Free The Viking's Highland Lass by Terry Spear Page B

“Nay, lass.” He encouraged her to lie down with him again and then pulled her tight against him and buried them in the furs. “I have a gift when it comes to animals. They all love me, whether I wish to be loved by them or not.”
    â€œDo you have the same way with women?”
    He smiled, but did not answer her. It was true the lasses all seemed to like him and vied to get his attention, several of them wishing he’d marry them. But he hadn’t been interested enough in any lass to settle down.
    He sighed. What was he to do about the wolf pup? They couldn’t take it with them, even if he did discover the wild wolf had lost its pack. Yet, he couldn’t leave the pup behind to die either.
    Getting the lass safely to the MacNeill lands was the only difficulty he wished to think about right now. If Seamus and his men caught up with them, Gunnolf would have to prove he could fight six men and win the battle—this time.

    G unnolf was still sleeping when Brina heard the wolf pup whimpering outside the tower wall. She quickly found dry socks in her pouch and hurried to pull them on. Then she hastily yanked on her boots and tied them on. She fastened her brat about her shoulders and braced herself for the cold outside the tower. Amazed at how the thick tower walls had blocked the chilly breeze and kept their small sleeping quarters so much warmer, she walked through the doorway and out into the inner bailey where some of the curtain walls stood, some crumbling, some still resembling a protective wall. She shivered and walked as far away from the tower as she could, keeping it in sight in the low-light as the sun was attempting to ascend into the heavens.
    A fog was also moving into the area, and she could not see much off in the distance but more fog.
    She needed to relieve herself, but kept a watchful eye out for the wolf, when she saw the gray pup. She’d raised one until he had gone off to find a mate, never learning what had happened to the rest of his family, though she had looked, thinking she might find more pups.
    She spoke softly to the pup, then pulled a bannock out of her pouch, tore off a piece, and offered it to him.
    He stuck his nose at the food, sniffed it, then took it from her, and chewed on it. “Stay,” she said, as if he’d know what she meant for him to do. She observed the partial stone walls standing against the snowy backdrop and considered the keep again, standing on top of a hill. She hadn’t realized the horse had climbed it last night. She looked around at the fog-cloaked mountains and forests surrounding them, the river and a loch nearby. She was disappointed to realize she had no idea where they were.
    She crunched through the crusty snow, sinking into it until she reached a partial outer wall, found a place by a cairn that afforded her privacy from the tower, and relieved herself. Then she turned to head back to the tower when she saw the pup had followed her.
    â€œYou were supposed to have stayed,” she scolded, already loving him because she knew he had followed her as if she were his mother wolf, taking care of him until he was old enough to provide for himself. She held out her hand to him, encouraging him to come to her, talking to him like a mother would her baby, soft and high and reassuring.
    He inched closer, then stuck out his nose and sniffed her hand, then licked it. She smiled. “Come.” She clapped her thigh to urge him to come with her. But the pup just sat on the snow and watched her. She returned to him, gathered him up in her arms, and headed back to the tower.
    She had barely reached what would have been the inner bailey when Gunnolf stalked out of the tower, his face grim, his blue eyes widening at the sight of her.
    â€œI found the wolf pup. You didna need to.” Then she wondered if he had worried she had run away from him in the middle of the night. “I am going home with you, Norseman. Dinna concern