Page 38 of Wolf Alliance

“I’m sure Erik will expect me to eat with him again. I’ll see you off to bed this eve.” Accalia hugged each of them and kissed the tops of their heads.

They loved her hugs, and she enjoyed their hugs back. She hadn’t expected them to cherish them, but they were now hugging her freely at spontaneous times and she was glad she hadn’t thought they were too old for such nonsense. In truth, everyone loved a hug, if they were honest with themselves.

She even wondered how it would feel to be embraced by Erik in a way that was much more of a hug. She thought of being with him in his bed, legs intertwined, his mouth on hers, their bodies naked and pressed against each other. If she kept thinking of it, she’d end up in his bed with him to see.

Erik wasn’t in the great hall yet, so Accalia turned and stalked toward Beathag, grabbed her arm, startling her and she gasped.

“Come with me.” Accalia pulled her out of the great hall, past Erik as he arrived with his brothers and the other men who had been working on the wall.

He frowned at them and waited to see what was happening, while his brothers and the others walked into the great hall. Accalia had a job to do, but not in front of everyone in the pack.

She shoved Beathag against the wall outside the great hall, her hands on her shoulders, forcing her to stay there. “I dinna know what you are playing at. But you have no chance to mate Erik if you think you do. No’ even if I leave here. You willna disrespect me again or you will see a side of me you dinna want to.”

Accalia didn’t give the woman a chance to explain herself or apologize. Accalia released her, then turned to Erik and smiled. She joined him and he took her hand and they entered the great hall together.

“Do you want to explain to me what that was about?” Erik asked.

“Nay. ‘Tis a matter between the two of us.” She didn’t believe Erik needed to intercede on her behalf. If she had to manage a staff, she needed to do it her way. She sat next to Erik at the head table. “What’s going on with the men from your homeland?”

The men who had come to see Erik were sitting at a lower table.

“They are well-trained warriors with our clan,” Erik said, as the servers brought them platters of wild boar. “We tried to convince them to come with us, but they stood by Leifson. He can be erratic and moody. And if he doesna like anything you’ve said or done, he’ll fight you to the death.”

She ate some of her boar. “You wouldna think of leaving, would you?”

“Nay.”

“Good. As to the earlier matter, I’m sorry we were running as wolves when Freigard’s men attacked and that I put your sons at risk.”

Erik looked surprised she felt that way and leaned over and kissed her cheek. “The men who tried to kill you were the ones strictly at fault. They shouldna have been on my lands in the first place without invitation. None of my people should feel they canna go for a run as a wolf or otherwise in my territory.”

“Are you and I still running together this eve?” Accalia asked Erik, suspecting he would say no, worried about her safety.

“Aye, we said we would and these men willna keep us from running through our lands when we wish it unless you dinna want to.”

She was surprised he would sayour lands, this time when they werehis, and she wasn’t even a pack member. “Aye. I look forward to it.” She would fight the wolves herself if she had the chance.

“Will you stay with me this eve?” Erik looked directly at her, appealing to her as a man who desired more of a relationship between them.

Liking that he was trying hard to appeal to her, she smiled and stole a slice of his bread from his wooden plate. “Nay. Though ‘tis tempting.” She had noticed he no longer had Cook sample the food before he ate it.

His smile was wickedly wolfish as if he knew she was considering staying with him.

11

While Erik finished a slice of boar, he needed to tell Accalia about the guests visiting them.

“We are having guests on the morrow. Alasdair, his mate, Isobel, and some of his clansmen, including his sister, Bessetta, will stay with us for a few days. His mate is an Icelander, but now one of us. She’s a wolf,” Erik said to Accalia, again hoping that Alasdair wouldn’t bring either of his bachelor brothers with him if one might sway Accalia to look upon him more favorably.

Erik had considered telling Alasdair to leave them behind, but he knew Alasdair would be highly amused and be sure to bring them then.

“Oh, oh, Alasdair? I know him and his clan.”

Erik stared at Accalia for a minute. He hadn’t thought her da had gotten along with Alasdair’s clan or he might have already mated her off to one of Alasdair’s brothers.

“Bessetta played with me when they visited my clan.” Accalia smiled, appearing pleased with the memory. “Alasdair and his brothers teased us mercilessly, but we always had the last laugh.” She chuckled. “Once Alasdair took over his clan, he was all businesslike, much like you. But when he was younger, he was full of mischief.”

Was that why Accalia was so good at besting Erik? She’d had the experience of doing so with Bessetta against her brothers?

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