Page 12 of Wolf Pack

“Dinna think of what we might have done to help the other clans.” Erik always knew what Alasdair thought, as if he were one of his brothers.

Hans joined them on the wall walk. “Aye, we could have been slaughtered by the likes of them, and then no one would have been left behind to protect our people.”

They were right, though Alasdair hated to admit it. “We should have burned their ships.”

“Aye, but we didna know when they would come here to fight us. We would have had time enough if we had known,” Rory said, joining them.

Which was true. Sometimes, Alasdair wished he could see into the future.

The Vikings finally retreated, and Alasdair thought they might believe they couldn’t fight against their fortifications. They usually hit and ran and didn’t stay for lengthy engagements.

In the worst way, Alasdair wanted to stop them from returning home with their ill-gotten gains.

No one said anything. They felt the same way, but they couldn’t leave their people behind and risk having them come to harm. The Vikings retreated to the forest.

“We should hunt them down as wolves,” Erik said.

“I want to free their slaves if they’ve taken any,” Alasdair said again.

It was doable if they could isolate single men from the rest. But still, it would be a great risk to themselves, and if a Viking killed one of the wolves, the dead wolf would turn into a man. Then what?

4

Isobel jumped out of the longship to rescue Libby, flailing in the water after falling overboard in the cave. Instead of helping her onto the ship, Isobel pulled her onto the rocks above the waterline, where they would set up a makeshift camp.

She secured the ship to a rock column and then helped Drummond out. She reached out to take Elene’s free hand and pulled her ashore. Elene was carrying a bag of smoked fish and flasks of water. Conall grabbed blankets and clothes.

Isobel looked at the narrow entrance to the large cave. It had a natural walkway on either side, so they could easily reach the outside. The rocks were moss-covered and slimy, so they had to use care in navigating them.

She began to explore the back of the cave and found a chasm, but the cave system continued beyond that. A breeze flowed through the cave, and they should be able to light a fire to provide warmth and cook meals while venting the smoke.

“I’ll scout out the area, and if it looks safe, we can gather driftwood off the beach to build a fire.” Isobel made her way to the entrance of the cave, slipping twice.

Once she exited the cave, she crouched down, exposed on the rocky beach, and eyed the cliffs. She didn’t see any movement above. She hurried across the beach, gathering as much driftwood as she could, and then rushed back to the safety of the cave.

Conall had already set up the brazier, and Elene was organizing beds on the smoother rocks. Libby was changing out of her wet clothes, and Drummond was sorting out their food supplies.

“We’ll gather more driftwood and store it in here. But we eat first.” They hadn’t eaten for hours, and they needed energy.

“We should burn the Vikings’ longships.” Conall offered everyone the last of their smoked fish.

“If we did, they would be stuck here like us, and then they might even find us,” Drummond said. “It would be better if they leave.”

Isobel considered the possibility. “If we did burn their ships, we could stop the marauders from taking slaves with them.”

That was Isobel’s main concern.

Elene nodded, taking another bite of her mackerel.

“The Scots warriors could whittle down their numbers.” Conall drank some of his water. “But after fighting them, the Scots wouldna look favorably upon us if they should discover us.”

“Unless they learned we helped them by burning the Viking longships,” Isobel said.

After finishing the last of her mackerel, Isobel considered how they had survived their long journey across the open ocean. She couldn’t believe they’d safely made it this far.

The only way she would have ever gone there was to trade with the Scots or fight battles, which it often led to. Everything had happened so suddenly that she hadn’t had time to plan what they would do once they reached Scotia.

Libby poked at her fish. “I think we should burn their ships.”

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