Chapter 14

14

“ Y ou should have taken your weapons and forced them to release Libby,” Agnes said to Isobel, wringing her hands, a worried frown creasing her forehead. “I know you had every right to do what you did, but you have to remember you’re no’—”

“One of you? A little lass of six is so threatening that the brothers can scare her to death?” Isobel was furious, and she knew Alasdair would give her hell now. “And with all this talk of how they kill Vikings whenever they find them, I couldna risk them killing her.”

“Aye. But if you go around biting and turning humans?—”

“Scots,” Isobel said.

“Anyone,” Agnes said, “without Alasdair’s permission, he will have words with you.”

“He’s coming,” Dawy warned, watching out the window.

Libby and Drummond were in bed again, Conall sitting with them until they fell asleep.

“I had to do it.” Isobel knew they would probably be thrown off the land now, but she felt with all her heart that she’d had no choice. Just like she’d had no choice but to take her family across the ocean for weeks on end and put them in so much danger.

Staying with the clan could have been their death sentence anyway. As much as people had talked about them being outsiders and traitors, she had been certain the chieftain would have ended their lives in Iceland.

“One of the men pulling guard duty with me said that Cleary and his brother were trying to learn who we were. Where we were from. He said we were so fair-haired; he was afraid that Vikings had infiltrated the clan, and Alasdair was unaware of the danger we posed to him and your people.”

Agnes listened, not interrupting her.

“I take full responsibility for what I’ve done. Conall went along with it because he knew I couldna manage two men alone. He should not be punished for my actions.”

Conall said, “Nay, Isobel. I also did it to protect my siblings. If you had not done it yourself, I would have.”

“I fear he will make you leave here,” Agnes said, worried. She ran her hands through her hair, her voice trembling with concern. She glanced at the floor where the younger children had finally fallen asleep on the fur-covered straw beds. She was worried, her eyes darting between the sleeping figures of the two young children and Isobel standing in front of her.

Isobel knew she wouldn’t want to part with Libby and Drummond. Agnes loved them like they were her own children, which she’d never been able to have. The idea of leaving and being separated from them made her heart ache.

"I know," Isobel replied softly, her eyes lingering on the sleeping children. "I don't want them to have to leave here either."

Agnes reached out and placed a comforting hand on Isobel's shoulder. "I love them like they were my own," she said, her voice thick with emotion. "I never thought I could feel like a mother, but they've filled that void in me. I dinna want to see you go.” Tears filled her eyes.

Isobel didn’t know what to say.

Agnes straightened her spine. “I will tell Alasdair I begged you to turn Cleary and Baine to ensure the little ones remained safe.”

Isobel shook her head.

“We'll do everything we can to keep all of you in the pack," Agnes said, determination in her voice.

Dawy shook his head. “Alasdair will know the truth. No one gets anything past him.”

“I wouldna have you take the blame.” Isobel would take the blame for her cousins should they have gotten themselves in trouble, but she would never allow anyone to take responsibility for her actions.

“Alasdair is nearly here,” Dawy warned as he watched out the window.

“You stay here,” Isobel said to Conall, knowing he would want to come with her and speak his mind. She thought she could smooth things over with Alasdair if she went alone.

“You didna make me do it, Isobel,” Conall said. “And I will take responsibility for my actions.”

She was proud of him for doing what was right. Though she still wanted to protect him. His siblings needed him.

“Let me speak with him alone first.” She didn’t want her cousin to have to deal with the angry laird.

She headed outside to intercept Alasdair and headed away from the croft so they could speak in private, though she suspected Agnes, Dawy, and her cousin would be watching out the window. She knew Conall would rescue her if this led to a physical fight between her and Alasdair. She didn’t know Alasdair well enough to know how he would react.

“What were you thinking?” Alasdair asked as he and Isobel continued to close the gap between them.

“That Cleary and Baine were hurting Libby, though I didna even know it was them at first,” Isobel said.

“You couldna have taken them on while swinging a sword?”

She folded her arms and raised a brow. “Me against two men?”

“You know what this cost us?”

“Your pride?”

Alasdair scoffed, though, to an extent, she figured he knew she was right. “What if my people feel you are as untrustworthy as Cleary and Baine? Dangerous to their well-being even?”

“I had to protect my family. You said you would turn them! You said you would protect us. I thought you would lock them up behind the castle walls this eve.”

He released his breath. “As the pack leader, I must turn people if the circumstances warrant. It’s on my conscience. What if they are even angrier that Icelandic wolves turned them? Had you even considered that possibility?”

“Aye, I did. And if they want to fight me, so be it.”

Alasdair shook his head.

“What do you want me to say or do?” She folded her arms. “I willna apologize.”

Alasdair almost smiled, but he was still frowning.

“We will leave here if you tell us to,” she added.

“You canna. No’ with the little ones and the problems you would face as Icelanders and further as wolves in a strange land.”

“We could go with Erik and his kin since they’re Icelanders also, though he has a white wolf pack and we’re gray.”

“Nay.”

She sighed, relieved he didn’t want them to leave. “What must I do to make this right?”

Alasdair looked so sternly at her that she wondered what he was thinking. A stay in the dungeon for a time for her disobedience?

“You and Conall will each take one of the wolves in hand and supervise them for a few hours during the day when you are no’ doing your normal duties or helping out the MacEachens. I believe it will help to bury your differences.”

“Aye. And at night?”

Alasdair raised a brow. “They will stay in the barracks, and others will watch over them. Have you ever turned anyone?”

“Nay.”

He let out his breath with a heavy sigh. “You will have your work cut out for you. Take care that you dinna decide to do anything further to this extent before you have been told to do it.”

“If Libby had been a Scot and your kin, and an Icelander had accosted her?—”

“I would have cut them down with my sword.”

“You are a man, and I’m sure perfectly capable. But they were holding Libby hostage. At least Cleary was. And he could have used her as a shield if I’d tried to fight him with my sword.”

Alasdair inclined his head. “How is Libby doing?”

Isobel was surprised he had changed the subject and asked after her cousin. “Her arm is bruised from him holding her so roughly, shaken, but she finally fell asleep.”

Alasdair shook his head. “This should never have happened.”

“I agree.” Isobel couldn’t believe the laird was letting them off so easily.

She suspected the rest of the clan may not be so generous with them on the morrow. She was sure the word had already spread throughout the pack about what they’d done. But she felt Alasdair owed her an apology for not keeping his promises.

Alasdair bid her a good night, still looking perturbed, mounted his horse, turned, and headed back to the keep. He was tall, handsome, the kind of braw man who would suit her disposition well if she hadn’t ruined it by turning the brothers.

Yet she wouldn’t have done anything different to free Libby from Cleary’s clutches. As soon as she bit him, he’d let go of Libby. Baine had gone for his sword to protect his brother, but Conall bit his arm, and Baine dropped his sword. They had done the best they could at the time.

Though Alasdair hadn’t punished her and her cousin like he could have.

She returned to the croft, angry that this had happened because Alasdair and his people hadn’t done what they promised!

Conall opened the door for her. “Are we banished?”

“Nay.”

“Well, what then?” Conall asked.

“We must watch Cleary and Baine when not performing our other duties.”

“That could be punishment enough.” Conall headed for bed.

Dawy, who had been quiet until now, said, “I will speak on your behalf if you need me to.”

“We both will,” Agnes said.

“Thank you. I dinna think it will be necessary.” At least, Isobel hoped it wouldn’t be.

Isobel and the others breathed in a tentative sigh of relief. Who knew how tomorrow would be when they broke their fast at the castle?

When Alasdair reached the keep, his brothers and his sister were waiting to hear how it went.

“I hope you didna give her too much grief,” Bessetta said. “As a warrior, she will be a good fighter, dinna you think?”

“It wasna her place to turn the brothers. That’s all I’ll say, except that she and Conall are to watch the brothers when their own duty is done.”

“Aye,” Hans said. “It will be done.”

“No’ everyone will like that you are no’ punishing them further,” Rory said. “What do we say about it?”

“Naught about it at all. My decision stands. They were going to Libby’s rescue. Anyone under similar circumstances would have done the same thing. Why are you not abed?” Then he went to his chamber and shut the door. The woman would be his undoing.

Early the next morn, Alasdair arrived at the great hall and saw his people bustling to get food on the trestle tables. Everyone there grew quiet when he walked in. He first looked for Isobel.

He couldn’t help himself. The woman fascinated him to no end, and he hoped his people wouldn’t give her or her cousin grief for her actions last night. To his surprise, Cleary and Baine sat between her and her cousin Conall.

The men were silent when Alasdair’s brothers joined him at the high table.

“Did Cleary and Baine shift at all?” Alasdair asked.

Hans cleared his throat before he spoke. “Aye, for a short while. We had opened the portcullis for morning trade, and they sneaked out before anyone knew it.”

“God’s wounds.” Alasdair couldn’t believe the brothers had gone after Isobel and her kin again if they had when Cleary and Baine were supposed to be always watched!

“As soon as we learned of it, a party of a dozen men, five wearing wolf coats, took off after them, smelling their scents. The brothers headed straight for the croft where Isobel and her kin stayed. They just stared at the croft, pawed at the ground a bit, circled it a couple of times, but they didna seem aggressive as in they wanted to kill Isobel or her cousin for turning them.”

Furious that the brothers could have hurt Isobel and her cousins, Alasdair frowned. “Why did no one already mention that to me?”

“You had gotten in so late, we didna want to disturb you so early in the morn. We finally turned them around and herded them back to the barracks where they slept and woke in their human skin this morn,” Hans said. “Believe me, I gave the men on watch the devil for it. The brothers should never have been able to run on their own.”

“Did you speak with them or Lorne about visiting the croft?” Alasdair asked, still concerned that the brothers wished to harm Isobel and her kin.

“I asked them why they had gone to the croft that morn. They said they couldna help themselves. They didna know why. I dinna know if they were lying or truly dinna know why they did it. Turning into wolves will be a big adjustment in their lives.”

“Aye,” Alasdair said.

“Of course, we talked to them about everything after they turned. Several of us went running with them to make sure they didna do anything they shouldna—like kill our livestock or threaten anyone or even just run away.”

“All right. We’ll have to watch them for any behavior that seems dangerous.” Then Alasdair and his people ate their meal before leaving to do their duties, but he still was irritated that his men, who should have been watching the brothers, hadn’t.

He admired Isobel for doing what he’d told her she had to do. However, he hadn’t expected to see her eating with them at the lower table. Everyone could have watched them then.

He wondered if she had smelled the brothers’ scents around the croft this morning and how she would feel about it. She was most likely angry that the men were not being supervised and potentially putting her and her kin at risk—again.

Before he left the keep, though, he was dying to know what Isobel had been talking to the two men about. They had been listening to her with rapt interest, but they had never said anything in response.

But then Isobel was pulling guard duty on the undamaged walls, looking out to the woods and pastureland for any signs of trouble after the meal. Rory had put Cleary and Baine on the section of the wall that needed to be repaired. Conall was also out there helping with the wall.

While Alasdair was in the inner bailey taking stock of things, Bessetta came out to see him and asked, “Do you know what Isobel was saying to Cleary and Baine?”

“Nay. I did see that they were no’ saying anything in return.” However, Alasdair couldn’t help but be curious about what was said.

“Cleary said that Isobel told them if they came to the croft again as wolves before sunrise, to howl, and she would see to them.”

“See to them?” Alasdair was at once concerned that she meant to tear into them. Though wolves sometimes had to set boundaries with other wolves. It didn’t mean she meant to kill them.

“Aye. I dinna know what she meant. Greet them? Fight them? I thought you should know so you can speak to Isobel and make sure she doesna get herself into any further trouble.” Bessetta smiled at him. “She’s up on the wall walk. No one else is around. Mayhap now would be a good time. Eh?”

“Aye. Do you no’ have any work today?” He knew Bessetta had and didn’t have to remind her of it, but he didn’t want her to watch him when he spoke with Isobel.

“Och, too much work to do,” Bessetta said cheerily, brushing a stray hair out of her face, smiled again, turned on her heel, and entered the keep.

Bessetta was not known for spreading rumors, but she seemed to have taken a liking to Isobel and wanted to make sure she didn't do anything that would anger him or his group. He appreciated her concern as he climbed the spiral stairs in the western tower.

Once on the wall walk, he walked towards where Isobel stood, gazing out at the surrounding land. Isobel stood tall and regal, her posture straight and confident. She turned to face him when she heard his footsteps or caught a whiff of his scent.

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 did you say 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 had every 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?”

“Nay. I will be watching over Cleary and Baine though.”

“No’ at night. They will be in the barracks and the men there will watch them.”

“Like they did before sunset and sunrise this morn?”

Alasdair frowned at her. “Believe me, I will have words with my men over that. They should always be watched.” Then he lost his frown. “You will guard me while I swim in the loch.”

Last night, he had been too angered that he hadn’t kept her and her kin safe, which had resulted in Isobel taking matters into her own hands—or teeth, as it were. But he had regretted not seeing her swim.

She smiled. “It would be my pleasure. I mean, honor.” She inclined her head and continued to watch for signs of trouble when he wanted her to pay attention to him!

Was he mad? She was doing her assigned duties.

“This eve then.” Though he would see her during the nooning meal and the one this evening, he couldn’t speak to her during the meals. Not when she was sitting at a lower table, and he was sitting at the high table. But who had made Cleary and Baine sit with her and her cousin then?

When he reached the stairs, he ran down them to the bottom and then stalked across the inner bailey to speak with Cleary and Baine while rebuilding the wall. “A word with the two of you, but you can continue to work.”

“Aye,” the brothers said.

Conall glanced in their direction, looking curious about what was about to be said, but he continued to work as well.

“You went to the croft by the loch when the gates were open. Why?” Alasdair asked.

“To stretch our legs as wolves. We were driven to do it,” Cleary said.

“But why in that direction? Why not toward the other loch that is closer, or the woods, or just anywhere? Why there?”

“She scared us half to death. We didna know it was her and her cousin who bit us. But we…we had to follow the scent trail of the wolves that bit us. We had to know who turned us,” Cleary said.

“And?”

“Naught else. We were…just driven to learn who.”

Alasdair wasn’t sure that was all there was to it. He glanced at Baine but nodded as if agreeing with everything his older brother said. “Who told you to sit between Isobel and Conall at the meal this morn?”

“Mege,” both Cleary and Baine said at the same time.

“Mege?” She didn’t make seating arrangements or any other decisions of that magnitude. Then Alasdair realized she had made overtures that she was interested in mating him if he was interested in return. Mayhap she thought if she told the men to sit with the Icelanders, trouble would ensue, and Isobel would get herself into difficulties with Alasdair.

“Aye,” Cleary said. “We thought it was because we went to the croft where Isobel and Conall were staying, and Isobel wanted to tell us off.”

“Did she?” Alasdair asked, which would contradict what she had told him.

“Nay. She was nice about everything. She told us what we could expect as wolves, and she said that as Viking wolves, we would be even more—” Cleary paused, his eyes widening as if he realized what he would say probably wouldn’t set well with the Highland clan chief.

“Superior to our kind?” Alasdair offered.

“Aye, but we know she is wrong.”

Alasdair swore he heard Conall snicker. “We are equals as wolves no matter who might have bitten you,” Alasdair said.

But Alasdair would have his sister say something to Mege about involving herself in seating arrangements since Bessetta oversaw the women in the pack.

“It was all right that we sat with them at the meal, was it no’?” Baine asked. “We enjoyed their company.”

“You said no’ a word.” Alasdair couldn’t understand it.

Both Baine and Cleary’s ears turned red.

“They are both smitten with my cousin,” Conall said. “But they’re also cowed by her. She told them to say what they felt, but they were afraid to.”

“We were no’ afraid.” Cleary sounded angry now as he slammed a rock down on the wall.

But Alasdair could tell that was the case already. “Work hard on the wall. You’re doing good work so far.”

Alasdair had no intention of having the two brothers, who were smitten with Isobel, sit with her further.

What if the brothers overcame their shyness with her and earned her favor? Even though they might have hated her for what her people had done to theirs, he’d also wondered at the time if they had been interested in the bonny lass instead. It seemed that was the case. Maybe they even thought she had turned them because she was smitten with them !

There was one other way to rectify the situation. She would sit at the head table with him, his brothers, and his sister. Then Mege and the other lasses who wanted to mate Alasdair would see it was a lost cause. And so would Cleary and Baine if they had an interest in Isobel.