Chapter 17

17

A ccalia was so glad that everyone was happy with her union with Erik. She worried that her uncle might be displeased when they returned to her castle and he learned of it, though he should be glad that Erik was allying with her da. But he could be a tyrant when he didn’t get his way, and she could see him treating Erik and his kin poorly. She intended to do everything in her power to keep that from happening.

Then Erik sat down with Accalia at the head table and Bessetta hugged her. “Congratulations. I’m so glad the two of you mated. You’re perfect for each other. And the boys adore you. In case you two were headed for a mating, Isobel and I brought pretty gowns to wear to your wedding.”

“You knew it would happen all along, didna you?” Accalia asked, so glad that Bessetta and Isobel were here to celebrate with them. She drank some of her honeyed mead.

“Aye. Though I had to see it for myself, it was clear that you loved each other once we saw you together,” Bessetta said. “Before that, I told Isobel how sweet you were and how you would be so good with Erik.”

“But I was never a nanny for any of the bairns in the pack.”

Bessetta laughed. “You were always responsible for the whole of the pack, but even when you were young if a wee one was hurt, you were there to take care of scratches and more. If one was crying, you had to learn what was the matter. You have always shown you cared about the children in your pack. Even in mine!”

Anyone would have done that, Accalia was thinking. It didn’t mean she would have made a good mother to any of them.

“Remember the time a little girl had lost her mother in a boating mishap, and you let her sleep with us that night? I was fine with it of course, but I was surprised when you were the one who offered. We talked for so long about…well, I canna even remember any longer, but we fell asleep. And until you left to return home, she sought you out as if you had become her best friend in the world.”

“She cried to see me go.” She had forgotten all about that.

“Aye, and I had to be there for her once you left. But you had a special knack for making a lass or lad feel loved.” Bessetta tore off a piece of her bread and began eating it.

“How is she now?”

“Married to a wolf who treasures her, and they have wee bairns of her own—twin boys. They have a croft and raise sheep.”

“I’m so glad.” Accalia hadn’t seen her when she had visited with Bessetta some years ago. “On another subject, Erik wants to have the wedding this day and then on the morrow we could travel to my castle to celebrate with my pack.” She couldn’t wait to do it.

“Aye, Alasdair will agree to it. My brother and Isobel would be honored to celebrate with your da and the rest of your kin,” Bessetta said.

“I’m thrilled.” She was ecstatic that her best friend and her family would celebrate with them again.

“Next, you’ll tell me that little wolf pups are coming.” Bessetta took a bite of her mutton stew.

“Isobel had been married to Alasdair for some time before she was with child.” Accalia figured it would be the same with her.

“Aye, but it might no’ be long for you. You never know.”

Accalia glanced at Erik to see if he had heard that part of their conversation, her body warming with embarrassment.

Then Erik leaned over and kissed Accalia. “Alasdair and Isobel are delighted to enjoy a second wedding with your family’s pack.”

“I’m so glad.” She hoped Alasdair’s presence, as an ally of her da, would help to subdue any objections her uncle might have to her marriage to Erik.

Erik handed her a piece of his bread. She smiled and took it.

“I’ve sent a messenger to your da to let him know we’re mated and coming. He’ll learn about it a day before we arrive.”

“Good. He will have everything prepared for us then.” She hoped her da would speak with her uncle and tell him to welcome Erik and his kin as he should. He would act one of two ways if his past actions indicated how he would treat them. He would make himself scarce, showing his contempt for the situation, or he would give Erik and his people grief, which she thought was more likely.

Once they finished the meal, everyone left to put on their best clothes while Etta, Bessetta, and Isobel helped Accalia into a blue cotehardie, a woolen gown with embroidered trim around the neckline and sleeves that Etta and some of the other ladies had made for her which she so appreciated.

“We began working on it the moment we learned Erik was bringing you here,” Etta said.

“’Tis beautiful.”

Then they attached a floral garland to Accalia’s hair.

“I’ve got to make sure the lads are ready.” Etta rushed off to check on them.

Cook had enlisted several of her kitchen staff to make small cakes stacked on top of each other. Erik and Accalia had to kiss each other over the cakes. Accalia knew the ritual and hoped she and Erik didn’t knock them over because that could be bad luck.

Then the ladies walked her down to the great hall, everyone dressed in their finery, waiting for Accalia to join Erik. She felt like a princess as bagpipes, a viol, flutes, and drums played when she walked into the hall. They stopped playing the music, and she joined Erik, who was smiling at her and took hold of her hands. She was on top of the moon.

His gaze was warm and intense on her, his mouth curved up a hint. “Behold my oath, I will take no other she-wolf to be my wife.”

She smiled brightly at him and his smile grew. “Behold my oath, I will take no other wolf to be my husband.”

Erik placed a gold ring on her finger that he had made for the occasion. “I love you, lass.”

“As much as I love you.”

Since they had already consummated the relationship and consented to marriage to one another in front of witnesses, they were now married—which for wolves, meant forever.

Everyone cheered them. Then Cook brought out the stacked cakes. All the chatter and laughter ceased as Erik and Accalia very carefully—so as not to knock them over—kissed each other in front of his pack and Alasdair’s and Isobel’s. Her breasts touched the cakes and there was a hush of worried conversation.

But then Erik and Accalia separated from the kiss, wanting more, but not wanting to upset the cakes and create a disaster.

The cake was offered to Erik and Accalia first, though Erik glanced at Cook with a twinkle in his eye and she looked crossways at him. “Dinna tell me you want me to taste your cake first.”

He chuckled and took the cake. “I have finally won you over.”

Cook scoffed, but tears of joy filled her eyes, and she even cast him an elusive smile.

Then he fed some of the cake to Accalia, and she did the same to him. It was delicious. The wolfhounds thought so as they scarfed up any crumbs they’d dropped.

“The best as always,” Accalia said to Cook, who looked grateful for the compliment.

Erik and Accalia joined their friends and his brothers as the cake was served. “That’s what I always love about you, Accalia,” Erik said. “You always take a moment to thank or compliment people for their work. Coming from you means the world to them.”

“It is well deserved.”

The musicians began to play music again, and Erik and Accalia helped form a circle, men and women holding each other’s fingers and moving to the left, then moving their right foot to strike their left foot gracefully while dancing in the Carole. Dancers would sing at the same time. She loved doing this with Erik, for the first time.

Accalia broke free of Erik and said, “We’ve got to get the boys to join us.”

“Of course we do.” Erik was as eager to dance with them.

They both dragged the boys into the line, and all of them were laughing as the boys messed up the steps a few times, even though the dance was simple to learn. But it made it even more fun.

Servers brought tankards of mulled wines, ale, and honeyed mead and offered them to those watching the dancing. Cook was busy preparing capons and muttons on the spit, while others were baking bread, and beaten eggs were used for thickening sauces.

For hours, pack members danced, drank, and sang in celebration. And then when the meal was cooked, everyone took their seats and feasted to their hearts’ content.

“You are beautiful,” Erik told Accalia. “I’m glad that Etta had the foresight to make a gown for your wedding.”

“Etta had been hopeful. I knew her from before when she was human. Like Cook, she and the others on the original staff didna know that I was a wolf like you, so they were afraid you would turn me. But since they knew me, she wanted me to be your mate. She liked me. She wasna sure who else you might end up mating otherwise and they all knew it could affect how they did their jobs if they didn’t like the woman you ended up with.”

Erik smiled. “I wouldna have ever married anyone who wasna good with my staff and the boys this time. I learned my lesson the last time. That was one of the reasons I brought you to my keep. To see how you interacted with everyone.”

“That makes you a good pack leader. Someone else might no’ have cared.”

“No’ me.”

“I felt the same way about you.”

“Oh?”

“Aye. If you had treated your staff poorly, I wouldna have mated you.”

He laughed. “Then we both found the perfect mate.”

She kissed him. “We did. The boys seem happy.”

“They are. Ever since you’ve been here, they’ve been happy, barely quarrelsome, clean, and helpful. Everyone has said so and they know ‘tis all because of you. The boys are excited about the journey to your castle. They’ve never traveled that far on horseback.”

“I hope they can manage.”

“We might be taking it a little slower is all. We’ll have tents also to make the journey easier.”

“You didna have them when you ferreted me away from my castle.”

He leaned over and kissed her. “I hadna decided to steal you away until the very last moment and then I made up my mind. The men and I hadna needed the tents. But I would have brought one for you if I had thought I would take you with me. On this journey, we will bring them.”

“You hadna thought to take me with you? I had believed you had intended to do it from the onset.”

“The closer I got to your home, the more I thought about it, and the more I realized I needed to have you meet my sons first.”

“Which I understood once I had met them. Their fondness for me helped me to decide to mate you even sooner. Though I wouldna have waited much longer.”

He smiled. “I’m glad for that. How will your da feel about us mating and marrying here?”

“He will have allied with you and be glad for it. My uncle was the only one who was the holdout. He didna want me to marry you.”

“Will he have changed his mind, do you think?”

“I hope so, as I’m fond of my uncle. But if he doesna still agree, mayhap he will change his feelings after some time. All that matters is Da approves and he will. When we return to my castle, I will pack my clothes and bring them to Whitehaven.” She couldn’t help but worry that her uncle might cause trouble for Erik though.

The tips of Erik’s ears reddened. “Uh, aye, that was another miscalculation on my part. We will bring your things with us.”

After everyone offered their congratulations and enjoyed the ale and food, several of the pack members from both packs went on a wolf run with the newly married couple. A few wolves were a little drunk, so more sober wolves were watching out for them.

Those on guard duty hadn’t had as much to drink to be sure they could serve and protect the families. The boys enjoyed playing as wolves like they had the night before, chasing each other, tackling one another, nipping tails and necks in a show of juvenile dominance.

Even Alasdair’s and Erik’s brothers spent time roughhousing with each other, something that Erik and Alasdair would have joined in on. But now that they had mates, they were playing with them and not with their brothers. Though not wanting to leave Bessetta out of all the fun, Accalia played with her too.

That was another reason Erik loved Accalia. She was fun to be with and loyal to her friends.

Once the boys had worn themselves out, everyone returned to the keep. It had been a nice night out, stars filling the dark void, a light breeze blowing, a grand way to celebrate their mating and marriage as a mated couple in their wolf coats.

But now it was time to settle in for the night and tomorrow they would prepare to leave after breaking their fast. After putting the boys to bed, Erik and Accalia returned to their bedchamber to make love, though Erik was concerned that Accalia’s uncle might cause trouble for him when they arrived at her home.

He hoped he could maintain his composure and not lash out at the man, should that occur. He wanted Accalia and his sons to see the good side of him, but if pushed into action, he wouldn’t hesitate to act.