Once A Wolf Read Online Free PDF Page A

advice, Lady Rowena, bring only your plainest garments and a minimum
    of trunks. You may be required to ride both on horseback and in very primitive vehicles. There
    will be few luxuries where we are going."
    She lifted her chin. "I would scarcely expect catering from Delmonico's, or pretty phaetons in
    the desert."
    His face broke into a broad smile that transformed him into yet another stranger—a man
    utterly different from the polished British gentleman, feral of spirit and reckless of gaze—one
    who sent a shiver coursing down Rowena's spine. But the flash of teeth and challenge was gone
    in an instant, hidden by a shallow bow.
    "I salute your courage and fortitude, my lady. Quentin is most fortunate in his sister."
    "As he is fortunate in his friend," she said. "And now, if you will give Kate your direction, I will
    finish my own preparations."
    "I can send a carriage for you in a few hours—"
    "Perhaps it would be best if we meet at the station, Mr. Randolph."
    "Indeed." His eyes revealed a spark of humor. "I'll give your maid all the particulars."
    "Then I wish you a good night, Mr. Randolph." She offered her hand. "Until morning."
    "Until morning—or, as we say in the West, hasta mañana." He lifted her hand to his mouth, but
    instead of merely kissing the air above it, he pressed a kiss on her knuckles. The effect of the
    gallant, old-fashioned gesture was like his grin: startling, mischievous, and too intimate for
    comfort.
    "In spite of the unfortunate circumstances," he said, releasing her hand far too slowly, "I believe
    this will be a most pleasurable journey." He retrieved his hat and gloves and followed Kate into
    the hall.
    His parting words left Rowena nonplussed. She sat down in the nearest chair, reviewing all that
    had passed since his arrival. It was quite fantastic enough that she should find herself leaving
    for the wilderness but a month before her wedding, but there was something about Mr.
    Randolph that didn't quite fit.
    Once A Wolf – 19th Century Werewolf 02
    Page 18 of 275
    She couldn't define her sense of apprehension. It wasn't until the very end of his visit that the
    vague presentiments of danger began. She might almost have ascribed it to… instinct.
    No. That was a word she rejected as thoroughly as her werewolf blood. Nor was she one to let
    her imagination run away with her. It was hardly possible that he was loup-garou. There was
    none of his name in England. Perhaps it was simply that Mr. Randolph had been influenced by
    the uncivilized climes in which he'd traveled, like Quentin. As Quentin's friend, he might well
    have a touch of the rogue about him. But he hadn't done anything to make her doubt his
    honor.
    Why, then, did his grin and his kiss remain so vivid in her mind?
    Surely it was because they'd met in England, perhaps long ago, and neither of them
    remembered. That would account for it.
    But it didn't explain why her heart pounded as if she'd just had a brush with some dark
    menace—or come too close to the beast within herself.
    Oh, Quentin, she thought. What have you done?
    Once before she had turned away from a duty imposed upon her because it conflicted with her
    own deeply held principles. Now she was driven by those same principles— the need to help
    bring order, upright behavior, and human moral dignity to the world she inhabited. There was
    no room in her vision of life for unbridled passion and careless abandon, for the coarse or
    blatantly sensual, for anything that might promote chaos and inevitable suffering.
    One day she would raise her own children to be productive members of human society, and
    teach them to lead admirable lives of taste and restraint. Until then, she must respond to those
    unfortunates who needed her help—most of all her own brother.
    And no foolish misgivings about Mr. Thomas A. Randolph could possibly interfere.
    She shook off her doubts and summoned Kate to help her pack.
    Three
    Weylin MacLean caught the westbound train in Dodge