Page 19 of The Howling (Monsters of the Yeavering #2)

I stare out of the window down at Reavely in the empty courtyard below. Large earth patches are set out in a grid pattern, but despite the early spring, nothing grows down there.

With a groan, he falls to his knees and clutches at his head. I shouldn’t be concerned for him. I shouldn’t care because he’s made decisions for me which I didn’t consent to.

But somehow, seeing the huge beast like this—it pulls at my chest, making me feel breathless and wobbly. I back away from the glass in order to take a seat.

Whatever happened to me in Lord Guyzance’s castle, it certainly has absolutely fucked me up. The anger which always seems to be bubbling under the surface rises once again until I remember it’s what virtually got me naked in the first instance in front of the big Barghest I’m trying to avoid.

I need time to process everything. The fact he thinks I’m his mate, which can’t possibly be true, the fact that putting on a dress of all things somehow binds me to him, the fact the great shaggy beast owns a castle .

Admittedly it’s a castle with a fair coating of dust and one which is as empty as Pandora’s box, but it’s still an impressive structure to have.

And Lord Guyzance had a castle, so does this make Reavely his equal or the other way around? Is that why the Faerie had Reavely in his dungeons?

The whole thing throws up far more questions than answers and my head is spinning. I probably should find somewhere to lie down.

As I attempt to stand again, I’m caught in a pair of strong, muscular arms, a spicy scent surrounding me.

“Mate.” Reavely croons in my ear. “What ails you?”

“I’m fine.” I attempt to shake him off, but it doesn’t work. “How did you…” I look at him. He’s not even out of breath and yet the castle is a maze. “How did you get here so fast? You were down there.” I point at the courtyard.

“You were watching me, little female?” he rasps.

“No…yes…I was making sure you couldn’t surprise me like this.” I growl weakly.

“I heard your distress and came for you,” Reavely says, his words rumbling through me.

He clearly has hearing like a wolf…although how it’s possible to hear me doing a bit of a wheeze through nearly six foot of wall is anyone’s guess.

“Well, I’m fine. I’d like a bit of a lie down, that’s all.”

“The healer was supposed to have fixed you,” Reavely says.

“Well, I have news for you both. Humans don’t quite work like that.”

“Then let me assist you,” Reavely says, somehow becoming an absolute gentle…wolf, from being Mr. Grumpy and Feral Esquire.

These changes in his attitude are giving me a whiplash I don’t need. But also, I could probably do with directions back to the bedroom.

“Okay,” I say, and something waves behind Reavely. “Is that your…tail?” I ask him.

Reavely checks behind himself.

This wolf man actually checks before nodding.

“Yes,” he says with a toothy grin. “It’s mine.”

“Does it always do that?”

“Not always, not in this form.” He cocks his head on one side for a beat. “In fact usually when I’m in this form, I don’t have a tail at all.”

“But today you do?”

“Today I do,” he says as the thing waves frantically behind him. It’s glossy black and it jogs a memory.

“Did I ride you here?” I ask, as Reavely allows me to lean on his arm while we walk through one long, wide passage, lined with wooden panelling on one side and rough stone on the other interspersed with diamond pained slit windows allowing a little light in.

“You did.” The tail waves faster. “On my back.”

“On your back?”

“Yes.” Reavely’s voice is a little strangled.

“Oh.”

We walk on in silence until we reach a set of stairs. Reavely gestures for me to go first, and I make my way gingerly down until we reach the floor below.

How I ended up higher, I’m not sure I’ll ever know. But the corridor we come out into is one I recognise, open to the elements on one side, the elegant arches allowing daylight to spill over the honeyed stone flags, worn from all the footsteps.

“Have you always lived here?” I ask as I reach the door to the bedroom. “With your pack.”

A muscle ticks in Reavely’s jaw.

“This is where I was pupped, where I grew up, and where I watched my pack murdered,” he says finally. “I serve the Reaper now.”

“I don’t think you serve anyone,” I say, the words tumbling out of me like water.

“You don’t?” He sounds genuinely surprised.

“I don’t. But I’m still not marrying you.” I open the door and slip inside. “Dress or no dress.”

“Marriage or not, you belong to me, little female,” Reavely says, his voice like a deep pit of chocolate and gravel.

“Then you’re going to have to prove it,” I respond, as tiredness washes over me. “With more than a rescue and a growl.”

“What do you want?” he asks.

“I want my freedom. I want to go back beyond the veil.”

As the door shuts, I get a great view of his face, one of complete and utter surprise. Of all the things he thought I’d ask for, I bet he never expected that one.

And neither did I.