Page 10 of Wolfkissed
I feel like a puppet fighting against its puppeteer.
It will be fine,I tell myself.I’ll clear this up. Surely he’s not serious. Surely it will all be over by the time breakfast is done.
Della gets me into a pale pink dress and pulls my hair up. I’m barely paying any attention, my mind set on fixing this mess and on the beast lurking right outside.
“He didn’t try to attack you, did he?” I blurt out when my thoughts become impossible to contain anymore.
“The werewolf?” She keeps her eyes on the pins she’s pushing into my hair. “No, my lady. He’s chained up pretty heavily, totell you the truth, and he has been bleeding all over the floor. He must be weakened.”
“He’s wounded? Oh, good.” I’m still grinding my teeth and do my best to stop. “Very good. I hope he bleeds out.”
“I don’t understand why they brought that animal in here,” she blurts out, “knowing what his accursed kind did to you, knowing…” Her mouth trembles. “It’s cruel.”
Restless, I go look for my shoes. “The world is a cruel place, Della.”
“It’s also crazy to expect you to go along with it!”
“A cruel and mad place. But I will fight this, be certain of it.” Locating my shoes, I slide my stockinged feet inside, and Della kneels to button them up. “This is beyond the pale. I’m leaving the beast here.”
She looks up. I didn’t think it possible, but her face pales more. “There is a… leash.”
Her words make no sense. “What?”
“They put a collar on him, and here I have the leash. For you.”
For long moments, I remain speechless. “So what am I supposed to do, take him for a walk? Play fetch?”
A giggle bursts from her lips, and she claps her hand over her mouth. “Apologies. It just sounds…”
“Ridiculous. I know. And…” I shudder. “And fatal. He’ll disembowel me the moment I come near him. What was Stepfather thinking? I’m not doing this.” I shake my head so hard something wrenches in my neck. “I can’t.”
Della is silent for long moments, chewing on her already raw lip. “Your stepfather sent orders through me that you have to take him with you. Everywhere you go. I’m not…” She bows her head. “I have worked here, at the manor, for long years, and I don’t think he has ever been… violent toward you. Has he?”
“Violent? No.”
But harsh? Yes. Limiting. Sending me to my room if he’s displeased with anything about my behavior. Always taking—with yesterday’s notable exception—his wife’s and daughter’s sides. Spending fortunes on their clothes and jewelry, telling me I have enough gowns and frivolous things already, when my clothes have started falling apart. Conveniently forgetting about me when they go out on carriage rides or visiting other towns.
I’m not bitter. I seriously have accepted his behavior. But I’d say violence can exist in neglect and dismissal, too.
“Well, if you must live under this roof for a while longer,” Della says, “let’s bend his rules a little. Let me call two manservants, my lady. They can accompany you to the hall, and then once you make your case, the beast will be placed back in his cage, and you will be free.”
“Yes.” I chew on the inside of my cheek. “Yes. Good idea.”
Then I’ll be free. Free to obey another man, my future husband. If you can call that freedom.
But what other path is there for me?
CHAPTER FIVE
ROSAMUND
Della leaves.
As for me, I wait behind the closed door like a scaredy cat until she returns with the manservants. They bang on the door. It’s time to meet the monster.
Grabbing the leash she left me, making a point of throwing my shoulders back and bracing myself for the inevitable, I open the door and step out.
Leaving my room after fleeing here last night feels… honestly, it feels like a terrible idea, and the sensation that I’m still inside a nightmare lingers, like cobwebs clinging to my mind.
