Share

Chapter Five: Adara

last update Last Updated: 2022-03-06 03:25:53

“What are you wearing?”

My sister Fawna smiled and laughed as I stepped through our front door.

I laughed, too, looking down at the oversized sweater that had kept me warm during my walk home from Dane Wiltshire’s beach.

I struck a model’s pose, hand on my hip, head thrown back. “Don’t I look lovely?” I giggled.

My mother spoke up from her place near the front door. Annoyed, her face was pinched into a frown. “You look hideous. I hope no one saw you wearing that monstrosity.”

But Father defended me. As always. “Veralee, who cares?” He shrugged. The night air is cold. I’m glad to see Adara in something warm. We don’t want our daughter turning to a block of ice, do we?”

He gave a forced chuckle, and Mother shrank into the cushions of our well-worn sofa. Father was the only one on Vukasin Island who could shut her up, and she often needed to be silences.

He rose from his easy chair and stepped forward, tilting his head to examine the toggles on the front of Dane’s sweater. “Where did you get this?” He touched the sleeve.

All eyes—Mother’s, Father’s, and Fawna’s—were on me, awaiting an answer, and now my other sister, Emmalina, was peering down the staircase, over the railing from the landing.

Of course, she, too, was staring at me.

I knew my family wouldn’t approve of my answer. Although I could count on Fawna not to be too judgmental until she’d heard the whole story.

Dane Wiltshire was hated by the common people of Vukasin Island. Everyone, including my family, saw him as elitist, arrogant, and self-absorbed.

I had, just a half hour earlier, seen a far different side of him. A side that was thoughtful. And kind. And generous—as evidenced by the very sweater that I was about to take off and hang in the hall closet. . . .  

I inhaled, and then I said quietly, “Dane Wiltshire.”

“Dane Wiltshire!” Emmalina exclaimed with astonishment. She skipped down the stairs to join in the conversation. Her blue eyes twinkled with excitement under long black lashes. Excitement at the prospect of a family fight.

Especially a fight aimed at me.

The others were too shocked to reply. Their mouths gaped open.

Finally, Father spoke. “Where, how, did you encounter him, Dane Wiltshire? He rarely leaves his house. He’s a recluse—”

“He’s not a recluse.” Mother loved to argue. “He’s just too much of a snob to rub shoulders with the hoi polloi. The only type recluse he would be is a brown recluse, the poisonous spider.” She chuckled at her own joke.

Everyone else was silent.

“But where? How?” Father asked again.

By now I was shrugging off the oversized garment.

“Yes, where?” Emmalina was always eager for gossip. “Addie,” she always called me that, “we’re dying of curiosity. Where did you run into Mr. Wiltshire? And how did you get him to give up his sweater.”

“I’m sure he has several of them,” Fawna answered.

Her expression told me she was wondering the same thing but was too polite to ask.

“I went for a walk.”

Mother was quick to argue. “And Mr. Wiltshire was out walking?” Her voice was almost a screech. She gave a “harumph” sound, scoffing at my words. “I don’t believe it?”

I looked at her, ready to say, “Are you calling me a liar, Mother?” But I held my tongue.

Father raised his hand. “Let Adara speak.” He lowered himself into his easy chair. Sometimes his back ached from long hours at the counter in his hardware store.

I smiled at him. “Mr. Wiltshire was not out walking. I was walking, as I said. I strolled past his estate. Along the beach.”

Mon Repos,” said father. “That’s the name of the place. His estate. Dane Wiltshire's home.”

“And isn’t it just like him to give his house a fancy French name that no one understands?” This from Mother, of course.

“It means ‘My Repose,’” Fawna said gently. “Or ‘My Resting Place.’”

“Then why not name it that in English,” Mother snapped.

Fawna gave me a little smile and winked. I knew she was laughing inwardly, we both were, at our mother’s irrationally hostile attitude.

We were used to it.

“So you went for a walk? I hope you stayed on the wet part of the sand,” Mother said.

“Yes. The last thing we need is to have the island’s Alpha lodge a complaint against Adara for trespassing.” Emmalina laughed from her place at the bottom of the staircase, where she stood leaning over the rail.

“Adara’s a sensible girl.” Father nodded. “She knows the rules.”

I nodded back, smiling.

“But how did Mr. Dane Wiltshire come to lend you that sweater.” Mother held out her hand. “Give it to me. Now.”

I hesitated.

“Give it.” She snapped the fingers of her outstretched hand.

I passed it to her.

“It’s of good quality,” she admitted, shaking it for emphasis. “Cashmere. Probably.” She stroked the material and examined the toggles. “Mr. Wiltshire requires the best of everything.” She sniffed, derisively.

“Why not?” Father put on his spectacles and lifted the evening paper from the table beside him. “He can afford it.”

“You’re defending him?” Mother was indignant.

“I’m neither defending nor attacking anyone, Veralee.” He gave me an exasperated glance and opened the paper, to hide behind it.

I’d had enough by now. I brought the conversation to a close. “He saw me from his veranda, noticed I was cold, and offered me the sweater.” I took it from mother and stepped to the hall closet, ready to hang it up. Then I thought better, for fear of stretching it, and folded it, and put it on the top shelf.

Mother watched me and sniffed again with disdain.

She could be trying at times. Especially when the subject of Dane Wiltshire was in the air. Yes, she despised him. Though he’d never done her any wrong that I knew of.

I closed the closet door. “End of conversation. Let’s be done with it.”

Everyone was silent.

But it wasn’t finished. It wasn’t the end of conversations with my family about Dane Wiltshire.

And I wasn’t “done with it.”

Not one bit.

Not at all.

Continue to read this book for free
Scan code to download App

Latest chapter

  • The Wolves of Vukasin Island   Chapter Thirty-Six: Dane

    I slept late the next morning.I had dreams all night long.In one, a nightmare, I was desperately trying to capture an Enforcement Officer. I chased him to the mainland, where I was terrified of being recognized as a Lupine and being shot for escaping from Vukasin Island. I awoke in a sweat before I caught the Officer and before I myself was caught by the authorities.In another, I had Fawna pinned down, and I was stuffing aconite—the leaves, the roots, and the flowers—into her mouth. I struggled not to do this, but in the dream, it was as if my movements were not my own. I couldn’t control what I did. Then Fawna metamorphed into Adara, and now I was taking off my clothes and preparing to have sex with her. But after my clothes were off, instead of making love to her I began cramming gold coins into her mouth. She struggled against me, shouting, “You’re wrong. You’re wrong.” She begged me to stop hurting her. But I cont

  • The Wolves of Vukasin Island   Chapter Thirty-Five: Adara

    The next morning I rose early, packed a spare dress to replace the one that had been ruined by wine stains as the doctor had struggled to cure her, and rushed to see my sister, Fawna.I feared I might encounter Dane Wiltshire at Edin West’s home, Seaview, where I’d left my sister to recover from almost being poisoned. But that thought couldn’t keep me from going.Now, as I walked through the park, of course I passed Chalmer’s Grove. I thought about how I’d made love to Dane in the darkness among the trees the previous evening.I remembered the sweetness of his touch, the delight as he’d pushed inside me, the ecstasy of my shuddering orgasm, and the pleasure of holding him as he’d climaxed, too.Forcing these ideas from my mind was the second memory of my conversation with Lantac Golgor later that night.Had he been speaking of anyone else, I’d not have believed him. But I knew—everyone on the is

  • The Wolves of Vukasin Island   Chapter Thirty-Four: Dane

    I sat there with Edin in his study. By now, due to my revelations about Fawna, he was extremely despondent.“Despondent” is not a strong enough word.He was practically crying into his brandy.He had downed one drink after another since I told him the truth about the Huntington girls—that they were gold-diggers, that Fawna’s feigned interest in him was mere opportunism, and that I’d even heard their mother plotting with them to catch rich husbands.That he had to rid himself immediately of Fawna, the lovely girl he’d fallen in love with that very day.Just as I’d fallen in love with—or thought myself in love with—her sister, Adara.“It can’t be,” he was saying, his voice laden with disbelief.Edin is not like me. I’ve been called dark and moody. This was true even before I was bitten and turned into a werewolf. Perhaps that’s why my sire was unable to

  • The Wolves of Vukasin Island   Chapter Thirty-Three: Adara

    As we all sat in the living room with our guest, the Enforcement Officer Lantac Golgor, my mother suddenly realized that Fawna might be truly ill.“Wait.” She scrutinized my face and her tone shifted from the happiness of a moment before to one of suspicion. “Wait a minute here.” The veins stood out on her knitted brow. “Fawna’s illness was so bad that a doctor was called?”“Er, yes, Mother.”“What are you not telling me?” Her voice rose quickly to a screech. “I will not be lied to by my own family.” She seemed to forget her manners, to forget that she had company. “A lie of omission is still a lie.”“Calm yourself.” My father patted her arm.“Calm? Calm? You be calm.” She turned back to me, her voice still high. “What’s going on? Adara, I demand that you tell me.”Everyone in the room, including our guest, was

  • The Wolves of Vukasin Island   Chapter Thirty-Two: Dane

    Lantac Golgor—a hated, evil man.Not all Enforcement Officers are evil. I know this, of course.Some are decent, upright, honest, and conscientious.I don’t know if they’re in the majority or the minority. I’ve not had many dealings with the red-coated patrollers.But I have had dealings with Lantac Golgor. And I personally know him to be evil.Worse than evil. Corrupt, heartless, and cruel.I’d been extremely disappointed to see Lantac Golgor—my sworn enemy—seated in the Huntington living room, being entertained by the family, charming them, ingratiating herself with them.As I made my way back through the park and approached Chalmer’s Grove, I pictured Adara sitting there beside him, mesmerized by his slick manners, his quick wit, his intelligence, and his amiable conversation.I stopped on the path and stared into the woods to the place where we had, not even an hour before, ma

  • The Wolves of Vukasin Island   Chapter Thirty-One: Adara

    Lantac Golgor—such a charming man!I slipped around the side of the house to the back door. Because I’d seen a guest in the living room, my strategy was to enter through the back door, call my mother into the little breakfast nook off the kitchen, and there tell her about Fawna.I knew she was likely to become upset, and I didn’t want to cause the ruckus that was bound to result from her hysterics. I especially didn’t want that kind of disruption to happen in front of a guest.As soon as I closed the door behind me, I heard my mother’s voice ringing through the house. “Adara? Fawna? Is that you?”I hesitated, then answered. “Yes. Mother, can you come here a moment, please?”“What on earth for, you silly goose? You come here. Come into the living room. We have a visitor whom I’d like you two to meet.”“Of course. But first, I need to talk to you.”&ldqu

More Chapters
Explore and read good novels for free
Free access to a vast number of good novels on GoodNovel app. Download the books you like and read anywhere & anytime.
Read books for free on the app
SCAN CODE TO READ ON APP
DMCA.com Protection Status