Read Online Wolf Song by Storm Savage - Free Book Online

Chapter One
     
     
    “Aren’t you coming to bed?” Zale barked, causing her to jump.
    “No.” Orianna kept her voice low and refused to look at him. “I like watching the snow.”
    He grumbled indistinct words. She held her breath.
    After several long minutes of feeling him stare at her back, Orianna breathed a sigh of relief when Zale went off to bed. She padded to the kitchen and removed an ice pack from the freezer, snatched her meds off the counter, then returned to the window seat of the large bay window in the living room of their lavish home. Her cheek throbbed and she felt her eye begin to swell. Placing the ice against her face, she winced as a tear slid down her hot cheek.
    She’d do almost anything to break out of the hellish prison cast upon her when she’d said those two life-changing words, I do .
    Zale had been reputed as the most eligible bachelor in her area fifteen years ago. Handsome, rich, and suave, he had his choice of women. Orianna felt honored that he’d chosen her. But the honeymoon didn’t last long. His true character revealed itself one night after a cocktail party when he accused her of flirting with his business associate. Orianna had never glanced at another man, let alone flirt. She only had eyes for her gorgeous husband until that night.
    Now she had lost interest in all men. She’d given up on love.
    She inwardly cringed at the disturbing memory of Zale beating her when they’d returned home after that party long ago. Her pleas of innocence and cries for him to stop had fallen into the darkness. Since that night, he didn’t hesitate to unleash his temper on her for reasons of his own.
    Tonight had been worse than most. She’d been extra careful to avoid eye contact with anyone, even women, at the upscale party, to ensure a peaceful night. Even so, Zale found a reason to strike.
    “You had to wear that dress!” he’d bellowed upon their return home.
    “It was a formal dinner party. I thought you loved this gown.”
    “Not off the shoulders. I don’t want other men eyeballing my woman.” So again, Zale justified another brutal beating.
    Finally, he’d gone off to bed. She glanced down at the royal blue satin gown with its ruffled neckline and off the shoulder sleeves. There was no other way to wear the dress without looking ridiculous. It was designed to be off the shoulders with a low open back. She sighed and trembled, pulling the fabric up around her neck the best she could.
    Tonight’s Christmas party was anything but festive. She dreaded tomorrow morning. How would she explain the bruises to her family, his family, and friends as they made their holiday rounds? The only saving grace in this scenario was that she’d never had children. She couldn’t bear to think about how this sham of a marriage would’ve shattered innocent lives.
    And right now—she just wanted out.
    Pulling her knees up, she buried her face against a throw pillow clutched to her chest and quietly sobbed. She glanced at the bottle of pills in her hand. Medicine prescribed to stabilize her equilibrium—yet it also worked as a sedative. The best drug they ever gave me, she told herself.
    Snow outside swirled furiously as the wind picked up and began to howl. The perfectly manicured acreage had turned heavenly white. She could see for miles from their house on the hill, overlooking the vast beauty of their estate. The distant cry of a wolf infiltrated the blustery wind. She felt the loneliness in that animal cry, embraced the sorrow of a lone animal wandering the night in the cold.
    Freezing to death didn’t seem like a bad way to end this misery. She had very little to hope for. Her thirty-third birthday had been celebrated the previous September in Zale’s typical showy manner. He never failed to make himself look like the doting husband, and her own physical ailment made it easy for him to explain away her mysterious bruises.
    Her diagnoses with Meniere’s Disease, a severe balance disorder