Eternal Moon

Chapter 17: Silent Promise

Kane had not expected to see Jamie walk through his hallway as he sat down to drink himself into a stupor. He had not been able to sit still all day ever since their confrontation in the tavern. Tucking his tail between his legs, he'd left the pub angry at everything and everyone. But mostly himself. Jamie had been right - he was a domineering, arrogant arsehole. As much as he wanted, she was not his woman. She may have been his mate but she didn't know that. For Jamie, she was still just a twenty-four-year-old grad student free to do what she chose. Unfortunately for him, that meant going to see an evil Druid priestess who had inspired the very concept of witches. Letting her go had taken every ounce of his self-control, and he still had punched a wall through his garage after he left. All he wanted was to protect her but she saw him as much as a threat as Sorcha. The thought made him furious. Because it was right.

Sorcha was undoubtedly evil, but he could and had caused comparable damage to others. She willingly attacked and manipulated people for her own gain, but he was a slave to his instincts. Instincts that he was ashamed he had. Violence, sex, dominance. He'd been ruled by those since he was a young boy and his father taught him how to hold a sword. In the sixteenth century, might made right. And as a werewolf, he was mightier than all.

Those realizations had begun to sap the chaotic energy that had animated him for the majority of the day, leaving him exhausted and ashamed as he watched the sun go down. Jamie had been gone since the early afternoon and there was no telling what deal she had struck with Sorcha. Maybe she had successfully gotten an exit with Sorcha's help. Maybe Sorcha had imprisoned her. The last thing he had expected though was for Jamie to return to Castle Murdock.

Apparently, she felt the same way. She had tried to skirt past his study door unnoticed but he quickly bounded out of his chair and chased her down, calling her name.

"What are you doing here, lass?"

With slumped shoulders, she finally faced him. "I assumed I was still welcome here but I guess I should have asked. Is it okay if I spend one more night here?"

"One more night?" His brows furrowed in confusion. "What happened with the witch?"

He did not ignore the furtive way her eyes avoided him. "Taxi can't come till tomorrow."

He suspected it was a lie of some sort, but part of him didn't care. As long as she was safe under his protection, he could rest easy. Fear over what could have happened had made him too sick to eat.

"But she agreed to help you?"

Jamie nodded but there was no self-satisfaction behind the grim set of her lips. Or the downcast gaze of her eyes. None of this behavior was normal for such a usually spirited, assured woman.

He asked, "Did she want anything in return?"

She emitted a weak, humorless snort. "Well, it turns out my existence is payment enough. Apparently, we're related."

"WHAT?"

The question had come out a little rougher than he had intended. Yelling wasn't going to win over Jamie, he reminded himself.

But she didn't seem too fazed. Shrugging her shoulders, she continued, "Yeah, according to her, she got pregnant in the late 1700s and gave up the baby for adoption. And I'm that baby's descendant."

Kane thanked God and all the holy angels for the fact that Sorcha had given up the baby instead of raising it herself. But the ensuing questions were endless. Who was the father? How had the lad gotten to the States? What did it mean that Jamie was a descendant of the woman who cursed him?

Brushing aside the questions, for now, Kane gestured towards his study. "Sounds like you need a whiskey then."

The look in her eyes told him that she didn't think that was a good idea. She turned almost sideways, half-facing him, as if her own body was encouraging her to leave. Yet the desire he had seen in her eyes that morning was still there. It had become warier, more subdued, but it was still present.