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“So.” Where to begin? Scold him further for withholding salient details, or insist he reveal the details themselves? She folded her arms and chose the latter. “Werewolves.”
“That is an old name that indirectly applies to what I am,” the duke replied, in palliative tones, as though he were Miss O’Mara. “Keep breathing, my dear. Your heart is beating precipitously, which is only understandable, and I would seek to assuage—”
“I am not afraid.”
“—your concerns. I am aware that you are not afraid.”
“How? How are you aware of such a thing?” Felicity took refuge, as ever, in facts.
“I am all that is eager to tell you, but I am at rather a disadvantage,” he said, glancing down. Felicity blushed again. “I took precautions and would clothe myself, and then I will expla—I will share all you need to know.”
Felicity nodded. The duke gestured to his cushion. She closed her eyes.
She sensed his movements as he passed by the sofa, passed her, and entered her dressing room. Between one breath and the next, he was standing at her shoulder, and she was once more in proximity to That Chest and…everything else.
“Please?” he said.
Her eyes flew open. That was a first: a gentle exhortation as opposed to the usual brusque orders or canny evasions. Despite being garbed in nothing but a dressing gown, he was all ducal graciousness and gestured to the divan. She sat. He stood before her, hands behind his back, and began.
“The werewolves of horrible novels are vicious, intent only upon corrupting humanity. The legends are based on my ancestors, who had gone so far down the path of ensuring our bloodlines remained pure that the inevitable effects of inbreeding occurred, in a barbarous direction. Steps have been taken over the last eight generations to diversify the lines of those similar to us, in order to reinvigorate all species.
“We have striven to become peaceful beings who happen to have an unusual biology, one that does not in any way, shape, or form inspire them to violence or inability to live in accord with mankind. Whilst we are supernaturally adept at things that humans are not, and though we may heal, for example, with a speed unknown to humanity, we do bleed, we do yearn, we do love, we seek to protect our young and care for our old, we want only the same right to inhabit this world, for the whole of our lives, in peace—I apologize.”
Felicity’s brows rose in disbelief. Pleases, apologies—whatever next?
“I have never found it necessary to explain myself to ahomo plenus, a full human, before,” he said. “In fact, it is frowned upon as our very existence demands secrecy.”
“What do you call yourselves if not fully human?”
“Versipellis. Latin for ‘turn skin.’ In the vernacular, we refer to ourselves as Shapeshifters. A race of humans who contain the energy and essence of a certain beast within them. If you can name a creature, of the air, of the earth, of the sea, you will find they manifest asversipelles,” he replied. “Well, not quite. We have heard tell of unicorn Shapeshifters, but we believe this is only wishful thinking.”
“We?” Felicity asked, much calmer than might be appropriate under the circumstances. As though they were discussing the weather or the disbursement of the living in Lowell Close.
Casual attire notwithstanding, Alfred exuded power. “My pack, for whom I am pleased to serve as Alpha. My people, who are my responsibility. The majority of souls at Lowell Hall are as I am.”
“Wolves?”
“Not all wolves. All species of Shapeshifters are in decline, and as such, we have allied one with the other for protection, in hopes of our continuance, if not in purebreds then in hybrids.”
“Would a wolf marry a, a fish?”
The duke’s eyes smiled. “They would be compatible in their human forms.”
“And what class of cross would result?” Was she initiating this discussion?
“As you know from your own experience, dominant characteristics will out, but over time, the lupine progeny will find themselves siblings to a little trout or a salmon.”
“And what of…” No, even she could not go so far.
“And when a wolf mates a human…” That voice hit a register so low, so seductive, that she wasn’t certain she hadn’t been impregnated by its resonance alone. “Both races are exalted. Thehomo plenusgains powers and abilities unheard of in their species, and theversipellesare ensured of continuance and are secure for posterity.”
“Ah.” Felicity rose and started closing the drawers on her vanity.
“Ah…?” If nothing else, hearing uncertainty in the voice of a peer of the realm might be worth the heartbreak.
“Ah, as in, any human will do, but why not guarantee the outcome by destroying the hopes and dreams of a nobody who would be grateful enough to have a litter got on her?”
Again, faster than a beat of her heart, he was at her back. “You are notanyhuman. And it would be I who would be grateful, beyond thought, beyond words.”
