SECRET OF THE WOLF By Susan Krinard

He groaned. At least he knew he hadn’t attempted to ravish her, or he’d have been ejected from the house. Scant consolation.

No consolation at all.

It didn’t help that he suspected the situation with Johanna, May, and the mysterious Dr. Bolkonsky had not turned out as Johanna hoped. Her manner had been considerably more sober yesterday, after her second meeting with the doctor. And today…

Today she’d taken May to town with her, an extraordinary occurrence in itself. She certainly hadn’t confided in him, but he’d seen her face upon her return, when she was too preoccupied to notice his presence.

And May had come directly to him.

He’d tried to speak with May, to learn why she’d gone with Johanna and what had transpired, but she hadn’t responded to his careful questions.

Quentin had never made a habit of studying human nature, but his werewolf blood made it relatively easy to know what humans were feeling. Johanna was no better than May at hiding her emotions. She was distracted and worried.

He had added to that burden.

What was he to Johanna Schell? A source of confusion, of apprehension, perhaps even of fear. He might be her patient, but he was not her lover, or her keeper.

He might become her obedient hound, awaiting his chance to roll on his back in abject apology. A woman might tell a dog what she wouldn’t share with a wolf.

Should he hear that anyone or anything had hurt her or May, hound would become wolf in an instant.

And do what? he asked himself, laughing derisively at his own conceit. This wolf’s fangs have been pulled.

“Quentin? Are you there?”

He leaned into the door, resting his forehead against the wood.

“I’m here.”

“We’ll be having dinner soon, and a gathering in the parlor afterward. I hope you’ll join us.”

It would be the first such gathering since things had gone so wrong a week ago. Johanna was striving for a sense of normality.

“I’ll be there,” he said. And I’ll behave myself—at least enough to learn what is troubling you and May.

Her footsteps moved away from the door. So, she was dodging the chance to speak to him alone.

Wise, from her perspective. But two people could be alone even in a crowd, and he’d find a way.

Dinner was a tense, quiet affair. Even Mrs. Daugherty said little. Afterward, in the parlor, Lewis made exaggerated efforts to stay far away from Quentin. Irene claimed the entire sofa; she smiled like the idiomatic cat who’d eaten the canary. Harper took a chair by the empty hearth, his gaze shifting from Johanna to Quentin and back again. Wilhelm Schell nodded to himself from his wheelchair and Oscar played with his puzzle, while May sat cross-legged on the carpet at Quentin’s feet. Johanna ensconced herself at the head of the room, separate from everyone else—especially Quentin.

She needn’t have worried, when the two of them were accompanied by six potential chaperons.

Chaperons with no power to prevent a loup-garou from doing whatever he wished…

No. He forced out the savage, alien thoughts and concentrated on his objective. He had to get Johanna to himself, but not for the reasons his vivid imagination suggested. Casually, he picked up his chair and carried it close to Johanna’s. May scrambled to follow him. From the sofa, Irene snickered.

Johanna concealed any hint of discomfort. “Quentin,” she said, loudly enough for the others to hear. “How was your day?”

Such banalities were just another shield between them. “Better, I think, than yours,” he said under his breath.

She pretended not to hear him. “You have such a handsome voice, Quentin. I thought you might read to us this evening, from one of May’s books.” She smiled down at the girl. “Would you like to choose one, May?”

“By all means,” Quentin said, grasping the opportunity. “May, didn’t you tell me the other day that you’d found an abandoned bird’s nest? I’d very much like to see it, if you’ll bring it along when you fetch your book.”

The girl hesitated, sliding a glance at Johanna. “I’ll get it,” she said, and scurried into the hall.

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164

Leave a Reply 0

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *