The Wolf's Cub (The Wolf's Peak Saga Book 3) Read online

  Jasper noticed I had not risen with the others and sat back down.

  “It’s all right, Christine. Everyone knows he was lying.”

  I looked up at him with tears in my eyes. “What on earth have I ever done to him to make him say these things about me?”

  Jasper enveloped me in a hug. “You’ve done nothing wrong, Christine. Nothing at all. Seth is a selfish person who will do anything to get the reaction that he wants. Don’t ever let him think otherwise.”

  I shook my head. “How can you possibly remain so calm?” I asked.

  He gave me a small smile. “Do I seem that way?”

  “Yes.”

  He stood up. “I’ve had a lot of experience keeping my calm.”

  That was what he said, but when he was out of my sight, he lost it. We stopped and picked up Lowell, and Jasper brought me back upstairs to my room and gave me a kiss, promising to return when it was time for dinner. I heard the door to his room shut, and then I heard the crashes. One after another, a mirror or perhaps a vase or a lamp. Crash, crash, crash. I flinched each time, holding Lowell close to my chest.

  I knew Jasper had a bit of a temper; it was a side of him he never wanted me to see. He’d always kept it out of my sight, but together, in this small space, there was only so much he could do. Eventually, the room next door fell quiet. I had sat with Lowell by the window, feeding him, when I saw something on the grounds below. In the castle courtyard, a white wolf bounded into the woods. It was Jasper. I expected he’d be working off the rest of his aggression by running through the forest.

  Jasper returned to the house a little over an hour later. I had requested dinner be brought to our room. I wasn’t feeling up to eating dinner in the dining hall. I couldn’t handle having everyone’s eyes on me. I knew most of them didn’t believe what Seth had said, but his words would still echo in their ears. The idea of them giving me either looks of pity or looks of judgment was too much for me to handle. I was more comfortable eating dinner in my room with my husband.

  I didn’t have much of an appetite, but Jasper ate voraciously. Shifting seemed to make him hungry. It meant that we weren’t doing much talking until his plate was clear. I, for my part, was still picking at my food.

  “How was your run?” I asked him.

  He paused. “You saw that?”

  “I happened to look out the window.”

  “It was fine.”

  “Did it help?”

  He smiled. “A little bit.”

  I waited a few beats. “Are the elders all right with you destroying their room?”

  He sighed. “You weren’t meant to know about that. I was...emotional. I needed to get it out. I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t apologize,” I said, reaching out and touching his hand. I didn’t tell him the truth, that the idea of his concern for me causing him to lash out made me all the more attracted to him. I knew what his muscles looked like under his shirt. I could only imagine the damage he was able to do to a wayward decoration that got in his way. I suspected the room next door was a mess of glass and pottery and wood.

  It was becoming dark, and after our dishes were taken away, Jasper went to find a maid for his room and fetch Bridget for me. She appeared in my doorway a moment later and gave me a sympathetic glance.

  “How are you holding up, my dear?” she asked me.

  I rubbed my forehead. “It’s been a long day,” I said.

  “I know. But you should get some sleep. We have to do it all over again tomorrow.”

  “Ugh,” I sighed, lying back on the bed. “Do you think anyone would believe me if I claimed to be sick?”

  “Not a chance,” she said. “Come on. Let’s get you ready for bed.”

  Bridget disappeared into the bathroom and ran a hot bath for me, with the expectation that it would help soothe me. She also had a maid bring me some herbal tea to help me relax. I sat in the bath bubbles for several minutes, trying to just gather my senses. I needed to pull myself together before I appeared in court tomorrow. I couldn’t let Seth know he had gotten to me. I couldn’t let the jury see that Seth had gotten to me. I just wasn’t sure how I was going to be able to do that.

  Finally, I forced myself out of the tub and wrapped my body in a dressing gown. I glanced at myself in the mirror. I looked so, so tired, like all the life had been drained from me. How on earth could I get it back overnight?

  I stepped back out into the bedroom. Bridget had gotten Lowell to sleep, and she sat by the fire while he dozed on the bed. She helped me into a nightgown and I sat on the bed while she ran a brush through my long, brown locks. Somehow, the motion was comforting.

  “You know no one believes him, right?” she asked.

  I took a moment to answer. “How do you know?”

  “Because we all know you, Christine.”

  “The elders don’t know me, and they’re the ones who determine Seth’s fate.”

  “That’s true.” She paused to work out a knot in my hair. “But as the trial continues, they’ll see that you’re not lying. You have so many witnesses to back up your testimony.”

  “I’m more worried about how I’m going to be able to sit through everyone else’s statements while Seth takes whatever chances he has to insult me,” I said.

  “You could make a game out of it,” she suggested.

  “How so?”

  “Well, you know that Seth gets pleasure from saying these things about you and getting a reaction. What do you think he’d do if you didn’t react at all? He’d go mad. What if tomorrow, you see how long it takes him to snap if you don’t react?”

  “I’m not sure how easy that will be,” I told her honestly, “but I can try.”

  Bridget finished up with my hair and pulled back the blankets so I could climb into bed. She turned out the lights and bade me goodnight, promising to let Jasper know I had gone to bed. I was tired, but my mind was racing too quickly to sleep. I tossed and turned, nightmares of Jasper filling my head. All too soon, I was being roused for the next morning of court.

  Chapter Twenty–One

  I picked at my breakfast the following morning. It wasn’t so much that I wasn’t hungry, rather, I was lost in thought, trying to figure out how on earth I was going to make it through the trial today. Chadwick had told Jasper that I wouldn’t be speaking today, and that put me at ease. Still, I didn’t like the idea that I would be sitting in the middle of the same audience that had heard Seth’s terrible accusations the day before. I’d be sitting, looking at Seth as he spoke. I’d be watching the whole, terrible drama play out, and there would be nothing I could do about it.

  I knew that it was something I would have to do. My absence would be even more conspicuous than my presence. I needed to be there so that I could support my husband and my friends, so that I could verify or back up any of their statements. As much as I hated it, this was something that I couldn’t get out of if we wanted Seth behind bars for good. My attendance in court was absolutely essential to this case, but even so, that knowledge didn’t keep my hands from shaking or my stomach from turning.

  I had chosen to take my breakfast in the bedroom rather than the dining hall. It would give me a chance to think, and give me some solace and peace before our busy day. At the moment, I preferred to be lost in my own thoughts rather than force myself to socialize. Staying in gave me a bit more time with Lowell, too, and that helped. After all, he was one of the reasons I was doing this. Staying with him reminded me of that. Every time he smiled or cooed or grasped my hand, I remembered that my days of discomfort would ensure him a lifetime of safety from Seth.

  When I was finished, I washed my face in the basin in the bathroom. I was going to need Bridget’s help today as well. It was clear that I hadn’t slept much, and that Seth’s words had disturbed me deeply. I wandered back out into my bedroom just as Bridget slipped in the doorway.

  “Ready for another day?” she asked me.

  “Not even close, but I suppose I don’t have a choi
ce,” I said.

  “Well, let’s at least make you look ready.” She crossed to the wardrobe and pulled out a pretty wisteria dress with ivory lace. While Lowell tried to roll over on the floor, she helped me pull my slip on over my head and climb into the gown. I sat back down on the bed again as she ran the brush once more through my dark locks and twisted it up behind my head. She finished off the look with some amethyst jewelry, the pretty gems pulling out my brown eyes.

  “Can you add some life into my face again?” I asked her, looking at my weary expression in the mirror.

  Bridget laughed. “I brought my bag just in case,” she said. She added just enough to make me look well–rested and bring some color back into my cheeks. As she finished the last swoop of her brush, Jasper came in.

  “Are you ladies ready?” he asked, scooping Lowell off the blanket on the floor and tickling his belly. The baby gave out a shriek of delight, and warmth filled my heart. I was doing this for them. For both of them.

  I collected Lowell’s extra diapers and toys and we left the room. I gave him a soft kiss before handing him off to Ingrid. She gave him a large smile, and he smiled back. Only a few months old, and the silly child was already flirting. Ingrid promised once again to come get me if Lowell needed me, and then brought him over to where Alice and Daniel were already playing. I gave the baby a wave he couldn’t see, and Jasper and Bridget and I proceeded down to the courtroom.

  Again, we arrived just a few minutes early, so the doors were shut and we waited outside. This was almost worse than being inside the courtroom. The silence in here suffocated me. Annabelle and Hazel greeted me as if it were just another day, but those that didn’t know me so well, like Bernadette or Watson, gave me sort of side glances. I wanted to scream at them, to force them to know that Seth’s accusations weren’t true, but I merely sat on the settee and focused on my hands in my lap, praying that the doors would open and the proceedings would start and everyone would stop staring at me.

  I was so thankful I wasn’t the one speaking today. I didn’t know that I would be able to hold myself together in that situation. My composure was so fragile, and I felt like it was always on the verge of cracking. Being up on the witness stand was a nightmare I couldn’t handle right now. I would surely have to go up there at least once more during this process, but for today, I would let the others handle it.

  I wasn’t sure who was set to be interviewed today. Jasper, certainly; he had told me last night that he would be on the stand. Dr. Brighton, perhaps, as well. I wasn’t sure how they were going through all the charges that were being levied against Seth, if they were interviewing in order of severity, or in order of chronology. I suppose we’d find out today, provided that we didn’t have another recess called for Seth’s inappropriate behavior.

  Finally, the doors to the courtroom opened. I practically sprang from my chair, anxious to get things started so people would stop giving me looks. Some were looks of suspicion and some were looks of pity, but I didn’t like any of them and wanted people focused on something else.

  Jasper and I were the last to enter the courtroom, and I turned to him. “Are you sure you’re ready?” I asked.

  “I’ve testified before. I’ll be all right, I wager,” he answered, giving me a soft kiss.

  “Yes, but this is your brother.”

  “He broke his brotherly bond a long time ago.”

  Just like yesterday, we took our seat in the very front row behind Chadwick. Benedict called the court to order, and Chadwick stepped up.

  “Today, I am calling the Duke of Faolancaster, Jasper Wolfric, to the stand.”

  I squeezed Jasper’s hand as he stood up, and he gave me an encouraging smile. Silly, that between the two of us, I was the one that needed to be reassured. It made me feel naive and small, but it was comforting knowing that Jasper was much more confident than I was.

  I watched as my husband strutted to the stand, his back straight, holding all the confidence of a man of his stature. He wore a finely tailored suit that showed off his broad shoulders and slim waist. He had shaved, and even worn his glasses today, even though I know he hated them. They gave him the look of an academic, someone intelligent and put together. The elders knew all those things about him, but it didn’t hurt to remind them.

  “Duke Wolfric, please state your relationship with the defendant,” Chadwick said, although everyone knew already.

  “He is my younger brother,” Jasper said.

  “And what is the age gap between you?”

  “One year.”

  That surprised me. Jasper didn’t look old, but his countenance was so much more mature than his brother. I had thought perhaps Seth was closer to my age. It was hard to believe he was twenty–seven.

  “You and your brother were estranged for many years. Why was that?”

  “My brother was angry that I inherited the position of duke and not him.”

  “Despite the fact that you’re the rightful heir?”

  “Yes.”

  “Objection!” Seth shouted.

  Benedict raised his eyebrows. “Yes?”

  “He’s lying.”

  “You’ll get your chance to cross–examine Duke Wolfric when Chadwick is done, Lord Wolfric.”

  Seth sat back down in his chair and crossed his arms.

  “At what age did this occur?”

  “I was eighteen. He was seventeen.”

  I shook my head. Ten years. Seth had acted this way for ten years.

  “You saw him sporadically over the years?”

  “Occasionally. He would come back every once in a while. He attended my first wedding. After that, we seemed to have a brief reconciliation. I threw him out after Cecilia’s death.”

  “And why is that?”

  “He made inappropriate comments. He was almost gleeful.”

  “How old were you when you were orphaned?”

  “I was fifteen. He was fourteen.”

  “And how did they pass?”

  Jasper shifted in his seat and looked directly at his brother. “They were poisoned by Seth.”

  “How did you discover this?”

  “He confessed to me. Christine overheard.”

  Jasper nodded at me, and I nodded back.

  “He poisoned Christine as well, is that right?”

  “Yes.”

  “But she didn’t die.”

  “Christine discovered the poison before she ingested enough to kill her. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about Cecilia.”

  My heart seized. I hadn’t considered that Cecilia had been poisoned. I had assumed it was an unfortunate accident, a death in childbirth. The idea that Seth had been behind her death had never even crossed my mind, but it all made sense.”

  “Has Seth confessed to the murder of Cecilia?”

  “He has not. Just call it a hunch,” Jasper said. Seth stared at him, unblinking.

  “When did you see Seth again?”

  “August. “

  “And what was his reason for coming back?”

  “He was upset that we hadn’t invited him to our wedding.”

  Chadwick nodded. “And that was when he carried out the attacks against Christine?”

  “Yes.”

  “Tell me about the night you went into the woods,” Chadwick said. “What led up to that?”

  “Seth and I had just returned from a trip to London. The moment we entered, Christine said she needed to talk with me. We spoke in the library, and she revealed that Seth had poisoned her. After she left, I spent a few minutes considering how I was going to handle things. I went out to the hall and found Seth had pinned Christine against the wall. At that time, I didn’t realize that he had overheard our conversation, or that he had stabbed her. I brought him into the library under the pretext that I wanted to discuss politics. We began discussing Christine’s accusations. He didn’t deny them. When I told him we were going to take him to the elders, he shifted. He wanted to fight me.

  “We brou
ght the fight out into the woods. I didn’t want to fight him in the house, not with Christine there. What I didn’t realize was that Christine had fled into the woods when she saw him transform. I found her before Seth found us. We fought. He overpowered me. I would have died if Christine hadn’t stabbed him.”

  Chadwick nodded again. “No further questions at this time.”

  Benedict sighed. “Lord Wolfric, you may begin your cross–examination.”

  Seth bounced up from his chair and strutted toward his brother.

  “Jasper.”

  “Seth.”

  “Let’s talk,” Seth said before he began pacing. “You claim that you had called me into the library because Christine accused me of poisoning her, when in fact, you called me in because you discovered our affair.”

  My face turned red and my nostrils flared, but Jasper was unruffled, only raising an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”

  “You discovered that Christine and I had been making love behind your back.”

  I clenched my fists, but Jasper gave a smirk. “That’s absolutely ridiculous.”

  “Really? Then why was it that when I entered the library, you had broken several pieces of furniture in a rage?”

  “I was angry that you had tried to kill my wife,” Jasper said, his voice remaining steady. “I’ll admit, I lost my temper for a moment before I was able to collect myself. I had taken you into my home, hoping that we could reconcile. You lied to me, and I was angry that I had allowed myself to be deceived by you.”

  Seth laughed. “No, here’s what really happened. You found out about Christine and me, so you became enraged. And in your rage, you heard things you wanted to hear. You were mad with anger, that’s all.”

  I was stunned, but Jasper remained calm. He sighed at his brother.

  “How did you become like this?” he asked Seth. “We were raised in the same household, by the same parents, and I would never dream of treating another human being like this. You have hurt people and ended lives. You have attacked an innocent woman time and time again. And after all of that, you have the audacity to accuse her of adultery in an attempt to embarrass me. I am ashamed to call you my brother. Our father would be so disappointed in you. You are not fit to carry on the Wolfric name, nevertheless the titles of duke and alpha. You are a pathetic, selfish, scared man. I don’t know what you’re looking for to fulfill your needs, Seth, but I hope you find it.”