Chapter Twelve

Since the night the young girl was found, all women and children were to be home before dark and to not travel alone. This meant Matthew stuck to me like a bad smell. Although I promised my father I would go on with this marriage to appease him, I still found myself longing to run into Gabriel's arms. I hadn't been able to see him for five days now, and those five days felt like hell.

My body would always heat-up of a night time and with the new moon approaching it felt like it was getting worse. Five days, that's all it took for my body to crave his presence and five days we were in peace. At least that's what we all thought.

When I woke that morning, I found my father seated beside my bed. He looked like he was deep in thought, and the longer I gazed at him the more I noticed he seemed tired. "Father?"

The sound of my voice caught him off guard, causing him to jump slightly but he masked his surprise with a bright smile. "Good morning, Annabelle. Did you sleep well?"

Nodding, I just