Wolf’s Princess

by Maddy Barone

  “Good morning, Kim,” she told the cook at the stove cheerily.

  Kim rounded on her, eyes burning with indignation. “It would have been nice if someone would have told me I’d need to serve breakfast to a dozen visitors two hours before noon.” Bacon sizzled angrily in the pan as the cook waved tongs at Rose. “And why am I bothering to cook the steak when they obviously prefer it raw?”

  “What visitors?” Rose began to ask when a voice caught her ear. It sounded like…“Taye,” she whispered, and ran through the kitchen to the dining room.

  She froze in the door, staring at what seemed like half the Pack crowded around the table. Her brother-in-law, Wolf’s Shadow, was the biggest of them, his hip-length hair confined in two braids. He was at the far end of the table, on Ms. Mary’s right. Rose looked around the faces at the table, overwhelmed with homesickness and joy. Quill’s golden brown waves of hair gleamed in the light from the window. Sand showed his chipped tooth in a smile. Paint, Snow, and Stone were talking in low, urgent voices with Tracker, who of course wasn’t speaking at all. Snake broke off his conversation with White Horse long enough to raise his cup at her. Mike sat next to a lanky man with brown ringlets. Rye Thomas. She almost stopped to ask what he was doing here, but she saw Taye calmly cutting an extremely rare steak.

  “Taye,” she cried, and flung herself at him.

  He stood up in time to catch her. “Rose,” he said, patting her back as if she were one of his children needing comfort. He inhaled. “You accepted Sky.”

  It wasn’t a question. Sky had used a soapy washcloth to clean her up last night, but she hadn’t showered yet. Even if she had, wolf noses were sharp. “Yeah, I did.”

  His dark eyes studied her carefully. “Are you glad you did?”

  Shameless silence fell over the table. Rose imagined every wolf wanted to hear her answer. “Yeah, I’m glad.”

  Taye nodded and waved a hand to clear a chair for her to sit in. “Get her something to eat, Stone.” He looked down at her with a half smile. “When you got on the train I had my doubts.”

  “Me, too.” Rose sat. “I was sure I’d be back at the den ready to be courted by someone else in a few weeks.”

  “Changed your mind?”

  “Yeah. It took a while.” She remembered how snotty Sky had been at first. “But now I know why he stayed away. We’ve talked it out.”

  “Good.”

  Rose leaned back to let Stone put a plate in front of her. “What are you doing here?” She looked all around the table. “What are all of you doing here? When did you come? The train doesn’t arrive until later.”

  Everybody began to answer at once, but all heads swiveled back to the door. Sky stood there, looking thunderstruck.

  “Look, honey,” she said in bright, fake Southern accent. “The kinfolk have come to visit.”

  “I see that.” His voice was thick and his eyes gleamed with moisture as he looked around the table. “I’ve never been happier to see anyone in my life.”

  He was mobbed by cousins wanting to hug him and slap him on the back, but they stepped back to allow his older brother Wolf’s Shadow to be the first to greet him. It had been eight years since the brothers had seen one another. Rose watched them embrace, and noted the differences between them. Sky was tall at an inch or so over six feet, but Shadow was five inches taller. Shadow was a big man, broad shouldered and thickly-muscled; Sky was well-muscled—she had caressed those muscles last night, so she knew his build intimately—but he was leaner and slimmer than his brother. Shadow’s thick black braids hung to the curve of his butt, but Sky’s hair was short. Sky was dressed in what Rose thought of as Omaha-casual, dark gray slacks and a lighter gray polo shirt. Shadow wore lots of bare brown skin and a breech cloth.

  She looked around at the rest of the men from the den, and noticed for the first time they wore moccasins and breech-cloths or shorts. Rye Thomas, however, wore jeans and a plaid flannel shirt, with heavy work boots. As she stared at him, he met her gaze with a cool, expressionless face.

  The greetings were exuberant but short. When they were finished, Sky stood at the head of the table, looking as if he still doubted his eyes. “When did you come? And how? Why?”

  “Have some breakfast,” Taye advised. “I’ll tell it.”

  After Sky filled a plate and sat down, Taye continued. “White Horse and Mikey came to the den with your message that Mr. Thomas was urgently needed here. Good thing he wasn’t far. Some of the boys went out and collected him.”

  Rose looked at Rye Thomas again and saw his face was now slightly sour, but he didn’t speak. She wondered how much coercion had been involved with the collecting.

  “Shadow and Glory and their kids came to the den as part of Sand and Amanda’s escort. Some others came too. They got there at about the same time as Snake and Mel came back from visiting her folks.” Taye used his chin to point at Stone. “They brought the marriage certificate for Stone and his mate.”

  Stone patted his shirt pocket. “I have to go out back and tell Sara.”

  “Hang on a second,” Taye said mildly. “Let me finish this first. Quill and Sand talked to all of us about what Omaha is like.” A hint of a growl roughened his voice. “White Horse and Mike explained what you were trying to do here. Sounded like things could get dangerous. We,” he nodded around the table, “figured we better come along with Mr. Thomas. Make sure he got here okay.”

  Rye Thomas folded his arms over his chest with a grunt and Rose knew right then he hadn’t wanted to come. When she’d seen him in the past he always seemed to have a secret smile lingering around his lips, and he used a little chuckle to punctuate his conversation. Neither was in evidence right now.

  Sky glanced at Rye and began to speak, but seemed to change his mind. Instead, he looked at Tracker. “You just happened to be at the den too?”

  Tracker inclined his head, and Shadow answered for him. “He and Tami came with us from the Clan to the den with Amanda and Sand.”

  “So you decided to come along too?”

  The corners of Tracker’s mouth lifted an eighth of an inch. “Tami asked me to.”

  That would have been enough of a reason for Tracker, Rose knew. Tami seldom asked anything of her husband, so when she did, Tracker listened. Sky nodded, and looked back at Rye.

  “Thanks for coming.”

  Rye spoke for the first time, his voice tight. “I’m here for one reason and one reason only: to see my mother. After that, I’m gone.”

  Sky continued to look at him for a moment longer, but when he spoke it wasn’t to argue, but to alter the subject. “You made it through the city gate without any of the guards recognizing you?”

  Rye chuckled. It almost sounded natural. “We didn’t bother with the gate. Too boring.”

  Sky’s nostrils flared as he inhaled. “You reek of dead fish.” He glanced at his brothers and cousins. “I noticed it on all of you.”

  “Dead something,” Rye agreed.

  Taye wiped his plate clean with his last bit of toast. “We went into the river a couple of hours after midnight. Floated downstream until we got close to the city, and then we swam to a part of the bank that wasn’t watched, and climbed out.”

  Rose noticed the sour look was back on Rye’s face. “Took us two hours in the river and another three to get through the city without being seen.”

  Sky leaned forward. “So nobody knows you’re here?”

  Taye nodded around the table. “No one but us, and the lady in the kitchen.”

  That’s right. Almost everybody was with their families. A little tension eased out of Rose. She supposed the mayor would like to know his son was in the city, but if Sky didn’t want it spread around, no one who worked here would say a word. Her mate was a man who inspired loyalty in those he protected.

  “How did you get to the house without my guards on the fence seeing you?” Sky demanded.

  Taye shrugged. “There’s a little tunnel that goes from the other side of the st
reet behind your place to your basement. It was narrow, but we all managed to crawl through it.”

  Rose glanced at her brother-in-law. Shadow was built like a tank. She noticed now some faint scrapes along his arms. “I thought the door was boarded up.”

  “Was,” Taye said. At Sky’s quick frown, he added, “We nailed it shut again.”

  “Good.” Sky nodded decisively. “Let’s get you into the men’s dorm out back before anyone else sees you. The last thing we need is rumors about you to get around. I mean any of you. McGrath will accuse me of importing my own army.”

  Taye stood up, his head cocked. “Too late.”

  Rose looked over her shoulder at the dining room’s entry that opened to the short hallway to the reception rooms. Tasha stood there, her eyes round and staring at Rye with disbelief tinged with excitement. “Ryan?”

  Rye stood up, face utterly blank, and then turned without a word and walked away from the businesswoman into the kitchen.

  “Ryan.” Tasha’s voice held a whiplash of anger. “Don’t you walk away from me again. Don’t you dare.”

  The trader froze, back stiff, before pivoting to face her. He raked her with a cold glare of scorn. “Natasha. We said everything there was to say fifteen years ago. You got what you wanted.”

  “I wanted you!”

  His chuckle cracked with contempt. “You had me. I wasn’t the only man you wanted, though, was I? So what happened? Did my dad throw you out once he took what he wanted?”

  Rose felt her eyes go wide. She looked quickly at Tasha.

  The businesswoman’s hands clenched at her sides. “If you would have stuck around you would know what happened.”

  “I don’t care what happened.” Now Rye sounded almost bored. “You are none of my business.”

  He turned and went into the kitchen.

  Everyone in the room looked at Tasha. Her cheeks flamed with either embarrassment or rage, and her eyes gleamed with tears. Rose would put money on rage. Sky started toward Tasha. She held up a hand with a brittle laugh.

  “Don’t worry about me, Sky. I’ll just do what I always do when I have some time off: indulge in a little retail therapy.”

  Sky frowned, and Rose expected him to forbid Tasha to leave the house, but he surprised her. “I don’t want anyone going out alone. The city is too volatile right now. Take Joe or one of the men with you.”

  If Tasha wanted to argue, she hid it well. “Fine, you over-protective papa bear, I’ll drag poor Joe along. Rose, you want to come, too?”

  Rose shook her head. “Not this time.”

  With a wave a little too casual to be real, Tasha left. Rose noticed Taye watch her leave with a tiny frown pulling his brows together, but he looked away when Sky spoke.

  “Let’s get you out to the men’s dorm so you can get cleaned up and settled in. You’ll need some clothes…”

  “Got ’em,” Taye said, pointing at a corner. “Stone.”

  The young man lifted two sets of saddlebags and settled one on each of his wide shoulders.

  “All right, then.” Sky waved a hand at the kitchen. “Let’s go.” He turned to her and his voice softened. “Rose, I’ll see you later. Take care of yourself today.”

  Rose felt warmth spread inside her. He didn’t say the words, but his tone said he loved her. “You take care of yourself, too.”

  After being filled with wolf warriors, the dining room seemed very empty now. Rose collected dirty plates to take to the kitchen. Kim muttered while wiping down counters. She stopped when she saw Rose and the pile of dirty dishes.

  “I hope you don’t expect me to wash those dishes?” she asked in her usual disagreeable tone.

  “No, I can do them. Where is Katelyn? Did she take today off?”

  “Katelyn never takes a day off.” Faint approval tinged the words. “She’s out back with that poor girl who was beaten.”

  Rose stepped to window and saw Stone knocking on the door of the women’s dorm. “Have they eaten?”

  “Four hours ago. Ms. Mary went out to eat with them.” Kim made a snorting sound. “I was going to do the marketing.” She gave the stack of dirty dishes a glance of disgust. “I suppose I could stick around and help you with those.”

  “No that’s okay. I can handle a few dishes. You don’t do your shopping alone, do you? Sky wouldn’t like that.”

  Kim’s thin face brightened with a smile. “Of course not. I always take Garrett or one of the men with me.” She took off her apron and hung it on a hook. “I better get going now. In case I’m not back in time to start lunch, ask Katelyn to put the soup on and set out sandwich makings.”

  Alone in the kitchen, Rose began the task of filling the sink with water to wash the dishes. There was no need to hurry, since she didn’t have anything else to do today, so she took her time, gathering the rest of the dishes from the dining room and washing them. As she washed, she planned her afternoon. Sky would be out probably most of the day. The vote would be taken around four o’clock that afternoon.

  Rose was wiping down the sink when the mud room door opened and Stone came in. She blinked at the beaming smile on his face. She’d rarely seen that open, happy smile since he came back from Kansas two years ago. It chased away all lines of grimness from his face, leaving him a handsome young man of twenty-one.

  “Rose.” He came to her with a bounce in his step, oozing excitement. “Sara and I talked, and the marriage is going to stand.”

  “You forgave her? You love her?”

  His eyelids swept down and then up, showing a sheen of moisture. “Yeah, I love her. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have been so hurt. But we’ve talked about it. It’s settled, and we’re going to put it away and never talk about it again.”

  “That’s good, Stone. I’m so happy for you. How did she convince…” Rose cleared her throat. She wished she could have listened in on that conversation, but she couldn’t ask. He’d just said they would never talk about it again. “Are you going to spend the night at her uncle’s house? Or will you wait to, um…” Blast it, she was blushing.

  Now his smile shaded into knowing male satisfaction. “Tonight.” His caramel-colored eyes glowed. “Tonight,” he repeated, “is our wedding night. But where can we go? I don’t want her walking through the streets tonight, even with me for her escort. Whichever way the vote goes, things could get rowdy.”

  Rose smiled. “I know exactly where you should spend tonight. Come with me, and I’ll show you.”

  She led him up the steep, narrow staircase to the third floor. “This is the room Ms. Mary used. I think it will work just fine for your wedding night.”

  She opened the door to the pink room and flicked on the light. Stone sent a quick glance around the pretty, feminine room, but his gaze settled on the bed for a long moment. He turned to her and gripped her hands. “It’s perfect,” he said, squeezing her hands.

  “I’m happy for you, Stone,” she said again. “You’re a special man, and I believe Sara truly loves you. I’ll take some time and clean up in here.”

  He kissed her cheek with brotherly affection. “Thank you, Rose. You’re the best.”

  The day passed slowly for Rose. She finished tidying the kitchen, and then changed the sheets on the bed in the pink room and tidied it. She stood in the doorway when she was finished, looking around the room. It was pretty, a more appropriate place for a wedding night than the boring gray room across the hall where she and Sky had lost their virginity. She smiled a little. She didn’t care what the room looked like as long as Sky was in it.

  She stilled, staring blankly at the wall. As long as Sky was in it. Did she care for him? Yes, of course, she cared for him. But did she love him? She wasn’t sure what she felt was love. She’d seen what true love looked like. It was Taye, face white with terror, when Carla’s labor went too long with Little Feather. It was Tracker sitting side by side in the firelight with Tami, telling her without words he would always be there for her. It was bossy Shadow sitting patiently
to allow his daughter to braid his hair into ridiculous loops while Glory laughed at them. It was the look of contented pride on Quill’s face when he watched Ellie teach the children at the den to write their names.

  She closed the door on the room, and on her thoughts, and went downstairs to help Katelyn with lunch. Even though they’d eaten breakfast just a couple of hours ago, Taye and the other men ate a hearty lunch of soup and sandwiches. Shadow sat on her left and told her in great detail all about his fourth son’s precocious tooth. It struck her that she didn’t feel the gut-wrenching longing she usually did when people spoke about their babies. She wanted a baby, sure. But it wasn’t the main focus of her life anymore.

  Snow came in to collect a bowl of soup for Odell and a plate for Sara. “How is Odell this morning?” Rose asked.

  “Sara says she’s better. She even smiled at me this morning. It split her lip open again, though,” he added with a frown.

  Beside her Shadow rumbled a growl. “What I want to know is why the man who hurt her is still alive.”

  Snow’s lip peeled back in a snarl of agreement. “Sky said no. The man is safe until after the vote. After that, I don’t care what Sky says, I’m going to find Askup and kill him.”

  Sand’s head lifted sharply. “Askup? Did you say Terry Askup?”

  “No, it was his nephew.”

  “Ah.” Sand settled back again. “You can kill the nephew. The uncle is mine.”

  Across the table, Katelyn flinched. Paint patted her hand.

  Snow left to take the women their lunches. The men continued talk of which of them had the most right to kill the Askup men. Ms. Mary, at the foot of the table, looked appalled. Rose just shook her head. It was like being back at the den. No wonder Carla used to tell them all to shut up. Only Rye sat silent, grim faced under his scruffy beard. Rose heard the front door open. Paint sniffed.

  “It’s Tasha and Joe,” he said.

  Rye picked up his sandwich and left. A moment later, Tasha came into the dining room. She went to the buffet and made a sandwich. Rose watched her, afraid she would ask about Rye, but she didn’t. Aside from a few teasing, flirtatious words she tossed to some of the Pack, she settled in to eat without speaking.