The Original de Wolfe Pack Complete Set: Including Sons of de Wolfe

by Kathryn Le Veque

  “It is true,” Chris said, seeing the bewilderment settling over the de Wolfe men. “All of it is true. But what James did not know was that Penelope would be here, also. Penelope has spent every second with him since yesterday. She has told him so many things, things he does not remember, so do not be disheartened if he does not know you, William. He does not know anyone.”

  William stared at him a moment before hanging his head, processing what he’d been told. His beloved boy, his sweet James, had no memory of who he was and would therefore treat him like a stranger. William didn’t know if he could take that, not from James. The young man he so clearly adored, a young man he’d been so very proud of. He’d resigned himself to his son’s death, but he’d never gotten over it. If his son didn’t recognize him, he wondered if it would be worse than his death. In a sense, he wouldn’t have him back.

  He’d have a stranger.

  Quietly, he cleared his throat.

  “I understand,” he said softly. “Now, where is he so that I may see him?”

  “Papa!”

  The scream came from the entry to Lioncross’ keep, and they all turned to see Penelope launching herself from the doorway, racing across the bailey as fast as her legs would carry her. William opened up his arms for his youngest child, his baby, and she leapt into his arms, gleeful at the sight of him.

  “Sweetheart,” William breathed as he held her tightly. “It is so good to see you.”

  Penelope hugged her father so tightly that she nearly cut off his circulation. “You came!” she gasped, releasing him long enough to look him in the face. “Papa, it’s true. What I wrote to you in the missive – it’s true!”

  William put a hand up, stroking her soft cheek, drinking in the sight of the lovely young woman. “I know,” he said softly. “Chris was telling me what has happened. I… I can hardly believe it, any of it. I feel as if this is a dream.”

  Penelope hugged him again. “Nay, Papa,” she said. “It is not a dream. He is inside, in the great hall. He knows that you are here. I told him to wait in the hall and that I would bring you to him. And, Papa… he brought his wife with him. He is married.”

  William’s eyebrows lifted. “He took a wife?”

  The brothers were listening. “Rose married years ago,” Troy reminded his father what he already knew. “She is pregnant with her second child with her new husband.”

  William scratched his head in thought. “That complicates things a bit,” he said. He looked at Penelope. “Did you tell him that he was already married?”

  Penelope shook her head. “He seems so happy with Asmara,” she said. “That is her name – Asmara. She is a great-granddaughter of a great Welsh king and I like her very much. They are so happy, Papa. You should see them together – I know that he and Rosie loved one another, but I never saw him with Rosie the way he is with Asmara. It is something magical and I did not want to ruin it.”

  William wasn’t sure what to do about it, in fact. It seemed like quite a complex situation to him, one he didn’t particularly want to deal with at the moment. Rose married over three years ago and she was very happy with her new husband. It just didn’t seem fair that the unexpected return of James should complicate it, even though, technically, he and Rose were probably still married. He looked around at his sons, and at Chris and the others, as he spoke.

  “Until I can speak with a priest, then I suggest no one tell him that he was already married,” he said. “We must deal with one issue at a time. At this moment, I do not consider this an important detail. We will address it when we must. Now… may we go inside?”

  They understood about the marriage issue, a silent agreement to keep quiet on the matter. As the group turned for the keep, William looked to the entry and suddenly came to a halt. When Penelope saw what he was looking at, she came to a halt, too, as did everyone else.

  At the top step of the keep entry stood Blayth and Asmara.

  The afternoon sun illuminated them and, for a moment, no one moved. It was as if time itself came to a halt, just for a brief moment, but for William, it was much more than that. His eyesight wasn’t very good these days, and he didn’t see things at a distance very well, so he was staring for quite a different reason – mostly, he simply couldn’t see. But he could see enough to know that what he was looking at was his son.

  It really was James.

  Maybe he truly hadn’t believed it until this very moment, until he actually saw his son in the flesh, and now that he was seeing him, he hardly knew what to do. As William stood there with his sons, unsure what to do next, Penelope let go of her father and scurried over to Blayth and Asmara. As she mounted the steps, Bhrodi emerged from the keep and looked sheepishly at his wife.

  “He did not want to remain in the hall,” he told her. “Unless I was going to wrestle the man to the ground, I could not make him remain.”

  Blayth heard him. He, too, had been staring at the men in the bailey as if in a trance, but Bhrodi’s voice broke the spell. He tore his gaze off the men in the bailey as he turned to Bhrodi.

  “I would not have given you much of a fight, great lord,” he said. “But I probably would have pleaded quite a bit. Knowing they are out here… I simply could not wait any longer.”

  Bhrodi understood. He patted Blayth on the shoulder as Penelope took him by the hand. “Come,” she said, her eyes glimmering with joy. “Papa has come to see you. He has brought Scott and Troy and Patrick with him. Come and see them, Blayth. Please.”

  She wasn’t calling him James any longer because, as she’d discovered yesterday, the name meant nothing to him. The only name he remembered was Blayth, so she honored that. But even so, Penelope was coming to swear that there was a spark in him that remembered her because even though he looked differently and acted somewhat differently, the same gentle humor was there. She had tried to teach Asmara a board game last night and Blayth sat on the table, watching them, alternately praising his wife’s skill and then accusing Penelope of cheating. It had been good-natured, but it seemed to Penelope that it was very much something James of old would have done to her.

  She’d never been so happy to be called a cheater.

  Even now, as she coaxed him off the steps and into the bailey, there was something in his gaze that looked just like James to her. She was relishing this moment, when her father would finally meet the son he thought was dead. But when she turned to look at her father and older brothers standing in a group, she could see the shock washing over their faces.

  She knew why, for she’d had nearly the same reaction when she saw James for the first time. He didn’t look the way they remembered; with his shaved head, more muscular physique, and missing ear, it took some time to become accustomed to the new appearance. It was the new James, who really wasn’t James at all.

  But quickly, the gap closed between them. William was standing before them and Penelope smiled at her father, still holding Blayth’s hand.

  The moment had arrived.

  “Blayth,” she said. “This is our father, William de Wolfe.”

  Those were words Blayth would remember for the rest of his life.

  It was strange, really.

  He’d been sitting inside Lioncross’ cavernous hall, engaged in conversation with Bhrodi de Shera and knowing full well that the man he had ultimately come to seek was out in the bailey, having arrived with his army.

  Blayth thought that, perhaps, they’d been trying to keep it from him. They’d spoken of the approach of William de Wolfe in hushed tones and Blayth overheard, so he finally asked Penelope about it, who sheepishly told him the truth. William de Wolfe was coming, and he was coming to see the son he thought was dead. That information alone had prepared Blayth for this moment.

  So he thought.

  But the truth was it really hadn’t prepared him at all. He stood there, looking at a very big man with a patch over his left eye and a face that was careworn and leathery. But it didn’t diminish the gleam in the one remaining eye
or the expression that bespoke of the joy in his heart. The man was looking at the son he thought was dead, but he wasn’t rushing forth with hysteria – he was being very measured, fearful that anything he did or said might turn his lost son away from him, so he wasn’t really reacting at all. Blayth thought that was rather strange until he happened to look down at William’s hands to see that they were shaking.

  His entire body was shaking.

  That told Blayth that there was a geyser of emotions ready to spew out at any moment and, in truth, he had quite enough emotion of his own. His gaze moved from William to the very tall man behind him, with dark hair and green eyes, then to the shorter man next to him, also with dark hair but with hazel eyes, and then finally to another tall man next to him with dark blond hair and green eyes. They were all looking at Blayth with such warmth and he had no idea why. He didn’t know these men and wondered why they were gazing at him so fondly.

  And then, it occurred to him – he’d seen these men before.

  In his dreams.

  It was as if a great weight had suddenly been lifted from Blayth. He felt lightheaded with the abrupt realization and, along with that sensation, he could feel a rush of happiness as he’d never felt in his life. Tears stung his eyes and he started to blink, rapidly, breathing deeply through his nose as if he couldn’t quite catch his breath.

  Scott!

  Atty!

  Those were the names of the men he saw in those dreams, men with swords, men he’d fought with, men he saw in brief glimpses. These were the men that Morys told him had captured him and tortured him, and he knew in his heart that Morys hadn’t been right. He’d never felt anything but affection and warmth for these men, and now here they were, looking at him. They appeared slightly different from the way they’d been in his dreams, but the eyes… he knew those eyes.

  Blinking back the tears, his focus returned to William.

  “I was told you left me behind at Llandeilo,” he said. “Tell me that was not true.”

  It was such a painful question and William immediately started to tear up. “Nay, lad,” he breathed. He felt he was answering the very question that had been his worst nightmare. “I never thought I would be able to speak to you again, not in this lifetime, and I was prepared to answer this question when we found each other in heaven. We did all we could to take you with us when we fled Llandeilo, but we were overwhelmed by the Welsh. The worst day of my life was leaving you behind. Had there been another way, I would have taken it. You must believe that.”

  Blayth sniffled, wiping at his nose, which was beginning to leak. All he could feel was the emotion of the moment, swamping him, and he knew he recognized William’s voice. He’d heard that in his dreams, too.

  He remembered it very specifically.

  “I do not know how much you have been told, but I remember nothing of my life before I awoke in a darkened hut five years ago,” he said. “I have had to learn to talk again and think again. I have had to learn to walk and run and fight. But I have heard your voice in my dreams, and I have seen you there, too, but I did not realize those were memories of the before time. Before I was injured. I simply thought they were people that I had created.”

  There were tears on William’s face. “What do you remember of your dreams, lad?”

  Blayth didn’t say anything for a moment. Then, he reached out a hand to William, who took it quickly. The moment their flesh touched, William hung his head and quietly wept. He was touching his son, a man he believed dead, and it was too much for him to take.

  Blayth could see that. He took a step towards him, still holding his hand, and put his free hand on William’s shoulder.

  “I needed to know that you left me because you had no other choice, not because I was unwanted,” he said hoarsely. “I believe I recognize your voice, although I am not sure how much I truly know of you. But I do not think I have to remember you to realize that I love you. Something inside me tells me that I do. Something tells me that you are the greatest man I have ever known, the man I most wish to emulate. I do not know why those words come to me, but they do.”

  William was still weeping softly, his head coming up and a hand going to Blayth’s bearded face. “That is because you said those exact words to me, once,” he said. “I remember them as clearly as if you said them yesterday. My son, I never thought I would have this moment with you in this life, and because God has been good to us, I have a second chance with you. And I must tell you something – I must tell you how much I love you and how proud I am of you. I thought I’d lost you, but I have not, and even if you return to Wales and we never see one another again, please know how very much to you mean to me and to your mother, and we shall love you as much as we always have no matter where your life takes you.”

  Other than with Asmara, Blayth had never felt true love or true acceptance until that very moment. He knew William meant every word and he simply nodded his head, unable to speak for the lump in his throat. As William struggled to compose himself, Blayth’s attention turned to the three men standing behind him.

  His brothers.

  The impact of that realization was powerful. Releasing William, he made his way to Scott, the first of the three, and looked him in the eye. He was a little taller than Scott, but not by much. Wiping the tears from his face, he smiled weakly at the man.

  “I should know you,” he said. “Forgive me that I do not. What is your name?”

  Scott was smiling at him, tears stinging his eyes as he gazed into his brother’s face. “Scott,” he said. “I am Scott, your eldest brother.”

  Blayth’s eyebrows lifted. “Scott,” he repeated. “I know that name. I have dreamed of it often.”

  “Then you have not forgotten me, after all.”

  Blayth smiled at the realization. As Scott patted him on the cheek, his attention turned to Troy, who wasn’t as emotional as Scott was. At least, he was keeping it in check a little better. But out of the two of them, Troy tended to be the more volatile. At the moment, he was managing that particular trait.

  “I am Troy,” he said quietly. “I am also your elder brother, although by virtue of birth order, Scott is the eldest. And the ugliest, although he will not admit to that.”

  Blayth grinned, full-on. “Troy,” he repeated, feeling the name upon his tongue and realizing that it didn’t feel all that strange. “If you call Scott the ugliest, I wonder what you shall call me?”

  Troy laughed softly. “I shall call you nothing until you remember me fully,” he said. “Then, I will insult you at every turn just as I have always done, little brother.”

  Because Troy was laughing, Blayth did, too. He only sensed good humor from the man and nothing malicious. “I look forward to it,” he said. He meant it. “Am I allowed to retaliate?”

  Troy lifted his shoulders. “If you feel you can defend yourself against me, you may try.”

  Blayth simply chuckled. “I greatly anticipate that day,” he said. Then, his focus turned to the tallest de Wolfe brother, the man with the bright green eyes. “You are another brother because you look like the others.”

  Patrick cocked an eyebrow. “Are you calling me ugly?”

  Blayth started to laugh again. “I can see there is a theme with you three,” he said. “Was I part of that theme, also?”

  “Of course you were,” Patrick said. “The four of us were inseparable until… well, until Llandeilo. It was as Papa said, James… we tried to take you with us, but we were overrun. It soon became a matter of saving our own lives and we had to leave. I cannot tell you how much it tore us apart to have to leave you behind. We are so very sorry it happened.”

  Blayth’s smile faded. “I understand why,” he said. “I do not curse you because of it. There was no choice.”

  Patrick nodded. Then, he reached out, extending his hand to Blayth in friendship and in brotherhood, who took it strongly. That first touch of brother against brother almost undid Blayth, but he fought it. He kept looking at Patrick, seeing
something familiar about him, knowing that he’d seen this man in his dreams, probably more than the others. He couldn’t explain why, only that he had.

  And then, it occurred to him.

  “Atty,” he said. “Your name is Atty.”

  Patrick grinned, a smile that was brighter than the sun. “Aye,” he said. “I am Atty. Welcome home, James. We have missed you.”

  With that, he threw his arms around him, hugging him tightly as Troy and Scott also crowded around, hugging James when Patrick finally decided to let him go. There wasn’t a dry eye among them as they realized Blayth did remember some things about them and perhaps with time, he would remember more.

  In fact, there wasn’t a dry eye among anyone watching the reunion, the return of a brother believed to be dead, who, by some miracle, had found a second chance at life. Blayth didn’t remember his life as James de Wolfe, but his heart, and his soul, knew these men even if his conscious mind did not. He planned to spend the rest of his life getting to know them again and perhaps with that, the rest of his memories would return.

  He certainly intended to find out.

  Chris and his sons, and Corbett, began to filter back into the keep, with Chris demanding a feast fit for his de Wolfe guests, which sent his wife into a frenzy to realize she had important guests. Bhrodi, who was still on the steps of the keep, watched as Blayth was surrounded by his family, including Penelope, who latched on to his hand and began to drag him towards the keep. It was a family reunion sent from heaven as far as the de Wolfes were concerned, and they were delighted beyond measure to have a second chance with the brother they thought they’d lost.

  There was so very much to be thankful for.

  As the group neared the steps of the keep, Bhrodi came forward and pulled his wife away, muttering something in her ear. She gasped and quickly looked behind her brothers to see Asmara bringing up the rear, walking alone. Penelope left her brothers, father, and husband to rush to Asmara, appalled that she’d left the woman alone during this most important moment.