The devil She-wolf

What he needs

*Evangeline*

As I sit in what has been my father’s… and is now my brother’s… library, I note the changes in Sterling one by one as he stands at the window, his profile to me as he gazes out, slowly sipping his brandy while the late afternoon sunlight casts a faint glow around him. His once golden hair has darkened considerably, making him appear older than his twenty-eight years. His shoulders have broadened as though he… rather than servants… has handled a good deal of the difficult labors of traveling the continents. He’s acquired a thin scar on his left cheek, just below his eye. He’s lost his smile.

Of all the changes he’s undoubtedly undergone during the years he’s been away, the last one tears painfully at my heart.

“So will you see to it?” I ask my brother.

He rises from his chair behind his desk, pours himself a spot of brandy, and walks to the window as soon as I make my request. His reaction seems disturbingly odd.

He turns slightly, his sapphire eyes homing in on me, as though he now wishes to study me because he suspects I’m not completely sane. “Let me make certain that I have the right of it. You want me to arrange for the two hundred pounds Father stipulated in his will that I pay you each month to be handed over instead to Miss Frannie Tempest.”

“Precisely.”

His eyes narrows, “Is she blackmailing you?”

“Don’t be silly. It’s for her orphanage. I realize that I could simply give her the money myself, but this seems more efficient, and she will be assured that she can always depend on it arriving at the first of the month.” And my request serves as an excuse to visit with Sterling, and perhaps to lure him back into pack Society. The fact that I need an excuse says more about the strained state of our relationship than anything else. He is my brother, for Goddess’ sake, yet in the two weeks since my marriage, I’ve seen him not once. But then, as far as I know, neither has anyone else.

“Father wanted you to have the funds so you’d have a measure of independence,” Sterling tells me.

“I’m married to one of the wealthiest Alpha’s in the country…”

“That does not guarantee your independence.”

I know the truth of that well enough. My desire to help the Luna of Riverdale escape from her horrendous marriage first led me to Claybourne’s door.

“I’m sorry, Evangeline, but I don’t feel that I can alter Father’s terms, even at your request. A time may arrive when you wish you had your own means of support. Until then, send Miss Tempest the money yourself if you have no need of it.”

“Why are you being so stubborn about this request?” I ask. “It’s my money to do with as I please.”

“I don’t consider this a wise move. As your brother, I’m charged with looking after your welfare and preventing you from making ghastly misjudgments.”

I shake my head, “Not any longer. I’m married. And what about loving me, Sterling? Loving anyone? It has come to my attention that you’ve been in Blackrock city for at least four months. Why did you not visit Father? You must have known he’d taken ill. It was no secret.”

“Checking up on me, are you?”

Not intentionally. But since my friends have recently become those who occasionally flirt with the darker side of the city, I sometimes pick up little tidbits of information. “I’m trying to understand what happened to the brother who gave me a magical rock to protect me from nightmares when I woke up crying as a child after Mother passed. I’m not certain I know you any longer.”

“Be grateful.”

“What the devil does that mean?” I ask.

He walks over to a table of decanters and refills his snifter. “Are we done here?”

Not by half.

Rising gracefully from the chair, I decide to take a different tack. While he is my brother, his title is one of the most powerful in the country. It carries weight and influence. Our father would be vastly disappointed if Sterling doesn’t live up to his potential. “Perhaps you should consider joining us tomorrow. Claybourne and I are going to the orphanage to assist Frannie with the arrival of the furniture. We could use an extra pair of hands.”

“Surely you’re not suggesting I lower myself to engaging in manual labor.”

“I’m suggesting that you might want to be involved in something that touches so many. Frannie intends to provide a home for a hundred children.”

He shrugs, “I still fail to see why I should care.”

“If you don’t understand, then I certainly can’t explain it to you.” Refusing to allow his bored tone to dissuade me, I walk around the desk, open a drawer, and remove a sheaf of stationery.

“What are you doing?” he asks.

Ah, a bit of interest at last. Perhaps all is not lost.

“Writing down the address in the hope you’ll change your mind and join us. I’ve discovered, Sterling, that being involved in something like this tends to change one’s perspective on life.”

“I don’t need my perspective on life changed.”

But he needs something, of that I am certain. I set the pen aside and walk over to him. “I do wish you would tell me what you and Father argued about.”

I can’t help but believe his present attitude relates in some way to what happened before he left. He and our father had engaged in a heated row one night. I heard the anger reverberating through the walls, but not the words. The next morning I received a missive from Sterling begging me not to worry, but he had decided to travel the world. I haven’t seen him again until after our father died.

Sterling averts his gaze. “As I’ve told you before, Evangeline, it didn’t concern you.”

“What did it concern?” I watch the muscle in his jaw flex. I touch his arm and feel him stiffen. “I love you, Sterling. If there is anything I can do…”

“Leave me in peace.”

“Are you not at peace, then?”

He heaves a sigh. “You’ve become quite the annoying young she-wolf.”

I smile, hoping to touch that place inside him where I know a heart had once resided. “Oh, you have no idea.”

“More reason for me not to honor your request and designate that your money be diverted elsewhere. Claybourne will no doubt grow weary of you in short order.”

I laugh lightly at that. “He appreciates that I’m headstrong and determined. I would like for you to get to know him better.”

“The Devil Alpha? He’s a murderer, Evangeline.”

“Yes, he killed a man…”

“His uncle.”

“…for good reason. There is nothing about my husband that I do not admire. I think the two of you would get along splendidly if you would give him half a chance.”

He shakes his head, “On the contrary, I suspect he would dislike me as much as his friends do.”

I furrow my brow in confusion. “When did you gather that impression from his friends?” I ask.

With no comment, Sterling walks back to the window, his snifter once again full.

“If you need me for anything, please send word,” I say as I retrieve my reticule from the table beside the chair in which I’ve been sitting.

“Get on with your life, Evangeline. I shan’t need you.”

I shake my head, “We all need someone, Sterling.”

“I bloody well hope not.”

Yes, my brother definitely needs something… or someone.