Wild and Free(117)

Of course he did, Sonia thought but didn’t speak aloud as she took the nightgown Maraleena dropped on the bed beside her so the other woman could start pulling covers off food on the tray.

“You’re human, I forgot,” she said apropos of what Sonia thought was nothing but going back to her earlier subject. “Steward of the Estates means Drogan takes cares of all things castle. You know, the plumbing and heating and the cars and the gardens and the forest and stuff like that. He also helps Callum with other stuff too, official stuff. Ho hum. Bo… ring!” she decreed, lifted the tray and Sonia had just pulled the nightgown down over her hips when Maraleena planted the tray on Sonia’s lap then she looked at Sonia and said, “I’m housekeeper, or I was. That means I take care of all things castle that are, you know, housekeeping things. Keeping it clean, doing the laundry, ironing, getting the food in. Though, I’m a terrible cook. Poor Drogan, he loves his food. His life is a misery with me.” She grinned a grin that belied her words and then carried on, “We’ve a she-wolf who sees to that, or saw to it, her name is Callista.”

Sonia’s astonished eyes went from her tray to Maraleena. And her tray, incidentally, consisted of two eggs over easy on what looked like two fried pieces of bread and sat next to a pile of baked beans, a pile of sautéed mushrooms, two rashers of bacon, two huge sausages and two patties of some kind of meat that was black. This was accompanied by a toast caddy of four half-diamonds of perfectly toasted toast and three small bowls, one of butter, one of strawberry jam and one of orange marmalade. This was finished off with a cafetière of coffee, a mug, a small jug filled with milk, a sugar bowl and a tiny salt and pepper shaker.

“She-wolf?” Sonia breathed, forgetting her food and she watched as Maraleena went stock-still and her face paled.

Then she blinked.

Then she stammered, “Oh, it’s just something we… it’s just. Well…” she spluttered, her eyes lit and she proclaimed, “King Callum is known as The Wolf!”

It was Sonia’s turn to blink at her, stunned silent by this news.

Callum was known as The Wolf?

The Wolf?

The Wolf?

Why had he not mentioned this to her?

Not once.

Not while she was calling him that, screaming it during her orgasms (as hideous as that memory was at the moment), cuddling her stuffed wolf, fiddling with the wolf charm his mother bought her or any time in between.

“King McDonagh was known as wolf too. Because of that we’re all known as wolves.” Maraleena beamed down at Sonia looking, for some reason, strangely pleased with herself and her announcement. “So, you know, if anyone mentions that, say, calls us wolves or she-wolves or… whatever, you know why.”

Sonia was only partially listening.

She was more hooked on the fact that she didn’t know Callum’s father’s full name was McDonagh.

She thought it was Mac.

Callum hadn’t told her that either.

And McDonagh was a strange name (not that some of Callum’s people didn’t have strange names).

Was it a last name? Was it Callum’s last name? Did Callum have a last name?

He’d never told her that either and she’d never (stupid, stupid her) thought to ask.

Not, of course, that she cared (anymore). It was just that his last name was probably her last name and she should know her own last name!

Maraleena, oblivious to Sonia’s rampaging thoughts, moved back to the suitcases. “King Callum and Drogan are down in his study going over things and beginning plans for the celebration and The Mating.” She lifted an armful of Sonia’s clothes out of an opened suitcase and turned to Sonia animatedly. “Two parties to ring in the New Year!” she shouted happily. “One of them the end of those terrible rebels and the other a Royal Mating! How exciting!”

Sonia thought she should reply or perhaps ask Maraleena what she was doing with Sonia’s clothes but the former became moot when Maraleena babbled and the latter became obvious when Maraleena started to put them away.

Therefore, Sonia decided to eat and let Maraleena chatter.

“I figure King Callum will go big on both, The Mating definitely.” She threw a smile over her shoulder at Sonia as Sonia forked up some mushrooms and Maraleena dumped her clothes on top of a bureau and started sorting and kept talking.

Sonia took her prattle as an opportunity to look around and finally see her new bedroom.

The minute she did she stopped eating and stared about the room in wide-eyed wonder.

It was like no other room she’d seen.

The walls were not flat but rounded however the room wasn’t a circle but seemed to go in waves.