Page 13 of Wolf Alliance

He let out his breath in exasperation. He’d fought with himself over the notion of mating another she-wolf, feeling he was being disloyal to his deceased wife. He’d even thought to marry a woman, but never mate her, so he thought he would put that out there. “To anyone else, you would be my mate, but we dinna have to consummate the relationship. You would raise my sons as your own and the agreement between your da and me would be secure.”

Her mouth gaped. She looked astonished, hurt even. Her da said she would be pleased with the arrangement though her da had suggested that Erik wait to tell her that until he got to know her better. He guessed he should have.

“When I marry a wolf, it will be with a mating. If we dinna suit, fine. But I willna marry you to be your…wife in name only. My mate will be in my bed.”

“We can sleep together.”

“Och, you canna be so daft as to think I would go along with such an arrangement.”

“Daft?” Erik’s lips slightly parted in a show of surprise, because he was well and good surprised. His potential mate was calling him daft?

Maybe Accalia should have chosenher words more carefully since he was the clan chief. Then she smiled at him. No, she couldn’t think of another word that said what she had wanted to say.

Accalia had always planned to have children of her own. She couldn’t imagine raising someone else’s bairns and never having a real mate or her own children.

No way was she going to pretend to be mated to a wolf when it wasn’t true.

“With me, this is all about an alliance,” she carefully said. “What of your mate? Did you gain an alliance with her mating?” She wondered if he was allied with anyone else because of his mate. Did she have family members who might object to his marrying her? To be the mother of Erik’s sons? That could cause all kinds of conflict.

He sighed. “Nay. I met her at a tavern back home. Her parents owned it. She caught my eye, and I was moonstruck. She soon learned that I was a pack leader and told her da who immediately wanted her to marry me.”

“You…you had the wolf longing for her and she for you?” Accalia wondered if he had felt forced into it, or if his mate had tricked him, and it hadn’t been a case of true love.

“Aye.”

She nodded, wishing they hadn’t been in love, that it had been an arranged marriage, and that the she-wolf had left a job of working in a tavern for her da to managing a castle, which would have elevated her position. Then if Erik met another she-wolf after his former mate had died, and he and a new mate meant something to one another, it would be all good.

“What about her family? How will they feel about you taking another mate if you do? Some families wouldna like it or would feel they have some say in the matter since mating again can affect your lads.”

“They are all gone. She had no siblings, her parents were deceased, and she had no other relations. So there’s no one to object to my taking another mate.”

“Except for your boys.”

He was silent, and she assumed his lads could cause issues with him taking a new mate. As she rode across the rocky landscape, climbing one hill, traversing a loch and a couple of streams, and making their way to a forest, she couldn’t stop thinking about what lay ahead.

They arrived at the castle after a half day of traveling without further incidence—to her profound relief—she saw his staff hurry out to greet them. Grooms took their horses, while men and women in the middle of chores came to look her over since she might become the chief’s wife. Five wolfhounds hurried out of the castle to greet Erik, perked ears, bristly fur, warm brown eyes, and feet as large as a wolf’s.

Three young lads resembling Erik with blond hair and blue eyes gawked at her with open mouths. She couldn’t deny they were adorable, but they didn’t seem approachable. Their unkempt hair and dirt-smeared faces and hands added to the unwelcoming atmosphere. If these were Erik's sons, she wondered why they hadn't run to him with open arms and big smiles.

Feeling lost and out of place, she had no idea what to say to anyone. She wasn’t even supposed to be here since she wasn’t mated to Erik. If they had done so at her da’s place, she would have a position here. Then she realized the boys were the reason she had to be here beyond all else.

“This is Accalia,” Erik said, reaching down to pet the dogs. “Has Cook prepared the meal?”

“I will check on it, my lord,” one of the women said and hurried into the castle.

The wolfhounds sniffed at Accalia, checking her out to make sure she could be part of their pack, and she petted them, then smiled at one of the maids. “You are Etta, are you no’?”

“Aye, my lady.” The redheaded woman smiled and curtsied.

“I remember you beating a young man at archery when you were a couple of summers older than me when I was here years ago.”

“Aye, my lady.” Etta blushed.

Then a redheaded maid approached Erik, giving Accalia a cursory glance, and then concentrating on Erik, a smile appeared on her face that made Accalia think of when she was forced to smile in a situation she wasn’t happy about. “We’re so glad you’re home again.”

Erik spared her a glance, inclined his head, and quickly looked away.

Accalia’s intuition told her the woman was interested in Erik, though Accalia tried to ignore the implication.

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