Page 9 of Wolf Pack

“Stay under the shelter and hold on,” she shouted to Libby and Drummond.

Waves rocked the boat until they grew so high that Inge and Conall struggled to keep the ship from overturning. Rain poured down on them, washing the salty water off their skin and chilling the air.

Their hearts beat frantically. Elene, who hadn’t been on a ship since she was stolen years ago, looked as white as the whitecaps on top of the breaking waves.

Isobel wished they could shift into their wolves for warmth and protection from the cold, but they couldn’t manage the ship while wearing their wolf coats.

“We have to start bailing.” Elene sounded panicked.

“Just hold on, Elene. When the seas settle, we’ll bail out the water.” Isobel steered the ship, angling it so the wave wouldn’t flip them over.

They battled the storm for hours, and finally, the lightning and thunder grew more distant, the waves and wind died down, and she hoped she had gotten them back on course.

Getting sick, Elene tossed her last meal overboard.

“We start bailing now,” Isobel said.

They were all wet but had to sit higher on the water. She just hoped their ship hadn’t suffered any damage, which was the cause of all the water inside the vessel, now covering their ankles. Instead, she hoped the waves crashing over their bow had caused it.

Once they had bailed out most of the water, they were good for two days, though then they became becalmed on the third day, which meant fishing with nets and rowing.

Then, several severe storms plagued them again during their journey, with rogue waves threatening to overturn them or sink them. They bailed out the water until they were ready to give up and confirmed that the sea had won.

“I canna do it any longer,” Libby complained, pouring another mug of seawater overboard.

“Just be glad you are no’ in the water now,” Drummond pointed at a telltale sign of a shark’s fin.

“Basking shark. Mother said they go closer to Scotia’s shore in the summer and are nearer to the surface,” Isobel said, feeling a sense of hope they were getting closer to their destination.

The sky was clear and blue, with wisps of white clouds just over the horizon. The sun was beating down on them, warming them.

Isobel brushed her tangled hair from her eyes, the wind sweeping it back over her face. She needed to braid it again as she had done with young Libby’s hair, but their hair was so salty and disheveled it had been nigh impossible. Even Elene’s, Conall’s, and Drummond’s hair were tangled messes.

They all looked a sight.

The wind filled the sail, and they didn’t need to row that hard, unlike on the days they’d been becalmed on a glassy sea.

The waterproof tent in the middle of the longship had protected them and their supplies to a degree, and they’d taken turns sleeping beneath it. A brazier had provided heat, and they used it to cook any fish they had caught.

“We’re getting low on fish,” Conall said.

They’d survived on fresh fish, smoked fish, and flatbread they’d brought and drank mead and freshwater—sometimes collecting it from the storms that had pelted them.

“Mayhap, we can catch the shark and eat him.” Drummond tossed another load of saltwater into the ocean.

“He’s as big as the ship!” Conall shook his head. “Just keep bailing, or we’ll be in the water with him, and he’ll eatyou.”

Though they soon wore out, Libby and Drummond had helped to row the ship. Elene rarely spoke, and Isobel sensed shedidn’t believe they would find their way to Scotia. But seeing the shark made Isobel feel they were on the right path.

Then she smelled something different—like soil, though she couldn’t see land in the vast ocean. Elene lifted her chin and smelled the air. Did Elene smell it too?

“It canna be,” Conall said. “Do you smell earth?”

They all watched for any sign of land and then a great big black seagull flew in their direction. They whooped and hollered, but just as quickly, they quieted, knowing landing on the shore could be dangerous for them if Scots spied them from the cliffs.

“I do, Bodolf,” Drummond said.

“No more using the name Bodolf,” Isobel said.

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