Chapter 13

13

“ I s it a done deal?” Alasdair asked Erik as they enjoyed watching Bessetta and Accalia visiting with each other.

Before Erik could respond to Alasdair’s question, wishing he could give him a resounding aye, Thorfinn said, “She adores us.” He acted as if Alasdair hadn’t proposed the question to Erik.

“All of you or just you three lads?” Alasdair’s brother Hans asked with a twinkle in his eye.

“He kissed her, and she kissed him back,” Thorfinn said, puffing his chest out.

Alasdair laughed.

“Aye,” Erik said, glancing at Alasdair’s brothers to show them that the lass was with him. “’Tis true.”

“And we all slept with da in his bed last night,” Thorfinn added.

All the men and Isobel laughed.

That, Erik hadn’t wanted anyone to share.

Both Erik’s and Alasdair’s brothers were smiling at the lasses. So was Isobel. Now he was afraid Bessetta and Accalia would stay with each other until Bessetta, and her family left here.

Then Bessetta and Accalia hurried over to join the men and Isobel and Alasdair introduced Accalia to his mate.

Looking eager to welcome her with open arms, Accalia hugged Isobel. “I’m so pleased to meet you. I didna think that Alasdair would find a mate who would be his match.”

Seemingly pleased by the gesture, Isobel smiled broadly. “Ja, we are.” Thankfully, she didn’t ask how things were going between Accalia and Erik.

Then Erik hurried to escort them inside the castle to break their fast, taking Accalia by the arm to show she was with him. Isobel smiled at Accalia to show her support for whatever she decided.

Bessetta followed behind them as if she knew when to give Accalia and Erik the time to be together alone. Then everyone was seated at the head table, the boys looking a little disappointed that they couldn’t be there.

Alasdair and Isobel sat on Erik’s left, and Accalia and Bessetta sat to his right. He knew the two women would want to sit together, and he wanted to do everything he could to show he supported her friendship with Bessetta. Accalia had shown a keen interest in being friends with Isobel, for which he was glad.

Alasdair leaned over and inquired of Erik, "How is Accalia getting along with your sons? I feared when you found a mate, she might not be content with the situation. But it seems they have a genuine affection for her."

"She's fantastic with the boys. I couldn't have chosen anyone better to bond with them."

“Except that they join you in bed at night.”

Erik laughed. He knew that would come back to bite him. “Only because of the bad storm we had last night.”

“Understandable after what had happened when they were playing in the stable and lightning struck it and set it on fire. Even for us, we had a time calming the horses last eve during the storm before we reached Whitehaven Castle,” Alasdair said.

“I had wished you hadna been out in it.”

“I had wished the lasses hadna had to go through it. So about the sleeping arrangements tonight…”

“Bessetta will have Accalia’s bedchamber. You and Isobel will have your own. Your brothers can bunk with mine.”

“And Accalia?” Alasdair asked with a smirk.

“If it were up to me, she would be asleep in my bed—without the hindrance of my sons. But if it is up to her, there is no telling.”

“What seems to be the difficulty? She seems interested in you and if she is as good with your sons as you say she is, then mate her already. I wouldna hold back.”

“She said you and your brothers plagued her and your sister when you were younger,” Erik said, changing the topic.

Alasdair laughed. “Aye, you wouldna believe the shenanigans the two of them pulled. They were no’ the innocents.”

“Oh?” Now that was a surprise to Erik. He thought the brothers had been the mischief makers entirely. He was amused.

“Aye, when we went swimming at the loch, they would steal our clothes off the bank. We never even saw them, but we smelled their scents and of course we would vow payback.”

“So they initiated the mischief?”

“Sometimes. Sometimes we did. Those were carefree times.”

“From what I understood, they bested you any number of times.” If Accalia had been honest with him and he knew she had been.

Alasdair smiled. “Aye, they did. Why? Has she done so to you?”

Aye, but not that Erik wanted to share with his friend. Still, he gave his position away when Alasdair caught him smiling.

“Well, she is a bonny lass, skilled at organizing the staff back home, and I dinna know how her da will manage without her. If she is good with your boys and you care for her, she would make a good mate and be good for your people,” Alasdair said.

Erik knew that already.

Then the ale was served with bread, venison, and chunks of cheese. Before Erik could eat a slice of his bread, Accalia snatched it from his plate. Bessetta laughed.

Alasdair had thankfully missed the action while eating his food, but Isobel had caught a glimpse and laughed too. But this time Cook was prepared and brought Erik two more slices of bread.

That’s when Alasdair took notice. Erik realized so did lots of his kinsmen.

“A playful mate is a treasure to have.” Alasdair squeezed Isobel’s hand, leaned down, and kissed her.

Erik completely agreed with Alasdair. Accalia had made a significant, positive impact on his life.

Accalia wouldn’t pretend to be serious at the meal just because they had guests, especially when she wouldn’t have any pretenses in front of Alasdair and his kin. And she wanted to show Erik she would be her usual fun-loving self with him. She loved how he smiled at her, showing he was amused and not embarrassed by her actions. She swore he was anticipating she would do that very thing.

“You are predictable”—he leaned over and kissed her cheek—“until you are no’. And I love you the way you are.”

She was so surprised when Erik professed his love to her, though she knew he was being sincere. She sighed and finished his slice of bread. “If we were to mate, how would your sons feel about it?”

His jaw dropped. Then he smiled.

“They already adore you. I’ve never seen them so well-behaved since they lost their mother. Even Thorfinn, the most stubborn of the lads, is thoroughly in your court. If you were to leave us and return home to your da, they would want to leave with you.”

Her eyes sparkled with tears.

“I propose we travel to your home with the boys and wed. I love you and no other she-wolf will do. What say you, Accalia? Can you live with a wolf like me and love me like I know you do the boys?”

Erik looked so hopeful she would say yes.

“Are you trying to get me in your bed tonight?”

He smiled. “Only if you wish it.”

“We will see.” She was considering it when he confessed his love to her.

But she still didn’t want to sound too eager until she’d had a chance to speak to the boys about their da and her and how they would feel about it. She wouldn’t ignore how she wanted to be with Erik in a mated way, but she wanted the boys to know she cared about their feelings.

“’Tis an aye,” he said, smiling down at her.

She loved how self-assured he was and felt he was right this time. “What is planned for after the meal?”

“Practice sword fighting,” he said. “Alasdair and his brothers always spar with us when they visit. ‘Tis a good way to learn our strengths and weaknesses against others in a different pack when normally we only practice with those in our pack.”

“True. Then Bessetta and Isobel and I can practice.”

Erik looked a little surprised.

“I believe Isobel is a warrior at heart. I’m sure Bessetta and I will learn some good fighting techniques from her,” Accalia said, “right, Bessetta?”

“Oh, aye.” Bessetta had been eating her meal in silence until now, but Accalia noticed she’d been leaning in her direction, attempting to overhear everything she and Erik had said.

Had Bessetta heard him profess his love to Accalia? Probably. He hadn’t spoken for her ears only and she only realized the great hall was quiet compared to how it normally was. She glanced at the boys and saw them watching her with elevated interest.

Erik leaned over to speak with Alasdair and Isobel about the sword practice while Bessetta said to Accalia, “You didna profess your undying love to him .”

“I wish to speak to Erik’s sons first.”

“Aye, I see your point. You would be a good mother to them.”

“I’m surprised Erik didna mate you,” Accalia said.

“Me? Nay. He is like a brother to me. We dinna have the wolfish need to mate and procreate with one another. I’ve seen the boys misbehaving at the meal before and knew they were a holy terror at bedtime. But they are so well-behaved and I dinna believe it had to do with Erik or they wouldna have misbehaved before. And clean? They are spotless.”

Accalia smiled. “I didna believe in miracles before I started to lay down the law.”

“Better you than me. I wouldna have known where to begin.”

“Threatening to send them to the dungeon helped.”

Bessetta laughed. “You never cease to amaze me. I wouldna have thought of that.”

After the meal, everyone dispersed from the great hall to do chores, or to walk out to the inner bailey to begin sparring with their guests. The lads went with them too, the wolfhounds following them out.

Accalia didn’t want the boys to feel left out but wanted to learn pointers from Isobel since she was an Icelander and had trained differently than her people. She and Bessetta took her aside while the men were getting ready to spar with each other.

“Would you teach us some of your swordsmanship?” Accalia asked.

Isobel smiled brightly. “I will be happy to.”

“I…hate to ask, but can we practice some with Erik’s lads? I dinna want to leave them out,” Accalia said.

Isobel smiled at Bessetta, and she shared the same expression with her. “I will be honored, as long as they dinna feel fighting a woman isna as satisfying as fighting with the men.”

“They couldna wait to beat me,” Accalia said.

Isobel raised her brows.

“Aye and use the bow as well.”

“We can do that too while we’re here. So the question on everyone’s mind is are you going to mate the wolf?” Isobel asked.

Accalia liked that she was upfront about it. “I want to speak with the boys about it first.”

Isobel nodded sagely. “You have already won them over. They will love that you consider their feelings. I hope that when I am with child—or in our case bairns—I will be as good with my own as you are with Erik’s sons. They will be devoted to you always.”

“You will be successful with your own.” Accalia was sure of it because she had taken her family to safety against untold danger through stormy seas and with the threat of their new chief having them eliminated once he had killed the rest of her family. “I will tell the boys you will teach us all your amazing warrior skills.”

Then she hurried off to speak to the boys standing with a couple of nannies, looking mutinous, like everyone believed they were too young to participate in the exercise.

As soon as she headed for the boys, their expressions brightened, bordering on hopeful that she would spend time with them. “Go get your wooden swords and shields and spare wooden swords for three.”

Their eyes grew wide.

“A well-trained warrior woman will show you her special fighting skills. You should be honored. I am. And Bessetta will fight. Go, hurry. We are eager to show the men how impressive we are.”

The boys didn’t wait a second longer and raced off.

“See, that’s what I mean,” Isobel said. “I have never seen Erik’s boys so eager to do anything the two times I’ve met them. When you talk with them, they listen. I can take some lessons from you on child-rearing.”

Accalia didn’t believe it, but she loved Isobel’s praise. Maybe her da knew her better than she’d known herself.

The boys raced back outside with swords and shields and passed around the swords to each of the ladies then, still trying to catch their breaths, they waited to see what Accalia would say.

“All right, since Isobel is an expert on a different kind of swordsmanship, we’ll let her show us some of the movements.” Accalia swept her arm at her, giving her the go-ahead.

Isobel began to show them some of her sweeping sword movements, demonstrating her fancy footwork, illustrating how to use her shield to protect herself, and even how to use it as a weapon.

The boys and Accalia were impressed. Even Bessetta was watching with keen interest. Accalia wondered if anyone had asked Isobel to teach them to fight in her way.

Then Isobel took on Thorfinn and Bessetta fought against Hendrie. Accalia fought against Johnne while the men were having a splendid time showing off their skills and muscles, looking like they were in battle, not just sparring for practice.

At some point, the bailey grew quiet, and Accalia realized quite a few men had ceased fighting while they watched the women and the boys. She was glad the boys had been eager to fight with the women.

When the boys were tired of fighting, Accalia playfought against Isobel. She was much harder on Accalia than Thorfinn, naturally. But Accalia was glad for the challenge. Accalia was holding her own—barely—because she hadn’t been trained as a warrior woman from a very young age, but rather to run a household.

The weapons training she’d had was rudimentary at best. Her da had wanted her skilled with using the sgian dubh to protect herself, and to a lesser degree—a short sword. Archery had been more her idea, and she had loved practicing at it. But fighting against Isobel’s sound thrusts and decisive slashes, Accalia felt she was barely holding her own.

She wasn’t one to give up though and stubbornly faced the challenges head on. She could tell Isobel respected her for it as she gave her small smiles whenever Accalia looked like she was faltering but came back with renewed energy and even forced Isobel back a few times.

Isobel wasn’t about to give in and took the offensive, forcing Accalia back even more steps than she’d gained. At one point, Isobel struck Accalia with her shield in a frontal assault, catching her off-guard, and Accalia fell back on her arse.

Pronounced gasps rent the air as Isobel looked a wee bit worried that she had gone too far with her practice. Beathag laughed out loud though. Accalia ignored her.

Thorfinn and then his brothers raced to help Accalia. Before they reached her, Accalia was back on her feet, smiling at Isobel.

“You are as good a warrior as I thought you would be. Thanks be to thee for showing me some of your skills. I would love for you to show me more later.” Accalia knew when it was time to quit. She was so worn out, she wouldn’t make a good showing from now on, she figured.

“Thank you. I didna mean to knock you down with such force.”

“I was getting tired, but I hope to give a better presentation next time.”

“You did an excellent practice fight with me when you havena been trained in the art of war since you were little like I had been.”

“Thanks for telling me that. Would you like to go fishing as wolves?” Accalia thought of fishing at the shallower creek she had seen on her wolf run with Erik.

“Aye!” Thorfinn and his brothers said. “In the loch from the boats.”

“As wolves?” Isobel asked, sounding surprised.

“Aye,” Accalia said, glad the boys wanted to try it again. “We can have the fish for the nooning meal.” She glanced at Erik, who nodded at her, smiling.

He would have to have a guard detail for them, but what she didn’t expect was that Alasdair and his brothers were eager to try such a thing, and before long, boats were rowed out across the loch, and a person would stay with each boat, while the others stripped and shifted and jumped into the loch.

Even though Accalia had thought to go with the women, Isobel and Bessetta went with Alasdair and his brothers. Erik, his sons, Accalia, and Logan went together in another boat, while a mix of wolves from both packs accompanied them in other boats.

She considered asking the boys what they thought about her and Erik mating while they rowed out across the loch, but she wanted to speak to them alone. She was worried they might feel intimidated by their da if he was present while she spoke to them.

“About tonight,” Erik said to his boys, “you will sleep with your nannies.”

They watched him, not saying a word.

Thorfinn said, “Aye.”

“You fought well against Isobel,” Erik told Thorfinn. “She has bested male wolves twice her size.”

Accalia hadn’t known that and realized then that Isobel had to have been holding back when she fought her.

“Truly?” Thorfinn asked.

“Aye. Did you learn anything from her?” Erik asked, dipping the oars into the water and pulling the water behind them.

“Aye, that her shield is a weapon. I never saw anyone use it to knock someone down,” Thorfinn said, sounding much impressed.

“I was proud of you boys for going to Accalia’s aid.”

Accalia was too. “I appreciated it too. I was getting tired but even so, she would have been able to knock me down because I wasn’t prepared for it. But in a fight like that, you must get back up and defend yourself, not give up or you’ve lost the battle.”

“Aye, Accalia is right,” Erik said, then paused and cleared his throat. “She wishes to join me in bed tonight. How do you feel about that?”

Erik did not just say that!

“Will you be our mother?” Hendrie asked, sounding hopeful.

Johnne waited to learn if it was true. Thorfinn was frowning and she wasn’t sure he was ready for her to be his mother, if ever.

“I will speak with you boys alone about it first,” she said, giving Erik a sharp look.

He looked a little guilty that he had brought it up instead of letting her handle it herself, but she assumed he thought she wouldn’t do it soon enough for his liking.

The boys waited expectantly. Everyone else was already stripping, shifting, diving into the water, and fishing, their boats scattered across the loch while Erik, the boys, and she remained seated in the boat.

“All right, how do you feel about me staying with your da tonight?” she asked.

“Every night?” Thorfinn asked, wanting clarification. “Not just one night? It doesna count if ‘tis just one night.”

Erik smiled at her, putting her on the spot where he wanted her.

The other boys were silent, watching her, waiting for her answer.

What if they made love but not all the way and found they didn’t suit? How could she agree that they would stay together forever if they weren’t the right wolves for each other?

“Just the one night,” she said, unwilling to make more of a concession than that and regretting it later.

“Aye!” Erik shouted, his voice carrying across the loch, wolves and those not in their wolf coats watching them.

The boys smiled and Hendrie asked, “Can we go fishing now?”

The notion of her being their mother or anything about mating their da all but forgotten. Fishing in their wolf coats was all that occupied their thoughts now.

“Aye,” Erik said.

The boys stripped off their clothes and shifted, then leaped overboard.

Erik pulled Accalia into a hug and kissed her thoroughly. “You willna regret it.”

She smiled. “I dinna fight as well as Isobel.”

“I canna emphasize all your important qualities enough. I am the one who is sorely lacking in so many of your skills.”

She laughed and kissed him back, loving how he always made her feel cherished, a far cry from when they had first traveled together to his castle.

They stripped off their clothes, shifted, and she leaped overboard, while he followed her and they were soon fishing to their heart’s content, while Logan monitored the shore and them in case anyone had any trouble.

She was glad Erik had agreed to fishing as wolves, and that his sons could try again. It was important to show he trusted them as far as fishing from the boat. And in truth, all three boys caught a fish each this time, proving that practice did make a difference.

The whole idea was so novel for the other wolf pack too, that they were having a wonderful time. She was glad they were doing this. Maybe they could practice archery tomorrow. She was sure they could do a wolf run tonight, and that would be enough to do today.

She wasn’t sure about taking the boys. They would all run with a larger force to protect them. And she still wanted to run with the boys and their da like a family like she had planned for a later excursion.

She hoped they wouldn’t run into any trouble with Freigard and his men.