," Ben hissed. "Where is she?"

His brother's eyes narrowed, as though he was trying to focus on Ben. Then Will shook his head and scrambled back to his feet. "Elspeth?"

Who else would he be asking about? "Where did you take her? And how dare you tell her I don't love her! What did you do, Will? Sweet-talk her with your damned irresistible charm? Did you console her? Did you touch

my

wife?"

A number of men who had been ignoring them suddenly became interested and shifted their attention from the tables to watch the Westfield brothers' interaction. Will simply gaped at him. "Have you lost your mind?"

"Where is she?" Ben pushed Will with both hands, sending him crashing against a hazard table. Money and markers tumbled to the floor while players protested the interruption of their game.

"Hey," one of the burly footmen called loudly. "You two, out of here."

Will dusted himself off and glared at Ben. "I was winning, you lout."

Winning! Ben would see to it that the only thing Will would

win

was a broken nose. He rose to his full height, then marched out the door, with Will following in his wake.

As soon as they were out on the dimly lit street, Ben grasped Will's jacket and forced him up against the stone façade of the hell. "Did you put her on a coach headed back to Edinburgh? Tell me, or I'll snap your neck."

Will's light blue eyes glared daggers at him. "You have three seconds, little brother, to remove your hands from my person."

"Where is she?" Ben hissed again.

Will twisted from his grasp and pushed him with such force that Ben stumbled into the street. He looked up just in time to see a carriage led by matched greys about to trample him. He leapt out of the way, but the coach clipped his arm and spun him back to the ground.

"Agh!" he howled.

The pain from his shoulder spiked down his arm and across his back. He rolled out of the street back to the safety of the walk, groaning and grasping his bad arm with his good one. He wasn't unaccustomed to pain, but as a Lycan, it never lasted long. Not until now.

Will stood above him, glowering. "Don't be a baby, Benjamin. You brought this fight."

He winced when he felt a sticky wetness through his jacket. Still, the pain in his arm was dull in comparison to the loss of Elspeth. "Tell me what you did with her, William."

Will heaved a sigh. "I'm sure she's patiently awaiting your pathetic hide at home, though I have no idea why she puts up with you."

Ben shook his head. "No, she's gone. And you took her from me. Clarke said you rode off together."

Will scoffed. "I took her to Canis House. Forster was going to return her home after they looked through some records."

His heart ached as her letter echoed in his mind. "She left me, Will. She left a note. She's not coming back."

"What?" Will asked, surprise in his voice. "I knew she was upset, but I didn't think she'd take it that far, not without giving you the chance to come to your senses." He looked down at Ben with a mix of sympathy and disgust.

"Why was she upset?"

Will heaved a sigh and pulled Ben back to his feet. He couldn't hide the painful grunt that escaped him. Will's expression turned to confusion. "You're not healed yet?"

Ben shook his head. He wasn't healed. Not his arm. Not the Lycan in him. Not his heart. "Why was she upset?"

"Why haven't you healed?" He heard the panic in his brother's voice.

Ben didn't have it in him to hide from the truth anymore. "Because I'm broken, Will. I can't transform, and I can't heal myself." His eyes dropped to the ground, escaping the look of pity that must be in his brother's eyes. "Why was Ellie upset?"

"I tried to tell you this afternoon. She heard us talking, you and me. She heard you say you couldn't love her."

What had he done? His poor Ellie! He'd never meant to hurt her. If Will had plunged a knife into Ben's chest, it would have been less painful. "Oh, dear God."

"I told her you didn't know what you were talking about," Will explained. "I told her to give you time."

Ben glowered. "Don't speak for me, William. I know exactly what I'm talking about. I just wish she hadn't heard." Ellie was the kindest soul he knew. He would never have inflicted such pain. It was the reason he kept himself from giving her his heart, to keep from hurting her.

"You're an even bigger fool than I've always thought."

No matter what, she was still his wife, and Ben wouldn't let her leave him. He turned his back on his brother and hailed a hack, still clasping his arm, which he was certain was broken. He barked out an address. Perhaps Major Forster knew where she was headed.

Forty-three

Elspeth blinked her eyes open, light from the halfmoon filtered in through the window. Where was she? After rubbing her eyes, she yawned.

"Awake, dear?" the major's voice asked from the darkness.

She sucked in a surprised breath and managed to sit up in the bed. "Major Forster?"

He stepped out of the shadows and sat on the edge of her bed. "You gave me quite the scare."

"Where am I?"

"In my apartments at Canis House. Would you like some tea?"

She nodded. Her throat was a bit parched.

"I sent word to Benjamin so he wouldn't worry." He walked to the corner of the room and tugged the bell pull.