Ravenwood(75)

Elinore managed to extricate herself from Caleb’s embrace, shimmying her nightgown down her body and finding her housecoat on the floor, tangled in the bedclothes. She felt like a giddy school girl. She wanted to laugh, she wanted to shout.

She wanted to howl.

At his closed door, Caleb leaned in close motioning her to do the same. He was listening, she realized, and wanted her to copy him.

“If you focus your mind, you’ll find your hearing is greatly improved.”

Elinore nodded at his words and mimicked his position, thinking carefully. True to Caleb’s words, Elinore could hear the sounds of the manor through the door. Servants down on the lower floor, Mrs. Thistlewaite in the kitchen, Alice reading aloud to her father and if Elinore thought very hard, she could almost hear… Hayter. She thinned her lips. He was stirring in his room and the realization that she was hearing him in his bedchambers made her wrinkle her nose and step back from the door. Caleb looked at her, amusedly.

“What did you hear that put that look on your face?”

Though he and his uncle seemed to have tension between them, Elinore didn’t feel comfortable telling Caleb her thoughts and feelings on Hayter.

“Private… attentions being paid,” she said, lying easily. A horrid thought crossed her mind. “Could we be heard? Last night?” Her stomach rolled over at the thought that she and Caleb could have been listened in on.

Caleb shook his head, pulling her close in his arms and almost petting her. “No. Well, yes, I suppose, but only by a wolf in the house and Hayter was asleep.”

She felt assuaged by his words and his touch, reaching her hands up to rest on his chest, which was now regrettably clothed. He leaned forward and rubbed his cheek against hers and although it was a strange and unusual thing, she liked it. It occurred to her that he’d done something similar a few times - rubbing his nose along her throat, or petting her with his hands.

“Is that special to wolves?” she asked. “When you press your face or nose against me?”

It was Caleb’s turn to look slightly embarrassed, ducking his head. “Yes. It’s a form of scenting. It’s something we do in a pack.”

Elinore leaned forward and rubbed her cheek against his. “Like this?”

His arm tightened around her for a moment. “Yes, like that.” She pulled back and looked at his face. He looked unaccountably pleased and it made her happy.

“I think if we go now, we can get you back to your room without anyone seeing,” Caleb said. Elinore nodded and they quietly crept out of his room. She felt dangerous and excited. She focused her hearing, finding she could easily tell there was no one about on the second floor. It was a safe sort of adventure - sneaking back to her room. Caleb kissed her soundly before ushering her into her bedchambers. Elinore closed the door behind her, leaning against it, taking deep breaths to calm her heart even as it raced lusciously in her chest. Her cheeks hurt from smiling. She thought of things she’d done with Caleb. Her cheeks went hot and her stomach fluttered. She felt she was in on a secret that only a select number of people knew. She must tell Charlotte all of this. If anyone would understand and not judge her for her decisions, it would be her best friend. But first, Elinore had to make herself presentable and have breakfast. With Caleb. She thought of seeing him across the table from her, knowing what he looked like in bed, knowing what he sounded like when he was aroused, she again had the feeling like she wanted to run and howl. It didn’t feel strange or foreign. It felt open and free. Was she a wolf now? Would she turn on the full moon? Perhaps she should she spare more thoughts for the astonishing revelation of Ravenwood - werewolves. Both Caleb and Hayter. She must make a list of all her questions so she wouldn’t forget any.

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.