Page 12 of Wolf's Redemption

“You have saved me, sweetness, from Lothair’s underground chamber. NowIwill keepyousafe.” He stepped away from her.“Come. We need to leave. Once they discover my escape, we will have the entire keep guard to contend with.”

Her eyes widened further.

Good. Perhaps she would see him as the lesser of two evils. “Keep your head low.”

He took her arm and guided her into the tunnel. She did not protest. He pulled the stack of chests back into place behind them, plunging them into darkness. This hidden passageway had served their pack well, twice now. They could not afford to reveal this advantage, nor lose it.

Ulrik pushed past her, crouching low and taking the lead. Each brush of his shoulders against the damp walls released the musty smell of moss and algae. He traversed the short distance, following the tunnel as it took a turn first to the left then the right. He kept a firm, but gentle, grip on her arm. The darkness was no hindrance to his enhanced vision, but it would all but blind her. He halted at a second door and pushed it open. His sword at the ready, they exited into the clutches of a prickly bush.

Ulrik surveyed their surroundings, getting his bearings. As he suspected, they weren’t far from the postern gate. Had Lothair thought to post a guard there after Gaharet’s escape? Their kind were stronger, faster, and had all the enhanced senses their wolf gave them, but they could not climb the ramparts unaided. With the concealed entrance the only other access to the bailey, other than the main gate, Lothair would have reasoned this was how Gaharet had evaded him.

His ears pricked at the shuffled movements from above—the keep guard on patrol. They did not walk the ramparts as they should, rather they stood, huddled together. One yawned. Another muttered about the chill in the air, wishing to be at home in bed.Imbeciles.Lothair would have them flogged for their inattention, but it suited his purpose well.

He pulled the woman against him, banding his arm about her waist. She barely reached his chin, and she tilted her head back to look at him.

“We are going to run. You are going to keep quiet. No screaming. Agreed?”

The brief flash of defiance in her eyes faded and she pressed her lips together in a thin line.

She gave him an abrupt nod. “Let’s do this. I’m not going to be held accountable for something I didn’t do. Not this time.”

There was hurt and betrayal beneath the squaring of her shoulders and the determined thrust of her chin. Her pain clung to her, as visible to him as the pinched expression on her face.

Something shifted within his heart. He wanted to…What? Take it away? Wrap her up in my arms and protect her so she would never feel such pain again? Kill the one who had betrayed her?

His wolf pushed to the surface, and he tightened his grip, pressing their bodies together, her lush curves soft against the hardened planes of his chest. She swallowed, and an unexpected scent caught his nose, sending a pulse of heat straight to his cock. Arousal. He leaned in and ran his nose along the curve of her throat. She trembled. A growl rumbled in his chest. Her scent deepened. Oh, he would definitely have her in his bed soon. Or any bed. Or on the forest floor. He did not care where, but he would have her.

A muffled laugh from above broke the spell. Right now, he needed to get them beyond the grounds of Langeais Keep and into the forest.

He touched a finger to her lips. “Not a sound.”

She nodded. He released her from his embrace and grabbed her uninjured hand.

“Mon Dieu. Would you look at that?” A guard’s voice rang out.

Ulrik stilled.

“L’enfer.The moon.”

Ulrik’s spine tingled. What about the moon? From their position flush against the keep, he could not see it. He could feel it, though, and sense its fullness. Was that what had caught their attention? It mattered not. With the guards focusing on the moon, this was their chance.

Keeping low and hugging the wall for as long as possible, he ran down the slope, her hand clenched in his. He only slowed as they approached the postern gate, the scent of two men, and steel, coming from mere feet beyond the entrance.

Merde.

If Lothair had informed the keep guard of his confinement, he would need to kill them, too.

He slipped through the opening with the woman in tow. These two guards were more alert, but fortune favored him again. He recognized them. Two recently invested chevaliers. They were no match for him, though he had not the desire to kill them unless they gave him no choice. They were mere boys.

He pulled the woman in behind him, keeping his sword arm free.

The guards snapped to attention, eyeing his torn shirt and the woman behind him, draped in his surcoat. “Seigneur Ulrik.”

One boy peered around him and grinned. “And Ma Dame.” He nudged his fellow guard.

“Looking for somewhere quiet?” asked the other guard, grinning.

It seemed Lothair had kept knowledge of his imprisonment to a trusted few.

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