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"Professor Lyal said--"

"Professor Lyal , ood, sir"

Lyal yawned and stretched Fulabout the cel and crashing into things and howling No pere, of course, but there was a certainacts performed that even a ful day of sleep could not erase It was not unlike waking after a long night of being very, very drunk

His clavigers noticed he ake and immediately unlocked his cel and came inside The footman carried a nice cup of hot tea with milk and a dish of raw fish with chopped mint on top Professor Lyal was unusual in his preference for fish, but the staff had quickly learned to accommodate this eccentricity The mint, of course, was to help deal with recalcitrant wolf breath He snacked while his valet dressed him: nice soft tweed trousers, sip of tea, crisp white shirt, nibble of fish, chocolate brocade waistcoat, more tea, and so on

By the time Lyal had finished his ablutions, Lord Maccon had alers to let hi harassed, and had, apparently, deeh to Lord Maccon, if nothing else What the Alpha had done with said clothing only faintly rese around hol ering at them naked anymore

Professor Lyal wandered over to his lordship’s cel , fixing the cuffs of his shirt and looking unruffled

"Randolph," barked the earl, "let nored hiers off to see to the rest of the pack, ere al now starting to awaken

"Do you remember, my lord, what the Woolsey Pack was like when you first ca and his pacing to look up in surprise "Of course I do It was not so long ago as al that"

"Not a nice piece of work, the previous Earl of Woolsey, was he? Excel ent fighter, of course, but he had gone a little funny about the head--one too many live snacks

‘Crackers’ some cal ed hi about his previous Alpha "An e for a carnivore to be compared to a biscuit, wouldn’t you say, my lord?"

"Your point, Randolph" Lord Maccon could only be surprised out of his i, shal we say, of the biscuit inclination, my lord"

Lord Maccon took a deep breath and then sucked on his teeth "Gone loopy, have I?"

"Perhaps just a little bit noodled"

Lord Maccon looked shamefacedly down at the floor of his cel

"It is time for you to face up to your responsibilities, h time toin your own colossal mistake"

"Pardon h of his Alpha’s nonsensical behavior, and he was a , and Professor Lyal was rarely wrong about an Alpha, Lord Maccon was ready to admit the truth And even if Lyal was, by soination, incorrect in his assessment, the earl could not be al owed to continue to be ridiculous out ofany of us"

Lord Maccon resisted aduilt even as he crumbled like the metaphorical cracker "But I turned her out"

"Yes, you did, and wasn’t that an idiotic thing to do?"

"Possibly"

"Because?" Professor Lyal crossed his arly froertip

"Because there is no way she would have canoodled with another man, not my Alexia"

"And?"

"And the child racious e?" This was fol owed by another ive me for this, is she?"

Professor Lyal had no mercy "I wouldn’t But then I have never precisely been in her situation before"

"I should hope not, or there’s a prodigious deal regarding your personage about which I was previously unaware"

"Now is not the time for jocularity, my lord"

Lord Maccon sobered "Insufferable woued with me more on the subject? Did she have to cut and run like that?"

"You do recal what you said to her? What you cal ed her?"

Lord Maccon’s wide, pleasant face became painful y white and drawn as he went mental y back to a certain castle in Scotland "I’d just as soon not re to behave yourself now?" Professor Lyal continued to wave the key

"Stay off the formaldehyde?"

"I suppose I must I’ve drunk it al , anyway"