Chapter 16
“Let go of her, you bastard! That’s my wife!”
The roar of rage was heard all the way through the forest, causing the birds to take flight and the man to stop in the act of helping Merewen up his horse.
Wolf brandished his dagger and pumped his legs faster. She was not going to be taken away now, under his very eyes!
“Get your hands off her! Now! Before I cut you to ribbons!”
“Stop, Wolf! It’s not what you think!” he heard Merewen cry out. But he was too far gone to pay any heed to her. Fear had seized his guts and fury blinded his vision. He only wanted the man incapacitated before he could hurt her.
In a moment, he would fall on him and pummel him to the ground.
Just when he raised his fist Merewen placed herself in front of him.
No! What was she doing? He tried to slow down but it was too late, the momentum carried him forward.
He only had time to lower his weapon before barreling into her.
The impact was impossible for her to absorb and they rolled to the ground together, Wolf doing his best to wrap his body around her to break her fall.
For a moment, they stared at each other in disbelief, panting with the realization that he had almost skewered her with his dagger.
“Ow!” Merewen cried out, pushing at his chest. He instantly slid off her. What was he doing crushing her under his massive body? At least he did not appear to have hurt her. “What was that?”
“That man… He was abducting you!” Another moment and he would have been too late.
“He was doing no such thing!” she hissed, doing her best not to shout so as to keep their disagreement private but Wolf did not care if the man or the whole village heard them. “He’s a friend! Well, not a friend exactly but one of my neighbors. We met by chance earlier. He told me…”
Wolf closed his eyes. A neighbor! This was not one of the Saxon bastards who had sworn to make her pay, or the monster who preyed on the villagers…
Merewen had not been in any danger, he’d completely misread the situation.
By the gods, he’d almost killed an innocent man, he’d almost plunged his blade into her stomach and all because for a moment he had not been able to control his temper! Would he ever learn?
His first wife had died because of him and the guilt had almost killed him. Now he had almost stabbed his second wife. He might not have been Solveig’s murderer but he could have been the instrument of Merewen’s death. It did not bear thinking about.
“I didn’t hurt you, did I?” he asked, cutting through her explanations.
What the man had told her mattered not, all that mattered was that he had not been about to abduct her.
And more than anything he needed to hear he had not cut her or crushed her or frightened her or done any of the things he’d sworn never to do.
What a brute he really was! He should protect Merewen, not place her into danger, he should make her feel safe, not threatened, he should give her pleasure, not inflict her pain every time he touched her.
He was losing control, fast.
“No, I’m fine,” she said with a sigh. “But next time, please, think before you act.”
Next time.
The words were like a punch to the stomach.
Yes, there would be a next time, another danger, another attacker, another disaster.
He would have to be on constant guard day and night, and there were no guarantees it would even work because he could not forbid her to leave the hut, nor could he jump on every person who approached her.
He had allowed himself to be persuaded that he could look after her properly when she had come back battered and bruised from the man’s assault.
He should not have been so complacent. This man who’d been her neighbor might not have wanted to hurt her but others would, and they did not even try to hide the fact, they had told Magnus as much. They were coming for her.
Sooner or later, she would pay the price of being his wife.
“Alaric was only telling me a man came visiting my old house yesterday. An uncle I never knew I had,” Merewen told him, oblivious to his grim musings.
Her eyes were sparkling with joy. “Can you believe it? I have a family after all, I’m not alone, contrary to what I thought!
I was about to go and see for myself, before they leave.
That’s why I was climbing on the horse, because time is of the essence.
If I’m not there, then they have no reason to linger.
I fully intended to send you a message as soon as I could but I cannot miss this opportunity. I hope you understand.”
Oh, Wolf did understand. He understood all too well.
“So… You have a family?” he said slowly.
It was as if an answer had been given to him.
The answer he didn’t want to hear but which would be the solution to his dilemma.
If Merewen was not on her own after all, but could call on the protection of an uncle, then everything had changed. She didn’t need him anymore.
Slowly, he got to his feet then helped her up. As she lifted her head his gaze fell on the bruise on her cheekbone. No more, he swore, she shouldn’t have to endure any more violence, least of all in his stead. There was only one way he could ensure that.
He would have to let her go.
It was for the best, the only way to protect her.
Away from the menace the mob of Saxons represented, far from the village where a predator lurked on the look out for beautiful women, surrounded by a family who would be overjoyed to have found her again she would be safe, more than she would ever be here with him.
He had once bought her to spare her a dire fate, he would now have to let her go to save her from an even worse one.
“Go with your neighbor,” he said, feeling all the blood drain away from his veins at the idea that she was about to walk out of his life. They’d only had two weeks together but it would have to suffice. This time he would not be greedy, he would stop before he ruined it all.
“Thank you.” Merewen gave his hand a squeeze. “That you understand why I need to go means a lot to me. I know…” She blushed. “I know we had plans for tonight but I will be back as soon as I can, I swear.”
The smile she gave him was radiant. That decided him. She had never looked that happy since she had arrived in the village and he wanted her to be happy as much as he wanted her to be safe.
So she had to go.
“No. You misunderstand me. Go back home and don’t come back. There is nothing for you here.” Every word was a stab to his heart.
“Nothing?” She staggered against him. “But that’s not true.
There’s you…” He took a step backward. If they touched, he would never have the strength to do what he must do.
She frowned at his sudden coldness, then her eyes grew wide as cart wheels when she finally understood what was happening. “You’re sending me away?”
“Yes.” The word was pushed through gritted teeth.
“But we’re married, we can’t—”
He cut in, eager to make the difficult moment as quick as possible.
It was precisely because she was his wife that she was in danger, and he would not stand by and watch while she got hurt.
“I can’t protect you. You will be better off with your family.
They will look after you. It’s too dangerous here. ”
“I don’t—”
As much to put an end to a discussion that was excruciating as to feel her one last time, he crushed her into an embrace. All at once, her smell hit him, her softness stole his breath. They felt so good together, entwined thus! How would he bear to be without this woman?
By knowing she was alive, and safe.
It would have to be enough.
Oh, but the cruelty of having to let her go the moment he had realized he was in love with her!
Because, unlike what he had thought only a moment ago by the river, he did not simply care for her, he loved her.
Fool that he was, he had allowed himself to do the one thing he shouldn’t have done, and fallen in love.
It was the worst thing that could have happened because if it made it even more imperative for him to ensure her safety, it also made it impossible for him to keep the clear head needed to accomplish such a task.
She had to go, before it was too late.
“I love you, wife, but I’d rather see you live without me than die because of me,” he murmured in Norse in her ear, safe in the knowledge she would not understand he had just bared his soul to her.
For a long moment, Merewen remained frozen in disbelief.
Wolf was sending her away. Her husband did not want her.
It was not possible. Only a moment ago she had congratulated herself on being happy, on the fact that they had put the hardship behind them and were finally ready to start on their marriage…
And now she was being told she had to leave, she was ordered never to come back.
How could things have gone wrong so quickly?
Wolf was still holding her in a tight embrace, as if he cared about her, he was speaking in velvety tones in her ear, like someone trying to seduce her.
But if he was sending her away, it was all an illusion!
He cared nothing for her, and seducing her was the furthest thing on his mind.
It only served to show her everything she was about to lose.
Never again would she enjoy the warmth of his body, or hear his voice in her ear, or feel his arms wrapped protectively around her.
How could he be so cruel as to taunt her thus?
Everything within her erupted.
“If you have anything to tell me then I suggest you tell me in a language I understand!” she roared, pushing at his chest. Her fury was such that she actually managed to free herself from his hold.
Either that or he was not trying very hard to keep her close.
“Even better, stop acting so odd and tell me you…”