The Frenchman_A Legacy Series Novella by Sheritta Bitikofer

Author:Sheritta Bitikofer [Bitikofer, Sheritta]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781946821218
Publisher: Moonstruck Writing
Published: 2017-10-23T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 7

For the first few days after Darren arrived at the chateau, John kept him confined indoors to rest from his long journey. When the rest of the pack was away, training in the valley behind the house, tending the gardens in the front, or running as wolves through the night, Darren kept to himself in the library and devoured book after book on all manner of subjects: philosophy, mathematics, history, and the newest publications in scientific developments.

He found that he could read much faster than before, comprehending everything he read with a startlingly accurate recall of all he learned. These studies were reserved for the boys who lacked the kind of education that he did, but that didn’t stop Darren from working his way from one bookcase to the other, pouring over the manuscripts with zeal.

When Darren asked John how it could be that they were able to retain so much knowledge without the aid of study, John only told him that it was one of the many gifts of the wolf. Their minds could hold an infinite wealth of information. Darren thought this was perhaps the best advantage of being loup-garou, apart from the strength and preternatural abilities.

When the others were inside, taking a meal or settling down to their studies, Darren became acquainted with each of them and their personal stories. Though he left out many of the details of how his own journey as a loup-garou began, the other boys were more than willing to divulge the gruesome specifics of their turnings.

An aspect, he noticed, was that there were no female werewolves at the chateau. There were only two women, Evangeline and Noelle, who cooked and cleaned for the pack. However, they were the only humans on the estate. When Darren asked John about this, he informed him with a heavy heart that there were no female loups-garous in the world and there never could be. He explained how their fragile frames and gentle temperaments could not contain the spirit of the wolf with the same effectiveness that men could.

Darren did not believe this, because Evangeline had more fire in her than some of the younger boys put together. And Noelle, a hefty woman of color, could carry three or four baskets of dirty clothes without breaking a sweat. The female sex certainly was strong enough to be loup-garou, but John warned him to never try and turn a woman by way of the bite, which was a lesson for another day.

One boy named Edmund, who seemed to possess a certain edge that unsettled Darren, had turned while visiting family in Italy. He, too, was from England and could never return, lest he be charged with the murder of his mother and grandparents. The way he retold the tale, Darren saw no remorse in his eyes. Either he found pleasure in the suffering of others, or he had come to terms with his demons long ago and decided not to waste any more time feeling sorry for his actions.

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