Page 55 of Wolf Pack

The air around them seemed to shimmer and sparkle with the intense energy of their unspoken connection, a magnetic force that pulled them together despite the vast distance between them.

“Thank you for taking care of the brothers this morning when we broke our fast,” he said.

“They came and asked if they could sit beside me.”

Now that surprised Alasdair. He thought she had told them they had to sit with her as part of her assigned duty. “Oh?”

“Aye. Conall and I arrived after doing chores at the MacEachens and then came to work, breaking our fast first. We saw them when we first arrived, but we didna invite them to sit with us at the meal. I thought you had sent them to sit between Conall and me.”

Alasdair frowned. “Nay.”

“Mayhap one of your brothers did. Or Lorne.”

He was certain they wouldn’t have. “What was discussed?”

“They didna talk, so I did. I was surprised they wouldna have had a lot to say since they must have known we turned them, now that they can recognize everyone’s different scents.”

Alasdair nodded. “So what didyousay to them?”

“I told them all about the joy of being wolves. The good things, and the no’ so good. But I’m sure your people have already explained that to them. I told him that wolves with Viking blood are far superior to Scots’ wolves. That they would thank me for giving them some of my roots.” She smiled at Alasdair.

He closed his gaping mouth. “Superior.” He couldn’t have been more darkly amused.

“Aye.” Isobel’s smile was charming and mischievous simultaneously, he thought.

“Dinna tell the rest of my people that.” He leaned out against the wall and watched the land himself. He was proud of what they’d taken over and wanted to keep this land safe for him and his pack.

“I’ve heard it said there are several newcomers to the pack—female wolves of an eligible age who have joined with their families—who are eager to mate you,” Isobel said.

“I havena noticed.” He was surprised she would mention that.

“I know we live extraordinarily long lives, but wouldna it benefit the pack if you found a wife among them, mated her, and began to have some children? I have counted only five children—three of whom were just born—in the pack. Well, and my cousins make seven.”

“What did you say to Cleary and Baine about going to the croft at the loch where you and your kin are staying? I’m sure you must have realized they had returned there.” Alasdair hadevery intention of keeping the conversation on the matter he wanted to discuss with her, not about rumors concerning his finding a mate.

“Aye. And was surprised no one was supervising them, again.” She turned her attention to the land stretching out before them. “I told them that I would leave the croft and greet them if they howled to let me know they have come to see me.”

“Why did they go to see you?”

“You havena asked them? It would be easy to assume they wanted to know more about their newfound Viking heritage. As you might have seen during the meal, they didna say anything to me, just listened while we ate.”

“We asked them why they had gone to the croft, but they wouldna say. Either they dinna understand themselves why they went out there, or they didna want to admit why they had gone to see you,” Alasdair said.

“As in they were ready to fight me? I would have put them in their place. No’ killed them. But showed them, like an alpha wolf would, that they had a place in the pack, and trying to take me down—if that had been their intent—wouldna have worked. I also smelled several other wolves, including Hans, who had been there. I assumed they had made them return to the keep.”

“Aye.” Alasdair rubbed his chin in thought. “If they return to your place and dinna have an escort like they did before sunrise, you howl, and I will take care of them.”

“Will your people think you are siding with the wild Vikings in your midst? Some of them call us that, you know.”

“Who?”

“The women who wish for you to mate them. Mayhap their family’s position would be elevated if their daughter mated you. Some try to whisper behind my back, but Elene or your sister hear. Some are bolder about it.”

“Dinna fight them over it,” he warned. It was one thing to turn men who might harm them but to injure a woman in his pack who had his protection, unless she was armed and tried to hurt another, that was not the same.

She shrugged. “I care no’ for the bitter words these women—or men—speak, but if I am attacked physically, that is another story. And I willna howl for anyone to come and protect me. I will protect myself and anyone else who may need protecting.”

He should be frustrated with her. She was unlike any woman he’d ever met. Yet, he was attracted to her strength and fierce pride and her determination to protect those who needed protection. That was why he continued to want to see more of her. “Are you on guard duty tonight?”

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