Page 35 of Wolf's Return
Monsieur D’Artagnon pushed past her into the room, and Constance curtsied to Seigneur Gaharet before heading down the corridor. Alone in a cottage together. In the forest. Beneath her doubt, her confusion over what to do, and despite the guilt lodged in her chest, a thin tendril of hope curled its way into her heart.
Chapter Twenty
D’Artagnon sat on his haunches by the fire, waiting for his brother to speak. Was it Gaharet’s plan to send Constance and D’Artagnon to the farmer’s cottage, or Anne’s? His brother wanted him to stay, wanted him to shift, and Anne, it seemed, had her own agenda. Perhaps they were working together, conspiring against him. It did not matter. He would not be going anywhere with Constance. Not after what he had done last eve. He would not be staying here either.
Gaharet leaned his elbows on his knees, his hands clasped in front of him and looked him square in the eye. “D’Artagnon, I want you to go to the farmer’s cottage with Constance. I need you to keep watch over her.” Gaharet held up a hand. “Now, before you decide to leave and disappear back to wherever you have been these last nine years, there are a few things you need to know.”
Once again, his brother had guessed his intentions. D’Artagnon stared into the flickering flames. He never could hide things from his brother.Let him talk.He swiveled an ear in his brother’s direction. He would listen, but nothing Gaharet could say would change his mind.
“As I told you when you first arrived, much has happened while you have been gone, but I have not told you ofallour troubles. Thanks to Ulrik and his sword, Archeveque Renaud is no longer one of them, but there are more threats than the wolf who gave you those scars.”
Gaharet paused, and the distant chatter of the women, and the deeper rumble of Ulrik and Aimon filled the space. Ulrik and Aimon were giving their mates a lesson on how to use a sword in the library.
“They will do anything to keep their mates safe.” A wry smile tugged at the corner of Gaharet’s mouth. “We all would. You will learn that in time.”
D’Artagnon huffed.
The amusement in his brother’s eyes dimmed, and his expression turned serious. “D’Artagnon, Lothair knows what we are.”
D’Artagnon recoiled.Lothair? Comte Lothair?He flattened his ears against his skull and bared his teeth.
“I agree with you, brother. It is not an ideal situation, but one we must contend with all the same. As troubling as that is, this is not my immediate concern.” Gaharet pulled something from beneath his tunic. The parchment from ere-yesterday, with Lothair’s command for the pack to present themselves at Langeais Keep. “There is a new, perhaps greater threat in the county. Eveque Faucher has shown an interest in us. He has a reputation for routing out things the church deems as evil. People like us.”
All the more reason he should leave, and not be seen anywhere near his brother, or any of his pack. Gaharet would see the wisdom of that. A wolf in the forest would draw little attention, but in a keep, a village…
Gaharet opened the parchment and held it out for him to read. At the top, the summons from Lothair that Gaharet had read out. At the bottom, a warning he had not. D’Artagnon read through it.This Eveque Faucher could already be on his way here? To the keep?
“They call this Eveque Faucher a witch hunter.”
Awitch hunter?D’Artagnon froze.Constance.
Fear like he had not experienced since the day his enemy had cut him down sliced through him. They could send her back to her cottage in the forest, but it would not take long before someone from Langeais told Faucher of a woman in the woods. One with two different colored eyes who used herbs to heal. Perhaps they already had. But she could not stayhere. With the threat of this eveque making a surprise visit, the keep was not safe for Constance, either.
“We must protect her, D’Artagnon.”
D’Artagnon chuffed his fervent agreement.
“Constance is precious to us. She is a skilled healer. She can make potions for us to ease the turning, and she has more knowledge of us than we do ourselves. It was her coven who created our amulets.”
The amulets?Their connection with the pack wasthatold?
“We cannot let her fall into the hands of this Eveque Faucher.”
D’Artagnon’s shoulders bunched. His brother was right. They must protect Constance, but…
Gaharet’s dark gaze pinned him in place. “I know you want to hunt this traitor, to be the one to take him down, D’Artagnon. It hangs over you like an autumn storm cloud—your anger, your thirst for vengeance—but some things are more important. No one but us knows you have returned. No one will notice your absence. And who better to keep Constance safe in the woods than you?”
D’Artagnon turned an ear toward the doorway and the library beyond. The lessons had stopped, and Constance was comforting Kathryn over her failure to remember. There was a melodious softness to her voice, a calm thoughtfulness, as though she chose her words with care, and a gentleness that would ease the fears of even the smallest of children. The woman cared for people, gave her time and her energy to help them heal, and what had she received in return?
Gaharet rose then crouched in front of him. “I give you my word, D’Artagnon. When we hunt down the one responsible for the death of our parents, we will do it together.”
D’Artagnon did not move, torn between his wish to spare his brother and his desire to protect Constance.
“It will not be for long, D’Artagnon. When we go to renew our vows, I will meet this Eveque Faucher, and I will be better able to assess this threat. I will send for you when I think it is safe for Constance to return.”
A growl rumbled in the back of his throat. He did not like the thought of his brother facing this witch hunter alone. And what of his nemesis? Would he be there? Renewing his vows also?
“I will not be alone, D’Artagnon. Ulrik and Aimon will be at my side, and the twins will have my back.”
