Free Guardian of Werewolf Keep (Werewolf Keep Trilogy) by Nhys Glover

exaggerated parody of flirtation.
    ‘It would seem my father saw you as husband material, for all your arrogance and bad temper.’
    He let out a loud and hearty laugh that made her grin more broadly. What was it about this man’s laugh that made her heart lift? How could they have formed such a symbiotic relationship so quickly, that meant his mood could so affect hers?
    ‘He brought you here for me? He must have been further gone in those last hours than I thought.’
    ‘You do not approve of his match-making?’ She batted her eyelashes again, and dimpled her cheeks. He roared with laughter.
    Then he sobered , and she felt the change in his mood, as surely as if it were her own. ‘He would know what a match between us would mean. I find it hard to imagine him wanting all this for you. If you were my daughter, I would want bright, glittering balls and handsome young men dancing attendance on you. I would want the richest and most titled suitor I could find for you, so that I knew that you would live the perfect life. I would never condemn you to Breckenhill Keep and someone like me.’
    She turned so she could look up at him , face to face. All silliness was forgotten. The world he wanted for her so matched her own desires that it hurt. The only difference for her would be him. There would be no need of a rich and titled beau for her. Byron Carstairs would be all she would ever want or need. But she couldn’t have him and that other world. The only way she could have him was to accept this nightmare as her own for a lifetime.
    No romance was worth that.
     
     

 
    CHAPTER NINE
     
     
    Phil threw herself into the world of Breckenhill Keep with a vengeance. Now she knew who and what these people were, she was determined to assess their worth, as she would any person she became acquainted with. If her father saw something worth saving in these souls, then she would discover what that was for herself.
    She first had to meet each of them , and discover their place in the household. Byron made it his task to help her do this as quickly as possible. He declared a special welcome dinner in her honour the next night, where all those who lived and worked at the Keep would attend.
    To help alleviate some of Charlotte’s issues with her, Phil asked to be allocated her father’s room. In this way, she felt she could not only make peace with the girl, but get to know her father a little better. His room would be a reflection of him.
    That his room was only half the size of the one Byron had given her , was a bit of a shock. But, it did give her an insight into her father. He didn’t require luxurious surroundings. He was content with a soldier’s space. But Byron was not as willing for her to let go of the luxuries. From somewhere, he had a large down-filled mattress and four-poster, mahogany bed brought up to replace the flat, comfortless pallet her father had used.
    He also made sure it was covered with the best linens and blankets the Keep had available. And he replaced the old leather chair that stood in front of the fireplace with a softer more comfortable piece of furniture. B ut Phil wouldn’t let him take her father’s chair away. She had him set it over by the window, so that when she wanted to feel close to her father she could sit in it, and stare out at the wild moors that had been his home for the last ten years of his life.
    As her new room was being made ready for her, Phil had a chance to get to know Mary, her little maid. She was such a quiet little thing that it was easy to forget her existence. It was even harder to imagine her as a werewolf. Anyone less fierce she was yet to meet.
    At first , the girl kept her head down and her shoulders curved in, as if she protected her heart from attack. Any replies she made to Phil’s questions were in monosyllables. It was as if she was trying to keep distance between herself and her new mistress.
    In the end Phil sat the girl down, and spoke to her