Dorian paced the room. “Your history is right. In part.” He picked up the Book of Ardal. “Except this rubbish. This is bloody lies about how my kind will eat your children and prey on your women.”
Jesenia swallowed hard. “Then why don’t you tell me the truth.”
He dropped the book on the desk and turned. “Will you believe it if I do? How do you know that I won’t sit here and spin you a yarn?”
She wasn’t sure why she knew he wouldn’t lie to her. Maybe it was the fact that he still stood here in her room. Or maybe because he didn’t lead with “You can’t tell a soul”. “Because for whatever reason, Dorian, I trust you. I understand that you thought you needed to lie to me before, but you don’t now. I just need to know what in the hell is going on.”
He sighed, running a hand through his hair. “You’re different, Jesenia.”
“Well yeah, I guess I am, since I can’t grow fur in an instant.”
His gaze caressed her. “That’s not what I meant. I mean you’re different than most humans. You wanted to track down Grady and protect him. He attacked you yet you still thought of him.”
“Grady. Is that the other wolf’s name?”
“Yes. He’s from my pack and he’s my friend.”
Jesenia patted the bed and he came over and sat next to her. “So start from the beginning.”
He laughed. “That would be in the year of our Lord fifteen-thirty-six.”
Jesenia sucked in a surprised breath. “As in your birth or the birth of werewolves?”
He gave her a toothy grin. “That would be my birth. Werewolves have been around for a long time.”
“Oh wow.”
“But how we ended up here is another story. As you’ve read, a lot of my kind was hunted down and killed. But we have a totally different account of the details.”
Jesenia’s hands came up to cover her mouth as she remembered things she had read. “Oh my God. I’m so sorry. The legislation they passed during the Cromwell rule paid for your deaths.”
He nodded, grimacing.
“Oh no. They paid heavier prices for females. How could they do that?” Her stomach gave a sour roll. “And children? They paid for what they called cubs as well.” Tears burned at the corner of her eyes.
“They were afraid of us. Cromwell knew we were far more powerful than he, so rumors spread about wolves attacking livestock. But the people didn’t get heavily involved until the tales of humans being attacked surfaced. Now I won’t say that both didn’t occur, but you have to understand, Jesenia, we were here first. And when they started to settle on this land they thought to take everything for themselves. And when my kind were starving we did break into livestock pens, but most of those animals were free range before. And we didn’t mind sharing with them, but they sought to deny us.
“Humans brought war to my kind. You saw it for yourself. They targeted women and children. So we struck back. And then the English, with their wolfhounds, got involved and it turned into a bloody massacre. That is why the woods are called Bás Woods. The woods of death.”
She reached for his hand and squeezed it. “But you’re still here. So how many of you survived and how?”
“We went into hiding. A few different packs rejected the idea of hiding their true natures, and ultimately they were hunted down and killed. My pack is the only one that I know of in Ireland.”
Jesenia nodded, not sure what to say. What had been done to them was horrid. They might not be completely human, but from what she knew of Dorian she believed they deserved rights and to be treated fairly. Instead they had been hunted down like animals. “I’m so sorry, and I know I already said that and I know it doesn’t make it better, but I just don’t know what else to say. Your people should have never been treated like that.”
His hand cupped the side of her face and his gaze locked with hers. “And that is what makes you so special, Jesenia. You have a big heart.”
She smiled weakly. “I wish I could go back and change things for you.”
“Ah, lass. I’m just glad to have found you here in this time.”
Her eyes closed as she melted into his gentle kiss. This one was different than the others they’d previously shared. There was sadness mixed with the bitter sweetness of memories and healing. When he broke the contact, her heart shattered a little inside for him and his pack. They sat together in the silence for a few moments.
This man—wolf—whatever he was called had wormed his way into her heart. She wasn’t sure how. It had been less than forty-eight hours since she met him but for some reason she harbored deep feelings for him.