The Wolf Esprit: Lykanos Chronicles 3

“Why don’t you let me join you?” Maximillian asked.

His eyes couldn’t hide from me the folly of his question.

We stood to the side in the forecourt for privacy, waiting for Alphonse to bring around the carriage.

“For what purpose, Father? Is there a social club to which you wish to introduce me? A brothel, perhaps?”

“Am I stupid for not wanting you to be on your own just yet?”

“Mon Dieu. I’m not leaving for Paris. I’m just heading into town to make friends. This was your brilliant idea, if you recall.”

I reached to put my hand on his shoulder, and he seized the opportunity to hug me, as he always did.

“I’ll be gone a week at the most,” I laughed at his hulking affection.

“I know,” he said. “Don’t make fun of me, fils. I’m excited for you, is all.”

I rolled my eyes while out of sight, my head at his neck until he released me.

“I’ll see you in a week. You have money, but there’s an account for you at the bank on the Rue du Marché, should you need more. And if you get too lonely and want company, call Gabrielle. Say her name as loud as your mind can. Even out of your wolf form, she can hear you from leagues away.”

“If it comes to that, I’ll hire a carriage home,” I answered.

The clatter of the horses’ hooves on the pavement stone echoed through the forecourt as Alphonse steered the carriage out for me.

“Very well,” he said. “Off with you.”

Alphonse descended to open the door for me.

“No need,” Maximillian said to the driver with a raised hand, and he reached to pull the carriage door open for me.

Once I was inside, he followed with a firm close. “Safe travels, Nephew. Don’t cause any mischief, or I’ll hear about it.”

“Yes, sir,” I obliged.

Thank you, I told him silently when the carriage set off toward the country.

Good luck, son, he answered.

At last alone, I gave a sigh of relief to recognize I was as in control of my life as I’d ever been. My mind swam with the possibilities ahead of me, and I couldn’t wait to return to Saulieu as a gentleman. No doubt my birth family would never recognize who I’d become, this foppish fool who loved finery and pleasure. They’d call it all nonsense, and they’d be right.

But I’d changed in so many ways. To consider the past in that way felt somehow untrue. A year of the finest education coupled with my lycan gifts and indescribable sense of the world (and yes, the pampering of exceptional luxury) had changed my outlook forever. I’d already seen the world through a traveler’s lens. Now, I was ready now to experience a solo bachelor’s life of privilege, if only for a week.

Forty minutes later, the carriage made its last turn toward the town, and I knew the walls would soon come into view. I couldn’t stop myself from straining my neck for a peek.

At first, I didn’t understand what I beheld. Littered outside the western wall was a cluster of carts and carriages. Alphonse veered along the rounding road toward the city gates, and the collection came into full view. Though I scrutinized them for only a couple of seconds before we rolled through the stone archway, I was sure of what I beheld.

My human family’s troupe had returned to Saulieu.

My heart raced as the carriage pulled forward through the Rue de l’Étange on our way to the inn on the Rue Sallier.

I didn’t know what to do.

It would be absurd to ask Alphonse to return me to the fortress. A hotel room was waiting for me. I had no choice but to check in and stay there.

I calmed myself as much as possible and tried to apply logic to the moment, just as Gabrielle always demanded during our sessions.

My human family would have no reason to enter the inn, nor would they expect to be welcomed there. I’d be fine if I stayed to myself and carried on as planned. And even if one of them spotted me through a window, how would they ever recognize their kin dressed in a sapphire blue brocade with a gentleman’s heels and stockings? I would undoubtedly appear to them as a creature from another world.

I saw two men walking toward the corner when the carriage turned left onto the Rue Vaubaun. I felt my stomach drop to see my human father carrying a satchel of groceries. Beside him walked my Uncle Guillaume, who looked up to see my face through the carriage window as we passed.

“Why don’t you let me join you?” Maximillian asked.

His eyes couldn’t hide from me the folly of his question.

We stood to the side in the forecourt for privacy, waiting for Alphonse to bring around the carriage.

“For what purpose, Father? Is there a social club to which you wish to introduce me? A brothel, perhaps?”

“Am I stupid for not wanting you to be on your own just yet?”

“Mon Dieu. I’m not leaving for Paris. I’m just heading into town to make friends. This was your brilliant idea, if you recall.”

I reached to put my hand on his shoulder, and he seized the opportunity to hug me, as he always did.

“I’ll be gone a week at the most,” I laughed at his hulking affection.

“I know,” he said. “Don’t make fun of me, fils. I’m excited for you, is all.”

I rolled my eyes while out of sight, my head at his neck until he released me.

“I’ll see you in a week. You have money, but there’s an account for you at the bank on the Rue du Marché, should you need more. And if you get too lonely and want company, call Gabrielle. Say her name as loud as your mind can. Even out of your wolf form, she can hear you from leagues away.”

“If it comes to that, I’ll hire a carriage home,” I answered.

The clatter of the horses’ hooves on the pavement stone echoed through the forecourt as Alphonse steered the carriage out for me.

“Very well,” he said. “Off with you.”

Alphonse descended to open the door for me.

“No need,” Maximillian said to the driver with a raised hand, and he reached to pull the carriage door open for me.

Once I was inside, he followed with a firm close. “Safe travels, Nephew. Don’t cause any mischief, or I’ll hear about it.”

“Yes, sir,” I obliged.

Thank you, I told him silently when the carriage set off toward the country.

Good luck, son, he answered.

At last alone, I gave a sigh of relief to recognize I was as in control of my life as I’d ever been. My mind swam with the possibilities ahead of me, and I couldn’t wait to return to Saulieu as a gentleman. No doubt my birth family would never recognize who I’d become, this foppish fool who loved finery and pleasure. They’d call it all nonsense, and they’d be right.

But I’d changed in so many ways. To consider the past in that way felt somehow untrue. A year of the finest education coupled with my lycan gifts and indescribable sense of the world (and yes, the pampering of exceptional luxury) had changed my outlook forever. I’d already seen the world through a traveler’s lens. Now, I was ready now to experience a solo bachelor’s life of privilege, if only for a week.

Forty minutes later, the carriage made its last turn toward the town, and I knew the walls would soon come into view. I couldn’t stop myself from straining my neck for a peek.

At first, I didn’t understand what I beheld. Littered outside the western wall was a cluster of carts and carriages. Alphonse veered along the rounding road toward the city gates, and the collection came into full view. Though I scrutinized them for only a couple of seconds before we rolled through the stone archway, I was sure of what I beheld.

My human family’s troupe had returned to Saulieu.

My heart raced as the carriage pulled forward through the Rue de l’Étange on our way to the inn on the Rue Sallier.

I didn’t know what to do.

It would be absurd to ask Alphonse to return me to the fortress. A hotel room was waiting for me. I had no choice but to check in and stay there.

I calmed myself as much as possible and tried to apply logic to the moment, just as Gabrielle always demanded during our sessions.

My human family would have no reason to enter the inn, nor would they expect to be welcomed there. I’d be fine if I stayed to myself and carried on as planned. And even if one of them spotted me through a window, how would they ever recognize their kin dressed in a sapphire blue brocade with a gentleman’s heels and stockings? I would undoubtedly appear to them as a creature from another world.

I saw two men walking toward the corner when the carriage turned left onto the Rue Vaubaun. I felt my stomach drop to see my human father carrying a satchel of groceries. Beside him walked my Uncle Guillaume, who looked up to see my face through the carriage window as we passed.