Page 37 of The Howling (Monsters of the Yeavering #2)

I can’t…I just can’t…

I’ve got used to the idea of being Reavely’s mate. I’ve got used to the idea of marriage, more so since I met his family.

But now, apparently, Reavely is Yeavering royalty . What does that even mean? How can he have kept this from me…another thing which seems to have slipped his mind, along with his ghostly family and pact with the Reaper.

I feel as lost as I did when I first arrived here in the Yeavering, before I met Kaitlyn and Gloriana.

When all I saw were Faerie, who would make faces, poke and prod me, then, on seeing my tattoos, pronounce me unfit .

Until Lord Guyzance grinned at me, enough to make me feel queasy, and took me back to his fortress.

I spent every day, until the day Reavely kidnapped me, wondering when I’d end up at his tender mercies. Finding myself suddenly thrust into an entirely new world again…it’s been a rush.

I’ve yet to see one of the Duegar. The little creatures are invisible and only choose to reveal themselves when they want to be seen. Which means as I walk through the kitchens, there are signs of life but no way of knowing what is causing it.

I make my way through to the kitchen gardens which sit in a sunny position on a terrace above the rest of the castle.

Unlike the rose garden, which, because Lorelei can’t physically tend to it, remains as barren as ever, here the Duegar have created a fragrant hideaway, filled with edible plants and buzzing insects.

I find a small, secluded seat and sink into it.

Reavely is a king ? I curl my legs up under me and try to process everything.

“He didn’t lie to you, if that’s what you were thinking?” A soft voice has me looking up from my hands.

A slim. transparent female Barghest hovers in front of me. Reavely’s youngest sister, far too young for the fate which befell her, is wringing her hands.

“I wasn’t thinking that, Ellie,” I say.

“He means well.” She takes a sort of seat next to me, pulling at her spectral tail. “He’s never been much good with…females.”

“He has four sisters. I’d have thought the one thing he was good with was females,” I respond, instantly regretting my harsh tone.

Ellie blinks at me. Out of all the spirit Barghest, she’s the one I like the most. Softly spoken and interested in what life is like beyond the veil, she’s been full of stories about Reavely and what they got up to when they were pups together.

“Oh, he’s always been fine with family,” she says. “But with females from outside the pack, he’d just go and hide.”

I honestly can’t imagine my big black dog of death hiding from anything.

“He probably thought your mother was going to marry him off. What with him being a prince and everything.”

“By rights, Reavely should have had centuries before he would have had to rule. But the too early loss of our father means he is king.” She sighs. “Something he never wanted to be, even before all of this…”

She looks around the fragrant garden and then down at her translucent body.

“He didn’t want to be king?”

Ellie turns to me, and I get the impression she would take my hand if she were able.

“What you need to know about my brother is he was happy as he was, before our deaths and before the Reaper came for him. He had no desire for death or power or to fight in the Night Lands. He’d have spent the rest of his life managing this castle and looking after the needs of the pack.”

“So, all the growling…the snarling…that’s not him?”

“Not at all. It’s what he’s become, Wynter, and I see him changing with you by his side.”

“I don’t want to change him,” I say hastily. “That’s not what I’m about at all. I wouldn’t want Reavely to be any different.” I consider my response. “Although possibly a little less feral would be ideal. He nearly picked a fight with a stone pillar yesterday after I knocked my ankle on it.”

Ellie smiles her sweet, enigmatic smile.

“That’s our Reavely. He’d burn the Yeavering for those he loves.”

“He nearly did,” I gently remind her. “And he’s still indentured to the Reaper, unless this curse lifting marriage works.”

“I suppose we’ll know in time,” Ellie says.

“I still don’t understand why we don’t just get married now and then the curse will be broken,” I grumble.

Ellie shuffles her non-existent bottom, her tail waving wildly.

“Because that’s not how it works,” she says with a modicum of excitement which probably shouldn’t be attached to a conversation about a curse which might just bring all her family back.

“The marriage can’t be a sham. It has to be real. You have to be true mates.”

“Reavely thinks we are.”

“But do you, Wynter?” Ellie fixes me with her baleful eyes. “Because fate can call to a Barghest, but without a true match, there is no marriage.”