Chapter 12 #2
I met Rowena’s eyes as we both stood over our fallen enemy. My gaze took her in hungrily. The blood on her blades. The cut in her bodice from an enemy’s blade, which I hadn’t seen until this moment and which I was going to think about for a very long time.
She was alive.
She was here.
Thank fook.
Now seemed an appropriate time for the battle rage to seep from me, and I exhaled. Trusting her to hold Dallin in place, I stepped away, raising my own blade over my head.
“Yer leader has yielded!” I bellowed, and a roar of victory rose from the throats of my warriors.
When I saw Maardok limping toward me, bleeding from his thigh, I rushed to offer him my shoulder.
“Sevren?” I asked under my breath.
“He’ll live. We both will, with a few extra scars.” He nodded to my chest, then my cheek, where I was bleeding from cuts I hadn’t noticed until then. “Thank the gods.”
I breathed a silent prayer of thanks that my brothers were safe. But I steeled myself for worse news.
“And the others? How many did we lose?”
Maardok shook his head sadly. “I saw Bogtam go down, and Fennin beside him. There’s more, I ken it, but hopefully Matthias can keep the wounded alive.”
My heart ached for our clan, our family.
“Ye defeated him.” Maardok nodded to Dallin, who glared up at us from where he lay supine, Rowena’s blade at his throat. “He yielded?”
“Aye.”
I moved to my fallen enemy and offered my hand.
“And he’s an honorable male, so he’ll keep his word.”
This was said to remind the younger male of what was expected. Judging from his scowl as he accepted my hand, I knew he understood. I pulled him up and smiled slightly when my Mate moved the tip of her blade to his back.
I held Dallin in place, glaring down at him.
“Ye did this because yer grandfather didnae trust us? I told ye the ore was packed and ready to be shipped to ye.”
The younger male shrugged sullenly.
“Callor had already sent a force to collect it and teach ye a lesson.”
I shook my head in disgust as I stepped back.
“We’ve both lost friends and family today because yer grandfather thought me dishonorable.
But I’m allowing ye to live, and ye will tell him that.
Ye will tell him that both my Mate and I had ye pinned to the ground with our blades, and we let ye live, because we have nae desire to cause him more pain. ”
I pinned him with a fierce glare.
“He was the one to start this conflict, but by showing ye mercy, we are ending it. Do ye understand?”
For a moment, I didn’t think Dallin would answer. But finally, he nodded once, almost sullenly, and I saw Rowena’s shoulders slump in relief.
“Good.” I nodded curtly. “Many males died today for yer grandfather’s greed, and we’re done with him. The Battleborn of Islay will remain yer allies, but we’ll no’ consider ourselves yer vassal. After this ore is delivered, we nae longer belong to ye.”
The fury in Dallin’s gaze was unmistakable and I wondered if he would renege on his promise to yield. Around us, I could feel the gazes of warriors—mine hopeful, his wary, wondering if battle was about to break out again.
I prayed Dallin would see his own vulnerability, would recognize the wise move.
My Mate, on the other hand, was taking no chances.
In one swift movement, she pressed her dagger into the small of Dallin’s back, against his kidney, and moved her sword to his neck, forcing him to raise his chin to remain unbloodied.
She was so much smaller than her enemy, but that didn’t stop her.
Dallin glared at me, even as I found myself grinning at Rowena’s fierceness.
“Tell your grandfather that the Battleborn of Islay no longer answer to him,” she stated clearly, threat in her tone. “Your life, in exchange for our freedom. We no longer swear fealty to him.”
We.
My heart soared and my chest leapt as my Kteer began to hum in approval, and I couldn’t help the way my lips curled.
“Aye, Dallin. Yer life for our freedom. I’ll have yer word, as a future chief.”
Something like relief flickered in the younger male’s eyes. Relief that I’d recognized his status, or relief that he would live? Finally, he began to nod but stopped when he felt Rowena’s blade beneath his chin.
“I have yielded,” he said in a clear voice which carried over the gathered warriors. “My life for yer freedom. My grandfather will agree.”
Oh, thank fook.
I met Rowena’s gaze and saw the victory gleaming in her blue eyes, before nodding to Dallin.
“My Mate and I will visit him soon and bring the ore as a token of our friendship.”
Friendship, but not servitude. I nodded to Rowena to step back.
“For now, let us treat our wounded.”
Apparently still not trusting the younger male, Maardok limped up to latch onto Dallin’s arm as Rowena sheathed her blades. When I reached her—I didn’t remember moving—to take her in my arms, she was shaking.
“Dkaar,” I murmured, enveloping her in my hold and burying my face in her hair, inhaling her sweet scent. “I thought— Gods below, I never want to experience that terror again.”
“Battle?” She poked me in the side. “You handled yourself well, Vrogul, do not worry.”
At her flippant claim—even though I could feel her still shaking from the aftermath of the fear—I began to chuckle.
“I was speaking of seeing ye in battle, Mate. Do ye have any idea how my heart clenched, to see ye in such danger?”
She tipped her head back, and I could have guessed that she was frowning before I saw it.
“I thought we worked well together.”
“We did.” I pressed a kiss to her forehead. “‘Twas remarkable, really. But I was fighting to keep ye alive.”
“Good, because I was fighting to keep ye alive.”
When she poked me again, her irritation obvious, I smiled again.
“My wee warrior,” I murmured as I lowered my lips to hers.
I’d intended the kiss to be soft, gentle…but my wildcat had other ideas. She was the one to wrap her hands in my braids, holding me as she practically climbed my body, wrapping herself around me. I hefted her by the arse, making it easier for us to devour one another.
I smiled against her lips, my Kteer jubilant to be alive, to have her with me.
Mine.
My Mate.
When we broke apart, we were both breathing heavily, and I pressed my forehead against her, dimly aware of the males moving around us. There were no cheers, no clan chants—this wasn’t a decisive victory, but a hard-fought and heartbreaking victory.
Still, it had worked.
We were free.
We had a future.
Together.
“Dkaar, earlier, ye said we. Ye claimed Battleborn of Islay as yer clan.”
She brushed a kiss over my chin.
“That is because ‘tis my clan. My home.”
My heart soared at that claim, and I pulled back just enough to stare into her eyes.
“Ye mean it? Ye’re staying?”
“Of course I am staying. My Mate is the chief here, and I cannot ask him to leave.”
My Kteer crowed with satisfaction that had naught to do with the Mating Heat of these last days. As my grin grew, my gaze roamed over her face, half-hidden by the brown curls which now swept over her cheeks, sticking to the sweat at her temples.
I lifted my finger to brush one behind her ear.
“This is new.”
“Aye, well…” She shrugged and shook her head, sending the curls swinging against her cheek. “I thought ‘twas time to cut my ties with my old life. Begin anew.”
“Where ye belong?”
My voice rasped as I cupped her cheek.
“Here with us?”
“Here with you. Vrogul, before you ran off to get yourself killed, you told me you loved me.”
I blinked. Had I? I could barely remember those horror-filled moments.
“I do love ye. Ye’re my Mate.”
“Oh.” Her gaze dropped to my chin as she chewed on her lower lip. “Good. Because I love you.”
My grin grew.
“Ye love me, and want to stay here in Battleborn Village and help us rebuild?”
She took a deep breath, her shoulders squaring as she raised her gaze back to mine. There was blood on her cheek, her gown was ruined, and I knew no other female would ever be half as beautiful, half as desirable.
“Of course,” she whispered. “This is my home, and you are my Mate. I will do everything in my power to protect our clan, our home, and our future.”
Home.
My heart leapt, and I crushed her to me.
“I love ye, Rowena.”
“And I love you, Mate.”