Chapter 42

Being invited to Lady Rodhalm's first ball of the season was either a high honor or a signal of disapproval. Earl had not yet determined which applied to him, even after four biscuits and two cups of tea. Their hosts were yet to arrive, but they had been served tea and made to feel 'at home' as the wide eyed servants put it. But Earl was far from feeling that way, and he could tell it was the same with Charlie with the way he kept glancing around the house.

"She does favor that one," Charlie Murmured to his friend, nodding toward the painting above the fireplace, a portrait of a tiny woman with a flat mouth, triangular nose, and arched, disapproving brows. It was one of at least ten portraits of Lady Rodhalm's female ancestors lining the canary walls of the Rodhalm's fussy, feminine parlor.

Earl only nodded. "The wig disguises her hair color, but even if it did not, we would only be guessing that it is her. I doubt her ladyship was born with white hair."

In his eyes, there were so many things wrong with this large old mansion, Lord Rodhal m have his wife too much credit than she deserved, it was evident in the design and decoration of their home. The feminine touch in everything and the way she moved about the house like the Lord of it.

Chuckling lightly, Charlie sighed and sipped her tea. Earl examined the signs of strain around his friend's mouth, the paleness of his skin, which made the freckles more prominent. "Have you explained to your Ariel why you did what you did and why she shouldn't consider marrying you a nice idea?

Charlie's eyes closed briefly, her lips tightening. "Yes. I have done that too many times but she is adamant that I am her true mate. I have tried everything."

Earl could see the tired resignation in his friends eyes, it was expected because he had written himself off, any one could easily describe him as the arrogant Beta of the Blood Pack widely known as an arrogant wolf who never took no for an answer- , as Lydia often described him, a walking scandal. Tall and masculine, sardonic and sensual.

To Ariel's eye, he'd appeared both dissipated and dangerous, like a wolf that had been starved then set loose upon the female population. He was widely regarded as a man of no-, nonsense. Like his Alpha, they avoided all all most salacious town gatherings.

Consequently, Ariel might have glimpsed him often in the castle, but if Charlie was pretty sure he had no memory of any form of physical contact between them before now, then there was a possibility that Ariel was also just making it up. But ha had also told him she was different. This was the man Ariel wished herself for a mate, Earl had to hold himself from chuckling.

Astrid set her tea on a low, marble-topped table and laid a hand gently on Earl's arm, distracting him from his thoughts, "I want to come stay with you tonight, Earl. I beg you"

He dragged his eyes from the cup in his hands to study Astrid's face, she was way too happy to be here with him. That much was evident in the way she clinged to him at every point since their arrival. He had begun to reconsider his decision to have her come with him the moment she stood outside his chamber door, fully dressed that morning even before he was awake.

Nellie was still peacefully sleeping when he had woken up, he had left with Astrid, afraid not to wake her. He knew it would be her last day in the castle so he wanted it to be a memorable one, without spoiling it with his presence, which might only open old wounds in her. He kept reminding himself that goodbye was not his thing, he didn't know how attached he had gotten with Nellie's presence but he was used to people leaving his life, voluntarily or involuntarily, he told himself he would get over it without making a fuss.

"Alpha Earl! Lord Charlie! You both came!" Lady Rodhalm's sonorous trumpet of a voice carried across the room from the steps, her husband followed behind like a puppet in a cage.

"Lord Rodhalm, Lady Rodhalm. It is a pleasure having you as our host" They all stood up to greet the old couple.

"I am most honored, my Alpha, to host the most handsome men in the pack, in my home. Do feel comfortable and make yourself at home, you are welcome to stay as long as you want" Lady Rodhalm spoke again.

"Oh how honored I am to have you, Alpha. This is our first invitation you will be honoring, I'll give everything to keep it going like this" Lord Rodhalm spoke for the first time.

Earl wished he had not spoken at all, his tiny shaky voice was nothing compared to the loud voice of his wife. And for a split second, Earl could have sworn he saw Lady Rodhalm pass her husband a daring glare, but as quickly as it appeared, it was replaced by a mask of faked smile.

"Who is the Lady, Lord Charlie? There was no proper introduction between us" Lady Rodhalm asked, directing the question at Charlie.

Earl spoke first before Agatha attempted saying something, he had a feeling that whatsoever she had to say would be a disaster, "That is Agatha, the healer of the pack. Daughter of Lady Agatha. She is my escort"

Was that too blunt? He couldn't tell, but he saw the disappointment on Agatha's face from the corner of his eyes as her eyes burned bright red. Earl ignored her and took a seat, since their hosts had no intentions of ushering them in one.

"Does that mean you are still very much single, My Lord?" Lord Rodhalm asked immediately he took his own seat.

Earl dropped the tea he was holding and stretched out in his seat, it was best the man kept his mouth shut because each time he opened it, whatever he said was always a disaster.

"Ehh… My Lord, we have two very beautiful daughters, purebreds and well breds. Tomorrow will be their come-out. I believe you would both love to meet them" It was Lady Rodhalm's turn to sound like the fool she was.

"I see" Was all Earl said before picking up his cup again. He studied the weird couple before him, the disapproval in his face matched that on Charlie's face, Agatha was beside herself with rage as she chewed on her biscuit noisily.

"Dinner will be served soon, do make yourselves comfortable while I tuck the girls in" Lady Rodhalm stood up and headed for the stairs.

Earl noticed the tight bodice she wore and the way it clung to her body, the artificial wig sat on her head like it would fall out at the slightest gush of wind, he made a mental shake of his head in disapproval. What a strange household, he thought, how young were her 'girls' that she had to tuck them into bed like toddlers? And they did not even hide their intentions for inviting him to their two winny 'girls' ball gathering, it was obviously to matchmake them.

Now that his wife was gone, Lord Rodhalm sat there fidgeting with his cup of tea and probably trying to find soothing words to say, Earl and Charlie watched him embarrass himself, both men too busy with their own thoughts to even care what the little old wolf did with his household.

"I heard you run a large ranch, Lord Rodhalm. My father owned one too" It was Agatha who spoke in her annoying voice.

"Ah. That is good to know, your father was…?" The winny Lord Rodhalm stuttered.

"Lord Rutherfield, the third healer of the Blood pack" Agatha chipped in.

"Aye. I must have met him once or twice, you see, I have a short memory. Forgive me if I don't remember, how does he fare?"

Earl and Charlie exchanged quick glances, this man indeed had a short memory.

"He is late, he died in the Rogues invasion. My mother, Lady Agatha, has been managing our ranch since then and she has been doing a great job at it" Astrid supplied.

"Aye, your mother is a strong woman. I grow the best horses around here, you might want to check it out some, before you leave, that is. I might just about have a few to spare for the Alpha and his escorts"

"I believe that would be nice, Lord Rodhalm" Agatha noted, clearly disappointed the conversation was not going as she planned it.

"What do you do, Lady…"

"Astrid. I took after my father as the fourth healer of the Blood pack, the best so far" She added the last part much to her credit.

Earl snorted in his mind. The best but she had not been able to heal Ma'am Dodda, if Nellie had not been present, the poor woman would have been long dead by now. Earl also reminded himself that if Nellie had not been in the castle, Ma'am would have been just fine and there would be nobody to threaten her life. A part of him told him that if Nellie had not come when she did, he would have probably been long dead by now.

As if reading his mind, Charlie stood up from his seat and picked his sword, Earl did the same too. It seemed Charlie shared the same scorn with him for whatever conversation their two companions at the table were having.

"We will like to take a walk before dinner, Lord Rodhalm" Charlie said first.

"In that case, I'll join you" Astrid's annoying voice came. She was already standing up.

"No, that will not be necessary. You stay here and keep Lord Rodhalm company" Earl said it in a tone that showed there was no room for argument.

Astrid sat back down with a dejected face.

"We will be back in no time, Lord Rodhalm. We just need to make sure our horses are saddled properly"

"Aye. A lad outside will show you around"

"That will be kind of you, Lord Rodhalm but we can manage just fine" Charlie's tone was impatient.

He did not wait for the old man to reply before making it out of the door. They walked through the fields outside the house, enjoying the feel of the cool evening breeze in silence until Charlie spoke.

"Bringing Astrid along was a bad idea, Nellie would have been the perfect choice"

"If she wasn't tired of being around me" Earl replied.

"You lied to her Earl, surely you did not expect her to take it like nothing after finding out you were keeping her for your own selfish reason?"

"I did not lie, I only told her what I thought was right"

"Well, that you thought it was right did not mean it was right. You can't keep things like that away from her, if you trust her enough to keep her close then you should trust her enough to let her in on important things without her finding out by herself"

They stopped in front of a tree, "I guess it's too late, she should away by now"

"You sent her away?"

"I told her she could leave whenever she wanted to"

"And what happens to your plan for Ina? I thought she was a trivial key in the plot!"

"I can't keep her against her will, Charlie. I didn't even apologize, she should be gone by now"

"So what happens to Ina?"

"I'll come up with something else, I need a lady. For marriage, either arranged or real but I need to get married. That will work faster on Ina"

"Nellie would have been the best option for…"

"She is gone, Charlie. Gone! We have to think of something else, her presence might have been a distraction. I need to focus and… think of a better plot to get Tony off our backs for good"

Charlie said nothing, if Earl thought Nellie was a distraction then he had to admit he thought of her too often than he should. He had gotten too used to her that he was afraid of what her absence might do to him, which was one reason he honored Lord Rodhalm's invitation.

Bringing Astrid was another ploy he applied to see if he could get accustomed with her the way he was with Nellie, but much to his chagrin, Astrid's presence was nothing short of repulsive.
He had to find someone, someone else.

"And you, how are you really?" Charlie's tone was very calm now.

Earl shrugged, "I am very alright I guess"

"You miss her, don't you?"

"What?" Earl cocked a brow in confusion and then his expression changed to a frown. Did he miss her? Of course not, she only occupied his mind because he had spent too much time in her company, he had gotten used to her presence.

"Nellie. Do you miss her?"

"Why would I miss her? I don't."

Charlie gave a hearty laugh now, "How do you explain everything you have been doing lately, dear Alpha"

"Just what are you talking about?" Earl gave his friend one of his hardest glares which only gave Charlie more reason to laugh.

"Come on, man. How do you explain the fact that you enjoyed Nellie's company even more than you did Ina's? You let her sleep on your bed every night for the most flimsy excuse, you do whatever she tells you, you are restless when she is angry with you and you can't even stand being around another woman ever since you tasted her…"

"Enough! What do you mean by 'tasted her',?"

"You mean you both have never…"

Earl ran his hands through his hair in frustration, "The farthest we have gone was kiss…" He stopped when he saw Charlie's lips begin to curve in a sardonic smile, "Why am I explaining myself to you?"

"No reason actually, I just want you to stay true to yourself. Ask yourself these questions and try to answer them yourself. Who have you been thinking about a lot lately and how do you feel about…"

"Enough with Nellie already!"

"Ah ah, I have not mentioned her name and you knew it. Own up to it man, you are trapped"

Earl blinked twice as if to shake off the reality, "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying you have fallen… If the answer to all these questions is Nellie then I'm glad to inform you that you like her! She is the one!"

Was she? There was no doubt the answer to the question was Nellie, but why was she occupying his mind? He couldn't tell. Maybe because he offended her and he had to apologize? No one has ever made him feel this way and now…

"You shouldn't let her leave, Earl"

"Why not?"

"Because you have found her! She could be the answer to all your problems, Earl,she could change…"

"Why don't you use all this knowledge to help yourself with Ariel? I'm going back in, I've had enough for one day"

Earl did not wait for Charlie to follow him back to the house.

"Let me know if we are going back tomorrow so I can inform the guards to prepare our horses" Charlie breathed when he finally caught up with Earl.

"We are not going tomorrow, or the next. We stay!"

If his fate was to be tied to that fiery woman for life, then he wouldn't give in too easily.

"But what if she leaves?" Charlie snorted.

"Then so be it."