Page 28 of Wolf Alliance

Then he closed the door quietly and headed to the boys’ chamber to see if they were dressed. He wanted them to know that Thorfinn would be sleeping with his brothers in their chamber and Accalia would be sleeping elsewhere this eve.

He opened the door to their chamber and found all three boys sound asleep on their beds. He couldn’t believe it. The she-wolf, well, and he, had worn the lads out. Smiling, he shook his head. He had never seen his boys in this light before Accalia had arrived. It was a welcome change in their behavior. He closed the door and headed back downstairs where he met up with Logan and Finlay.

“So is the lass sleeping with you tonight?” Finlay asked.

“Or is Thorfinn going to?” Logan said.

“The lass is. Thorfinn will sleep with his brothers.”

“Where are they all?” Finlay asked.

“Sleeping.”

His brothers laughed. Erik smiled.

“Cook said that everyone brought in enough fish for the whole clan to eat at the meal,” Finlay said. “Everyone is talking about how they want to fish as wolves now. ‘Tis so much faster than fishing with poles.”

“I know. I dinna know how none of us ever thought of it before.”

“The lass is canny,” Logan said.

“That she is. Let’s work on the wall until it’s time to eat.” Erik headed outside.

Accalia wokeand figured it was time to eat. She couldn’t believe Erik had barged into her chamber. She’d heard the knock at her door, but she’d been naked and brushing her hair. She hadn’t had time to throw on some clothes before he opened the door. She wasn’t used to being naked in front of other wolves. Back home, she usually removed her clothes in her chamber and then would shift and run.

She dressed, walked to the lads’ room where they had napped, and ensured they were ready for the meal. When she opened the door and peeked inside, she found the boys still asleep. She walked into the chamber and said, “Are you ready to eat?”

Sleepy eyes opened and the boys looked over at her and groaned.

“Come on. They willna hold the meal for us. We dinna want them to eat all our fish.”

That stirred the boys, and they hurried to get up and go with her.

“Did you enjoy fishing as wolves?” she asked.

“Aye,” Thorfinn said, “though my fish wasn’t as big as yours.”

“You made a fine catch,” Accalia said.

“Aye, but we didna expect Da to join us,” Hendrie said, Johnne agreeing.

“He saw how much fun we were having and had to join in.” She had been glad he had joined them in the fun activity and hadn’t given any of them any grief over it. It wasn’t just a way to connect with the boys, it was a food-gathering mission, and the boys needed to learn to catch fish that way too.

“You dinna believe he was angry with us for disobeying him and listening to you, do you?” Thorfinn asked.

“If he is angry with anyone, it will be me for saying you could shift. Have you caught fish in the river before?” she asked.

“It runs too fast, Da said,” Johnne said.

“Is there a creek that doesn’t flow as fast where we can fish?” She figured maybe catching fish in the loch was too hard for the boys, despite that Thorfinn had caught one. But if they weren’t used to grabbing fish in their wolf jaws, she could teach them to in shallower tidal pools and slower-running creeks.

“Aye, but we would have to have a guard force.”

“Tomorrow, if the weather is good, we’ll do that,” she said.

“If Da allows it,” Thorfinn reminded her. “Are…are you going to sleep in our room again?”

“Your da wants me to sleep elsewhere. I need to talk to him about it.” She didn’t want to say he wanted her to stay with him. She didn’t want the boys to believe she was replacing their mother, and she had no idea if she would mate Erik or not. It was best not to confuse them.

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