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

of news. No wonder these people felt such self-loathing. To think that they were capable of killing helpless children… it was awful.
    ‘So, do not expect to make a fr iend of Mary. She is closest to Charlotte, because she feels sorry for her, and Cook, because they see themselves as servants.  But Mary has no real friends.’
    ‘Was Will turned in the Crimea too?’
    ‘No, Will returned home unscathed. He became a professional pugilist, and after one particularly vicious fight he wa s on his way home when he came upon a wolf attacking a drunk. He drove the beast off, but not before the drunk was dead. As far as he remembers, the beast didn’t bite or scratch him, but his open wounds from the fight probably allowed the contagion to enter his system. He continued to fight, and it wasn’t until after his first full moon that he had a sense of what had happened to him.
    ‘What you must understand is that when they are in werewolf form, they have no sense of themselves as human. When they return, there is usually no memory of what it was to be in beast form , either. Sometimes there are flashes, sensory images, mainly. Waking up naked in an alley, a bullet in his shoulder, and a memory of knocking a drunk to the ground, was all Will had of his first night. The special task force found him, had his injury tended, and imprisoned him through the two subsequent nights of his first full moon. Then he was brought here. That was seven years ago.’
    ‘Did he kill the drunk he attacked?’
    ‘Supposedly not, nor did he injure him. The constable giving chase shot him before he did more than knock him down. Then he escaped, injured, into the back alleys of Whitechapel.’
    ‘He seems feral, even in human f orm.’ Phil couldn’t help saying.
    ‘Will has a wild streak that the wolf has exaggerated. But he was a disciplined soldier, and he is someone I would trust with my life. He is the only resident who accepts what he is. Your father had come to terms with the beast, over the years, too. But now Will alone has that gift. You will come to understand what I mean, the longer you interact with them.’
    ‘Are they very ugly?’
    Byron grunted a laugh. ‘Of all the concerns I would expect you to have – their appearance wasn’t one of them. But to answer your question – no, not ugly. They resemble a large, muscular wolf. They vary in size, depending on their gender and physicality in human form, but most stand about the size of a Shetland pony. They are fierce and frightening, but not unattractive.’ 
    ‘How does it happen? Here. What do you do?’ Her curiosity was now fully engaged , and she wanted to know more about these people she now shared her life with, if only for the next few months.
    ‘As it approaches dark , on the first night of the full moon, they all move down to the cells. We get the furnace going, so the air is not too cold for them, as they must remove their clothes before the change. That is why there is a male and female wing. They are naked before and after the change. Once in wolf form, they don’t feel the cold, but for those ten or fifteen minutes at either end, being naked down there is very uncomfortable.’
    Phil tried to hide her shock at the idea of women standing naked in those cells she had seen the day before. It seemed a cruel thing to do to them.
    ‘Why must they be naked?’
    ‘Because the change tears the fabric from their bodies.’
    ‘Does it hurt?’
    ‘No. It is a painless morphing. They usually drop into un consciousness for the few minutes before the shift, and again when they come back. It is fascinating to watch.’
    Phil felt her face fire up at the thought of Byron watching Charlotte shift from naked , beautiful woman into her wolf form. She also felt the first stabs of jealousy follow quickly on that thought.
    ‘Surely a gentleman wouldn’t watch…’
    ‘Not the women. No, of course not. But I have witnessed the males change, more than once. You cannot help it. Some