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Chapter Nineteen: Adara
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2024-10-29 19:42:56We were just about to have the servants carry my sister into the bathroom, to submerge her in the tub of frozen water. I hoped this would at least bring down her fever, for even though unconscious, she was still perspiring profusely, and her forehead was almost scalding hot.
Suddenly there was a knock at the door. And not just a knock, but a hard and loud and insistent pounding that sounded threatening and seemed almost to portend danger.
But instead of danger, it brought the promise of potential cure for my dying sister.
The servant opened the front door, which was visible from the salon where my sister lay unconscious on the sofa. On the front step stood a short, fat, balding little man with a black bag in one hand and a bottle of wine in another. Behind him stood the servant Edin had sent to fetch the doctor.
The little man rushed in, not waiting to be invited or announced by the servant. “It’s aconite poisoning, yes?”
“Y
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The Wolves of Vukasin Island Chapter Twenty: Dane
The doctor had finally arrived.It was he who was banging so insistently upon the door.Having been on Vukasin Island for quite some time, I recognized him, of course. He’d once treated my sister for the flu when she’d been visiting from the mainland.But I was so agitated, and so caught up in my efforts to control my distress and so avoid Lupinization, that I couldn’t remember his name. Thus, rather rudely, I didn’t introduce Doctor Hendricks to Edin and Adara when he entered.As he entered, I noticed he was carrying his doctor’s bag in one hand and a bottle of wine in the other. I knew—every permanent resident of Vukasin did—that he was an alcoholic. But he’s a most effective doctor who, in spite of his drinking, takes his work seriously. And he never drinks on the job. Therefore, his act of carrying about the wine so openly rather surprised me.His manner was gruff, as always, which was no surprise
The Wolves of Vukasin Island Chapter Twenty-One: Adara
The next hours were torture.After pronouncing that he’d done all he could, Doctor Hendricks asked Edin to show him to a bedroom where he could lie down and rest. Edin obliged and led the doctor up the long winding staircase in the foyer, with a servant trailing behind.That left Dane and me together, alone with my sister.A servant came in, bearing a tray with the chamomile tea the doctor had ordered.I thought, Has so little time passed? It has seemed like an eternity.I could tell by Dane’s rather startled expression, upon seeing the servant with the tea, that he was thinking the same thing.He invited me to come into the dining room, to sit at the table and partake of the tea, as well as the sandwiches the servant had brought us.Instead, now that the doctor was gone, I resumed my place on the carpet beside the sofa, by my sister’s side, holding her limp and deathly pale hand.“You should ea
The Wolves of Vukasin Island Chapter Twenty-Two: Dane
I brought over the tea tray, set it on the chair the doctor had occupied, and took a seat on the floor beside Adara. It was rather strange, sitting on the floor, and I don’t think I’d ever done it—except perhaps when in Lupine state, for there was no furniture in my cell. Lupine state. Would it be fair to ask any human young woman to endure that? To put up with someone who was one-quarter beast. To undergo one week per month of separation from me, her spouse? No doubt she’d spend her time on the mainland fraught with anxiety, worrying every minute that I might escape my cage, be caught, and be mistreated—perhaps even killed—by patrolling Enforcement Officers. In my younger days, before becoming a Lupine, I’d had many dalliances, of course. At university, Edin and I had even gotten drunk together and visited brothels. But since I was turned to a werewolf—with the exception of a brief, unfortunate, and forgettable brief fling wi
The Wolves of Vukasin Island Chapter Twenty-Three: Adar
“She’s recovering. She’s going to live,” I said.Fawna, lying on the sofa in her unconscious state, had drawn in a very deep breath. Then she began breathing heavily, heaving almost. Then her eyelids fluttered, and her hands moved.Her cheeks went rapidly from chalky to the lightest pink.I knew, almost intuitively, that she was recovering.My prayers are being answered.As this thought went through my mind and I said an inner “Thank you” to the Deity, her eyes opened.She turned her head to look at me.“Adara?” she said weakly.“Yes, yes!” I exclaimed. I turned to Dane, “Fetch the doctor immediately.” I barked out the order to him, but this was no time for etiquette or decorum.The servant who had brought in our tea tray had been lingering in the corner ever since, and Dane stood up and dispatched him to go upstairs to get the doctor.
The Wolves of Vukasin Island Chapter Twenty-Four: Dane
Miraculously, Fawna emerged from her unconscious state.Adara was incredibly relieved to hear Adara speak to her and say her name.We immediately called the doctor from his nap. He rushed into the room, still doing up the buttons of his shirt, and sat down by the girl’s side. Her gave her a little brandy and a full glass of water, and after examining her, he turned to us and pronounced the words that brought relief to us all:“She’s out of the woods.”However, he insisted that she not be moved far from her present place on the sofa. Edin said the downstairs maid’s room could accommodate her for a few days, and he dispatched a servant to evict the maid and prepare the room for Fawna. I’m sure Edin was thrilled that Fawna would be spending a few days—and nights—under his roof.I would have felt the same had I had that opportunity with Adara.I was impressed with the kindness Adara had shown her s
The Wolves of Vukasin Island Chapter Twenty-Five: Adara
My sister would survive.I don’t think I’d ever been happier.Ecstatic was the word, really.When the doctor said the blessed words, “She’s out of the woods,” it was as if the heavens had opened, and a golden beam of light had shined down upon me.After the doctor finished examining her, it was decided that she would remain with Edin there at Seaview. As our host, he very graciously dispatched the servants to prepare a downstairs bedroom to accommodate her, and when other servants came to carry her into it, Edin and I accompanied them as they bore the couch and my reclining sister into a maid’s room.I watched Edin. He’d only met Fawna a few hours earlier, but it was obvious—from his attentiveness, his body movements, the look on his face, etc.—that he had fallen in love with her.Love at first sight does exist, after all.For her part, Fawna appeared rather indiffer
The Wolves of Vukasin Island Chapter Twenty-Six: Dane
Adara decided she’d return home that evening.Edin said she was welcome to stay, of course, but she replied that her mother would be concerned with both girls gone and no explanation. Edin offered to send a servant with that explanation, but Adara adamantly refused.Knowing that her mother could be irrationally nervous and anxious, I understood. It would be bad for Mrs. Huntington to learn of Fawna’s ordeal from someone outside the family. Adara, in deciding to go home, was making the best decision, and I approved.What I didn’t approve of was the way she seemed to be trying to sneak away into the gathering darkness.I had just finished showing Doctor Hendricks to the door after our chat. I was halfway into the salon when my Lupine ears detected footsteps, Adara’s footsteps. She was treading up the hall from the maid’s room that had been turned into Fawna’s recovery room, and was quietly making for the door.I st
The Wolves of Vukasin Island Chapter Twenty-Seven: Adara
We left Seaview in silence, Dane and myself.Having been all but coerced into letting him walk me home, I had nothing to say to this man who would not take no for an answer.I badly wanted to be alone. I was exhausted from the day’s ordeal. After all, I’d almost had see my sister die. Indeed, I had, as far as I’d known at the time, watched her dying before my very eyes.I wanted to be by myself to process the day’s event.And I knew what lay ahead of me:Father’s interrogation about Fawna, with me having to answer question after question after question for an hour, if not longer.And worse, Mother’s hysterics at every answer, crying out in shrill tones, perhaps even fainting or pretending to, as a way of demonstrating her love for her family as well as her tenderheartedness and her “nerves.”I couldn’t bear any of this without some “alone time” to prepare myself.
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The Wolves of Vukasin Island Chapter Thirty-Six: Dane
I slept late the next morning.I had dreams all night long.In one, a nightmare, I was desperately trying to capture an Enforcement Officer. I chased him to the mainland, where I was terrified of being recognized as a Lupine and being shot for escaping from Vukasin Island. I awoke in a sweat before I caught the Officer and before I myself was caught by the authorities.In another, I had Fawna pinned down, and I was stuffing aconite—the leaves, the roots, and the flowers—into her mouth. I struggled not to do this, but in the dream, it was as if my movements were not my own. I couldn’t control what I did. Then Fawna metamorphed into Adara, and now I was taking off my clothes and preparing to have sex with her. But after my clothes were off, instead of making love to her I began cramming gold coins into her mouth. She struggled against me, shouting, “You’re wrong. You’re wrong.” She begged me to stop hurting her. But I cont
The Wolves of Vukasin Island Chapter Thirty-Five: Adara
The next morning I rose early, packed a spare dress to replace the one that had been ruined by wine stains as the doctor had struggled to cure her, and rushed to see my sister, Fawna.I feared I might encounter Dane Wiltshire at Edin West’s home, Seaview, where I’d left my sister to recover from almost being poisoned. But that thought couldn’t keep me from going.Now, as I walked through the park, of course I passed Chalmer’s Grove. I thought about how I’d made love to Dane in the darkness among the trees the previous evening.I remembered the sweetness of his touch, the delight as he’d pushed inside me, the ecstasy of my shuddering orgasm, and the pleasure of holding him as he’d climaxed, too.Forcing these ideas from my mind was the second memory of my conversation with Lantac Golgor later that night.Had he been speaking of anyone else, I’d not have believed him. But I knew—everyone on the is
The Wolves of Vukasin Island Chapter Thirty-Four: Dane
I sat there with Edin in his study. By now, due to my revelations about Fawna, he was extremely despondent.“Despondent” is not a strong enough word.He was practically crying into his brandy.He had downed one drink after another since I told him the truth about the Huntington girls—that they were gold-diggers, that Fawna’s feigned interest in him was mere opportunism, and that I’d even heard their mother plotting with them to catch rich husbands.That he had to rid himself immediately of Fawna, the lovely girl he’d fallen in love with that very day.Just as I’d fallen in love with—or thought myself in love with—her sister, Adara.“It can’t be,” he was saying, his voice laden with disbelief.Edin is not like me. I’ve been called dark and moody. This was true even before I was bitten and turned into a werewolf. Perhaps that’s why my sire was unable to
The Wolves of Vukasin Island Chapter Thirty-Three: Adara
As we all sat in the living room with our guest, the Enforcement Officer Lantac Golgor, my mother suddenly realized that Fawna might be truly ill.“Wait.” She scrutinized my face and her tone shifted from the happiness of a moment before to one of suspicion. “Wait a minute here.” The veins stood out on her knitted brow. “Fawna’s illness was so bad that a doctor was called?”“Er, yes, Mother.”“What are you not telling me?” Her voice rose quickly to a screech. “I will not be lied to by my own family.” She seemed to forget her manners, to forget that she had company. “A lie of omission is still a lie.”“Calm yourself.” My father patted her arm.“Calm? Calm? You be calm.” She turned back to me, her voice still high. “What’s going on? Adara, I demand that you tell me.”Everyone in the room, including our guest, was
The Wolves of Vukasin Island Chapter Thirty-Two: Dane
Lantac Golgor—a hated, evil man.Not all Enforcement Officers are evil. I know this, of course.Some are decent, upright, honest, and conscientious.I don’t know if they’re in the majority or the minority. I’ve not had many dealings with the red-coated patrollers.But I have had dealings with Lantac Golgor. And I personally know him to be evil.Worse than evil. Corrupt, heartless, and cruel.I’d been extremely disappointed to see Lantac Golgor—my sworn enemy—seated in the Huntington living room, being entertained by the family, charming them, ingratiating herself with them.As I made my way back through the park and approached Chalmer’s Grove, I pictured Adara sitting there beside him, mesmerized by his slick manners, his quick wit, his intelligence, and his amiable conversation.I stopped on the path and stared into the woods to the place where we had, not even an hour before, ma
The Wolves of Vukasin Island Chapter Thirty-One: Adara
Lantac Golgor—such a charming man!I slipped around the side of the house to the back door. Because I’d seen a guest in the living room, my strategy was to enter through the back door, call my mother into the little breakfast nook off the kitchen, and there tell her about Fawna.I knew she was likely to become upset, and I didn’t want to cause the ruckus that was bound to result from her hysterics. I especially didn’t want that kind of disruption to happen in front of a guest.As soon as I closed the door behind me, I heard my mother’s voice ringing through the house. “Adara? Fawna? Is that you?”I hesitated, then answered. “Yes. Mother, can you come here a moment, please?”“What on earth for, you silly goose? You come here. Come into the living room. We have a visitor whom I’d like you two to meet.”“Of course. But first, I need to talk to you.”&ldqu
The Wolves of Vukasin Island Chapter Thirty: Dane
I’m not sure why, but it seemed we had little to say to each other after we had sex together.We stood quietly for a while, among the trees in the afterglow, catching our breaths after the experience of making love.It had been magnificent for both of us.I’d held back long enough for her to climax, and then I’d released, pounding into her and shuddering with ecstasy.Now we stood together, still pressed against the tree, both panting a bit from the exquisite delight of the experience. A light breeze stirred the night air, blowing the pleasant and clean scent of pine trees in our direction, as owls and other nightbirds called out in the woods—perhaps because they sensed a wolf was nearby.I kissed the top of Adara’s head. Then I pulled away and dressed, quickly pulling on my trousers.She, meanwhile, was trying to arrange her clothes, and doing a poor job of it. I managed to keep from laughing, and I moved to he
The Wolves of Vukasin Island Chapter Twenty-Nine: Adara
I was stunned.I couldn’t believe it.I’d let Dane Wiltshire make love to me.In public.Standing up against a tree.Not that it wasn’t great sex, for it was.Better than great.Magnificent.But I didn’t even know this man.I’d been about to have an orgasm, and I’d wanted to feel him inside . . . when he’d pulled away.But then, just as I was thinking he didn’t want me, he’d pushed his manhood inside me, taking me violently, like the ferocious beast that really was inside him. But with my consent.He’d been urgent and demanding, and I’d gasped as he entered me, as I felt the brutal push of his huge erection. It was painful—and delightful at the same time, if such a thing were possible. I’d never before experienced this kind of passionate intensity, and it was exhilarating.It was as if this Lupine, this half-wolf half-man,
The Wolves of Vukasin Island Chapter Twenty-Eight: Dane
Could it be that she desired me too?I asked myself this question, and yet, being a wolf, I moved forward in my passion.Of course, being a gentleman, had she said “Stop” I would have stopped.But she didn’t say “Stop.”In contrast, everything about her behavior said, “Continue.”She willingly and ardently gave in to me. Far from crying out, even as I inflicted pain on her with my fingers squeezing and pinching her nipple. Indeed, this pain seemed only to increase her ardor. She moaned in ecstasy; her moans were suppressed only by the pressure of my mouth on hers.By all these signs, she communicated that she wanted me as much as I wanted her.Meanwhile, being a wolf, I was, of course, overcome by my lust.Making love is difficult for Lupines in human form. In wolf form, wolves are so violent with their passions during love making that it’s not unusual for one to kill the other&md
