Seducing The Wolf - By Marisa Chenery Page 0,53

there all these years and you never said a word to me about it?"

"I wanted to protect you from this, Billie. And if it wasn't for what you just told me, I probably would have taken it to my grave. Even your brothers swore they would never tell you the truth. But your mother took a turn for the worst a couple of days ago. They've had to heavily sedate her almost around the clock. She keeps screaming about her baby being turned into a wolf. That the wolf will kill and she doesn't want her baby to be a killer."

Billie sucked in a sharp breath. "The spell. She must have seen something about the spell."

"What spell?"

"There's an ancient spell that can turn a mortal into a werewolf. It has only worked twice before, but it has been offered to me so I can be like Royce. If Mom saw me change into a wolf, then the spell will work on me."

"Are you saying you would willingly want to become a werewolf?"

"Yes. You have to understand something, Dad. Werewolves live very long lives. Royce is over fifteen hundred years old and he can live to be three thousand. Without the spell, I'll die long before he does. I can't let him mourn me for the next thousand or so years when there is a chance I can be with him until the end."

"You love Royce that much?"

"Yes. I came here to get your blessing, if you want to call it that."

Her father got up and came around the desk until he stood in front of her chair. He took her hand and helped her up onto her feet. Once she was standing, he pulled her into a hug. Billie closed her eyes and leaned into him. "You have my blessing. I don't really understand all of it, but I'm sure you'll explain it better after it's all done. Just know I love you and I want you to be happy."

"I promise I will."

"I hope you don't think any less of me because I didn't tell you the truth about your mother."

Billie looked up at her father. "Never. I know you did it to protect me, but I'm a big girl now. It is a shock to hear what she tried to do, but I can handle it. I have a feeling it affected the boys more than it will me."

"It did, sorry to say. After that day, all four of them became fiercely protective of you. They haven't grown out of it I'm afraid."

"I'm used to it, and now I can understand their motives."

Stepping back, her father let her go. "Get out of here and go be with your husband. I can't believe I said that."

"Believe me, Dad, it took a lot of getting used to for me as well."

Giving her father a kiss, Billie left his office. There was no point in trying to work. Now that she had made up her mind about the spell she needed to tell Royce. There was no way she would be able to concentrate on anything until she did.

* * * *

Billie pushed open the front door and called out to Royce. "Royce, I'm home." When she didn't get an answer, she walked to the bottom of the stairs and called up to him. He still didn't answer her. Thinking maybe he was outside in the backyard, she headed to the kitchen. The door that led out to the backyard stood wide open. Billie walked out onto the deck and looked around. She couldn't see any sign of Royce anywhere. She wondered where he could be. He had to be home. His car was still in the driveway, and the front door had been unlocked. As she walked back into the kitchen, she took her cell phone out of her purse and dialed his. After the first couple of rings, she could hear it ringing somewhere inside the house. Following the sound, she found Royce's cell phone sitting on the dining room table along with his keys.

A feeling of something not being right started to creep over her as she snapped her cell phone closed. It was when she walked back into the front entrance hallway that her foot kicked something that had been lying on the floor. Billie bent down and picked it up. It was an empty syringe, the type diabetics used. She knew it wasn't Royce's. He had told her werewolves rarely, if ever, got sick, and they didn't