“I think they’re Irish,”I answered, holding up a blocking hand between me and Ellie and the feral-looking wolf who now held the weapon I’d hoped to protect us with just a few moments ago.“They are once again here to kidnap all the unmated she-wolves.”
“Oh, heavens!”Sadie exclaimed.
“No idea what the two of ye are saying, but if ye come with us nice and easy, no will get hurt — aw, fuckin’ hell. Ye can’t be serious with this.”
Bear Hood went from reassuring us, to suddenly grabbing me and holding the knife to my neck. I discovered why when he turned me to face the doorway where the king's brawny red-haired cousin now stood with a fire poker in his large paw of a hand.
“Alban!” Sadie and I both cried out.
I only knew his name because there’d been much noisy lamenting from the Faoltiarn townfolk about how he’d chosen to stay up on the castle roof, installing solar panels, rather than attend the king’s and queen’s wedding before the ceremony.
“Too bad,” Sadie had whispered beside me in the church pew. “He’s so handsome and just the right size for me.”
“Maybe he’ll come to the reception,” I’d said, trying to encourage Sadie after weeks filled with males who covered their noses and all but ran in the other direction when they saw her coming.
But now my heart sank at the sight of the large, red-haired Scot.
Apparently, hehadgone to the reception. And thanks to the weapon-free event the Wölfennites had insisted on, the fire poker was the only weapon he had to fight with while the two Irish Wolves were armed to the teeth.
“Remember the Irish!”
The old Scottish male's voice echoed in my head as I yelled out to the Kingdom’s Enforcer from inside Bear Hood’s chokehold, “Save the baby! Don’t worry about me. Just get her away from them!”
Alban, who’d most likely been sent up here to protect the only infant who’d been born to the Scottish kingdom in years, started toward me — only to stop when Bear Hood growled,
“Stay where ye are, Defender.”
His voice was a black curl of smoke next to my ear. “If ye make me cut her, I’ll gut ye and feed yer entrails to the forest boar for their supper.”
“So, you ken my title,” Alban asked with what could have been mistaken for a bored expression if not for the way his eyes were flashing with violence. “Then you also ken that I can’t let you take any of these females out of here without a fight.”
Bear Hood stilled and I sensed he was about to take Alban up on hisoffer of a fight.
But then, the Pirate holding Sadie’s arm, said, “Don’t. We discussed this.”
His voice held a quiet authority, and I noticed that he didn’t even wait for Bear Hood’s response before addressing Alban. “Kingdom Defender, this situation isn’t the same as in the 1500s.”
“So, you’re not looking to steal all our females?” Alban asked, his voice dryly furious. “Again.”
“Not all of them, no,” the Pirate answered in a surprisingly diplomatic tone. “We will leave behind the mated ones this time. The ones we do take will be brought back to our kingdom to give our males their consideration for mate hood. But in the spring, they will be given a choice about staying, and the ones who are not heat mated, and no longer wish to stay with us will be delivered back here to Faoiltiarn. Tell your king he has my vow on that.”
“Tell him yerself,” Alban sneered. “After I deliver you to the dungeon cells underneath the castle.”
The Pirate merely smirked. “There are two of us. And one of you. We can do this the easy way, where you step aside and let us leave. Or…”The Pirate’s diplomatic tone turned as cold as the ice house the Wölfennites built as soon as we arrived in Scotland. “We can do this the hard way and risk the life of the precious first baby born to the Faoiltiarn royal family in over thirty years.”
“Either way, she is ours!” Bear Hood proclaimed next to my ear. “We will not be leaving Dùn Faoiltiarn without her.”
The feral hunter pressed his nose into my hair, sniffing at me like an animal — before licking his tongue up the side of my neck!
Oh mein Gott! Oh mein Gott! Oh mein Gott!
I shuddered, my stomach turning into a swirl of an emotion I’d never felt before. And had no desire to label.
“Leave her alone!” Sadie screamed at him.
And Alban gripped the fire poker tighter, taking a step forward toward us.
“Stop!” I called out before a dangerous fight could break out. “I agree to go with them. Just take the baby. Take the baby so she doesn’t get hurt.”
