Page 14 of Wolf Heir
He nodded. “Your mother, will she be worried that you were outside the walls when the raiders came?”
“Aye. She will no doubt be upset with me for worrying her so.”
“Has she told you what upset her when she saw me?”
“Nay. I still dinna know what the matter was, but I keep asking and I will eventually get the truth out of her. ”
They finally reached the gates of the castle, now open, and Coinneach brushed Aisling’s soft red hair out of her blue eyes and cradled her face as he kissed her mouth. “When will I see you again?”
“Oh, whenever I have the chance, I’ll meet you in the meadow near your croft. I’ll just give a little wolf howl to let you know that I’m there.” Then she howled in her human form, and the sound of her howl captivated him.
With a backward wave to Coinneach,Aisling rushed into the outer bailey and then into the inner bailey. Her mother was just coming out of the castle and raced to take her in her arms.
“Why were you beyond the castle walls? I didna learn about it until it was too late,” her mother said.
“I thought I would gather the herbs in time. I need to get these to the kitchen.”
“You have his smell on you,” her mother accused her, probably believing that’s why Aisling had been locked out of the castle that night.
“Aye. I stayed with Coinneach and his family. He offered his pallet to me.”
“You smell of a human’s blood. What did you do?”
“I killed a Viking raider before he eliminated Coinneach.”
“Och, Aisling.” Her mother looked at the bow and arrows she was carrying. “You took his bow?”
“Aye, and I’ll learn to use it. I must go, Mother, or lose my position in the kitchen.”
“We will talk more later.”
Aisling knew her mother would question her further, but she didn’t want anyone else to know what she had done.
4
After weeks of rendezvousing with each other, Coinneach found Aisling already waiting in the meadow for him, her body a dark silhouette against the riot of wildflowers. He settled beside her in the tall grass, watching the purple thistles and yellow buttercups bend with each whisper of wind. Above them, the sky played hide-and-seek—brilliant blue one moment, then veiled by clouds drifting like scattered sheep.
The chill in the air meant fall was on its way.
“I still dinna know why your mother is so afraid of me.” He had pondered it for far too long.
Aisling rolled over atop him and rested her chin on his chest, her fingers lazily toying with his hair. “Maybe she is afraid you will marry me and leave her alone.”
“Iwillmarry you. But family being family, I want her to feel the joy in our union and not leave her out in the cold.”
Aisling sighed. “I’ve asked her numerous times what she’s so afraid of concerning you, but she refuses to answer me.”
“I’m going to work at Middleborough Castle,” Coinneach said decisively.
“I would love that. My mother wouldna.”
He swept his hands through her long red tresses. “I canna stay away from you, and Tamhas needs the croft to call his own when our parents can no longer manage it. He’ll marry, and he’ll be content.”
“But you? You are too alpha to want to continue to till the soil until you are old and gray. What would you do at the castle though? Most everyone there has been trained since they were wee lads and lasses to fit a particular role.”
“A fighter.”
“You have no formal training.”Aisling rested her cheek against Coinneach’s chest and listened to his strong heartbeat. She smelled his wolfish scent that she loved so much and absorbed the heat of his body on this late summer’s day. She had no doubt he could do anything he put his mind to, but that didn’t mean the chief would agree to add an untrained warrior to his ranks.
