This morning was especially cold, making the tent—histent, well appreciated.
The skins held the warmth inside. It was cozy, bathed in golden light, but there was an underlying smell of gaminess. Hild was uncovered and afraid and sitting on a bed made of skins. The thought of it turned Camelee’s stomach.
“This woman,” he announced, motioning with his chin to Camelee, “will watch over the child from now on. You may go.”
“What? No!” Camelee refused.
His eyes smoldered like storm clouds over turquoise seas. “You cannot refuse.”
“I just did!”
He shook his head and left.
Bastard! Camelee wanted to go after him. How dare he just walk away? She wanted to tell him what she thought of him ordering her around. Ordering her to take care of this little girl. Camelee didn’t want to be a mother, and he knew it!
She tightened her jaw. Well, she guessed that was that. She couldn’t leave now.
“Mumma coming home soon,” Hild declared happily when Camelee went to her.
Camelee squeezed her eyes shut. No! She wanted the girl to know the truth. Why have the child wait for someone who was never coming back? Yes, it hurt, but not telling her the truth hurt her more and for a longer period.
She bent to the child. She didn’t know what else to tell her. She had been given false hope as a child, and when her biological mother never came for her, it devastated her.
“No, Hild,” she said as gently as she could. “Your mumma is gone. She has died. She’s not coming back.”
As she suspected, Hild’s smile vanished, and tears quickly filled her eyes. “Yes. Mumma coming back.”
“No, little one, she is not coming back. We will take care of you—”
Hild began to wail for her mother. Camelee didn’t know what to do. She’d never been around kids before. Not alone and in charge. What should she do? She sat down next to the girl on the skins. “Hild, everything is going to be all right. Mumma is watching over you from Heaven, and we will all take care of you and love you.”
The child continued to cry. She was so pitiful that Camelee began to cry with her. The poor girl had lost her mother. It was terribly sad. Camelee hadn’t cried in years. Not real tears. Both her and Hild’s lives had completely changed in the space of a breath. She understood, so she cried.
She felt a warm hand rest on her shoulder. She sniffed and wiped her eyes before she turned to look behind her.
“It is as you told her,” Wolf’s heavy, quiet voice swept across her ears. “All will be well.”
“How do you know that?” she asked, turning to face him.
“Because,” he said staring into her eyes, tender, and yet feral with his flowing braided hair, “if anyone tries to make it unwell, I will kill them.”
Chapter Six
She pulled back,out of his reach. He was tempted to grasp for her.Stay near.He wanted to tell her. But she wouldn’t obey him.
He watched her put her arm around the girl. “She needs to rest.”
He pulled off his fur cloak and yawned. “So do I.” He crossed the tent in three long strides and fell onto a long, folding bed covered in furs. This is what he needed. To sleep. His lack of it contributed to his latest line of thoughts. Constant thoughts of her.
He opened his eyes. Camelee hadn’t moved from her spot. She said nothing but stared at him.
He was surprised that his disobedient servant was learning subservience so quickly. He smiled at her. Slightly. “You may come.”
He threw down his blanket on the girl as a sign that he cared about their well-being, and then closed his eyes.
“Excuse me!”
He opened his eyes and looked at Camelee. He tried not to scowl at thoughts of how enticing she looked with her hair disheveled and her cheeks flushed. “Woman, why are you raising your voice at me?”
