the female’s gaze narrowed and her head tilted to the side, Keeley added—because she still didn’t want to fight—“The world is filled with all kinds. Can’t go around ignoring the suffering of others simply because someone looks different from what I’ve seen before. All I know is he didn’t bite me. He didn’t try to rip my arms or legs off or go for my throat. So I helped. Just like I helped Samuel. Just like I’m trying to help you.”
“I do appreciate that,” Laila admitted, “but still—”
“Life is too short to go around hating things I know nothing about. My ignorance doesn’t mean others should suffer. Now, I’m going to my shop. You can come with me and Samuel, or you can stay here, worrying about animals you won’t see again.” Keeley stepped close, lowered her voice so only Laila could hear her. “Or, you and your lot can keep following me around like you’ve been doing for the last few days and I can continue to pretend I don’t see you. Something I’ve been doing because nothing you’ve done makes me believe you mean any harm to my kin. So it’s up to you what you want to do from here since it seems that you are in charge of this little herd of yours.” Keeley raised a brow. “Understand, Amichai?”
It took a moment for the female to respond. She’d been busy gawking at Keeley with her mouth open. Finally, she tossed her head, hair flipping away from her eyes, and said, “I understand. Perfectly.”
“Good. I’m glad. Come along, Samuel!” Keeley called out.
Then, with a wink and a smile—the one that annoyed her mother to no end—Keeley continued on once more. And this time . . . no one stopped her.
* * *
Laila gawked at Keeley Smythe as she walked off with Samuel and the boy’s three horses. Eventually, her brother came up to her.
“What was that about?” he asked.
“She knows who we are.”
“Why do you look so shocked? Everyone knows who we are. The kilts usually give it away.”
“Let me rephrase. She knows what we are.”
That did make her brother pause. “What makes you think that?”
She looked at Caid. “She called us a herd.”
“Huh.”
Cadell and Farlan joined them.
“Is something wrong?” Cadell asked.
“The sister knows what we are,” Caid replied.
“Should we kill her?” Farlan asked. When Laila closed her eyes in frustration and let out a little growl, he added, “What? That’s a valid question.”
“No, it’s not!” she snapped. “We can’t kill the sister. And we are definitely not killing her because she knows. Before this is all said and done, I’m sure a lot of humans will know. Should we kill them all, Farlan?”
“If they cause us problems . . .”
Sucking her tongue against her teeth in disgust, Laila followed the blacksmith. “Talk to him, Caid!”
“Talk to me about what?”
“The fact that you’re being an ass.”
“According to you, I’m always an ass.”
“This is true.” Caid put his arm around Farlan’s big shoulders.
“And if you harm the blacksmith in any way, I’ll take your cock off and give it to me cousin to make jewelry with. Understand?”
Farlan rolled his eyes but nodded. “Fine. I understand.”
“Excellent!” Caid pushed his comrade on. The less talkative Cadell walked alongside him, his smile irritating his friend.
Caid, sensing he was being watched, looked into the forest. It was deep and dark in there even though it was late morning now, but he could see all those burning eyes staring at him. Studying him. It was then that he felt the blacksmith might be wrong. They would be seeing those wolves again, and Caid was not looking forward to that moment at all.
CHAPTER 3
Caid stood in the middle of Keeley Smythe’s “shop” as she called it and, for once, he marveled at what he saw.
They’d been following her for about five days before meeting her face-to-face during that minor battle, but they’d never gone into her forge. They just wanted to get an idea of who she was and what her family was like.
Her “shop” was not just a forge. She’d apparently purchased the two pitches behind hers and had hired masons to come in and erect a proper building. The first part was a typical forge, with a large hole in the ceiling to allow the smoke to go out. But behind that was the “shop” part, where she sold all manner of steel weapons and then, behind that, was where she brought in the horses for reshoeing.