Castle of the Wolf by Sandra Schwab Read Free Book Online Page B

certainly managed to rattle him. “Let go of me!” Sudden fear cramped her stomach as she tried to fight against him. But he only dug his fingers deeper into her arm.
    “You’re lying!” he snarled, and in that moment he indeed looked like a demon wolf, wild and feral and totally out of control.
    Panic constricted Cissy’s throat. “Let go of me,” she whispered.
    “Fenris!”
    Cissy caught sight of the horrified faces of his parents. They had taken hold of his arms and tried to pull him away from her. Yet the more they pulled, the more he tightened his grip.
    “You’re lying! Go on, admit it!” He shook her hard enough to rattle her teeth. A vein pulsed at the side of his neck, straining against the skin. “You’re lying !”
    “Fenris!”
    “ I am not! ” she shouted, and shoved at his chest. Her heart hammered in her ears, and tears of shock were running down her cheeks. “I am not!”
    Breathing heavily, he finally let go of her and took a step back. He shook his head. “You’re lying,” he muttered. “Lying!” He brushed the back of his hand across his mouth.
    “Fenris…” His father put a hand on his shoulder, but he shrugged it off and took another step back.
    “You’re lying.”
    “What is the matter with you?” With shaking fingers, Cissy clumsily wiped the tears from her cheeks. “You must be mad! Mad! ” Shivers gripped her whole body.
    “Oh, my poor girl.” The Gräfin put an arm around her shoulders. “My poor child.” She rubbed Cissy’s arm. “Everything will be all right, I promise.”
    Yet Cissy did not avert her eyes from the woman’s crack-brained son. “I am the mistress of the Castle of Wolfenbach now,” she whispered. “I am.”
    Fenris’s face twisted. “You’re lying.”
    “She is not, son,” his father finally managed to cut in. The old man looked sad and tired, as if weighed down by an invisible burden. “We have never told you, but sixteen years ago, Wolfenbach was indeed sold to Lord Hailstone.”
    Fenris von Wolfenbach’s head whipped around. His mouth opened, yet for once no sound emerged. He shook his head.
    “Yes, it’s the truth.” Graf von Wolfenbach nodded and gave his son a sad smile. “Hailstone had no use for the property, so we could continue using it just as before. Just as if it still belonged to our family.”
    All color drained from the young man’s face, leaving it deathly pale. “No,” he murmured. “No!” His expression changed, became imploring. “No, Father, no . Not Wolfenbach.” He looked at Cissy, swallowed. “No, it cannot be.” He swallowed again, and something like desperation flickered over his face. “No.” He shook his head.
    “I am sorry.” The Graf patted his shoulder. “I asked my old friend Hailstone for help and he agreed to buy the castle when it was sold.”
    Which would also explain her family’s money problems—the fact that her father could only afford one season for his only daughter, that George had to give up all thoughts of a tour through Europe.
    Cissy closed her eyes.
    In 1811 her father had bought a castle to help a friend. Why?
    She opened her eyes and caught Fenris von Wolfenbach’s glittering stare. He looked as if he might be sick any moment. Or burst into tears.
    Abruptly he turned away, and with awkward strides hurried out of the hall.
    Graf von Wolfenbach heaved a deep sigh. He wiped his hand across his brow before he turned to Cissy with a weary expression. “I am so very sorry, my dear. I had not expected my son’s reaction to be so…so intense.” He shook his head. “It has come as a shock for him.”
    “I would like to go to a room and freshen up,” Cissy whispered. Inside, she was still shaking, tiny shivers running through her flesh and bones. Wearily, she closed her eyes. Why did her life have to change? She yearned to seek refuge in her father’s library, to bury her face against his housecoat and breathe in the scents of pipe smoke and old books. But…
    Never,