Chapter 44

"Two days isn't too long a time to wait, and you only have three days to go before the wedding. That should give you enough time to have a rethink if need be, shouldn't it? Her mother is a genius if you ask me. You may end up thanking her for Separating you both"

All six men stared at the stout man speaking as if he were daft. This was not an unusual occurrence. It happened all the time, actually. Lancey, as Earl had heard his friends call him, could be counted on to say the most ridiculous things, or worse, to say things he shouldn't to the wrong people, which usually earned him looks like the one that was being directed to him at the moment.

Just a few minutes ago, he had said something which had resulted in one of his friends getting in deep water but for the timely intervention of Charlie, which had earned them both an honorable seat at the table where they sat now, listening to the seven friends chartering about their life problems. And oddly enough, it was never intentional, it was simply Lancey being Lancey.

Right now, only Viko Galby was glaring at Percy for the remarks he had just made. The other men in the room were greatly amused, though most of them tried admirably not to show it. But Vino seemed to be the one Lancey had made the sly remark about.

Earl and Charlie got to learn that Viko was pissed over being denied access to the woman who won his heart, while her father had arranged her wedding with another man, seemingly a rich Lord of a certain plantation he could not recall.

Viko's supposed heartthrob had sent her mother to break the news to Viko in her stead, her mother's excuse being that she craved some private time alone with her daughter which she said was her real motive when she had informed Viko almost two weeks ago to go home to await the day of his nuptials. He shouldn't begrudge her that, she'd said, and he really didn't.

As the tale carried, the mother and daughter had been separated for many years, after all, having grown up in the Rogue slums, unaware of who she was or that she still had one parent alive when she had thought them both dead. And they'd only just been reunited.

Knowing that made the separation no easier to bear for Jeremy. According to him, he had only just realized that what he felt for his supposed heartthrob was real, and had no will to surrender hod love to another man to so easily. The man had simply brought the matter up here, at the Rodhalm resident ball to seek advice from his friends.

Charlie was the only one in the drawing room, where the men had gathered after dinner, who did not try to conceal his amusement over Lancey's remarks. Out of all the seven friends that gathered he probably liked Lancey the best, since they had so much in common, or at least he thought they did.

Earl listened to the men chattering on and on, the ladies were gathered in a separate room gossiping and giggling loudly, he had no contribution to add to whatever the seven friends were discussing, the only reason he still sat there with them was because it helped to keep the ladies away from him.

He had spent the entire day listening to the endless chatter of the two Rodhalm girls who seemed to be just as weird as their father and as manmerles and uncouth as their mother.

Astrid was having fun too, from what he gathered. He had seen her ogle at a few men in the room, although she seemed to withdraw whenever Earl took notice of her, it was clear to him that she had one agenda today, and that was to get laid.

This was the second night of their stay at the Rodhalm mansion, he was tired already, the household and everything in it was weird to him. Earl took a sip from his wine and relaxed in his seat, the women seemed to have dispersed from their gathering in the next room as few of them began trooping out of the room into the drawing room now. Some were eyeing him seductively with eyes that promised him things while the shy ones only giggled and stared at him, wide eyed.

It had been so long since he took a woman to bed, that Earl was beginning to consider the thought tonight, there were too many women in the room and the way they were passing seductive glances at him only reminded him that he still had desires as a man.

"Hey man, how do you both cope being so beautiful? One could easily mistake your facial features for that of a lady, almost all the ladies in this room are dying to have you smile or just wink at them" Lancey tapped Earl to make sure he heard him.

Earl regarded the man for a while, he really has the gift of attracting trouble to himself. Earl saw Charlie's brow cork in an inquisitive look but he raised one hand to steady him, "I don't think it's rare with wolves' ' Earl shrugged.

"Aye, but you both are the most beautiful I have seen" Another one of the men concurred

"I guess it's something to do with being not just a purebred but a royal blood" Charlie said in a tone that had the men glancing among each other in confusion.

"We are a wee bit lost here, brother. What royal blood" The one that appeared to be the oldest of the group directed the question at Earl now.

"I suppose you have never seen or heard of Alpha Earl" Charlie was enjoying the frightened look on the faces of the men.

"You don't say!" Lancey shot up from his seat almost immediately.

"Lord Earl and Beta Charlie, is that you?" Another one of the men stood up now.

Earl sighed in exasperation, he was glaring at Charlie who wore a bemused smile now. "Sit down and drink on now, there us no cause for alarm"

"It is really you, Lord Earl. I knew you looked familiar, I should have known such a beautiful face could only belong to the royal family" Viko seemed to have forgotten all about his love interest as he jumped up in jubilation.

More men on the table began a train shower of praises on Earl and Charlie which had several heads turning to their direction. He didn't know how he did it, but Charlie managed to calm the men and soon, they were back to their drinks, chattering and drinking.

"Alpha Earl, there you are, I've been looking all over for you!" The sonorous voice of Lady Rodhalm carried across the room. Closely trailing behind her was her eldest daughter, Miss Ann.

"I am here" Was all Earl said to them. Ann blushed shyly behind his mother, that seemed to be the only thing the rosy cheeked girl knew how to do best.

"I see you are having fun with the men, I suppose you are enjoying your stay here" Ann said the words as if she had memorized them.

The Rodhalm girls were as weird as their parents, both in looks and in character. The first girl, Ann, had nothing that could interest a man apart from her shy smile. She seemed to be her mother's pet as she made sure to pass glances at her mother before she could say anything, aside that annoying fact, she could always be seen in her mother's company.

Judy Rodhalm, the youngest of the Rodhalm girls was the exact opposite of her sister, both in looks and character. While her sister was blonde and shy, she had scanty red hair which she carried about in a bun. What Earl could not ascertain was if the girls' hair was as fake as their mother.

"Ann here was hoping you could dance with her, Lord Earl" Lady Rodhalm said in a twisted smile.

"May I decline? I beg to not be rude but I have had a real long day today'' He didn't wish to hurt the rosy cheeked Ann's feelings but he saw her crawl back behind her mother's back as soon as he said the words, she looked close to tears.

"Ann was really hoping you could…"

"There you are! Alpha, would you do me the honor of dancing with me? This will make my first ball a very memorable one and I'll make sure I gave the best artist make a portrait of…"

"I'll dance with you, Judy," Earl replied in one breath.

It was easy to say no to the eldest Rodhalm sister, but the youngest was a big bag of trouble as Earl had come to learn in his two day stay in the mansion.

"Yes!!! I knew you wouldn't resist me, let's go already before the next music begins"

As she dragged him away, Earl saw Charlie pulling the crying Miss Ann towards the dance floor too, that was a consolation to stop the weeping girl from spoiling her ball.

As Judy circled him in what seemed like a dance, his attention was shifted to a blonde whose green eyes reminded him of Nellie, she was sending him different signals and winking at him each time their eyes met, taking her to bed would not be a bad idea, Earl thought. That will be a good distraction for him and a good way to escape the incessant chattering of the youngest Rodhalm sister.

"Do you do this often, Alpha Earl?" Judy's voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Are you asking if I dance often?" Earl repeated her question even if he understood it, he hoped it would make her realize how ridiculous the question was.

"Yes, I heard several Earl's throw big lavish parties every night, that way they can have different women to choose from… and dance with them"

With his eyes still trained on the blonde, Earl shrugged, "Not all Alphas do that, I don't need women to choose from and I have important things to do with my time, I suppose you know I'm married"

"Aye. Mama told me you were married but your wife left you for a Rogue, which was why you attended my ball with your healer instead"

The way she said it had Earl looking at her for the first time, her large gray eyes were filled with enthusiasm, "That is very informative of your mother, but your notion does not change the fact that I don't dance often"

"I might be right about one thing though, you need a woman." She made an attempt at giving him what seemed like a teasing smile which only made Earl's inside churn.

"I can keep you company for the night, Lord Earl. Nobody will find out" She winked at him.

Earl simply stopped twirling with her on the dance floor, he just stood there staring at her in surprise, "What exactly are you talking about?"

Of all the ways Earl had envisioned his meeting with the Rodhalm girls to go, it turned out he should have expected worse from the winny girls. But then, they had a completely different view from the outside world, pampered and spoiled. At nineteen, Ann could barely express herself and here was Judy, at seventeen, talking in such an unladylike manner and offering herself to him on a platter.

"You know what I mean, Alpha. I could keep your bed warm and show you pleasures tonight, don't imagine I'm inexperienced, for you'll be surprised at how good a little girl can be…"

"Stop it!" Maybe the disgust he felt was evident in the way he barked the two words because Judy recoiled immediately, Earl released her hands from his and disengaged from the dance.

"I'm sorry" The girl muttered.

"If you need a husband or a man to warm your bed tonight, Miss Rodhalm, you need not look far, I'm sure there are tons of men in this room who would be willing to do you the honor, just don't imagine I'm one of those men, dear girl. Because the next time you try using those flattering words on me" He held her gaze just to make sure she understood the impact of what he was about to say. Shifting closer to her, he whispered in her ears, "I will burn you alive and your family will not even have the slightest idea of what happened,"

He saw her eyes widen in fear before she ran off from the dance floor. Earl sighed in anger and resentment and stepped away from a wide eyed lady who was trying to make passes at him now, seeing that his companion had left.

How did Judy dare to talk to him like that? Granted, he was handsome or beautiful- whichever way they saw it but damn! It was such a provocative statement. Even if he wanted to take a woman to be, it definitely would be neither of the Rodhalm girls, they were way too young for him. Whatever ideas their mother was putting into their head that prompted their foolish flirtatious acts had he n tto be stopped.

Earl fanned his way through the crowd of people that gathered on the porch and stepped out into the darkness, it was his only consolation, the cool night breeze and the darkness.

He stood out there for a while, his thoughts drifting. He wanted a woman, no doubt, but he knew which woman he wanted and he hated to admit it, even to himself. He had tried to avoid thinking of her, he had tried to keep her out of his head, out of his mind and out of his mouth.

Perhaps it was the thought that she was gone from his life, from his home or the way Astrid had tried to force a kiss on him when he retired to his allocated chamber last night that reminded him of the kisses they had shared. Earl admitted, atleast to himself, that nothing tasted better than Nellie's kisses, not even Ina's. She had done something to him, something that kept his thoughts glued to her, something that made him yearn for her touch, something that kept him occupied with the thought of…

"What did you do to make the little parrot run off crying in that manner?"

Earl did not have to turn to see who it was, the man had no social manners. At Least not when Earl was concerned, "I only told her a few things she needed to know"

"A few things like implying you would burn bet alive?" Charlie laughed hysterically.

"I see you already know, am I supposed to believe the entire household already heard it too?"

"No. I accosted the teary eyed lady Miss Judy and she told me of your threats. That was a bit too harsh of you, don't you think?"

"The little brute is just too bold, Charlie. I'm losing it just being here" Earl admitted.

"You know we can always go back to the castle tomorrow if you want"

"I don't want to, Beta. Not yet anyway"

"What exactly are you running from? Is it Nellie?"

The mention of her name had him swinging around to face Charlie now, "She is gone. And why should I be…"

"Scared of her? I know you Earl. This is the first time you are reacting this way to someone, I know what you feel, but I'll give you time to admit it to yourself at least. But while you are at it, remember what the Witcher said about Nellie, she could be the key to ending your misery. Don't let your stubbornness and pride get in the way of the one thing you want most"

Charlie rarely ever sounded serious about something, if he could read Earl this much then it could only mean his fears were true."What do you suggest I do?"

"You can't run from your responsibility Earl, let's return to the castle and…"

"Fine. We return tomorrow"

Charlie regarded his friend for a full minute, he saw the tiredness in his eyes, probably from thinking too much, "What if she had gone?"

"Then we find her"

At least he admitted one thing, he wanted her.