AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I shrugged. “You know everybody else. Why not some large and vicious hairballs?”
“I wouldn’t call them that in front of them. They’re very proud of their fur,” he warned me as he turned his attention to Ferox. “Continue on the northern road for another five miles and steer off into a disused road.”
Ferox flung his head to one side and pawed the ground.
Ben frowned. “Why not? What’s the matter.”
Ferox bobbed his head in a northerly direction.
I glanced between man and horse. “What’s wrong with him?”
Ben leaned back and folded his arms over his chest as he furrowed his brow. “Apparently, there’s something up ahead that’s frightening him.” Ferox whinnied and Ben snorted. “Youarefrightened, aren’t you?”
The mighty steed held his head high and stomped the ground one last time before he dashed ahead. I nearly tumbled over the backward, but Ben looped his arm around my back and kept me in the carriage. The world flew past as our quick horse galloped down the bumpy dirt road.
Ben winked at me. “Nothing like a little incentive to inspire courage.”
“I wish his courage would slow down,” I quipped as we bounced over a rut and became airborne for a second.
CHAPTERSIXTEEN
Ferox tookus swiftly down the northern road and I couldn’t help but notice with a shudder that the further we traveled the fewer houses there were until they stopped altogether. After five bouncy miles, Ferox slowed and turned us off onto a leftward road. The new path traveled only a half mile before we were stopped by a wall of trees and brush.
I looked around for any signs of life or any evidence the road had continued onward in some past life, but there was nothing. “Nice spot for a murder,” I mused as Ben helped me down from the carriage.
“The woods are patrolled by the werewolves,” Ben assured me. I wasn’t really that assured as I felt my courage drain from me. Ben took my hand and I looked up to find him smiling at me. “There’s no need to worry. I would make more than enough meal for a werewolf.”
I swatted his arm with my free hand and glared at him. “That’s not funny!”
Ben turned to face me and clasped both my hands in his grasp. His gentle smile soothed my frayed nerves as his thumb brushed over my ring. “There’s no need to worry. The werewolves won’t harm those who don’t mean them any harm, and some of them know me.”
“As what? An appetizer?”
He chuckled. “As a friend, but we should hurry. It’s a hike to where we need to go and Fyson is expecting his vegetables before sunset.”
Ben guided me through the brush and after about thirty yards I realized we were on a very disused path. Weeds and grasses covered the ground and bush and tree branches stuck out from all directions, repeatedly blocking our way.
“So where exactly are we going?” I asked him as I ducked under a low branch. “I mean, besides heading to certain doom.”
“There’s an old meeting spot for those friendly with the werewolves,” Ben told me as he held a branch so I could pass. “We just need to wait there and our scent will alert them to our presence.”
“And then supper will start,” I added. I turned to find a worried expression on his face, but I grinned back with a twinkle in my eyes. “I suppose it’s too late to ask if I’m in your will.”
A crooked smile slipped onto his lips as he resumed the lead through the dense foliage. “I might have made a bequest on your behalf.”
I lifted an eyebrow and hurried after him. “Like what?”
He stared straight ahead as he replied. “You’ll inherit my favorite toothbrush.”
My face drooped. “Hardy-har-har, very funny.”
Ben snatched up one of my hands and pressed a light kiss to the back. “There’s no need to worry. You’ll be taken care of, whether wedded or not.”
“By you?” I insisted.
“Or my surviving kin,” he teased as he quickened his pace. “But we should-”
That’s when I crashed into Ben’s back. He had frozen and his red eyes darted around the area. My pulse quickened as I tried to decipher what he saw.
