Entrusted to a Highlander (Highland Promise Trilogy #2) - Donna Fletcher Page 0,60

if she continued to allow them to think badly of her? And the one way she could change that was to let them get to know her—get to know the strong woman she had become.

She knew it helped to have Arran by her side, but that was all right. At least it was a start.

They were about to turn back to the keep when Freen approached.

“Sir,” Freen acknowledged Arran with a nod. “If you wish to speak with Wolf, you must come with me now or it will be a week or more before you can speak with him.”

Arran didn’t like leaving his wife when they had only arrived here today.

“Go,” Purity urged with a smile. “I will eagerly await your return.”

“He won’t return until morning, Mistress Purity,” Freen said.

The news had her holding on to her husband’s arm.

“I don’t have to go. It can wait,” Arran said, sensing his wife’s anxiousness and feeling it in the grip she had on his arm.

“No, this is important,” Purity said, shaking her head but not with much vigor. “You will go and find out what you can so you have some idea of what we face. I will be fine.”

Arran didn’t feel comfortable with leaving his wife. He didn’t know why since she should be safe now with having returned home. It was an unease he felt that was unfamiliar to him. He never experienced it before now, so he didn’t understand it.

“Go,” she urged again. “There is plenty here to keep me busy.

She might tell him to go but the way her arm remained clamped around his told a different story. Still, it was wise of him to go and talk with Wolf, to meet him and judge the man for himself, and to speak his piece.

“I’ll return as fast as I can,” he said.

“You’ll return safely to me, husband,” she ordered.

“Always,” he whispered and kissed her gently, not trusting himself beyond an innocent kiss.

Purity couldn’t keep the tug from her heart when her husband took his leave. She had gotten far too used to being with him. She closed her eyes a moment and prayed the hours that separated them would go fast.

It took hours to reach the campsite and though Arran had been hoping there would be some way for him to return home sooner than planned, he realized that wasn’t a possibility.

He patted his mare’s neck. “The first hint of light in the morning and we’re on our way home, Hope.”

The mare snorted as if agreeing.

The campsite was smaller than Arran expected, but the look of the warriors there warned they were far superior to a larger group. Every eye was aware, every weapon near, everyone poised to attack in an instant. These were well-trained warriors, ones who were highly efficient, ones who made no mistakes.

Night had brought the cold with it, though it didn’t seem to bother the Northmen. He had grown accustomed to the cold himself, but unlike the warriors, he wore his wool cloak and was glad for it.

Arran knew who Wolf was without an introduction. He stood out from the rest of the men, tall, broad, a fine body born of endless practice and battles, and a demeanor that spoke of authority in every sense of the word. A dark beard added to his fine features and his stance let all know he feared nothing.

Arran greeted the man with a glare when he stopped in front of him.

“Have you come only to show your disdain for me?” Wolf asked and didn’t give him a chance to respond. “For if you have, you waste your time. I could care less how you feel.”

“That’s obvious by the way you’ve treated my family,” Arran said, his tone more than hostile.

“My family was treated no differently,” Wolf snapped. “But the past will serve neither one of us well. A far greater threat looms.”

“Brynjar,” Arran said, reminding himself why he was there.

“The man does nothing without a reason.”

“And the reason must serve him in some way,” Arran said.

“Which makes one wonder why he is here?” Wolf pointed to a campfire where they could sit.

No sooner as Arran sat, he spoke, “I assume you keep a watch on Brynjar.”

“I have two trackers following him. If he wasn’t on foreign soil I would fear for my men’s safety, but Brynjar and his men don’t know this land so they are at a disadvantage.”

“A place Brynjar doesn’t like to be,” Arran said.

“Which leads me to wonder his purpose for being here. If