by Sable Grey
“You make it difficult not to bite you, woman.” Biel growled from behind them. Loegaire lifted his head to look at his brother, then down at Cait. Something in his eyes glittered but he said nothing for a several moments.
“Why don’t you make yourself useful and go find us some water. I have a feeling bonny here isn’t finished with us and I am too out of breath to move.”
Biel grumbled something before rising and without pulling on his clothes did as his brother wished. The moment he was gone, Loegaire looked at Cait.
“He has not bitten you? He has not marked you as his mate?”
Cait blinked. “No. He said it was my choice and he would not do it until I wanted it.”
“And when did you want it?”
Was it that obvious? “When he and I were in the stables. When I saw him with his teeth and his claws and his yellowed eyes. I wanted it so deeply I nearly wept.”
“Do you know what happens when you become his mate?”
She shook her head.
“When you look at him you ache for him, are drawn to be one with him. You smell him even when he isn’t close to you. You feel his heat the moment he walks into the room.” Loegaire looked at her directly. “You would do anything to free the wolf inside of him and inside of yourself.”
She licked her lips. He was looking at her so intently. The door opened a moment later she breathed out, thankful Biel had returned. The room had felt cold without him. As he drew near she breathed in deeply and then froze. Her head snapped around and she found Loegaire still looking at her.
A moment later shouts sounded from outside. In an instant Loegaire and Biel stood at the window.
“They’re here.” Biel’s voice vibrated around the words.
“Who?” Cait rushed to the window and stood between them as an arch of a hundred flames swept from inside the walls, lighting up the sky and then the ground where an army of riders galloped from the banks of the loch toward the walls.
Cait started as she saw the arrows pierce some and Biel’s hands instantly pulled her away from the window. “Stay inside. We will have our wounded brought in to you and the other women. Don’t leave the castle while I’m gone.”
“I’m afraid.”
Biel kissed her roughly before reaching for his clothes. “I won’t let them get to you, my Cait.”
“And if they do?”
Loegaire is the one that answered. “Then run that little sword of yours through the heart of the first one of the bastards that gets through the door.”
She stared at them as they dressed quickly and then left her. Die fighting.
***
It wasn’t until hours later that the sounds of battle ceased. Men were brought into the Great Hall where Cait and the other women tended to them as best as they could. When the fighting grew quiet, many released sighs of relief. Cait stood and gripped her sword, waiting to see who would enter the doors now. She would do as her brother-in-law suggested. She would not let them take her. She would fight until they killed her.
The doors opened and Uif’s dark head of hair poked inside first. She breathed out but that breath halted as he moved farther into the room.
“An arrow. All the way through.” He lugged Biel inside.
“Have they gone?” One of the women called.
“Just inside the trees. They’ve not penetrated our walls. Many of their own are wounded too. They will attack again.” He heaved his brother to Cait’s feet and then knelt beside him. “I will pull the arrow from him if you will ready the linens.” He called over his shoulder for one of his brothers, instructing him to bring a fired blade so he could close the wound once the arrow was removed.
“He will scream against the pain.” Uif warned and Cait nodded. “Hold him as still as you’re able.” She moved around and lifted his head to her lap so she could slip her arms beneath his. Her heart pounded as she watched Uif break the head of the arrow off behind him. Then with one mighty jerk, he pulled the arrow out the front. Blood pooled and one of the women pressed the linens to the wound.
Loegaire brought in the fired sword and reached around Cait to help her hold Biel. Uif’s eyes glittered slightly.
“Forgive me, brother.” His voice cracked as he nodded. The woman pulled the linens back and he touched the flat blade against the wound. Biel’s eyes opened and his shout bounced through the hall as he jerked against the arms that held him. Cait leaned forward, his burning flesh stinging her nose and pressed her lips to his temple.
“Once more.” Uif whispered as a tear rolled down his cheek. Loegaire heaved his brother up to his side, holding him while Cait wrapped her arms around her husband and held him. His shout was followed by desperate cries of pain.
She wept as she cradled him in her arms. She kissed his face as he drew ragged breaths. Emotion filled her so that she shook.
“They are coming.” Someone called from outside.
“They’re past the second wall.” One of the women called from the door, closed it and rushed farther into the room. “There are not as many as there were.”
“Prepare yourselves.” Cait took a breath and looked down at her husband. She picked up her sword just as the door opened and Loegaire and his brothers entered.
“Push to the back of the castle.” Loegaire called but Cait did not budge. “Go!”
“I will not leave my husband.” She looked back to find the other women pulling up the wounded’s weapons. “We will all stay and fight.” Adrenalin pumped through her and her body shook as Loegaire looked back at her.
“We call the wolf to defend you, bonny.” His yellow eyes glowed as he stared at her. She felt a bond tie between them and then the others when they slowly turned to look at her too. They began to shift. Some of the women screamed. Others only gasped. Bones cracked, muscles stretched until each one of them took on the forms of large grey wolves.
She felt no fear at all. Instead it all felt familiar and a sense of belonging settled over her. Suddenly a blinding pain erupted and her sword clattered to the ground. She stared at her hand as her nails extended and curved into those of sharp claws. Her shoulders popped with agonizing pain. Her heart beat accelerated and she felt herself stretching forward onto all fours as hair pushed painfully up, thick and coarse, from the pores of her skin.
When the pain stopped suddenly she felt a rush of freedom, power, and possessive anger. It filled her and she bared her teeth as the door of the castle was thrown open. As one she leapt with her husband’s brothers. Her teeth connected with the flesh of one man’s throat. One jerk and she felt his neck snap. She would not let them get to Biel!
She leapt at another, yelped as a sharp pain hit her side and sent her backwards. Before she leapt back to her feet, Loegaire and Uif attacked the man viscously. The pain in her side seemed minimal. She lunged again. And again. The coppery taste of their enemy in her mouth.
She felt mad with blood lust and she didn’t stop until she was standing in the doorway, staring out at those that had retreated. Her chest heaved as she backed into the castle again. And as quickly as she’d changed, the pain came again. She curled up on the floor, whimpering against it until she fell into darkness.
***
“Bonny,” Loegaire’s voice found her and pulled her from blackness. She opened her eyes. She was in her chamber. In her bed. Her side ached and when she lifted her hand there she found it bandaged. Jerking her hand up she breathed out to find five fingers and no paw.
But it had happened. She could still taste the blood in her mouth. Her mind recalled how savagely she’d attacked and killed the men that had tried to come into the castle. Her stomach turned and she bent over the side of the bed as she heaved.
A large hand rested on her back. It was Loegaire that held her hair away from her face and then eased her back down to the blankets. Uif moved to clean the floor. Neither said a word. She felt the heat beside her and turned her head. Biel slept next to her. She reached for his hand.
“You were
very brave for him,” Loegaire said quietly after a moment and then grew quiet again. His large hand stroked her hair. Uif bent to kiss her cheek. But she didn’t look at either of them. She lay there watching her husband, finding comfort in the rhythm of his breath.
Chapter 5
Doane Gilpatrick marched his army to the gates of the first wall around the new fortress where his brother’s home stood almost two months prior. Biel met him at those gates; gaze swimming the faces of the men but Cait’s father was not among them. It disappointed him for he knew his presence might have lifted her spirits.
“I have come upon the request of my son, Ewan Gilpatrick, to offer my assistance in a looming battle he described to be on its way.” Doane’s narrow face held no emotion. They were a month late. The battle had already taken place and Biel’s men had pushed the enemy’s army back.
An arrow suddenly arched in the air and then struck at Biel’s feet. A second followed. Anger welled inside of him. Those were the signals from his men who’d been sent to watch for another group meant to ambush them upon sighting Gilpatrick’s small army.
“You play so carelessly with your son’s life. Has no one in this family have any feelings for one another?” Biel snatched up the arrow. “You think me so foolish that I would not be prepared for your ambush. As you sit there upon your mount, your second group is being captured.”
A muscle in Doane’s face twitched and he looked beyond Biel. Biel needn’t turn. He knew that it was Ewan and Cait that approached, that they’d most likely heard what had happened.
“How could you, Father?” Ewan’s voice rose before he halted at Biel’s side. “What of mine or Cait’s safety? Did you not consider us at all? Just this miserable piece of land? Cait’s father will not approve.”
“Cait’s father leads the second army.” Biel snatched up the second arrow and held it up.
“I never realized how much honor you lacked, Father. I always thought you a great man and see now you are driven only by greed.” Ewan’s words were harsh. Biel waited. He would allow Ewan to decide what to do with his father and those he led but to his surprise is was Cait who stepped forward.
“You are not welcomed at Blaidden, Uncle, not until you make amends to my cousin for your behavior today. Know that you have no rights to this property anymore. Neither does my father. Blaidden belongs to me and thus to my husband and the son that grows in my belly.”
Biel’s head snapped around but Cait did not look at him. “Were you to show honor today rather than despicable disregard for your own son, I might have granted you welcome but I turn you away. Take your men away lest you mean to have them slaughtered by my husband’s brothers and men as would they any enemy.” Cait’s gaze turned to Biel. “Have my father brought to me in the castle and the rest sent away as well. Take their horses and make them walk the journey home, to give them time to contemplate their loyalties and greed.”
Biel blinked. She was more vicious than he.
“Come, Ewan, let us leave my husband to his business.” Cait slid an arm around her cousin and the two turned and retreated back through the gates.
Biel shrugged as those behind the wall made themselves seen over its top, arrows pointed down at those below. “As she wishes, dismount and leave your horses.”
“You allow a woman to lead your army?” Doane spat.
“I allow my wife just about anything she wishes so long as she allows me privileges as her husband.” Biel grinned when his men laughed behind him. Loegaire had told him that Cait had stood bravely over his body, sword ready to protect him when he’d been injured. He’d seen the respect for her in the eyes of all his brothers. She’d received an injury but it had not been deep and had healed quickly.
“You will dismount or I shall give the order to attack.” After a moment, Doane and his men dismounted. Some stepped forward to collect the horses and then disappeared with the animals back through the gates.
With only a glare to voice his anger, Doane turned and strode away, leading those that followed by foot the way they’d come. Thirty minutes later another smaller group of horses were led to the gates along with Aengus Gilpatrick.
“My wife waits to receive you. I shall take you in myself.” Biel turned and Aengus followed.
“My God. I cannot believe what you’ve done in such a short time.” Aengus stared at the homes that had been built against the first wall.
“These are the living spaces for the warriors of Blaidden. Their families reside inside the keep.” Biel led him through the second gates and looked back as Aengus stopped and stared. Blaidden had become a small village within those walls with homes scattering the grounds between the wall and the castle. He did not tell him that workers had already begun digging the moat that was to wrap around the entire site.
“As you can see, some of those who lived on your land decided to remain. They are allowed to live upon the land with no payment to me as long as they, as a village, provide for one another.” Biel waved a hand towards the small trading market near the farthest corner of the wall. “They trade their goods for what they need and in doing so, support one another. We produce much more than we need and that is sold to other villages to continue the development of defenses here.
Aengus began walking again, this time stepping to Biel’s side as they moved towards the castle. His gaze lifted to the new stone walls that had been built outside the original walls. It would take three armies to penetrate those walls.
“My daughter is well?”
“You are concerned for her? She does not believe that as truth. She believes you abandoned her. And now you’ve come to attack her home.” Biel opened the door and stepped aside to allow Aengus entry into what once was his own home.
Cait stood, chin lifted in the center of the Great Hall. Her father rushed forward but slowed and did not embrace her when her expression reflected no happiness of their reunion.
“Explain to me father where honor lies when a man sells his home legally and then tries to attack it in order to steal it back?” She met her father’s gaze evenly.
“I came back for you.”
“For me?”
“And because Atherton is our home.”
She shook her head. “Blaidden,” she corrected, “is no longer yours to take back. I am no longer yours to take back. I am Cait Vard, wife to Biel Vard. Blaidden is my home and his family is my family. You will not attempt to attack these walls again.”
Aengus stared at his daughter. “You’ve changed.”
“Have I?”
“These brutes have changed you, turned your heart against me.”
Cait stepped forward her eyes flashing angrily. “No, Father, you did that to me the day you left me here. I fought to save you and yours and you left me. You took my husband’s money and left me.”
Aengus visibly paled. “I was trying to protect your sister…”
“You were protecting yourself.” Cait shook her head. “I do not hate you, Father, but I no longer have the respect I once held for you. I thought you a mighty soldier, a brave man with much honor. Those were the illusions of a child for her father, a father she loved more than he loved her. I see you now as just a man. I do not hate you. But I will not allow you to threaten my home again.”
“We could come back here. We could stay with you…” Aengus began but Cait shook her head and cut him off.
“You were given more than enough to start yourself anew.” She offered a slight smile. “Perhaps you are impressed with how well my husband is doing here and will follow his lead in building your new home.”
“You are still my daughter.”
“No Father, I am not. I am of the Wolf. I belong to my husband now and he to me. You may go now, Father. I trust you will be happy as will I without you.”
Her words made Biel swell. He did not care that her father remained even after being dismissed as he strode towards her. She turned as he took her by the shoulders and kissed her deeply.
“Tell me it
is true. You are with child.”
“I am,” she said softly. Biel lifted her and swung her in a circle, joy filling his chest.
“But you are not of the Wolf.” He said as he sat her to her feet. “We can remedy that.”
“But I am, Biel. I do not know for certain when it happened. Perhaps in the stables that day when I accepted the wolf inside you. I felt the change, the mark upon me without your bite. It was your passion I think that brought me in. I do know it happened though.”
“How?” Biel shook his head. “How could you know for certain without…” his words halted as those amber eyes that he loved so much, glowed yellow.
“Just as you know the wolf is part of you, I know it is a part of me too. Perhaps it always was and it took you to free me.”
“And we are free.”
“Forever.”
Biography
Sable Grey resides in the deep south of the United States with her wonderful husband, very spoiled dog, and three crazy cats. She spends her time researching her genealogy, designing cover art, watching movies, and reading.
With favorite authors like Stephen King, Piers Anthony, and Iris Johansen, it’s no mystery where the inspiration to write tales of love, adventure, and mystery come from. An avid reader and storyteller at a young age, Sable began writing small stories as a child for her mother. However, it wasn’t until she was well in to her twenties that she realized that her calling was sharing her stories with a larger audience than just family members and friends.
Now, Sable is dedicated to her craft and to bringing her readers quality fiction with unforgettable characters.
