A true Luna princess

She is to be Alpha

*Isolde*

We leave the room on a stream of Rupert’s babble. I allow myself to be seated when we reach the library; the Alpha stays in his favorite posture, feet spread, hands behind his back, as if he is standing on the prow of a ship.

He’d have made a good ship’s captain, now that I think on it. That nose would have come in handy when it came to smelling the storm winds, or sniffing out rotten goods in the hold.

“Just in case you’re worried, my dear, Rupert will be going nowhere near the French shore,” the Alpha announces.

I nod. “I am very happy to hear it.”

“He’ll be landing in Portugal.”

“Portugal?” I echo, thinking that I have been right: Rupert is indeed being kept a whole country away from the battle.

“The French are fighting in Spain at no great distance,” the Alpha says. “But Rupert is landing in Portugal, and there he will stay. He wishes to be at Wellington’s side, but I simply cannot allow that.”

I incline my head again.

The Alpha shifts from foot to foot, the first time that I have ever seen him show the faintest hint of uncertainty. Then: “He’s a biddable lad, as you’ll discover. Generally does what he’s told, without much fuss. He learned to… He can even dance now. Not the quadrille, of course, but most of the rest. But when he does get an idea in his head, he simply won’t let go of it. And here’s the problem: he’s convinced himself that he will not marry until he achieves military glory.”

I don’t twitch an eyebrow. But the Alpha reads something more subtle in my face.

“Astonishing, isn’t it? I blame his tutors for spending altogether too much time beating the history of our family into his head. The first Alpha led five hundred men into battle… and the best way to describe that engagement would be a glorious and epic defeat. But of course we put a different gloss on it amongst ourselves. Or at least those fools of tutors did. Rupert wants to lead a troop of men and come home covered in glory.”

I am suddenly aware of a feeling of pity for the Alpha, something he would undoubtedly resent.

“Perhaps he might lead a small skirmish?” I suggest.

“Precisely my thought,” the Alpha says, sighing. “It’s taken a bit of maneuvering, but he’ll be heading up a company of one hundred men.”

“And what will he do with them?”

“Lead them into battle,” the Alpha says. “In Portugal, a nice distance from any soldiers who might be inclined to fight back.”

“Ah.”

“Of course, anytime I let him out of my sight, I worry.”

I would worry too, if I had the faintest affection for Rupert. He is just the type to commit suicide. Oh, he wouldn’t have it in mind as such. But he would wander into the Whitefriars with a jeweled snuffbox in his hand and a diamond set in his cravat. Suicide.

The Alpha thumps his walking stick on the flagstones before the fireplace, rather as if he is trying to even out the stone. “The truth of it is that I’m concerned about the possibility that Rupert won’t go through with the marriage if I force him to the altar.”

I nod again.

The Alpha looks at me fleetingly and then gives the flagstone at his foot another good prod. “I could deliver him to a church, obviously, but I would be unsurprised if he said no at the crucial moment, even if I filled St. Paul’s with witnesses. He’d cheerfully explain exactly why he didn’t want to say his vows, and he would certainly be happy to tell everyone that he planned to marry you after he achieved…” His voice breaks off.

“Military glory,” I finish his sentence for him. I am feeling very sorry indeed for the Alpha. No one deserves to be humiliated like this.

“Precisely.” Another thump sounds, along with the distinct sound of splintering wood.

“I have no doubt but that the future Alpha will return from Portugal satisfied with his prowess,” I say. It is true, too. As long as someone is at Rupert’s shoulder who can describe marching down a country road as valiant subjugation of an… invisible… enemy, Rupert will come home happy.

“I’m sure you’re right.” The Alpha leans his splintered walking stick against the fireplace and sits down opposite me. “What I have to ask you is something that no gentleman should ever address with a young she-wolf.”

“Something to do with common law?” I inquire.

His brow creases. “Common law? What does that have to do with anything?”

“The old law and the new law? My parents said something about older and newer rules pertaining to betrothals...”

“English law is English law, and to the best of my ability, common law has no bearing on a betrothal.” The Alpha gives me a clear, penetrating look. “she-wolves shouldn’t be meddling with matters of the law. Though you must develop some familiarity, because God knows you won’t be able to let Rupert make decisions on his own. But I’ll teach you all that. As soon as you’re married, you’ll come to the estate and I’ll start training you.”

I consider it a great triumph that my smile doesn’t slip, even though my heart is racing and a panicked voice in my head screams: Training? More training?

The Alpha doesn’t notice my silence. “I’m going to have to teach you how to be an Alpha, since Rupert isn’t up to the task. But you’re smart enough for it. I saw that when you were fifteen.”

I swallow and nod. “I understand.” My voice sounds rather faint, but the Alpha isn’t listening anyway.

“You may not know this, but our title is derived from an ancient Scottish pack,” he says. He still doesn’t meet my eyes. He reaches over and picks up his cracked walking stick and holds it in his lap, examining it as if he thinks it might be worth repairing.

“I am aware of that fact,” I say. The Alpha obviously has no idea of the extent of my knowledge of the Howlstone holdings and history. I could tell him the name of his second cousin thrice removed’s firstborn child. And the name of that cousin’s seventh-born child, the one notorious for having been born in the common room at the Stag’s Head Inn after his mother had drunk too much ale.

“Due to our ancestral roots in Scotland, a case can be made that Scottish inheritance rules apply.”

“Ah.”

The Alpha presses down deliberately on his knee, and the walking stick breaks in two. He does not raise his eyes. “If you were to conceive a child now, before my son goes to Portugal, that child would be legitimate under Scottish law. I want to be quite clear about this, however: you would not become a Luna until my son returned and wed you. There are those who might say unkind things about you, as they would of any she-wolf carrying a child without the benefit of matrimony, although, of course, you would be put immediately under my protection.”

“Yes,” I murmur.

“I would give Rupert no chance to refuse his duty. In fact, if a happy event were to occur, I would immediately send proxy marriage papers after him, to be signed in Portugal. As long as there was no mishap as regards the papers… and I see no reason why there should be… you would be a Luna before the child was born.”

He pauses. “In the event that something were to happen to Rupert before the proxy papers could be signed, you would have the satisfaction of being the mother of a future Alpha.”

I have a terrible impulse to quote a choice line from ‘The Mirror of Compliments’: “Nothing is more precious than a virgin’s honor!” But I remain silent, not even venturing to point out that the baby might be a girl, a possibility that doesn’t appear to have occurred to the Alpha.

“Whether or not a child ensues, I will gift you with a jointure and a small estate of your own,” Howlstone continues.

“I understand,” I manage. If I understand him correctly, the Alpha has just offered me an estate in exchange for losing my virginity out of wedlock. It is an astonishing thought.

“I have tasked Miss Cecily Bumtrinket to accompany you to the country. You cannot stay at Howlstone Manor, of course, until either the proxy papers are signed or my son returns to marry you. It wouldn’t be proper.”

“Miss Cecily Bumtrinket?” I repeat. “Could I not simply remain at home until either of these events occur?”

“It wouldn’t be appropriate for you to remain here any longer.” The Alpha glances about the room with just the faintest hint of indifferent disdain. “You and your sister will stay at the Alpha prince of Ravenheart’s estate until we are able to resolve all the little legalities. The dowager Luna princess planned to invite a young Miss to the country in order to assess her befittedness for the position of Luna Princess. I convinced her that your sister was also a suitable candidate. Her invitation is a tribute to your parents, as I shall inform your mother shortly.”

I murmur, “Brielle will be gratified by the confidence shown in her.”

“And so she should,” the Alpha states. “I have taken the liberty of informing Madame Claricilla on Bond Street that she is to outfit both you and your sister as befits your new station, within a fortnight. You must learn, my dear, that we Alphas tend to keep to ourselves. We may crossbreed, rather like dogs and horses, but we prefer to keep each other’s company.”

My mind is reeling. Apparently I am part of a crossbreeding experiment. And I am to stay with the Dowager Luna princess of Ravenheart? The very Luna who has written that dreadful tome, ‘The Mirror of Compliments’?

The Alpha rises, and at last he does look at me. His eyebrows are rather bushy and intimidating, combined with his great beak of a nose, but nevertheless I can see both kindness and despair in his eyes. “Don’t worry,” I say impulsively, coming to my feet. “Rupert and I will do our best.”

“It’s not his fault, you know,” the Alpha says. “He wasn’t breathing at birth, and the doctors believe that had an effect on his brain. It isn’t… your children won’t take after the poor boy.”

I take a step forward and pick up the Alpha’s hand. For the first time in our many meetings, I feel a genuine fondness toward him. Of all the people and things attached to the Alpha of Howlstone, my father-in-law will be one of the very few of whom I am not wary. “We will do our best,” I repeat. “And Rupert will be safe in Portugal. It’s very kind of you to allow him to follow his dream. I’m sure he will be happy to have traveled outside England.”

The corner of the Alpha’s mouth quirks up. “His mother would have wanted it. I know that. She would have told me that I had to allow him to grow to a man, no matter how much I’d prefer to keep him tied to my apron strings.”

I blink. I know very little about the Luna; my parents have always said she was ill and lived in seclusion.

“Elizabeth almost died during his birth,” the Alpha says heavily. “She lived, but she was never the same again. She can’t eat by herself; she doesn’t recognize me. She lives in the country.”

“Your wife and son were impaired by the same event?” I blurt out, before I can catch myself.

“Aye,” the Alpha says. “That’s the devil of it. But Rupert has a good heart. He’s a kindly, cheerful soul, and if I don’t think about what might have been, the two of us rub along fairly well together. And my dear, I’ve talked to you about your brains and your hips, but the most important thing is that you’ve always been kind to him. It’s not easy. He tends to jabber, but you have never made fun of him.”

I tighten my grip on his hand. “I promise to be kind to him,” I say, and in that moment, it is as if I say my vows.

The Alpha gives his odd smile again. “I’ll send him to you.”

And he is gone.