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He would dismantle this carriage with his teeth if he had to.
He nearly missed the driver when he ripped the door off the hinges. Inside, he found a priest holding up a cross, Mrs. Willoughby, and his beloved Phillipa.
“I’ve come to take my wife home,” he said. “And nothing written on a piece of paper, no laws, and no royalty will even begin to stop me.”
ChapterSeventeen
Phillipa
“Wesley!” Phillipa could hardly believe her eyes. The wolven panted, exhausted from whatever he had to do to catch up to their carriage. She jumped into his arms.
Not only because she was so excited, so relieved to see him, but because she didn’t think they would hurt him if they had to go through her to do it.
His heart pounded, and his breath was ragged. He was all wolven, and all hers. If anything proved that he was her husband, this was it.
“I couldn’t come for you the first time I was taken away from you, my love, but this time, nothing would keep me away.”
“My daughter was married to a duke! Not some wayward beast,” Mother sneered.
“I’m married to one now.” She smiled at Wesley and he pulled her more tightly into his arms.
“No, she is not,” Father Donnelly said, holding up that dreaded paper. The one that threatened to ruin her entire life.
Wesley growled and ripped the papers out of the priest’s hands with his teeth.
“Did he justeatthe annulment papers?” Mother asked with the utmost disgust.
“Yes, he most certainly did.” Phillipa didn’t even bother to stifle her laugh. But her joy was short-lived, as she saw the driver come up behind Wesley.
Pointing a gun at the wolven.
“No!” She screamed, using all her might to turn Wesley’s enormous body to the middle of the carriage.
But it was too late. The gunshot jerked the horses into motion, and she wound up turning Wesley’s back right in line with the trajectory of the bullet.
His eyes widened, and he let out a howl, which gave Phillipa a moment of hope that the bullets hadn’t been silver after all…but that hope was fleeting as his eyes closed and his body tumbled out of the broken door of the carriage.
He hit the gravel hard, harder than he would have without him on top of her. The horses were spooked and the carriage was on its way down the road with Mother and Father Donnelly inside.
Phillipa pulled herself away from the wolven’s body. His eyes were closed and he still hadn’t moved. She wanted to make sure he was alive, but first, she needed to make sure the threat was over.
“Watch out, Miss Willoughby.” The driver had the nerve to chuckle. “I need to finish this job.”
“Are those bullets silver?” She could hardly bear to know the answer.
“Just the handle of the gun, my lady. The bullets are lead.”
Now it was her turn to laugh as she rose from his body. “You foolish man. Lead bullets will only make the wolven angry.”
“He looks pretty dead to me.”
She could hardly afford the moment to look back at Wesley. “If that is the case, I dare say your mission is complete.”
The driver stepped closer to admire the wolven’s unconscious body. Phillipa was disgusted, but she had to move quickly.
She brought her hand down hard on his forearm, making him drop the gun. She took advantage of his shock, moving to the ground quickly and picking up the weapon before he had a chance to retrieve it.
Thanking every star she’d taken the time to learn how to shoot, she pointed the gun at him. She didn’t plan to actually fire, but she was pleased that her stance was believable enough for him to think she might.
