When Talorc and I are making love, I imagine I hear his voice and once I heard the howling of a wolf. Sometimes I think it is just my imagination, because I so desperately
want to hear his voice when I can hear nothing else. Only it is so real and, Emily . . . I dont remember what other things sound like. Not the chirping of a bird, the gurgling of a brook, the sound of wind in the trees or even your voice. Yet, I hear his so clearly. And from what I can remember, it is unlike any voice I heard before losing sound.
Emilys brilliant smile made no sense. You need to tell Talorc, though Im surprised he has not already noted the situation.
I did tell him.
Emilys brows furrowed. What did he say?
Nothing.
Nothing? She shook her head. That idiot.
My husband is not an idiot. He did not judge me. He did confirm he was not worried about it. Which at first had fed her fears Talorc planned to banish her, but then she had seen his acceptance for the gift it was.
Of course he isnt worried. He knows exactly why you are hearing his voice and that of his wolf in your head. Emilys pansy eyes snapped with annoyance.
His wolf? Abigail was more than a little confused. You mean the big gray wolf that is friend to the clan?
That gray wolf is more than friend. Emily jumped up and began pacing the floor.
Youve seen it, too?
Only from a distance.
Ive seen it up close twice. She told her sister about the walk in the woods with Niall and then about her near miss with the boar. The wolf saved my life.
Of course he did. He is your husband, your mate.
Emily . . . I am not married to a wolf. She went right from worrying about her own sanity to that of her sisters.
Chapter 18
But Emily did not look like she was fantasizing when she said, Yes, you are.
Emily
They are werewolves, Abigail.
Dont tease me. I know I believed Annas stories of werewolves in the Highlands as if they were gospel and they scared me, but I am no longer a child. And Im really worried about these voices.
Im not teasing you. Emilys violet eyes mirrored her frustration. Have I ever lied to you?
No.
I am not lying now. There is a special race who live among the clans here in the Highlands.
The Chrechte.
So, Talorc told you about them.
Yes.
He didnt tell you everything if you do not know they are werewolves.
Werewolves are only a story, Abigail reminded her sister stubbornly.
No, they arent. They are real and Talorc is one. I think it is time I told you the story of how I came to be wed to Lachlan.
Abigails astonishment grew as her sister told her the story. So did the growing realization that Emily believed every word she said, and if she believed them, they were probably true, which meant so were Annas stories. Werewolves were real.
If anyone else had claimed such, Abigail would have demanded proof, but this was her sister. The one person in the world who had always loved her and had never lied to her. In addition to her absolute trust in her sister, Abigail couldnt help noticing how details of her sisters story made sense of things that had confused her since meeting Talorc.
When a werewolf finds his or her true mate, some of them are able to talk to each other in their heads, Emily said. Lachlan and I can do it.
Talorc called me his true mate, I thought he meant I was his friend.
Emily didnt laugh, but Abigail would have. What a dolt she had been. Misunderstanding words that explained so much.
Wolves mate for life and his wolf has mated with you, Emily said with complete assurance. While it is rare for a Chrechte to mate with a human, it can happen. Im evidence of that. Our childs presence and my current condition is further evidence that mine and Lachlans is a true mating. I do not understand how I was so blessed, nor how you should share the blessing with Talorc, but it is possible.
Abigail remembered the possessive look of the wolf, both in the forest and then after he had killed for her, and felt faint. This cannot be true. Though her doubts were more voice than substance now.
It is. I would never lie to you or tease you about something so important. You know that.
Abigail remembered the way the voice had yelled at her when the wild boar had been coming. He can talk to me like that all the time or only in moments of great emotion?
Lachlan talks to me that way all the time, as I do him. Cait and her husband are true-mated with the gift as well. As far as I know, it is possible to communicate that way all the time for the sacred mates blessed by mindspeak.
Why didnt Talorc tell me? Why would he not use their ability
to talk in such a special way? How could he deprive her of the sound of his voice when her entire world was silent without it?
I dont know. He never told me either, when I was here as his intended. Lachlan wasnt the one that told me about the Chrechtes true nature either. Cait did.
But why hide it?
Emily gave her a pointed look. You of all people should know the answer to that.
Because differences are often seen as threatening.