Moon Burning - By Lucy Monroe Page 0,90

as if it is of no account?” Barr pressed.

Sabrine’s eyes filled with hurt. “I said I would come back.”

So, she did not like having her word doubted. No more did he.

And he was not about to let her leave the clan without him. He would not have done so before she became pregnant, but now there was no chance.

Surely she was wise enough to realize that.

“I have your child in my womb? Truly?” The look of wonder in her gaze went far toward appeasing his anger.

“Aye.” He frowned, unwilling to trust her apparent happiness considering her revulsion toward his wolf. “Do not discount my brother’s words. It is likely our child will be Faol.”

“And it will grow up believing no Chrechte an abomination.” The smile that broke over her face was like the sun coming out after a storm.

It lit the room around them and made him ache to make love to her, but the time for revelations had come.

This time hers.

“You said you had much to tell me.”

She nodded, her delight dimming. “I do.”

“Then we should retire to my bedchamber.”

“Verica and Circin deserve to know more about their people.”

Shock went through him with lightning-bolt intensity.

But it was Earc who demanded of his mate, “Circin has a dual Chrechte nature as well?”

The look of chagrin that passed over Sabrine’s features left no doubt she hadn’t meant to reveal another’s secrets.

Verica sighed and looked up at her mate. “I should have told you.”

“But it is no easy thing to trust another with the secrets you do not consider yours alone, is it?” Sabrine asked. “I am sorry I revealed Circin’s.”

Verica shook her head. “No. It is all right. I trust those in this room, if for no other reason than my sacred bonded does.”

The underlying message of Verica’s words was not lost on Sabrine, who cast a sidelong glance at Barr with a disgruntled frown.

He gave her a look that demanded she answer the implications of the healer’s statement. He took nothing for granted with his mate.

Sabrine took a deep breath and then turned to look at him and only him again. “I trust you and therefore, I trust those you hold in high esteem.”

He could see how hard the words had been to utter and once again, the urge to join with her nearly overwhelmed him. She was finally truly his.

“Good.”

She frowned, but her brown eyes twinkled with something other than annoyance. “You are arrogant.”

“You have noticed this before.”

“Sometimes it is more glaringly obvious than others.”

“It’s a family trait,” Guaire said, with full-out laughter in his voice.

Niall growled, but his mated didn’t so much as blink at the implied threat. He just gave Niall a smile that had Barr’s fierce brother melting like the mist in the sun. Niall pulled Guaire into his arms and kissed him quite thoroughly before letting the redhead settle with his back to him. After all the years Niall had spent lonely and pining for a mate he thought feared him, Barr would never grow tired of seeing the evidence of his brother’s new happiness. The look of contentment on the scarred face squeezed his own heart, though he would never admit it aloud.

You are happy for your brother. Sabrine’s voice was soft with indulgence inside his head.

Aye. He has found contentment with Guaire.

I have never seen warriors so at peace. Her voice held puzzlement and a longing he did not understand.

She could be that at peace with him. Did she not realize this?

Verica is so happy, despite the risks of living here amidst potential enemies.

This clan is her family. And I will discover those who would kill for the sake of killing. ’Tis my duty as her laird.

You are so sure of yourself.

As are you.

A sense of surprise pulsed between them.

He almost laughed out loud. You are every bit as confident a warrior as me.

“As charming as Verica and Earc’s chamber is, perhaps these revelations could be made in a spot more comfortable,” Guaire said with a smile for Verica, interrupting Barr and Sabrine’s quick mental exchange.

Barr had no doubt his brother’s mate had known exactly what he was interrupting. The seneschal of his former laird was a highly intelligent man, if only a marginal warrior. Earc bristled and once again Barr nearly laughed; Guaire’s charm had only grown with his confidence after mating with Niall. While Talorc showed no jealousy of the man’s deep friendship with his mate and wife, other warriors were not so tolerant.

Turning toward the door, Barr said, “We will