Elinore pushed away from the door and toward the small mirror where she styled her hair. One look at it had her gasping. It was a disaster and no wonder considering what she’d done last night. She tipped her neck to the side, seeing part of the bite mark that Caleb left on her shoulder. She touched her fingers to it. She’d have to wear a scarf or her high-necked dress. She couldn’t walk around with it exposed even if she was wanted to. She giggled again and then met her own eyes in the mirror and sternly told herself to focus on getting ready. It was a new day at Ravenwood, one she couldn’t wait to begin.
Chapter Fifteen
Even though she’d just seen Caleb less than an hour before, and in quite a state of disarray (which was still causing a persistent blush on her cheeks), Elinore felt the need to smooth her dress and adjust her scarf one more time before entering the dining room. The scarf was to cover the teeth marks left on her skin by Caleb. She’d toyed with the idea of not covering them up at all as she rather liked the way the marks stood out against her fair complexion, but finally relented to propriety and covered them up. As she’d gone through her usual ablutions, her eyes continually drawn to marks against her skin, she’d also searched for any other way she may be changed, on the outside, as much as she felt altered on the inside. It was a strange, heady sensation - feeling so delightfully different, and yet, so much the same. As Elinore entered the dining room, Caleb stood, his eyes immediately darted to the scarf and his nostrils flared slightly, a pleased, almost possessive look crossing his face. She touched the plain, knitted scarf lightly and felt a rush of delight at the way his eyes tracked her movement. He was in his usual spot, just off to the side of the head of the table. Elinore wondered if Hayter, as Alpha, had to sit at the head. Certainly, Caleb never took that spot, even when Hayter wasn’t expected at meals. Elinore’s usual spot was across the table from Caleb and for a moment, she had the fleeting thought that she should take Hayter’s spot - sit at the head of the table and claim ignorance if challenged. However, there was already a plate of food waiting at her usual station. At the sight of it, her mouth watered. She’d hardly eaten anything yesterday and had been quite… active. All thoughts of where she should sit were summarily abandoned. She hardly glanced back at Caleb as she sat down and started eating, seeing Caleb sit back down out of the corner of her eye. Elinore was already half way through a sausage when she glanced up and caught the amused look on Caleb’s face.
“It’s good to know where I rank in term of importance,” he said, tipping his head slightly toward her food, his tone teasing and light.
Elinore smiled, covering her open mouth with her hand while she spoke. “Should I fawn over you? Is your ego feeling quite fragile and ignored while I eat?”
“Very much so,” he teased. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a large stack of paper and her nose twitched. She clapped her hands together gleefully as she recognized the scent.
“Letters from Charlotte!” She snatched the bundle of out his hands. She was possessed by the urge to bring them to her nose and inhale deeply and, not seeing a reason to fight the urge, she did just that. She caught the scent of Charlotte’s perfume and hand cream - lily of the valley. It was comforting and her heart lurched at the familiarity, so much more potent now to her sensitive wolf-nose.
“They were waiting for you at the post office. Your friend must have written as soon as you departed for there to be correspondence already delivered to Haleton.”
Elinore clutched the letters close to her chest, feeling a swell of longing for her friend. “I miss her terribly. Did you post my letters to her?”
“I did,” Caleb answered with a solemn nod. “They should be on their way to her presently.”
“Thank you,” she said, the words coming from the bottom of her heart.
“If you’d like to open and read them now, I do not mind.”
Elinore gazed at him, somewhat unsure. Was it gauche of her to want to read a letter from her friend and perhaps ignore Caleb slightly after their night together? She bit her lip in indecision and then tore into the letter from Charlotte, unable to wait any longer. She started slightly when Caleb’s hand reached across the table and rested overtop one of her own. She realized she need not choose between the two of them; she could have them both at once. She threaded her fingers through Caleb’s, taking a moment to feel the texture of his skin, before reading. The room was silent save for the clinking of their utensils against the china and the rustle of paper. It was difficult to read and eat with only one hand free, but she could not imagine letting go of Caleb’s hand just yet. Elinore managed by resting her letter on the table and leaning over it as she ate. Coming to the end of the first letter, she sighed deeply.
“Is everything all right?” Caleb asked.
“I do wish I could go see Charlotte. Letters are wonderful, but nothing compares to sitting close with a friend and sharing your heart.”
“Arrange a visit,” Caleb stated simply.
Elinore clutched Charlotte’s letters to her chest. “Really?”
“Yes, really. Of course, it should be after the full moon. It’s not wise for you to travel until we are certain what will happen. But there’s no reason you cannot go after that.” He frowned. “Did you think you were confined to Ravenwood?”
She hadn’t known, to be honest. How could she explain to Caleb that being female often meant her wishes and desires were not considered or were tossed aside?
“I should very much like to plan a trip to see Charlotte.”
“Then plan it. I can make any arrangements you wish.”
Elinore was already thinking ahead, wondering which days would be best to visit. She’d have to write Charlotte and let her know she was coming. If Elinore went rather quickly, it would still be warm enough to not have to take her winter things, but if she delayed it slightly, the tea shop might have its special winter blend in early and she could buy some. Oh! How exciting! She squeezed Caleb’s fingers happily and returned to reading Charlotte’s next letter.
The sound of the dining room doors opening made them both turn their heads.
“Well, isn’t this charming?”
Hayter stood in the doorway his eyes drawn immediately to where Caleb and Elinore held hands across the table. Elinore did not need any of her newly heightened senses to read the displeasure on his face.
“Uncle,” said Caleb tersely. Elinore nodded silently at Hayter as he came in. He stepped inside the room, took two steps toward the table and then inhaled sharply as though he smelled something. With a sudden flush to her cheeks, Elinore knew exactly what it was.
Caleb met his uncle’s glare, the two of them silent. Elinore wasn’t sure what to expect - for Hayter to do the polite thing (if such a thing existed amongst werewolves) and not say anything, or if he would make a crude comment. Elinore could feel her teeth getting sharper as she waited. It was only when both men turned to look at her incredulously that she realized a low level growl was coming from her throat as she waited for Hayter to speak. Flushing, she cleared her throat with a polite cough.
“Frog in your throat, dear?” Hayter asked, one eyebrow raising toward his hairline.
“She knows, Uncle.”
Hayter turned to Caleb, his gaze piercing and sharp.
“About werewolves. About the bite. She knows,” Caleb added unnecessarily.
Hayter smiled, his teeth white and bright. He clapped his hands together. “Ah, how wonderful. No longer any need to hide our nature. Well, now that you know,” Hayter said, coming to stand next to Elinore’s chair, looming over her. She was forced to tip her head up, feeling the motion expose the length of her neck as she did. “I suppose we’ll have to go over some of our… particular etiquette.”
“Such as?” Elinore asked. She felt Caleb’s fingers tighten briefly around hers. She wasn’t sure if it was meant to be warning or encouragement.
“Such as hierarchy. How’s your Greek?”
“Better than my Latin,” Elinore ans
wered tersely.
“Realistically, I suppose you need only know the alphabet. Alpha,” Hayter said, pointing at himself. “Beta,” he continued pointing at Caleb. There was a long silence where she waited for him to continue, but all he did was stare down at her silently.
He was forcing her to ask the question, she realized. Elinore supposed she could play her own little game in return and not answer, but she did want to know.
“And what rank do I hold?”
Hayter smiled. “That still remains to be seen.”
This time the low growling sound came from Caleb and Hayter rounded on him. “Watch your place, pup. Unless you’re looking to change the hierarchy?”
Caleb’s growling sound stopped and Elinore wondered what Hayter meant by that. Did he mean unless Caleb wanted to challenge Hayter for the Alpha position? Was that possible? Elinore had a vague notion it may work that way with animals, but she couldn’t be certain. It had never been one of her interests. She’d have to read up. Quickly, if she wanted to keep up.
Lightning fast, Hayter snatched a sausage off Elinore’s plate and popped it in his mouth, grinning, waiting for her to respond. She didn’t know what to do or say. Her eyes darted over to Caleb, who watched Hayter carefully. Hayter turned to him and while making eye contact, leaned forward and took Caleb’s entire plate of food. Caleb looked more annoyed than angry as Hayter sauntered out of the dining room, taking Caleb’s plate with him. Not knowing how good Hayter’s hearing was compared to her own, Elinore looked at Caleb and made what she hoped was an inquisitive face. He cocked his head to the side, listening and only when his shoulders relaxed did Elinore speak.
“Do you mean to tell me that the way he was acting before today was him on better behavior?” Elinore asked incredulously.
Caleb’s lips came together in a grim line and he rubbed his thumb over the hollow between two of her fingers. “He’s… disgruntled.”
Elinore didn’t need heightened senses to tell her that. “He fancies he’s been courting me since I’ve come to Ravenwood and now he sees what a fool’s errand it was.”
“Perhaps.” Caleb’s eyes kept watch at the door where Hayter had left.
“Perhaps?” Elinore repeated. What did he mean? She tried to pull her hand back, but Caleb held firm, his eyes coming to meet hers, a questioning look on his face. His nostrils flared and he inhaled deeply.
“Your scent just went… acrid and displeased.”
That he could tell her emotions from simply inhaling raised interesting questions in her mind, but she pushed them away for later. “What do you mean, perhaps? Are you regretting… what we did? Are you regretting me?” Elinore was painfully aware that she had no experience in dealing with men and she truly had no idea what would happen next. She assumed they were… together, after a fashion. Perhaps she was mistaken.
“No, of course not,” Caleb said earnestly. The tight feeling in her chest eased a bit at his quick reply, but still lingered.
On the heels of his response, she asked another question. “What did he mean about the hierarchy? You mentioned before he was Alpha, but he seemed to be making rather a point about it.”
Caleb’s grim look was back. Though he was still fiercely handsome when he scowled, she much preferred his smile to the expression he wore on his face now.
“Traditionally,” Caleb began slowly, “to the Alpha… go the spoils.”
Elinore took a moment to let his words sink in. He surely wasn’t referring to… “You can’t possibly mean me.”
Caleb’s jaw ticked.
“I am not ‘spoils,’” Elinore declared hotly and this time she did manage to snatch her hand back from his, placing her hand on her lap, out of his reach, even as he reached for her.
“I did not say you were.”
“You did not have to. You implied it quite well.”
“I only meant Hayter sees you that way. I do not.”
He met her gaze with his pale eyes and she could read no artifice in them. However, she knew she was, by her own admission, rather naive when it came to men.
“Elinore,” he leaned forward, reaching for her hand again across the table. She stared at his open palm for a moment before she slowly raised her hand and slid it back into his, watching his face as she did. He breathed deeply, shoulders relaxing as he stared at their joined hands. “I do not think you are some trophy to be won. My father said even when they were children, Hayter always had more of the wolf about him. His posturing as he came in here, the baiting of his words, the snatching of the food… it is all his way of challenging me and determining where you might rank in the pack.”
“Would I not be a beta?” she asked, trying out the word, finding it interesting on her lips. “As you are?”
“You could be. But you said yourself Hayter fancied he was courting you. Victoria’s death was… difficult for him. He’s not been the same since. I believe he wishes you for himself as an Alpha mate. You would then together be the Alpha pair and your rank would be above mine in the pack.”
“I’ve no wish to be above anyone.” Truly, Elinore did not. Though she was a proponent of her own rights, she didn’t want them to come at the cost of anyone else’s. “I don’t see why I cannot have my own station where I need not be considered any higher nor lower than anyone else.”
Caleb’s lips curved in a slight smile. “And so it should be for everyone. But it does not work like that in a wolf pack. We always have an Alpha. An Alpha cares for the pack. An Alpha makes decisions for the pack. An Alpha provides for the pack.”
“That sounds almost benevolent. I’ve a difficult time reconciling that notion with a man, or a wolf, such as Hayter.”
“You’re not wrong,” Caleb said, leaning back in his chair, keeping contact with her fingers. “I wonder what would have happened if my father had not passed away. If Hayter had not arrived here and become Alpha. If Victoria were still alive. I know that Hayter is not the most ideal Alpha, but… after all our losses, he was there. He was able to be a leader. At the time, I could not… perhaps I should have, but…”
“Grief is an overwhelming thing,” Elinore supplied.
Caleb nodded. “It is distressing to me that you know what it is to lose both parents so quickly. To be adrift. I am grateful to Hayter and yet at the same time, I resent him for doing what I could not.”
She reached across the table with her other hand and placed it over top of their joined ones, running her thumb over the space between his thumb and forefinger. He stared down at their hands, intertwined, and then said, “Touch is important for a pack. Before I left, it was difficult not to touch you for I felt immediately that you should belong at Ravenwood with us. From the moment you declared you would not leave Thistle alone in the woods. You were terrified, you’d already been bitten and you did not know any of us. But you were determined to remain by his side until help could be obtained. I thought immediately that you would make an excellent wolf.”
Elinore thought back to how Hayter’s hands lingered on her collar bone, or how he would take her arm when they walked, keeping her close. She disliked those gestures coming from him. She wondered how she would have reacted if they had come from Caleb instead.
“Does it mean something, other than familiarity?”
Caleb nodded, looking absent for a moment. “To the pack? Yes. It means you’re not alone, that there is someone else there, that you belong. My mother…” he paused for a moment, his face going fond and soft. “My father would brush out my mother’s hair every night. I’m sure she had servants or ladies in waiting who would normally be tasked with such a thing, but it was always my father’s duty. One I think they both enjoyed.”
“Mrs. Davenport has been brushing mine,” Elinore said, feeling a surge of fondness for the older woman.
“Would you… would you let me? Tonight?”
Elinore had an image in her head of sitting down and having Caleb sit behind her, taking out her pins and unfurling her hair from its captive st
ate. He would run her brush down her hair, over and over again until she was lazy and relaxed with the sensation, his strong hands careful, yet firm.
“Yes.”
His eyes met hers, bright and happy and she smiled in return, her cheeks feeling sharp and hard with the ferocity of her emotion.
They did not see Hayter for the rest of the day, although Elinore couldn’t help but feel his presence loomed over their entire beings. The staff appeared extraordinarily pleased to see her with Caleb, Elinore thought. She’d never seen so many happy faces all at once in her life. Although it was quite somber when they visited the stables and she recalled the bloody remains they’d found the other day. There was no further word on the feral wolf. Jonah came forward to speak with Caleb and Elinore was quite pleased when she was asked to stay to listen and offer her thoughts. Caleb listened closely to Jonah, asking for Elinore’s accounts of her findings as well and decreed they should return to hunting the feral wolf now that he was able to accompany them. Though she was glad of his return to Ravenwood, she disliked the idea of him out in the woods searching for the feral wolf.
The morning was spent with the rest of the Ravenwood staff - it seemed everyone wanted to come and speak with them as a pair. After a light lunch, she and Caleb headed to the library. Elinore couldn’t help blushing when she entered, looking at the desk and knowing what had transpired the night before. Caleb pulled her close and kissed her temple even as she blushed furiously and hid her face in her hands. She giggled nervously as he made his way to the desk and started pulling out his ledgers.
“I cannot believe you’re going to work there now.”
Caleb’s lips quirked as he pulled out his quill and ink. “And where should I work instead? Would you banish me to the out doors, working in the forest?”
“No,” she replied, taking a seat in one of the chairs and pulling out Charlotte’s letters to re-read so she could respond. She eyed Caleb and the desk out of the corner of her gaze. Heat pooled in her belly as she stared, remembering the touch of Caleb’s lips against hers and the feel of his hands as they’d slid over her body. A sharp snapping sound had her looking up to see he’d broken his quill in half.
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