Page 63 of The Wolf in My Tavern

A low growl is all the warning I get before a dripping wet apparition heaves onto the deck, thrusts Ada behind his back… and draws… a fucking massive sword.

Everyone freezes. Ada gasps.

A few deckhands alerted to the stowaway draw swords and call the alert.

I hold up a hand, stilling them all lest this deck turn into a battle zone, one that might see Ada hurt. If anyone is spilling the bastard’s blood, it is going to be me… once Ada is out of the fucking way.

Where the fuck did he come from? Has he been hanging to the side of the boat all this fucking time?

My wolf growls under my skin, no longer feeling playful, ready for combat, to fight for what is ours.

The man retains control, just.

Drake chuckles.

“Who is he?” my nosy brother demands.

“None of your fucking business, whelp,” Drake says, all business again as he cuffs my brother up the side of the head for good measure before fisting a handful of Lizbeth’s hair. “Inside, both of you. Your pack leader has matters to tend to.”

Don’t I just.

Not only Ada, now, but that whelp shifter wannabe with his green eyes and royal blood—Callum.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Callum

Itighten my fist around the hilt of my sword and battle the fear coursing through me.

My fear is not for myself, but that I have failed Ada in letting her be taken.

I don’t know how this is going to end… probably fucking badly. I only know that I am prepared to lay my life down for the woman I love. We’re on a ship that is already far out in the ocean. The sky is darkening rapidly with the onset of night. There is no way out of this that I can see.

Yet I cannot back down.

“Gods, Callum, please don’t.” Urgent fingers tug at the back of my wet jacket.

I am fucking soaked. I managed to stow away on one of the supply boats before it left shore. An opportunity came while supplies were being loaded onto the ship, when one of the barrels was dropped, and rum spilled all over the deck. No one noticed when I slipped out of the longboat into the water. Then I hid out of sight beneath where the captain’s quarters jut out at the stern… which was fine until the ship set sail and then the sea commenced lashing me.

As I stare at the shifter bastard, I reassess my options, which are desperately short in supply. It is a big ship. I had some notion of spiriting Ada away and hiding her somewhere in the hold until we reached land. Or maybe lying low until we next anchored in port, when I would make a move to rescue her.

Except, as I clung to the rail, watching them talk, I saw the determination in the shifter’s eyes. By the time they put to shore again, it would have been too late. He would have rutted her and taken what was mine.

“What kind of shifter scum snatches a lass?” I demand.

Gray flinches. Maybe he will let us go after all? Ada is mine; she could be with child, and so although this moment feels hopeless, I’m ready and committed to making my stand for the woman I love.

“He won’t hurt us, Callum,” Ada says. “I know he won’t.”

I shift to keep her behind me as best as I can. Deckhands surround us, brandishing cutlasses, and nowhere is fucking safe. I turn, keeping my eyes on the dangers from every side. My heart feels like it’s pounding out of my chest. My imminent failure is a bitter taste on my tongue.

“Even though he is a bastard as snatches lasses from the street,” Ada adds, stepping boldly forward like she is about to march up to the big shifter and confront him then and there.

I snag an arm around her waist lest she do exactly that.

Gray’s eyes narrow, and he growls, reminding me he has an inner beast.

“Ada, let me handle this.” I adjust my grip on the sword. I am not well practiced with such a weapon, but I reason it is better than my fists. “Give us a boat, and I shall row us ashore myself.”

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