Page 29 of The Wolf Queen’s Curse

“I was not.”

He pulls me closer. “Good. What my family did might not seem the most honorable way to make a living, but I’m not ashamed of it.”

“Nor should you be. Your father and uncle put their own twist on a common profession for werewolves. My aunt wasn’t exactly a respectable businesswoman. She traded in dark magic, to be sure, but she also sold salves and potions to…” I lower my voice, mimicking the way others would speak of it. “Fallen women.”

He smiles. “We all make our own way. So, tell me about your own childhood.”

I shrug. “I attended a village school, but the schoolmaster there was delighted if children could learn enough to read the newspaper. My mother supplemented that, and after a while, my education became more informal. I learned what interested me.”

“Which, as I suspect, is a great deal.”

I smile up at him. “A great deal of a great many things, not all of them terribly useful.”

“Everything is useful. That’s my philosophy. We’re very well suited. In case you didn’t realize that.”

I lay my head on his chest. “I agree.”

“I’m going to suggest we sleep. I can tell you’re stifling yawns, and the next few days are bound to be difficult.”

“No more fine beds and bathing tubs?”

“The Caledonian Pack will treat us very well, but it will be like your stay at Trevelyan. In comfort, but not comfortable.”

“I expect that. But to be clear, if I sleep now, does that mean the honeymoon night is at an end?”

“Sadly yes. That part is over and…” He pulls over his pocket watch. “The honeymoon morning begins in a few hours. Acceptable?”

“Quite.” I curl up against him, getting ready for sleep.

After a few moments, he says, “There is one last thing. If you aren’t too tired to discuss it.”

I lift my head to look at him. “A problem?”

“No, simply an oversight that I’m too eager to rectify, and in being eager—and not letting you sleep—I might only be reinforcing the problem.”

I shift back and prop up on the pillow. “What is it?”

“I’ve already admitted to having inherited a few traits from my grandfather, ones that passed over my father and Julius and his father. One of them is a propensity for selfishness.”

I cock my head. “You go out of your way to make sure I have what I need, Bishop. You did so before you knew me. You are considerate, even to strangers.”

“Learned consideration. It can take effort to look beyond my own concerns.”

My lips curve in a slow smile. “Oh, I’m quite certain you are very good at looking beyond your own concerns, especially in the bedroom.”

“And yet, you have noticed that I enjoy, occasionally, being selfish there.”

My smile turns to a grin. “Which I fully endorse. If you’re usually generous, then letting you be selfish is a game to be enjoyed by us both. But I’m teasing you, and you’re trying to make a serious point. We both are. You’re admitting your natural inclination is to think of yourself first, and I’m saying that it isn’t a problem because you do think of others.”

“Thank you. But this is a roundabout way of apologizing because I have put myself first.” He twists to face me, his fingers tracing the curve of my jaw. “Everything right now is about me. About this catastrophe with the Pack, and how I will resolve it, and how you will help me do that.”

“That is the priority.”

“Is it? For me, yes. For you?” His thumb strokes my cheek. “We haven’t even discussed what you’ve discovered about your family. About the cabal. About what, if anything, you want to do about that.”

“Take it over?” I smile when I say it, but he lifts one shoulder.

“If that’s what you want.”