WolfeStrike (De Wolfe Pack Generations #2) - Kathryn Le Veque Page 0,120

to move north, he didn’t look back.

“How do you feel, Tor?” Blayth asked quietly. “I know that this was difficult, but it was the right thing to do.”

The moon was so bright that it appeared as if the entire land were lit by a million white torches, everything so bright that it was like daytime.

For Tor, it was, indeed, as if a new day had dawned.

The first day of the rest of his life.

“I feel fine,” he said. “I feel as if a great burden has been lifted. I’m only sorry it took me so long to come to my senses.”

Blayth glanced at Ronan and Christian, the men who had known Tor better than most. “It was quite a burden,” he agreed. “And quite complicated. Who knew that the sick man who had come to Blackpool was a rogue de Royans knight? We would have never known had I not recognized the body. I had seen the man come with Kelton de Royans to the gathering of the northern warlords last year. I feel badly that I did not see him when he first came to Blackpool. Mayhap we could have avoided this whole situation.”

Tor held up a hand to ease him. “It was not your fault, Uncle Blayth,” he said. “We took him in, as it was the right thing to do, having no idea that he was only pretending to be ill to gain access to Blackpool and to the House of de Wolfe. Barbara and Lenore played right into his hands.”

“Kelton de Royans said that it was rumored that Joah de Brayton and Steffan de Featherstone were lovers,” Blayth said quietly. “I care not who a man loves, but I do care about his character and de Brayton seemed to be lacking, according to Kelton. To seek revenge for a foul scheme gone wrong only comes from a man with poor standards and even worse judgment.”

Tor glanced at his uncle. “Sometimes, it can happen in the best of families,” he said. “Look at Steffan. Gilbert is a good man and Isalyn, of course, is beyond reproach, but Steffan had a distinct lack of character. Kelton pressed one of his other knights, a friend of Steffan’s, who said that Steffan only sought the betrothal with Isabella to gain access to the de Wolfe war machine. He had promised Joah a great position once he married her. Thank God he didn’t.”

They all turned to look at Fraser, riding along silently, listening to everything that was being said. When he saw all of the attention on him, including Blayth’s, he smiled weakly.

“Thank God, indeed,” he repeated, a smile on his lips. “I would not have the great honor of becoming her husband next week.”

As Blayth cocked a stern eyebrow at the man, the others started laughing. “We are fortunate to have you in the family, Fraser, and do not let Papa make you think otherwise,” Ronan said. “He may look like a terrible barbarian, but he already loves you. I can tell.”

“Shut up,” Blayth grumbled to his son. “You are not to make him feel so welcome until he has been married to Bella for a while. If you make him feel comfortable, he will not fear me.”

“I will always fear you, my lord,” Fraser said smoothly.

Now, Blayth was trying not to smile as the others laughed. “Smart man,” he muttered.

The party continued on, the mood lighter than it had been in some time, ever since Barbara and Lenore nearly carried out their final, terrible plan to remove Isalyn forever. After the scare, Tor had summoned his father and married Isalyn in the man’s presence three days later, and she had worn the gorgeous wedding dress that he had purchased for her. Upon her finger, never to be removed, was the ancient posy ring they so cherished.

I choose thee.

“Did you tell Gilbert what Kelton de Royans told you, Uncle Blayth?” Tor asked, anxious to return to Blackpool and to his new wife, who was in the care of his father and her father at the moment. “He knows that Joah came from Netherghyll, but I was not sure how much more you told him.”

Blayth shook his head. “There is no reason to tell him anything more,” he said. “Would it do any good to tell him that his son’s lover was seeking revenge for his death? That he was mad with rage and that his son was trying to dupe the House of de Wolfe by marrying Isabella? Nay, I