Page 41 of Wolf Pack

Alasdair could have fallen off his chair he was so surprised. Erik had lost his mate to sickness. Alasdair hadn’t thought hewould ever mate again. Some wolves never mated with another wolf once they had lost theirs.

Alasdair had worried that Erik and Isobel might be interested in each other or even that she might be intrigued by Erik’s brothers because they were also Icelanders, but though they’d smiled and tried to get her attention, she had ignored them. Which he had been glad for.

She and her kin might have been more accepted among Erik’s people than Alasdair’s, but he couldn’t give her up. She had a certain charm that had captivated him from the start, and no matter how busy he was, she was always on his mind. He constantly worried about her well-being, her whereabouts, and the safety of her family.

Hans asked, “Are you going to tell Isobel we’re turning Cleary and Baine after dinner?”

Alasdair nodded. “I wanted her to know she and her family are safe with us.”

“Is she safe withyou?”

Alasdair chuckled. “Perfectly.”

“Bessetta has said the woman has caught your eye. She notices things, you know.”

“She’s a wolf. Sometimes she notices too much.”

Bessetta laughed. “You know I can hear the two of you.”

Alasdair glanced back at Isobel. When she was safely at the keep, he was relieved that she was close by. He had originally intended for her to sit by his side at the head table, but when she expressed her excitement to catch up with her friend, Elene, he couldn't help but let her enjoy their time together this morn.

With the talk he knew he would have with Baldur and speaking about marrying his daughter and having an alliance, he let her eat with Elene again. Besides, Alasdair was delighted to see them converse and share laughter and smiles while eating their meal.

“You should have had her sit up at the high table,” Bessetta said to Alasdair, speaking around Hans.

Alasdair glanced at his sister. “You mean?—”

“Isobel, of course. And aye.”

“She looked so eager to visit with Elene when she arrived at the keep?—”

“You didna have the heart to break them up.” Bessetta smiled at him, broke a piece of bread off, then bit into it. “That is good because I know you want to be with her, but Elene needed to spend time with her. Elene loves it here so far. All the women feel for her after what she’d been through.”

“What about Isobel?”

“Elene told them how she and her cousins sneaked special food and drink to her and gave her furs when she had naught. They talked to Elene when others were asleep, telling her they would help free her, even before Isobel’s uncle planned to take over the clan and failed. It’s helped some of our women to see Isobel in a good light,” Bessetta said.

“But no’ all of them.” Even though Alasdair hadn’t been privy to what was happening in the women’s quarters, he’d seen some of the hateful looks a few women had given Isobel once she had arrived at the keep. Were they jealous that she had intrigued him? Or, more to the point, that she was of Icelandic stock?

But he couldn’t have admired Isobel and her cousins more for risking their lives to befriend a slave.

“When are you going to have Isobel sit at the head table?” Bessetta asked. “I mean, sure, Elene needs to see her, but I want to visit with Isobel also. Since she is staying out at the MacEachans’s croft and then she’ll be pulling guard duty here, I dinna get to know her like I can Elene. I mean, if you want to, have Elene sit up at the head table too.”

Alasdair smiled at his sister. “At dinner.”

“Good.”

“And Elene?” Hans asked.

“Is there a reason you want her to sit up with us?” Alasdair asked, wondering if there was more to his brother’s question than he was letting on.

Hans laughed. “Bessetta brought it up. Dinna see anything more to it than that, brother.”

After the meal,Isobel hugged Elene before she rode back to the croft to help the MacEachens for the rest of the day. Alasdair and Baldur were signing some agreement, and she wondered if he had agreed to marry Baldur’s daughter and ally with Baldur.

Before Isobel could leave the great hall, Alasdair intercepted her.

“If you have any trouble at all, just let me or my brothers know when you are at the croft.”

---