Page 49 of Wolf Pack

But Dawy didn’t seem happy about it as he frowned at Isobel. “The clan chief didna know where you went?”

“Nay. We had packed our things before my uncle tried to kill the chieftain and left right after that. We never saw anyone following us. They would have no idea where we ended up. If…” She paused and ran her hands through her hair in frustration.

“What are you thinking?” Conall asked.

“Gods, what if theyhadcome after us? I was thinking they were already here. But they could have come after us and landed first because they had more manpower, stronger rowers, better winds, just any reason.” Isobel’s head was filled with tension.

“My thought exactly,” Dawy said. “Though it is good news, they’re no’ wolves, or they would have come here before long.”

“Had they plans to leave Iceland to raid here before you escaped?” Agnes asked.

“Vigge, the chieftain’s son, said they had already gone, but the chieftain knew my uncle was going to try and kill him. What if the chieftain told Ari to hold off leaving but no’ to show himself until he needed him? That way, it appeared the chieftain didn’t have that many men to support him at the longhouse.”

That wouldn’t be good. If it were the case, not only would they have been raiding since they were there already, but they would have been searching for her and her kin. Still, they might have believed she and the others would never have made it on their own to Scotia. Chills ran up her spine, believing no one had followed them across the ocean.

“You must tell Alasdair. He’ll want to know this,” Agnes said.

“Aye. I will.” She would tell him tonight when he came to the loch, hoping he wouldn’t be angry with her for not telling him sooner. Or mad at her for being a member of that clan.

After eating the fish dinner and getting the younger ones down for bed, Agnes and Dawy also went to bed.

Conall walked outside with Isobel and breathed in the fresh air. “Are you going to guard Alasdair at the loch again tonight?”

Isobel looked crossly at him, but she was fighting a smile. She couldn’t wait to see him, though she hoped he wouldn’t be angry with her once she told him about Ari. “Whoever told you such a thing?”

“Hey, even I was asked about your relationship with the pack leader while working on the wall.”

She wouldn’t have shared the information with Conall, but she didn’t want him to leave the croft for any reason while she visited Alasdair. At the castle, it was impossible to keep any secrets. Then again, the pack had still shared their meeting at the loch.

“Aye.” She wondered how that had happened unless someone had been watching out for Alasdair while he was swimming, which neither had suspected.

“That’s all I wanted to know. Since Alasdair plans to turn Cleary and Baine tonight, I figure they willna bother us this eve. They’ll be locked up in the barracks with the other men and willna be able to leave the castle.”

“Aye, true. So we’ll have naught to worry about.” At least not until the morning when she returned to the keep and ate breakfast there.

“Are you going to sit out here until he shows up?” Conal glanced at the dark sky filled with stars.

“Nay. I’m tired. I’ll rest a bit and listen for his arrival. I’ll hear his horse when he comes.”

“All right. I’m going to bed. I’m exhausted.”

“Me too. But in a good way.”

They returned to the croft and closed the door as quietly as possible. Conall settled down under his furs. Isobel lay on top of hers, planning to close her eyes, and didn’t intend to fall asleep. But when she heard Libby scream, she was startled awake. Libby screamed again. She was outside the croft in the bracken, the door to the home left wide open!

Isobel yanked off her clothes, shifted, and raced out of the croft to rescue Libby. Her cousin had slept-walk before. Isobel hadn’t expected her to do it now. Conall, likewise, was wearing his wolf coat and rushed out after her.

When Alasdair heard a child screaming,he thought it was Libby. They had searched everywhere for Cleary and Baine and hadn’t located them, not even anywhere around the croft. Had they slipped through their search parties and found a way to reach Isobel and her kin?

His heart racing, Alasdair and Hans galloped toward the sound of the child’s screams, the rest of his men who had split off from them converging on them as they raced to save the child.

That’s when he smelled that Cleary and Baine had navigated through the trees here, crossing the creek, and were moving through the bracken. The ferns were so tall that they hid a man who stood his full height. A rider on a horse could see above it. They might not be able to see the brothers, but they could smell their scent.

Suddenly, Alasdair heard wolves growling. He assumed Isobel and Conall had gone to rescue Libby in their wolf coats. A man cried out. Alasdair thought it was Cleary’s voice.

“Stay back, or I’ll kill you,” Baine shouted. Then he screamed out in pain.

Alasdair feared they wouldn’t make it there in time to take charge of the situation. Libby was sobbing. Cleary and Baine were groaning. One of the wolves was growling. Then he heard Isobel’s voice, soothing, coaxing. “You’re okay, Libby. Come on. I’ll take you inside.”

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