Dawy shook his head. “Alasdair will know the truth. No one gets anything past him.”

  “I wouldna have you take the blame,” Isobel said. She would take the blame for her niece and nephews should they have gotten themselves in trouble, but she would never allow anyone to take the blame for her own actions.

  “Alasdair is coming,” Conall warned as he watched out the window.

  “You stay here,” Isobel said to him, knowing he’d want to come with her and speak his own mind. But she thought she might be able to smooth things over with Alasdair if she went alone.

  “You didna make me do it, Isobel,” Conall said. “And I will take responsibility for my own actions.”

  She was proud of him for doing what was right. Though she still wanted to protect him. His siblings needed him.

  “Let me speak with him alone first,” she said, not wanting her nephew to have to deal with the angry laird. She headed outside to intercept Alasdair before he was within wolf hearing distance of the croft, though she suspected Agnes and Dawy and her nephew would be watching out the window. Conall would come to her rescue if this led to a physical fight between her and Alasdair. She didn’t know the laird well enough to know how he was going to react.

  “What were you thinking?” Alasdair asked as he and Isobel continued to close the gap between them.

  “That Cleary and Baine would try to hurt us still if they were Scottish wolves,” Isobel said.

  “You couldna ask me what I thought of the matter first?”

  “I thought over what some of the guardsmen said to me and I had to do this.”

  “You know what this cost us?”

  “Your pride?”

  Alasdair scoffed, though to an extent she figured he knew she was right. “What if my people feel you are as untrustworthy as Cleary and Baine? Dangerous to their well-being even?”

  “I had to protect my family. Besides, if I had come to you and asked if it wouldna be better if I turned them, would you have allowed me to?”

  “I would have seriously considered your suggestion.”

  “But would you have said aye?”

  “Nay. As the pack leader, it’s my duty to turn people if the circumstances warrant. It’s on my conscience. What if this doesna work out as you planned? What if they are even angrier that Viking wolves turned them? Had you even considered that possibility?”

  “Aye, I did. And if they want to fight me, so be it.”

  Alasdair shook his head.

  “What do you want me to say or do?” She folded her arms. “I willna apologize.”

  Alasdair almost smiled, but he was still frowning.

  “We will leave here if you tell us to,” she added.

  “You canna. No’ with the little ones and the problems you would face as Vikings and further as wolves in a strange land.”

  “What must I do to make this right?”

  Alasdair looked so sternly at her, she wondered just what he was thinking. A stay in the dungeon for a time for her disobedience? “You and Conall will each take one of the wolves in hand and have to supervise them for several hours during the day when you are not doing your normal duties.”

  “Aye. And at night?”

  Alasdair raised a brow. “They will stay in the barracks and others will watch over them. Have you turned anyone before?”

  “Nay.”

  He let out his breath on a heavy sigh. “You will have your work cut out for you. Take care that you do not decide to do anything further to this extent before you have been told to do it.”

  “Aye.” Isobel couldn’t believe the laird was letting them off so easily. She suspected the rest of the clan may not be so generous with them on the morrow. She was sure the word had spread throughout the pack already about what they’d done.

  Then Alasdair bid her a good night and turned and headed back to the keep. She watched him go, tall, handsome, the kind of braw man who would suit her disposition well. He hadn’t punished her and her nephew like he could have. Not really. She smiled and headed back to the croft.

  Even the little ones were at the windows now. Conall opened the door. “Are we banished?”

  “Nay.”

  “Well, what then?” Conall asked.

  “We have to watch Cleary and Baine when we’re not performing our other duties.”

  “That could be punishment enough,” Conall said and ushered his siblings back to bed.

  Isobel and the others breathed in a tentative sigh of relief. Who knew how it would be on the morrow when they broke their fast in the morn?

  When Alasdair reached the keep, both his brothers and his sister were waiting to hear how it went.

  “I hope you didna give her too much grief,” Bessetta said. “As a warrior, she will be a good fighter, dinna you think?”

  “It wasna her place to deal with the brothers. That’s all I’ll say on the matter, except that she and Conall are to watch the brothers when their own duty is done.”

  “Aye,” Hans said. “It will be done.”

  “Not everyone will like that you are no’ punishing them further,” Rory said. “What do we say about it?”

  “Naught about it at all. My decision stands. Why are you not abed?” Then he went to his chamber and shut the door. The woman would be his undoing.

  Early the next morn, Alasdair arrived at the great hall to see his people bustling to get the food on the trestle tables and everyone there grew quiet when he walked in. He first looked for Isobel. He couldn’t help himself. The woman fascinated him to no end, and he hoped his people wouldn’t give her or her nephew grief for her actions last night. To his surprise, both Cleary and Baine were seated between her and her nephew Conall.

  The men were silent and when Alasdair’s brothers joined him at the high table, Hans said, “I spoke with Lorne earlier this morn and he said that Isobel and her nephew came to the barracks and took the brothers in hand. You said you told them that when they weren’t working, they were to watch the brothers.”

  “Aye.”

  “I just wanted to confirm that with you.”

  “Aye, that’s what I said. Good. At least they are doing what they were told to do. Did Cleary and Baine shift last night?”

  “Aye, for a short while. They headed straight for the croft where Isobel and her kin are staying. They just stared at the croft, pawed at the ground a bit, circled it a couple of times, but they didn’t seem aggressive as in they wanted to kill Isobel or her nephew for turning them. Five of our men were with them as wolves and they finally turned them around and herded them back to the barracks where they slept the rest of the night and woke in their human skin this morn,” Hans said.

  “Did you speak with them, or did Lorne, about visiting the croft?” Alasdair asked, concerned that the brothers wished to harm the Vikings.

  “I spoke to them and asked why they had gone to the croft that morn. They said they couldn’t help themselves. They didn’t know why. I dinna know if they were lying or if they truly dinna know why they did it. With turning into wolves, it’s a big adjustment to make in their lives. Of course, we talked to them about everything after they turned. And several of us went running with them to make sure they didn’t do anything they shouldn’t—like kill our livestock or threaten anyone or even just run away.”

  “All right. We’ll have to watch them for any behavior that seems dangerous.” Then Alasdair and his people ate their meal before they went off to do their duties. He admired Isobel for doing what he’d told her she had to do. Though he hadn’t expected to see her eating with them at the lower table. Anyone could have watched them then.

  Before he left the keep, he was dying to know what Isobel had been talking to the two men about though. They had been listening to her, but not once had they said anything in response. He wondered if she’d known they were at the croft last night as wolves. Then he suspected she had since she would have smelled their scents.

  But then Isobel was pulling guard duty on the walls that were complete and looking out to the woods and pastureland for any signs of trouble. Rory had put Cleary and Baine on the section of the wall that needed to be finished. Conall was also out there helping with the wall.

  While Alasdair was in the inner bailey taking stock of things, Bessetta came out to see him. “Do you know what Isobel was saying to Cleary and Baine?”

  “Nay. I did see that they were no’ saying anything in return.” Though he couldn’t help but be curious about what was said.

  “Cleary said that Isobel told them if they came to the croft again as wolves in the middle of the night, to howl and she would see to them.”

  “See to them?” Alasdair was at once concerned that she meant to tear into them. Though wolves had to sometimes to set boundaries with other wolves. It didn’t mean she meant to kill them.

  “Aye. I dinna know what she meant. Greet them? Fight them? I thought you should know so you can speak to Isobel and make sure she doesn’t get herself into any further trouble.” Bessetta smiled at him. “She’s up on the wall walk. No one else is around. Mayhap now would be a good time. Eh?”

  “Aye. Do you no’ have any work today?” He knew she had, and he didn’t have to remind her of it, but he didn’t want her watching him when he spoke with Isobel.

  “Och, too much work to do,” Bessetta said cheerily, brushing a stray hair out of her face, smiled again, turned on her heel, and went inside.

  Bessetta was not one to gossip, but she seemed to like Isobel and she appeared to want to ensure that Isobel didn’t do anything further that would get her in trouble with him or his people. He appreciated that. He headed up the curved stairs of the westernmost tower and when he reached the wall walk, he made his way to where Isobel was watching the land.

  She turned when she either heard his approach or smelled his scent, or both.

  “Thank you for taking care of the men this morning when we broke our fast,” he said.

  “They came to me.”

  Now that surprised Alasdair. He thought for certain she had told them they had to sit with her as part of her assigned duty. “Oh?”

  “Aye. Conall and I watched them earlier, but we did not invite them to sit with us at the meal. I thought mayhap you had sent them to sit between Conall and me.”

  Alasdair frowned. “Nay. I thought you had asked them to sit there.”

  “Mayhap one of your brothers did. Or Lorne.”

  He was certain they wouldn’t have. “What was discussed?”

  “They didn’t talk, so I did. I was surprised they wouldn’t have a lot to say since they had to have known we turned them.”

  He nodded. “So what did you say to them?”

  “I told them all about the joy of being wolves. The good things, and the not so good. But I’m sure your people had already explained that to them.”

  “And about you taking it upon yourself to bite Cleary and your nephew biting Baine?”

  “I told him that wolves with Viking blood are far superior to Scots’ wolves. That they would thank me for giving them some of my roots.” She smiled at Alasdair.

  He closed his gaping mouth. “Superior.”

  “Aye.” Isobel’s smile was charming and mischievous at the same time, he thought.

  “Dinna tell the rest of my people that.” He leaned out against the wall and watched the land himself. He was proud of what they’d taken over and wanted to keep these lands safe for him and his pack.

  “I’ve heard it said there are several newcomers to the pack—female wolves of an eligible age who have joined with their families—who are eager to mate you,” Isobel said.

  “I havena noticed.” He was surprised she’d bring that up.

  “I know we live extraordinarily long lives, but wouldn’t it benefit the pack if you found a wife among them, mated her, and began to have some bairns? I have counted only five in the pack. Well, and my niece and nephew make seven.”

  “What did you say to Cleary and Baine about going to the croft at the loch where you and your kin are staying?” Alasdair had every intention of keeping the conversation on the matter he wanted to discuss with her, not about rumors concerning his finding a mate.

  “Ahh,” she said, and turned her attention to the lands stretching out before them. “That I will come out and greet them, if they howled to let me know they have come to see me.”

  “Why did they go to see you?”

  “You havena asked them? I think it would be easy to assume they wanted to know more about their newfound Viking heritage. As you might have seen, they didn’t say anything to me, just listened while we were eating.”

  “We asked them why they had gone to the croft, but they wouldna say. Either they don’t really understand why they went out there, or they didna want to admit why they had gone to see you,” Alasdair said.

  “As in they were ready to fight me? I would have put them in their place. No’ killed them. But showed them, like an alpha wolf would, that they had a place in the pack and trying to take me down—if that had been their intent—wouldna have worked.”

  He rubbed his chin in thought. “If they go to your place again and dinna have an escort like they did last eve, you howl, and I will take care of them.”

  “Will your people think you are siding with the wild Vikings in your midst? Some of them call us that, you know.”

  “Who?”

  “The women who wish for you to mate them. Mayhap their family’s position would be elevated if their daughter mated you. Some try to whisper behind my back but Elene or your sister hear. Some are bolder about it.”

  “Dinna fight them over it,” he warned. It was one thing to turn men who might have caused them difficulties even if the Vikings had not showed up, but to injure a woman in his pack who had his protection, that was not the same.

  She shrugged. “I care no’ for the bitter words these women—or men—speak, but if I am attacked physically, that is another story. And I willna howl for anyone to come and protect me. I will protect myself and anyone else who may need protecting.”

  He should be frustrated with her. She was unlike any woman he’d ever met. Yet, he was attracted to her strength and fierce pride and her determination to protect those who needed protection. “Are you on guard duty tonight?”

  “Nay, I will be watching over Cleary and Baine though.”

  “No’ at night. They will be in the barracks and the men there will watch them. You will guard me while I swim in the loch.” Last night he had been too angered by what she had done. But he had regretted not seeing her swim.

  She smiled. “It would be my pleasure. I mean, honor.” She inclined her head and continued to watch for signs of trouble when he wanted her to pay attention to him!

  Was he mad? She was doing her assigned duties.

  “This eve then.” Though he would see her during the nooning meal and the one this evening, he couldn’t speak to her during the meals. Not when she was sitting at a lower table, and he was sitting at the high table. But who had made Cleary and Baine sit with her and her nephew then?

  When he reached the stairs, he ran down them to the bottom and then stalked across the inner bailey to speak with Cleary and Baine while they were building the wall. “A word with the two of you, but you can continue to work.”

  “Aye,” the brothers said.

  Conall glanced in their direction, looking curious about what was about to be said, but he continued to work as well.

  “You went to the croft by the loch last night. Why?” Alasdair asked.

  “To stretch our legs as wolves. We were driven to do it,” Cleary said.

  “By why in that direction? Why not toward the other loch that is closer, or the woods, or just anywhere? Why there?”

  “She scared us half to death. We didn’t know it was her and her nephew who bit us. But we…we had to follow the scent trail of the wolves that bit us. We had to know who turned us,” Cleary said.

  “And?”

  “Naught else. We were…just driven to learn who.”

  Alasdair wasn’t sure that was all there was to it. He glanced at Baine, but he just nodded as if agreeing with everything his older brother said. “Who told you to sit between Isobel and Conall at the meal this morn?”

  “Mege,” both Cleary and Baine said at the same time.

  “Mege?” She didn’t make seating arrangements or make any decisions of that magnitude. But then Alasdair realized she had made overtures that she was interested in mating him if he was interested back. Mayhap she thought if she told the men to sit with the Vikings, trouble would ensue, and Isobel would get herself into difficulties with Alasdair.

  “Aye,” Cleary said. “We thought it was because we went to the croft where Isobel and Conall were staying, and Isobel would want to tell us off.”

  “Did she?” Alasdair asked.

  “Nay. She was really nice about everything. She told us what we can expect as wolves and she said that as Viking wolves would we be even more—” Cleary paused, his eyes widening, as if he realized what he was going to say probably wouldn’t set well with the Highland clan chief.

  “Superior to our own kind?” Alasdair offered.

  “Aye, but we know she is wrong.”

  Alasdair swore he heard Conall snicker. “We are equals as wolves no matter who might have bitten you.” But Alasdair would have his sister say something to Mege about involving herself in seating arrangements.

  “It was all right that we sat with them at the meal, was it no’?” Baine asked. “We enjoyed their company.”

  “You said no’ a word.” Alasdair couldn’t understand it.

  Both Baine and Cleary’s ears turned red.

  “They are both smitten with my aunt,” Conall said. “But they’re also cowed by her. She told them to say what they felt, but they were afraid to.”

  “We were no’ afraid,” Cleary said, angry now.

  But Alasdair could tell that was the case already. “Work hard on the wall. You’re doing good work so far.” Alasdair had no intention of having the two brothers, who were smitten with Isobel, sit with her further. What if they overcame their shyness with her and earned her favor? Even though they might have hated her for what her people had done to theirs, he’d also wondered at the time if they had been interested in the bonny lass instead. It seemed that was the case. Maybe they even thought she had turned them because she was smitten with them!