The Fall of The Wolf (Historical Romance)

by Lynn Coppersmith

  She rose silently and donned her lavender robe. Rafe’s weariness was bone deep, and he didn’t stir as she gently tied his wrists and ankles to the bed, using the red velvet strips he had so recently used to restrain her. She laid a warm quilt over him and gently kissed his brow. She blinked back tears as she lovingly brushed a lock of hair off his forehead. He sighed but didn’t otherwise react as he continued to sleep soundly.

  Eleta went to the kitchen and retrieved the scroll from where she had hidden it in a cupboard. She also retrieved a sharp dagger from the study downstairs and brought the items to the bedroom. Then, she stretched out beside Rafe on the bed and waited for him to wake up. There was no way she could sleep, despite her exhaustion. She simply lay staring at her love, soaking up the sight of him for whatever moments remained, as the hours before dawn passed much too quickly.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Rafe began to stir with the first pink rays of sunlight coming through the window. The fire had burned low, and the room was chilled. He slowly became aware of a delightful sense of exhaustion, and he grinned as he remembered the previous night.

  Eleta had pleasantly surprised him. He had held nothing back as he enacted some of his most lustful fantasies with her, and she had not only participated, she had encouraged him by fanning the flames of his passion. She had generously given her body for him to plunder, to ravish, to devour, and to claim as his own.

  He knew in his heart that she was his one true mate. He would just have to make her see that, and soon. He had no intention of letting her slip through his fingers.

  He groaned and tried to stretch. His eyes opened with a start when he realized he couldn’t move. He immediately locked eyes with Eleta. She was lying beside him on the bed. She was wide awake and had obviously been watching him.

  “Good morning, my love,” she whispered. She stroked his cheek and ran her fingers through his hair as she smoothed it back from his forehead.

  Rafe relaxed and gave her a grin. “Good morning.” He stretched as much as his bonds would allow and gave such a huge yawn that his jaw cracked. He glanced up at his tied wrists and then cocked a teasing brow at her. “What’s this? Are we working on your fantasies today?”

  Eleta’s lower lip began to tremble, and she began to cry. “No, my love. I wish that were the case.”

  Rafe frowned, immediately worried by her obvious distress. Looking at her more closely, he noticed that she had dark circles beneath her eyes, and she was deathly pale. He didn’t think she had slept at all. He tried to reach for her but was hindered by the bonds.

  “What is it, Eleta? Did I hurt you last night?”

  The concern in his voice made her feel even guiltier. “No,” she whispered miserably. “I loved every moment of last night. It’s not that.”

  Rafe’s frown deepened. “Then what is it, love. Tell me.”

  “I promised you complete honesty about the prophecy, and you shall have it.” Eleta sat up on the bed and leaned down to kiss him gently on the lips. “But first, please remember what I told you, Rafe. I love you with all my heart. Nothing will ever change that. I would give anything to avoid what I must do.”

  His brows furrowed. “Now, you are making me nervous. What is wrong, Eleta?”

  Eleta sniffed, and tears began to roll down her cheeks. “You remember, I mentioned a prophecy?” Seeing him nod, she continued. “More than two hundred years ago, following the civil war, there was an advisor to the queen. Her name was Veda, and she was an oracle.”

  “As in…she was able to predict future events?”

  “Exactly,” Eleta answered with a nod. “Queen Meleia was in a state of despair following the war. Her subjects were suffering, and she worried that things would never improve. Veda told the queen about a vision she had seen. She was so certain of the accuracy of her vision that she wrote it on this scroll.” Eleta paused to hold up the scroll before continuing. “Veda predicted that a future queen would be born, and that she would restore peace and unity to Aglaia.”

  “I’m assuming the future queen is you,” Rafe stated quietly.

  Eleta nodded and smiled sadly. “Veda said that this future queen would be marked by a wolf’s paw on her hip. That was how future generations would know that she was the chosen one.”

  Rafe’s gaze dropped to her hip, and he frowned again. “Fine…so you’re the chosen one. You told me that already. What exactly does that mean?”

  Eleta drew a shaky breath, and more tears began to stream down her cheeks as she spoke. “In order for the chosen one…me…to save my kingdom and my people, Veda predicted that I would first have to abduct, seduce, and then kill the wolf…you.”

  Rafe’s eyes opened wide and then he scowled at her. “What? Why would you need to kill me? That doesn’t make any sense!”

  “Unfortunately, it does make sense. In fact, everything in Veda’s prophecy has come to pass exactly as she predicted that it would.”

  Rafe pulled against his bonds, but they were just as solid as he remembered from the previous time she had tied him to the bed. “Eleta, this is insane. Untie me and we can discuss this.”

  “I can’t, Rafe,” Eleta moaned. “The wellbeing of my subjects and the future of my country depend on me fulfilling the prophecy. My people are suffering terribly. They are slowly dying off, and their situation is worsening year after year. Veda predicted that if I didn’t fulfill the prophecy, Aglaia would be destroyed altogether. I can’t let that happen. I wish there was another way, but there isn’t”

  “Yes there is,” Rafe insisted. He snared her gaze. “We can work together to heal the nation. If we combine our forces, we could…”

  Eleta was shaking her head emphatically. “No,” she interrupted. “Veda was very clear in her prediction. If I failed to kill you, with my own hands, Aglaia will forever remain divided and broken. Veda predicted that a terrible war would break out, and even the territories of Eastern and Western Aglaia will be destroyed. Our nation will fall and never recover if I don’t fulfill the terrible prophecy.”

  “Eleta, listen…,” Rafe began.

  “I can’t, Rafe! Don’t you understand? My people…no our people are depending on me. They are suffering deeply. Many of them are starving. Their homes are being destroyed, and their lives are getting more and more desperate. I cannot condemn them to an even worse fate than they are now suffering. I cannot fail them, even though fulfilling the prophecy is breaking my heart.”

  Eleta leaned down and kissed him softly on the mouth. She stroked his cheek, and tears ran down her face in rivulets as she met his stare. “I’m sorry, Rafe. Truly, I am. Please forgive me for what I must do. I promise, I will make this as quick and painless for you as I can.”

  She reached down beside the bed and lifted a sharp dagger. She met his eye again and straddled his waist. Then, she pressed the tip of the dagger against his throat.

  “Eleta wait,” Rafe said. His eyes pleaded with hers. “Don’t do this!”

  “I must,” she whispered forlornly. “You know I have no other choice.”

  They sat frozen for countless moments. Rafe held his breath while Eleta sat trembling above him. She closed her eyes and he felt the dagger press harder against his throat. Her trembling worsened, until she could barely hold the dagger steady. After what seemed like an eternity, she gave a pained cry, dropped the dagger, and crumpled to the bed beside him.

  “I can’t,” she sobbed forlornly. “I just can’t do it!”

  Eleta curled into a miserable ball and wailed, dragging in great gasps of air between her keening cries. Rafe watched her and felt as if his own heart were breaking. He hated seeing her like that, especially when he was helpless to even offer her comfort. He was shaking as badly as she had been, and he breathed deeply to steady his nerves. After several long minutes, Eleta subsided into hiccupping sobs.

  “Untie me, love,” he softly requested.

  Eleta didn’t argue. She reached up and cut one of his wrists free with the dagger. Then, she h
anded him the dagger and watched tearfully while he cut the remaining restraints. She felt utterly drained and defeated, and she did not resist when he lifted her onto his lap and rocked her gently.

  They sat in silence for several minutes, each simply relieved to be in the other’s arms. Finally, Rafe heaved a deep sigh, kissed her forehead and then tilted her face up so he could meet her guilty stare.

  “Everything will be alright, my love. As I told you before, we will face this together. There must be another way, and we will find it and save our people.”

  Eleta gave a miserable moan and shook her head as she climbed to the edge of the bed and reached for the scroll. She handed it to him with a sigh.

  “There isn’t, Rafe. I have failed, and now, thousands of my people will die and my country will be destroyed. See for yourself.”

  Rafe unrolled the parchment and studied the lines of the prophecy. Eleta watched his reactions as he read the familiar passages. He frowned at her and then read the entire thing again. When he finished, he sat silently for a few minutes. Then, the most amazing thing happened. He started to laugh.

  At first, he gave just an amused snort. But soon, it had evolved into chuckles and finally a full belly laugh. Eleta sat watching him, thinking that he must have gone insane. When she couldn’t stand it for another moment, she gave his shoulder a shove.

  “What on earth is so funny?” she asked with a puzzled frown.

  “Don’t you see?” he asked, pulling her onto his lap once more. He nuzzled her neck and chuckled some more. “It’s so obvious, my love.”

  “Not to me,” she grumbled. She flung out a hand. “Explain!”

  He laughed harder and kissed her soundly on the mouth. When his gaze met hers, his eyes were sparkling with humor. “I love it when you get all regal and imperious.”

  She opened her mouth to answer, but he silenced her with another quick kiss. Then, he picked up the scroll and showed it to her.

  “Here, look at the first few verses,” he said. He read them aloud, and she listened carefully, even though she had read them herself thousands of times.

  The chosen one shall choose a prince

  And promise him to wed,

  But ere she does, she must commence

  The duty that she dreads.

  The wolf roams free both wide and far

  And maidens yearn for his embrace.

  Though none of them shall touch his heart,

  He will vow to take a husband’s place.

  Then on the eve of his hunting feast

  While revellers drink and laughter peals,

  The Queen will come to take the beast

  And his true purpose will be revealed.

  The chosen one will pluck him nigh

  And ravish him against his will.

  Her beauty and her longing sighs

  Will ensure the prophecy is fulfilled.

  Unable to resist her lure,

  He will succumb to all her charms,

  And though she’ll leave him most unsure,

  He’ll revel in her silken arms.

  “I see what you mean,” he said, running his finger down the passages. “Everything has happened exactly as Veda predicted. You got betrothed, I got betrothed, you abducted me on the eve of the hunting feast.” He met her gaze with a naughty grin. “And you most definitely, and to my unending joy I might add, ravished me against my will.”

  Eleta blushed prettily, and he laughed with delight. He paused to kiss her again before continuing.

  “Where were we?” he muttered. “Oh yes, several lines about the loss of your maidenhead.” He winked at her.

  The wolf shall pluck her maidenhead

  And assert a lover’s rights.

  He’ll wallow in her royal bed

  For seven lustful nights.

  He grinned down at her and waggled his brows. “It was a most memorable occasion, love, and it definitely merited special mention. The experience was so satisfying, in fact, that it led to seven lustful nights.”

  Eleta turned her face into the curve of his neck to hide her blush. “Rafe, you beast! Get on with it. What is making you so happy? How can you laugh when the next verse states that I have to kill you with great delight?”

  “No it doesn’t, my love. Listen carefully.”

  And once the wolf’s seed is in her womb,

  And with virgin blood the sheets are stained,

  With great delight she will entomb

  Her enemy, whom she has slain.

  Do not mourn the wolf’s fall when comes the dawn,

  Nor lament his conquest unduly.

  For in years to come, the child he spawned

  Will reunite the kingdom truly.

  When he finished reading, he set the scroll aside. Rafe gripped her chin and turned her face so he could see her eyes. “It doesn’t say you have to kill me, Eleta. It states you will entomb your enemy. Listen, my love, and hear me well! I have never been, nor could I ever become your enemy.”

  There was a long pause, during which Eleta struggled to absorb his meaning. He watched her beautiful face as her thoughts turned over in her head. Hope warred with confusion, and he smiled as he saw her processing his logic.

  “But you ordered the raids that have been destroying my people,” Eleta whispered with a frown.

  Rafe shook his head solemnly. “Never, my love. I have never ordered any raids. I told you that before, but you didn’t believe me at the time. You know me better now, and after last night…,” he eyed her breasts with obvious lust, “…after all the things you allowed me to do last night, I know you trust me completely.”

  He couldn’t resist a smile as his words caused her to blush again. There was no way Eleta could have consented to some of his fantasies if she didn’t have complete faith in him. The intimacies they had shared confirmed her trust in him and her love for him beyond a doubt, and Rafe’s heart swelled with happiness as he realized that.

  “Eleta, if you search your heart, you will know that I speak the truth. I have never lied to you, and I swear, I have never attacked your people. I am not your enemy.”

  Eleta gave a puzzled frown. “I believe you, Rafe. But if it wasn’t you, then who…,” Her eyes opened wide as realization began to dawn. Then her face turned angry. “It was the Duke of Livius all along!” Her sherry colored eyes lit with fury as she thought about it. “There is no other logical explanation. He has been deceiving and manipulating me all along. That lying, deceitful coward! I can’t believe I let him fool me so completely!”

  Rafe once again silenced her with a long kiss, and this time, he took the time to turn her anger into passion. When she was responding eagerly, he lifted his head and smiled down at her. His eyes shone with devotion.

  “Let’s not talk about Livius right now, my love. There will be plenty of time to deal with him later. Right now, I’m more interested in the rest of the prophecy. It says that I will fall and you will conquer me. Don’t you understand, love? I have fallen. I have fallen most desperately in love with you, and you have completely and utterly conquered my heart.” Rafe laughed and motioned toward the window, where the pink rays of dawn were turning into the first golden light of morning. “And just like the prophecy predicted, I have only just realized the depth of my love for you with the coming of the dawn.”

  Eleta’s face began to glow. She felt completely happy for the first time in her entire life. For the first time ever, the prophecy did not loom over her as some awful thing to be scared of. Instead, it offered her reassurance that she had found her one true love.

  “My God,” she whispered with awe, “I’ve never interpreted it that way. Neither has anyone else over the past two hundred years, since the prophecy was first made.” She reached up and touched his face with wonder. “My whole life, I have been taught that I would have to kill you, and I have lived in dread and fear of the terrible act, never having a moment’s peace. I feel as if I have been relieved of a heavy burden. In fact, the weight of the world
has been lifted from my shoulders.”

  Rafe grinned at her and turned his face to place a lingering kiss in her palm. “I am most relieved that you don’t have to kill me,” he teased. “I much prefer to spend a lifetime loving and helping you.” His expression turned serious, and Eleta could easily see the love and devotion in the emerald depths of his eyes.

  “In future, we shall share any burdens, my love. I will always be beside you, supporting and protecting you with my body and my heart…until my last breath. Before I met you, my life was an empty existence. I had no real joy, and I had despaired of ever finding love. You changed all that with one glance across a crowded room. And I intend to spend the rest of our lives showing you how very grateful I am.” His eyes took on a teasing glint once again. “That is assuming, of course, that you will marry me.”

  Eleta wound her arms around his neck and kissed him, letting her lips give him her answer. He reclined on the pillows, and she lay atop him, showering kisses all over his face. When she finally lifted her head, her eyes were glowing with happiness and love.

  “Isn’t it obvious that I love you more than life itself?” Eleta asked. “In fact, I love you so much that I chose you over the welfare of my people or my country. As much as I love them, I love you more. I could no more kill you than I could carve out my own heart. Of course I will marry you,” she said with a radiant smile.

  Rafe gave a naughty grin and rolled to pin her beneath him. “I never really doubted that you would,” he admitted. “You have given yourself to me already, body and soul.”

  Eleta was wearing the lavender robe he loved so much. He leaned on one elbow and untied the belt. Then, he spread the two halves and sighed at the sight of her beautiful body, revealed to him once again. He thought he would never tire of the sight. He traced a finger in lazy circles around one impudent nipple and grinned as it hardened instantly.

  “You are mine,” he repeated softly. “You proved it without a doubt last night. And you know that I am just as much yours. You hold my happiness in your hands, and without you, I am nothing. Our marriage will make it official, but we are already bound together for life.”