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Samantha was furious.

She had been a fool to trust Ric and now she was paying the price for that decision.

Ric had returned not only empty handed, but nearly half-dead from an encounter with the wolf.

"He tried to rip my throat out." Ric moaned weakly from the bed in the doctor's room. He was covered in bites and scratches, but Sam felt his display of suffering was over exaggerated. "I'm lucky I got away. He was trying to kill me."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "He'd have saved me the trouble if he'd succeeded." Then turning her back on him, she ignored his pleading and stormed out of the room.

The time left until the coronation was quickly slipping away and she couldn't afford to waste any of it listening to Ric's self-pity. She never should have entrusted him with such an important task. Now she was going to have to take care of the problem in Charles-by-the-Sea herself.

~*~*~

Elizabeth stood in her garden staring at the forest. Her fingers gripped the handle of her basket so tightly her knuckles shone white.

Yesterday had been a nightmare that she'd never awoken from. That man, she couldn't even say his name, had attacked her, had tried to rape her. If it hadn't been for Wolf…

She shuddered and the wooden handle snapped in her grip. Wolf had saved her and then had sat with her until she'd finally calmed down. She didn't know how or why he'd known she'd needed him or why he'd stayed with her, but she was grateful that he had.

Once she'd stopped crying and gathered her wits, she'd removed his bandage. It had helped to focus on something other than her fear. Wolf's leg had healed well and she felt it safe to let it go without another bandage. Besides her hands had been trembling so badly, she doubted she could have bandaged it again if she'd had to.

Then with nothing left to distract her, all she'd wanted was to be safely at home. Her tears had threatened to start again and she'd awkwardly levered to her feet and started back to her house. Wolf had stayed by her side even when her walk broke into a run. He'd only fallen behind when she'd gotten in sight of her house.

She'd felt dirty. Not simply filthy from rolling around in the leaves and dirt, but as if she'd been tainted. His touch had contaminated her and she wanted to wash the feel of it off of her.

Her father wasn't back from his rounds, a fact for which she was almost glad. She didn't think she could bear telling him what had happened. Closing the shutters in her workroom, she pumped water into a large tub. Then without waiting to heat it over the fire, she stripped and climbed in.

The water was frigid but she didn't care. She scrubbed herself with lye soap until her skin ached and she was shivering from the cold.

When she finally climbed out and dried off, she made a fire and burned her dress. Then exhausted she donned a clean shift, crept upstairs and into bed, curling into a ball under her blankets. Her father had come to check on her later that evening and she'd lied to him, telling him she thought she had a touch of the ague.

She hadn't slept for a long time that night, even after breaking down and taking one of her sleeping draughts. She couldn't seem to keep the images out of her mind. Every minute detail seemed to scream at her, the wave of his hair, the lift of his mouth when he'd leered at her, the feel of him pressing his weight against her as he pinned her to the ground.

The only thing that helped calm her was hearing Wolf's howl. He was close, much closer than he normally came. So much so that she thought if she looked out of her window she'd be able to see him prowling in the forest just beyond their house.

But in the darkness she couldn't bring herself to get out of bed and look.

This morning she'd made herself get out of bed and face the world. No matter how horrible her experience yesterday had been, she was alive and well, and was determined to not let it control her.

So she'd done her morning chores, then gathered her basket and supplies and headed into the garden. She'd meant to finish there and head into the forest. Maybe just into the edges, within shouting distance of civilization. However, once she had looked into the trees, she'd frozen in her tracks.

Swallowing roughly, Elizabeth stared into the shadowed woods. Nothing looked menacing. It was safe, she tried to reassure herself, but an icy finger of fear spread down her spine and radiated out to her limbs.

The chances that he was out there waiting to accost her were slim. In fact, remembering the sounds of the fight between him and Wolf, she doubted he would be healthy enough to attack any woman any time soon.

Then as if her thoughts made him appear, Wolf's head peered around a tree trunk deep in the wood.

The basket dropped from her hands as a grin spread across her face. Without a second thought, she dashed through the garden gate, across the lawn and headed into the trees.

She was glad to see him, but knew that he really shouldn't be this close to town. It was dangerous for him. If someone saw him they'd most likely think he was after nearby livestock and try to kill him. Which was a perfectly logical conclusion to reach since he was a predator, and the local livestock would indeed seem a very easy meal.

Wolf had stepped out from behind the tree and sat while waiting for her. She sank to her knees in front of him and noticed as she did that his tail wagged just once.

It made her smile.

"Hello friend." She scratched between his ears and he turned his head to nuzzle her arm. "I'm very glad to see you again."

"You seem to have a knack for showing up exactly when I need you." She sighed, shifted to sit next to him and let her eyes roam the forest. Wolf's presence next to her took all hint of menace away. The trees didn't seem to be pressing in on her and the odor of the dirt and leaves didn't make her stomach clench.

Turning to him, she marveled again at the intelligence she saw in his eyes. She didn't think she'd ever get used to it, looking at a wild creature and seeing thought and emotion playing behind its eyes. Yet wild creature or not, he'd saved her and as strange as it was, this most unusual friendship was something she'd grown to cherish.

"I wish you could understand me." Her hand played in the hair of his neck, its silkiness sliding between her fingers. "So I could thank you for saving me yesterday."

"Elizabeth!"

Elizabeth groaned at the sound of her name. It was Lucky Spencer. What was he doing here? She could see him in her yard peering over the fence into the herb garden. He must have seen the basket she'd dropped and assumed she was close by.

Her annoyance was cut short by a sudden realization. If Lucky saw Wolf he would see him as a threat to the village. He'd form a hunting party to track him down and kill him.

Lucky started around the garden to search for her behind the house. Elizabeth panicked. She didn't want him to get the idea of looking into the forest for her and catch sight of Wolf.

"You've got to hide." Now she desperately wished Wolf could understand her. "It's dangerous for you to be seen." The last thing she wanted was for him to suffer because of her.

Wolf tipped his head at her. She sighed. The best thing to do would be to return to the house and steer Lucky away from the woods. If she were quick she could keep Wolf's presence a secret.

She started to go, but paused before she stood. Giving Wolf one last rub between the ears, she kissed him on his muzzle. "See you tomorrow, if you are still here."

Then she hurried off to distract Lucky.

~*~*~

Although the doctor's house was on the edge of town butted up to the woods, there was an inn down the street not too far from it. Sam had paid the innkeeper handsomely to be installed in the front room of the second floor.

It had a direct line of sight to her target.

Peering through her window with a spyglass, she could see the house's front yard and garden in perfect detail. She could even see the way the man in the official looking uniform was looking at the woman like a lovesick puppy, and the way the woman was giving him only a tolerating smile.

She obviously had no interest in him.

Sam's mouth curled upward in a grin as she focused on the man.

He would do nicely.

Very nicely indeed.