Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 87502 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 438(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87502 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 438(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
“Be careful and go slow,” I advised Korwyn. “It’s a really twisty road.”
“You’re not kidding.” He peered through the windshield as he carefully navigated the twists and turns. “Why in the world didn’t Uncle Carter widen this some?”
“He liked it this way.” I shrugged. “Said it made the Manor more defensible.”
“Well, it certainly does that.” He was still frowning as he finally came to the end of the road, which opened onto a huge, circular driveway that was paved with smooth river stones in muted colors.
“And this is Wolverton Manor,” I said, gesturing out the window at the vast building rising above us. It was built in the same style as an English Lord’s house—as I said, Carter had done extensive traveling in the UK and all of Europe before coming back to build his home—and wouldn’t have looked out of place in the production of a movie based on a Jane Austen novel. It wasn’t quite as big as Pemberly, but it wasn’t far off.
“Wow…” Korwyn’s eyes went wide again as he stared up at it. “This is huge.”
“It’s built in the Georgian style,” I said automatically. I remembered having the same awed reaction myself the first time I’d seen Wolverton, but the place held no more mystery for me now. It was nothing but a prison—a beautiful and elegant one to be sure, but a prison just the same.
Korwyn parked the car and started to get out, but I put a hand on his arm.
“Korwyn,” I said when he looked at me. “I want you to know, you’re welcome here as long as you want to stay. You’re Carter’s true heir—you belong in his home.”
His face broke into a genuine smile.
“Thank you, Vivienne. But you can call me Kor if you want.”
“Kor.” I said and nodded. “You’re welcome here. This is your home until you choose to leave it.”
I don’t know why I said those words to him or why I trusted him to stay with me. I knew almost nothing about him—he could be dangerous.
But he didn’t feel dangerous. And even the little bit of conversation I’d had with him had convinced me that he was the exact opposite of my husband. He seemed genuine and warm in a way that was foreign to me. Also, I was all alone in the Manor now. I had dismissed the servants after Carter died—what was the point when I could clean up after myself? I only had a groundskeeper in once a week to trim the gardens, and a group of maids came monthly to do a thorough tidy of the most used rooms.
Not that any of the rooms were getting much use now that I was alone.
I was lonely, I admitted to myself. I liked the idea of having another human being living with me—even if it was only for a little while. The Manor felt so empty now, without Carter and the staff. I wanted some company.
I swear that’s the only reason I invited him to stay—that and the fact that I feared what would happen if Harris Murdoch won the Alpha Challenge. I never meant for everything that happened after to come to pass.
I had no idea what I was getting myself into.
FOUR
KOR
The woman who had stood up for my claim on the Pack Leadership, had a soft and gracious voice and a gorgeous figure. I tried not to notice but it was impossible not to—the way the rain had drenched her black mourning dress and caused it to cling to her curves was pretty damn distracting.
As for her face, I didn’t know. She was still wearing that black lace veil that covered everything from her forehead to her chin. I wondered if maybe she was disfigured in some way. Or maybe she just didn’t like showing her face in public. Either way, it was her business—though I had to admit I was extremely curious about what she looked like under there.
I had taken an Uber from the airport to the funeral and had expected to Uber back as well. Strangely, there were no hotels in the little town where my uncle had lived—maybe because Blackridge was a Pack Town—that is to say, a town where the local Weres lived freely without fear of being discovered by regular humans because there were no regular humans. If that was true, then it wasn’t surprising they didn’t have any place to stay because they would want to keep tourists and visitors of the human variety out.
I was glad again that my mysterious Vivienne had been kind enough to offer me a place to stay. Then again, it wasn’t likely she was lacking spare guest rooms—not in a huge mansion like this.
I stared at the towering home again as I came around to open her door to help her out. Yes, I know my manners are old-fashioned, but that’s the way my mom trained me. She always said, “Good manners never go out of style,” and so far, she’s always been right.