Total pages in book: 40
Estimated words: 36428 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 182(@200wpm)___ 146(@250wpm)___ 121(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 36428 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 182(@200wpm)___ 146(@250wpm)___ 121(@300wpm)
Cree didn’t need to think long about who that might be. “Dolan, the one whose cottage it was where I found the wolf cub.”
“How did you know?”
“All the wolf pelts and the head of a wolf in the cottage. Old habits are not easy to break.”
“He does it in honor of the wolves who die. He has been with us for some time. He wed one of our own, had two children, and buried his wife and one child. He is a loyal member of the clan.”
“But the Ulfr warrior lying dead in the Great Hall was not interested in joining the clan. He was here for a specific reason… to kill—” Cree’s brow scrunched in thought, revisiting, in his head, the scene in the Great Hall. What was amiss about it? The wrinkles in his brow deepened trying to recall what had been out of place. He poured over the scene again and again, until… “Lynall’s hands were shaking. Even when I proved frightening to her, her hands never trembled. She was the one the Ulfr warrior was trying to kill not Olwen. Who is Lynall that an Ulfr warrior would want her dead?”
Dawn watched how Lynall’s hands trembled as she lifted a tankard to her lips. She waited until she placed the tankard back on the table to reach out and lightly tap her trembling hands, then she shrugged.
Lynall released the tankard to grip her hands together. “It’s been an upsetting night.”
Dawn understood though she wondered if there was more to Lynall’s response. Cree could frighten with a look or a word and while Lynall may have paled when her husband displayed his authority, she had never trembled in fear. It was obvious she was fearful, but why?
Dawn smiled and nodded.
“You should continue to rest, Lady Dawn, so you will be well healed when the fog lifts and you can leave here,” Lynall said, then anxiously added, “but no harm will come to you here. You are safe. The wolves don’t harm humans unless the humans try to harm them.”
Keeping her smile gentle, Dawn nodded and saw how Lynall kept glancing at the bloody spot where the dead warrior had been, his body having been removed.
Dawn tapped Lynall’s arm to get her attention, then pointed to the bloody spot and tapped near her eye and pointed to Lynall’s eyes, hoping her gestures were understood.
“Aye, I saw the fight. It was terrible.” Lynall shut her eyes briefly as if trying to shut out the images.
Snarls, snaps, and growls sounded at the door and had Dawn and Lynall jumping to their feet.
Dawn pointed for them to leave, intending to get to Cree.
Lynall nodded. “Aye, we need to leave.”
The door burst open before they could take a step and four men rushed in, stopping when they spotted Dawn and Lynall.
“Which one is it?” one of the men asked.
“I don’t know, but we have to hurry, or the wolves will be on us,” another said.
“Take them both and hurry,” one ordered.
CHAPTER 10
“The warrior wasn’t here to kill Lynall, he was here to abduct her, to stop her from marrying into the clan, though I worry what her fate would be if she was returned home,” Tiernan said.
Cree shook his head, pushing his tankard away from him. “I am growing more impatient. Tell me the whole of it and be done.” He calmed his annoyance and let the commanding and decisive warrior in him take rein and immediately focused on the problem. He glared at Tiernan. “You worry how I may respond to the truth, so you keep it from me.”
“Wolves and human have one thing in common, they protect their own.”
A logical assumption that pinpointed the issue. “You worry that I will side with my own kind which confirms much of what I suspect but find difficult to believe. That I have a daughter of my own and I would do anything to protect her. So, you assume my instincts would have me believing Lynall should be returned to her family. Tell me why I should think otherwise.”
“What I tell you will make little difference to the outcome. The man who loves her deeply will never let her go and Lynall does not wish to leave here.”
“I have seen no man show her favors. If he loves her so much, where is he that he doesn’t make himself known?”
“I thought it best you did not know of their love since I was not sure if your unexpected appearance wasn’t planned.”
That accusation stung and annoyance jabbed at Cree once again. “Are you accusing me of spying on you?”
“You just came from a week-long event, summoned there to meet the king’s consultant, Lord Clouston.”
“What does that have to do—” Cree shook his head, not liking his sudden thought.
“You grasp the situation quickly, Lord Cree,” Tiernan said and continued to explain. “Lynall is his niece and was living comfortably with a family Lord Clouston left her with when she was barely eight years. She loved the forest and showed no fear of the wolves, and they did not bother her. She learned her healing skills from a local healer unbeknownst to the family who looked after her. She received news that her uncle had arranged a politically advantageous marriage for her in Edinburgh to an older man. She could not bear the thought of leaving the Highlands, so she sought refuge here and fell in love.”