Page 8 of Wolf Alliance

“Aye.”

“Good.” She sighed deeply, lay back down, and pulled his fur around her. She patted the ground next to her. “Guard me.” She closed her eyes.

He shifted and snuggled against her again, knowing he had to tell the lass about his boys, but fearing she might not be happy about the arrangement in the least.

Before dawn’s first light, the men were packing to leave, and Erik shifted and was pulling on his clothes some distance away.

Once he was dressed, he went to wake her, wondering how long it would take her to be ready. But she was boldly watching him.

“Lass.”

She rose from the blanket and stood and stretched.

“Keep the fur cloak as ‘tis nippy out this morning.”

“Thank you.” She wrapped it around her and walked into the woods.

“Keep her in sight, brother,” Erik said.

“Aye,” Logan said.

“But watch the woods at the same time. The vermin we killed last night willna be the last of them.”

“Aye.” Logan hurried after her.

“She is tolerable,” Finlay, their youngest brother, said.

“At least out here.” Erik motioned to the woods. “But I must see that she is good with our people.”

Finlay shrugged. “What if she canna produce an heir?”

“Surely she will be able to.”

“She is an only child. What if that is all she can produce? Or not even that?”

If she was a suitable mother to his lads, maybe her da would see them as an extension of his pack and not feel the need for her to bear her own children.

“I wondered why you were speaking in our native tongue when you have said we must all speak Gaelic,” Finlay said.

Erik shook his head. “Old habits die hard.”

“So you dinna intend for her to learn it?”

“We live here now. We must speak the language of the people who live here.”

Suddenly off in the woods, Accalia screeched. Half the men, including Erik and Finlay, sprinted for the trees.

The dense ground fog and the smell of a coming rain permeated the air. They scoured the area, heard horses galloping off, and ran to camp to get their horses.

“Where is Accalia? Logan!” Erik shouted.

“We killed one of the men. We havena found Logan or Accalia,” Finlay yelled, some distance away.

“Here!” Logan called out, his head dripping with blood, his eyes appearing a little out of focus as he stumbled out of the woods to see Erik. “One of the brigands has her. There were six of them. I killed one of them!”

“Her da’s men or others?” Erik grabbed his brother’s arm to steady him, ready to kill every one of the men who had hurt his brother and taken the lass away.

“Not her da’s men. She was struggling against them, and she cut one with hersgian dubh.”

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