Page 14 of Wolf Pack

“Ja, we can.” She was glad he agreed and didn’t want to back out.

She observed the choppy waves, the white caps, jagged rocks, and dark water, took a deep breath before they plunged into the cold ocean, and began swimming again.

As soon as they jumped into the water, the cold took away their breaths, but they pressed on, swimming hard. The waves crashed over them, pulling them in different directions. As bad as the first swim was, it wasn’t as treacherous as this, and she hoped she and Conall would be all right as they made it around the bend.

A wave crashed into her, propelling her into the coarse rocks, and she felt a stab of pain in her left arm. Her stomach clenched. Her wolf’s healing abilities would make her heal in half the timeit took a human to heal, but she needed to be at her best if she was going to fight a guard or two.

The wind whipped through her wet hair as she swam at the cliff’s edge, the water splashing at the rocks. She grabbed the rocks, so she could see what they had to face next. The waves threatened to pull her away from her tentative hold on the slippery, mossy rocks.

Her heart was racing, her mind filled with dark anticipation.

Conall swam up beside her and grabbed hold of the rocks. “You’re bleeding.”

He could smell her blood like she could, and the wound stung with the saltwater washing over it.

“Ja.I cut my arm on one of the rocks. Are you ready?” She wouldn’t let that stop her.

“Ja.”

She scrambled up the slick, slimy rocks and cautiously peeked over the edge of the outcropping to assess the situation. The longships were grounded on the sandy shore. Unlike other vessels, Viking longships had shallow keels that allowed them to navigate both open water and coastal waterways and could easily be pulled ashore.

In the darkness, she saw a black-haired and bearded man leaning against the prow of the first ship, drinking from a flask, while another walked to the end of the beach in the other direction. “Gods, it’s Ari,” she whispered to Conall.

He was a cousin to Funi, their clan chief, and twice as mean. If he saw her and Conall, he would suspect they weren’t supposed to be there, though she was certain he would be confused at first. She couldn’t give him a chance to see her and question her.

“Ja,” Conall said.

Then her heart nearly gave out when she saw a group of men, women, and children bound with ropes near the cliffs and sittingon the beach. They were shivering, the women and children crying.

That made her resolve even stronger to take out the guards, burn their ships, and free the hostages.

“It’s time.” She climbed around the bottom of the cliff, careful not to slip on the mossy, wet, jagged rocks. They had to take out Ari before the other watchman was aware of their actions.

As soon as she planted her feet firmly on the rocky beach, she pulled her sword free and crouched, moving toward Ari as fast as possible while the second guard continued walking toward the other end. They had to take Ari out before the other turned and began walking back this way. She didn’t recognize the other man.

Ari was standing below the carved dragon at the prow, protecting the ship on their journey—but if she were successful, Ari’s journey would end now.

Isobel was smaller than the hulk of a warrior and wasn’t wearing a padded tunic like he was. But it didn’t matter what he wore as much as the ax and sword he carried and would yield to strike her down.

She moved in quickly, struck low, cutting his leg where she knew he would bleed out, and stabbed him in the chest before he could cry out. The hostages saw nothing as dark as it was. She was glad she and Conall were wolves and could eliminate the brigand under the cloak of night.

And gladder still that the prisoners hadn’t seen them and cried out from fright.

Now, they had to take care of the other man. But first, they pulled Ari into the water, where the current would take him away. Then they watched from near the ship’s prow, crouching low, observing the other guard as he finally turned around and began to walk back toward them.

Once he discovered Ari was missing, fighting the other guard would be much more difficult—maybe impossible. She wanted to free the slaves, but if they moved or cried out because if they worried that Conall and she meant to kill them, they would alert the guard.

They had one chance at this, and she feared that unless they could get around behind the guard, they would fail and die in their mission.

Alasdair,Erik, and six of his men watched from the cliffs as a lassie killed the Viking guard standing next to the longship's prow. Then she and the young man with her pulled the guard into the water. Alasdair glanced at Erik.

Erik raised his brows, saying he was just as surprised as Alasdair.

The woman and the boy appeared to be on their side. And braver than any woman Alasdair had ever seen in battle. The guard had been a foot taller than the lass and many pounds heavier. Yet she had cut him down without a whimper from him.

Alasdair and the others watched the other guard walk back across the beach. Part of him wanted to see how the lass and boy would handle the second guard. But he didn’t want to see them fail.

He began climbing down the cliff, hoping he wouldn’t shake loose rocks that would clue the guard and the hostages that someone was coming. At the same time, Erik and three men started climbing down. The remaining force stayed at the top of the cliff, watching for the return of the Vikings.

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