Chapter 18
To Merewen’s surprise, in the morning, a woman brought her a fresh set of clothes. Repressing a shudder at the idea that the dress might belong to one of Alaric’s victims who was now dead, she put it on. The last thing she wanted was to face him naked.
A moment later, she congratulated herself for the initiative, when Alaric entered the room. Although it was only mid-morning, he looked drunk. Perhaps he had spent the night drinking, celebrating his future victory over her.
“So. Have you changed your mind?” he asked without preamble. “Shall we get married this day?”
“No.”
“You know I will have to kill you if you refuse?”
“Am I supposed to prefer being your wife to being dead?” she sneered. “Well, I don’t.”
“Very well. Kill you it is, then. I don’t mind.” He came to a halt in front of her and bared his teeth in a parody of a smile. “But why do that before I get the chance to enjoy you?”
All the blood left her veins, and, for a moment, Merewen thought she was going to be sick. “You don’t mean—”
“Oh, I do. I usually prefer blond women but you’re very beautiful, you know that?”
A finger slid over her cheek, reminding Merewen of a slug slithering over a leaf. Unable to bear the contact, she made to bite his finger, but Alaric was too fast for her. He grabbed her throat in a death-like grip.
“Keep that for later,” he snarled, his fingers digging into her neck painfully. “I will give you something to wrap your lips around. But first…” He pushed her against the wall while he fumbled with his braies.
“Kill me,” Merewen rasped, closing her eyes. “You need me dead. Kill me now.”
“No. Not before I have—”
He never finished the sentence. It took Merewen a moment to realize that the fingers around her neck had slackened their grip, then released her altogether.
What had happened to make Alaric change his mind?
Had someone come in? She hadn’t heard a thing.
When she dared risk a look she found herself staring straight into Wolf’s blue eyes.
His hands were wrapped around Alaric’s neck.
By the looks of it, as soon as he let go, the man would crumple to the floor in a heap.
“Wolf!” she croaked.
“The man seems to like choking people, so I thought I would show him just how pleasurable it is,” he growled. “I think he might be rethinking his previous opinion.”
With a disgusted grunt, he released Alaric who fell onto the floor, unconscious.
“Oh!” Merewen sagged against the wall. The relief of knowing she was not going to be raped, or killed, the joy of seeing Wolf… She could scarce believe it. “I didn’t think you would come for me.”
“Neither did I.”
He had arrived in time. He had not left it too late… Wolf could have howled with the relief of it. How could he ever have considered sending away the woman he loved, his wife, considered trying to live without her?
It had been all he could think about on the way to Alaric’s lair, as he urged Demon on over fields and streams.
That he loved her like he had not loved anyone before and that he would not let history repeat itself, not without a fight.
He would save Merewen or die in the attempt.
He had been overcautious, sending her away before a problem had actually arisen and that had been just as dangerous as keeping her with him, could have proven disastrous.
From now on, he would not trust anyone else with her safety, not men he didn’t know, not uncles who probably didn’t even exist. If he had to fail her, let it be because he was overcome by a mob whilst fighting for her, rather than because he had entrusted her to her tormentor when nothing was threatening her.
“How did you get in here?” she whispered.
He made a dismissive gesture. “Getting in was no issue. But getting out of here with the woman Alaric has no doubt instructed his people to guard should prove much more of a challenge,” he added grimly.
In his haste, he had not given the matter much thought.
All he had cared about was making sure he could reach Merewen in time but undeniably, getting past the guards would not be easy.
Still, now that he had her safe with him he felt invincible.
He’d been wrong to doubt himself. Loving her did not make protecting her any easier but it made him ten times as determined.
He took a step toward her but stopped before he could take her into his arms. After the way he had forsaken her, she probably didn’t want him to touch her and he did not feel he had the right to even look at her.
“Did he touch you?” he asked, and he almost drew his dagger out to plunge it into the bastard’s heart when he thought back to the way he’d pinned her to the wall.
“No.”
His eyes narrowed as they landed on her neck. The imprint of Alaric’s fingers was very visible, red blotches on her flawless skin. There was also a new bruise on her cheek. He had hurt her, it was plain to see. “You’re lying.”
“He did not touch me in the way you mean,” she amended quickly. “He meant to kill me, not bed me. I think if he hadn’t been drunk he would never… He wouldn’t have tried…”
Wolf wasn’t so sure but he didn’t tell her as much. The man wouldn’t need to be drunk to want to tumble her into bed. Even dressed in a shapeless gown, with her hair in disarray, she was a vision of beauty such as was rarely seen.
The only thing marring the effect were the bruises on her face. Two men had raised their hand to her in less than a week. The bastard who had assaulted her in town and Alaric. He bunched his fists, swearing no one would hurt her again as long as he lived.
“We need to go. Someone might come. They mustn’t find me here.”
He placed a hand on the small of her back to lead her toward the door. But Merewen did not make any move to follow him. Instead her eyes filled with tears.
Alarm spiked through him. Was she in too much pain to be able to move? “What is it, little one?”
“Are… Are we truly married?”
He recoiled. “Of course, we are! You were there with me during the ceremony, weren’t you?”
“I was but I-I didn’t understand a word of what the man said. There was no one with us and then yesterday you told me to go. You turned your back on me as if I didn’t matter so I wondered…”
Of course. Wolf’s heart plummeted further.
She had every reason to doubt him after what he had done.
Unable to resist any longer, he wrapped her in his arms. Forget what he had the right to do or not, he had already done all the wrongs things he could have done anyway.
One more would not hurt and he needed to touch her.
Against him, she trembled. He guessed that Alaric would have taunted her about the validity of their marriage just to hurt her, and his own unpardonable behavior had made it possible for her to believe every venomous word. Oh, he had so much to atone for! Would a lifetime be enough?
He inhaled her floral smell before speaking with his mouth at her temple.
“You do matter more than life itself. What I did was unforgivable, it is agreed. But you are my wife, and we are truly married. What happened that day bound us as surely as if I had taken you to one of your priests. I’m sorry if that’s not what you wanted to hear but I assure you we are husband and wife and that I intend to honor my word to you and fulfil my role to the best of my abilities.
I tried to do the right thing by you and ended up making a catastrophic mistake. It won’t happen again.”
Instead of answering, Merewen closed her eyes and allowed herself to sink into the comfort of Wolf’s embrace. He was wrong, he had told her exactly what she wanted to hear. They were legally bound, he had not lied to her, and he wanted her as his wife. It was all that mattered.
“So… You still want me?”
“Oh, I want you, and I need you more than my next breath” he said in a low rumble. “The question is, do you want me?”
“More than ever.”
“Then as soon as we can I will marry you again, in the Saxon way if such is your wish. A dozen times if you wish. You will never be able to doubt my sincerity again.”
“I don’t.”
She felt his shoulders sag in relief. Then, as if now that he had heard what he needed to hear, he could focus once more, he straightened up and looked around the room.
“Is there a way out of here other than across the main yard?” he asked, every inch the formidable warrior on a mission.
“Follow me.”
“Wait.” He removed his tunic and threw it over her head before she could take a single step. “It’s cold outside.”
Merewen melted. He had remembered how susceptible she was to cold, and was taking care of her. Everything would be all right.
A moment later, they were outside, creeping along the wooden palisade.
That way they should be able to reach the gate without attracting anyone’s attention until the very last moment.
Luck was with them, and the gate was clear but just outside the walls, as if to taunt them, three men were stationed by a dying camp fire, a precaution Alaric must have taken against her escape last night.
Wolf and Merewen came to a skidding halt. Three guards were too few to absolutely rule out an escape, but too many for a single man to overpower. But Wolf was not alone. He could use her.
Merewen turned to him.
“You are going to have to abduct me,” she said hurriedly.
“I thought that was what I was doing,” he growled.
“I mean you’re going to have to make it look as if you are.
Threaten me, hold me like a hostage. It is the only way we can get out unharmed.
The men will let us pass if they think you will kill me.
I will tell them Alaric doesn’t want me hurt because he means to marry me.
” It was not even a lie and with luck, the men would have been told about his plans, which would play in their favor.
“I will kick and scream as if I was afraid for my life.”
“And are you afraid of me, little one?” He sounded appalled at the idea.