Chapter 26
Chapter Twenty-Six
Adrian did not hesitate this time. Daphne belonged to Wolfcrest. She belonged with him.
He ran down the street recklessly, jumping over curbs, and dodging around passersby.
It didn’t matter to him if he felt cold at the moment.
The frosty temperatures and curious looks he garnered from others did not faze him in the slightest. What mattered was to see her once more, in the flesh right by his side.
When Adrian exhausted himself and could run no further, he darted into the street and flagged down a driver.
The coachman knew just what to do, perhaps seeing the urgency on his face.
They rode hard on cobbled streets, a danger to those walking there and themselves.
Then again, people expected that the Wolf would be a source of danger, for anybody.
He rapped at the door hard, shouting, “Hurry! We must be there soon! Soon!”
The last word was emphasized. He didn’t have to, though. The coachman knew what he meant and made haste. The horses flew over the roads until they reached Wilhelmina’s and Gerard’s home.
Upon arrival, the Duke of Wolfcrest had to pause to calm his frayed nerves and hurtling heart. The main door felt massive in front of him. Still, his fist connected with the wood, pounding hard without needing the brass knocker.
The whole affair called for something more personal. It needed pain.
A stern butler opened the door, followed by a young, indignant boy. Little Hector stood there, glaring at him.
Oh no.
The boy was loyal to his stepmother and her family and would do anything for them. He crossed his arms in front of his chest and gave his most accusatory glare.
“You’re the Duke my family has been talking about,” Hector declared. “I’ve met you, but we have not really talked to each other. You hurt Aunt Daphne. She came here miserable and Mama said it’s your fault. You are not welcome here, Your Grace.”
Normally, the polite way of using his title might have amused Adrian, especially coming from a boy who obviously hated him. However, Hector would not appreciate his chuckling. He was in deep trouble.
Soon, Wilhelmina appeared. Her response was even worse than Hector’s.
“Your Grace, it’s time to leave,” Wilhelmina said.
“I have just arrived, Duchess,” he replied.
Hector eyed him warily then.
“No. You have done enough. When you offered marriage to my sister, I was skeptical. After all, what kind of rake would simply do that? You didn’t express any interest in her as a wife, but you said you’d protect her.
It seemed perfect on the surface given what my sister was going through with Briarwood. But Briarwood is gone!”
Wilhelmina was panting after the rant, her eyes wide and blazing. Adrian had done this. If the Duchess of Talleystone was this affected and enraged, what did Daphne feel?
“Leave, Wolfcrest,” Gerard declared, suddenly materializing behind his wife. “Go back to your world or I’ll be forced to do something I will not speak of in front of my wife and child.”
The Duke of Talleystone had often been friendly enough, cautious but not judgmental. This time, his face was set in stone. He was unhappy to say the least and looked like he would do anything for Wilhelmina.
Adrian had never been a stranger to threats. He would have just laughed at them and retaliated with his own. However, he was in the wrong here. He knew it in his heart. He also didn’t want to lose Daphne forever. Seeing their stony faces, he sensed she was slipping away.
“I want to apologize. I won’t take long. Just give me a chance to see her,” he begged, like a man who had lost his home.
The Wolf felt more like a mangy pup, wet and battered and starving. He needed to see Daphne. Not wanted. Needed.
“Just a few moments,” he promised.
Gerard shook his head sadly. “The answer is no and will always be no. You have hurt her enough. She is my wife’s sister, and therefore, my sister, too. Leave this home. Leave us be.”
Adrian’s heart sank further, as the latch clicked. There was a finality to the door shutting down in front of him. Gerard was gentleman enough not to make it slam.
But that was something that he could not accept.
The Wolf remained outside, ready to blow the house down.
His chest heaved even as his bare hands were shoved in his trouser pockets.
He became more fully aware of the frigid air, with a few flakes of snow drifting down to his hair and shoulders.
He shivered, but he did not want to leave the steps.
It might just be his last chance to catch a glimpse of her, have a connection.
Adrian waited.
He had never been this patient before. He was fully aware of that. He stayed there on the steps even though the snowfall was becoming stronger.
The white specks were blanketing the steps and the street beyond. The weather seemed to feel the same as he did.
Dwindling hope flickered some fire in his chest, the only warmth left during that moment.
His eyes soared up, and he seemed to have seen a shadow pass across the translucent pane.
He swore it was her shape, but the glass prevented him from truly seeing.
The fleeting shadow did remind him of that first night he met her, when he waited for her silhouette to drift away from the window of the vicar’s cottage.
“She’s haunting me,” he muttered, his tone bittersweet. “But I will wait for her. I will haunt her if need be.”
Hours passed. It was hard to truly know the time, but he guessed it had reached midnight by the sound of the grandfather clock announcing his doom.
The snow had somehow stopped, but it did not matter at that point. He was chilled to the bone, covered in little white flecks. He thought he was going to die there, and he was willing to wait for that to happen when the door finally opened.
Daphne stood there in the doorway, looking pale and wan.
She hugged herself even as a thick shawl covered her shoulders.
Her eyes were a mirror of his, dark circles dimming the light that was once there.
Even through the limited light, he could see the red-rimmed eyes against the backdrop of dark eyelids.
Still, she was the most beautiful woman in the world. There was a fire in her that still blazed, often neglected by others who thought she was too meek. Too obedient. They thought she could be molded into something they wanted, when she had made her choices according to what she deemed right.
Choices.
She could choose to end all his hopes now.
“You will freeze to death, Your Grace, if you have not already lost the sensation in your toes and fingers. Hopefully, they have not fallen off yet.”
The words were in jest, but her voice was flat and emotionless. It all sounded so strange and heartbreaking, and he was the cause of it.
“Come inside,” she continued, gesturing with an arm as she walked back into the warmth of her sister’s house.
Adrian entered, his knees weak with relief and emotion. He nearly wished to return to the numbing snow, but inside, every feeling was amplified.
Daphne kept her distance, but she walked through the dark house toward the parlor. He knew without a word between them that he must follow.
It was his last chance.
She kneeled by the fireplace, stoking the flames. It was already warm, he guessed, but he was chilled and would need more to return to his normal temperature.
She sat on the chair near the fire and gestured for him to sit across from her. He had never been so grateful, having warmth and Daphne in that small space.
“Daphne,” he said, his voice rough. Outside, in the cold, he had tried to rehearse small speeches, thousands of them it seemed. But here he was now, and he could only do well by pulling the threads of truth and unspooling them. “I was wrong. Not only that, but I was also a fool.”
It wasn’t as painful to admit his mistakes as he thought it would be. Daphne was the woman he was willing to humble himself before. All of this would be worth it if he could have her back, and he was not certain he deserved that reconciliation.
He was no longer the Wolf before her, but a broken man.
His voice was raw, scraped clean of the armor he always wore.
“I let grief consume me,” he said quietly.
“I stared so long at what I lost that I stopped seeing what was still before me. My mother. My sister. Their deaths became my reason for everything. For every ruthless decision, every wall I built. I told myself it was justice, but it was nothing more than revenge wearing a noble mask. And in building those walls, I shut you out. I told myself it was to protect you, that if I kept you at arm’s length, fate couldn’t take you from me too.
But the truth is, Daphne, I only left you to fight alone.
I made you face your pain without me when I should have been your shield. ”
His voice broke on the next breath, rough and low.
“That is not protection. That is cowardice. I betrayed my vow. And yes, we did not marry for love, not at first, but I meant every word I spoke at that altar. I meant to keep you safe, to honor the sanctity of what we began. I failed in that. So, I’m here to face whatever you choose for me.
To bear your anger, your silence, your contempt if I must. Because I am done hiding behind grief and vengeance.
I came here for one reason: to ask for your forgiveness.
And this time, Daphne… I will not walk away until you believe me. ”
He looked at her, hoping that she could see her desperation.
Daphne was fair to him. She had opened the door, but perhaps she did so that he would not die. She was a kind woman, and he had taken advantage of it. She listened to him.
When she spoke, her voice was full of pain.
It was no longer detached and emotionless.
“I trusted you when you were nothing but a stranger. There was an immediate connection between us, but I wondered if it was just my imagination. Perhaps it was unfounded hope. I wanted to get to know you and I almost burned for it. It didn’t faze me.
What affected me was the way you behaved afterward, pushing me away.
I am more afraid of that than any danger.
I know you married me because of Briarwood but I did not expect you to discard me as soon as he was gone. ”
“I—I didn’t discard you,” he protested, even though he tasted the truth of her words.
“It hurt that you chose your ghosts over me. Am I not enough?” she asked, her voice cracking.
“There will be no excuses, Daphne,” Adrian promised, his hand reaching for her.
His hand got too close but not enough to touch her. He would not dare force his affection on her when she was still angry or at least considering if he was worth the time.
“I take full accountability,” he continued, “I accept that I have been a coward and ruined what we had. I love you, Daphne, and if I must spend the rest of my days telling you as much, I shall never stop speaking those words.”
Honesty.
She deserved nothing less. His hope rose a little after seeing her face soften. Her eyes followed him and then the movement of his lips.
What does she see in me now?
“I love you, too, Adrian,” she finally confessed, a strangled sob escaping from her mouth. “I fell in love with the Duke who made a vow to save a stranger like me. I love the Duke who is kind, and even the Wolf who protects. Yet, I want you to trust me, too. Listen to what I have to say.”
It was all that he needed to hear. He crossed the space between them, falling on his knees before her.
At first, he rested his face on her lap, sobbing. He might be the Duke of Wolfcrest, feared by many, but he was no longer afraid of crying. He needed to feel, and she was leaning down to him, meeting him halfway through her own tears.
Adrian reached for her cheek and caressed it. She leaned into his hand. When he was younger, he thought that he should never show any weakness through crying. He needed to fight. To avenge.
Today, he realized that crying was never a sign of weakness. It was a sign that he was human after all. Nobody had made him numb. Not yet. No.
“I will do just that, my duchess,” he promised, his voice gravelly. “I will trust you forever. One thing is for certain, I will never let you go.”
He tugged at her and pulled her close enough for a kiss. It was a reverent kiss, one borne from despair and longing. One that was careful. He just let his lips press on hers, still not quite believing she was there. But she was, oh she was.
She kissed him back, releasing long pent-up emotions. She just sealed their reunion.
Before he could further deepen the kiss, a tiny voice broke the spell.
“Your Grace,” Hector greeted from the doorway, rubbing his eyes.
But why was the boy up so late at night?
“Don’t make her sad again,” the boy continued.
Daphne merely chuckled. It was clear that she was very fond of the boy.
Her laughter was like music to Adrian’s ears. He’d longed to hear her again. Not just her music. Her.
The Duke rose and pulled his wife up with him, pressing her against his chest as he kissed the top of his head. While looking even more united, he turned to the bright young thing.
“I promise you that I will not make her sad again,” Adrian vowed, his gaze locked with Daphne’s. “In fact, I will make it my life’s mission to fill her life with nothing but joy.”
Daphne looked up at him, her eyes shining. It looked like she believed him and that was the most wonderful thing.
“You know,” she began.
“What is it, my love?” he whispered.
“For the first time since I married you, I can now truly believe you.”
“I’m glad.”