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Chapter Seven

I didn't keep track of Wulfric after that. My morning and most of the afternoon was full of cuddling Lucy, singing along with the radio (with Lu blowing bubbles along with me), and unsuccessfully finishing my notecards for class the next day. The house was so gigantic that just because I didn't hear the front door open and close, didn't mean that Wulfric was still here. Or he was somewhere deep within the unexplored bowels of the house.

The mansion was starting to feel like two different houses to me. When Lizzie was here, it was light and carefree. An easy haven. I stayed in the main four rooms: foyer, living room, kitchen, and Lucy's nursery. I passed closed doors and long hallways on my way to and from those rooms, but I wasn't tempted into uncovering what was behind them. But when Wulfric was here, it had an entirely different feeling. It was dark and mysterious. Not entirely unwelcoming, just more enticing to wander into the untouch depths. Even as I pretended to not care about whether he was within the house or not, I found myself pausing outside each door I passed.

Just that one afternoon of him being there made me realize something I had never noticed before. As I was rocking Lucy to sleep for her afternoon nap, I was looking out that huge wall of windows in the living room. It felt like I had done it a hundred times by that point, but I had never noticed from that vantage point, I could see the side of what looked to be a large rectangular structure next to the house. It was hidden from the main drive by the trees and it was a little bit further down the hill than the house.

It was the same brick that was accented on the outside of the mansion, but had a utilitarian metal roof. I thought I could see the edge of a garage door as well, but every time I moved to get a better view, I lost sight of it. I couldn't see any windows on it either. I tried to reason out what it could be. An extra garage? It looked massive to be a garage. A pool house? Lizzie never mentioned anything about a pool and I would think it would have windows if it was a pool. It definitely looked unattached from the rest of the house, so it couldn't be an addition.

The itch to go open doors became almost unbearable once I put Lucy down; however, call me a chicken or a coward or whatever you want, there was no way I was going to explore while Wulfric was potentially able to happen across me snooping. I could just imagine his handsome face curling into a smug grin at him finding me. Or worse, him being pissed and throwing me out. I shuddered at that thought. No, not today, but soon. Really soon. And I needed an excuse to go exploring outside as well. Maybe get a better look at what was all hidden by the forest.

The doorbell chimed and I sprang up from my lying position on the floor, where I had been actively plotting my snooping, and totally ignoring the homework I should have been doing. I figured it was the very friendly mailman that usually dropped off the packages Lizzie ordered for the boutique, usually full of sample clothing that we ended up going through together.

My bare feet padded across the warm wooden floors to the door before I wretched it open, my face already arranged in a happy smile to greet the short, older man that merrily chit chatted with me as I signed for the package. And my face froze like that as my eyes hit a thick, muscular torso covered in black cotton. And then my face traveled upwards as my eyes took in the path to this torso's face. The man was hulking. A thick white neck led to an attractive face, topped with neat, dirty blonde hair.

"Well, aren't you interesting?" Came the amused drawl. The man's small eyes took me in from beneath two blonde brows that I was honestly jealous of. His features were very strong and masculine; however, his perfect pale skin and the lightly accented speech gave him a refined quality. I couldn't quite place where his accent was from, though it did sound european.

"Hello," I bounced once on my toes, "can I help you?"

"I'm sure you could." He gave me an almost predatory smile, oneI had a feeling he used whenever he wanted to intimidate anyone.

"Knox, that's enough." A sharp command came from behind me.

I jumped because I hadn't even heard Wulfric approach from behind me. But I did feel his burning hand wrap itself around my waist as he pulled to his side, and slightly behind his large frame.

Wulfric didn't take his eyes from this man named Knox, and Knox was now looking between me and Wulfric with a highly amused smirk on his lips. "Knox and I have some business to discuss. We'll be in my study if you need me."

It took me a full couple of seconds to realize Wulfric was talking to me because he was still not looking at me. I didn't even know where his "study" was in this house, but I didn't point that out. "Oh! Of course!" I said, once it clicked, "I'll just be in the living room." I lamely added on to the end, as if he would need me.

Wulfric loosed his grip on my waist and I slide from his side, and as I walked back to my long forgotten books, I looked back over my shoulder at the two contrasting men. Knox was inside the house and looking at me as well, and when we made eye contact, he raised a long fingered hand to twitch his fingers back and forth in a mocking wave. His mouth then seemed to be speaking to Wulfric and I thought I saw the word "human"; however, that wasn't what made me quicken my pace back to the sanctuary of the living room. No, it was that I swear, I Girl-Scout-honor-promise, I heard Wulfric do a low growl back to him in response, before they disappeared into the depths of his side of the house.

And as I took care of Lucy in a slightly distracted state and then said goodbye to her and Lizzie at the end of the night, I knew that I had to do some investigating because the two houses weren't so apparent anymore. No, the haven was getting lost and the shadow of Wulfric was taking over.