But she knew better. Every fiber in her being knew she had to escape the man with the chains and the locks, even if another part of her understood Donal's pleas. Donal loved her-she felt it emanating from him in waves. There was no escaping the feeling, no misinterpreting it. That was the one thing about turning wolf-there was no more room for error when it came to things like that. The world became far more black and white, easy to negotiate.
For weeks, Kirstin had waffled, torn, not knowing what to do. For weeks, she had cursed herself for loving this man, wishing things could be different. Now, as she looked into his beautiful blue-grey eyes, things became suddenly, incredibly clear.
"Hold 'er so I can get this collar on!" Gregor insisted, dragging the chains close. "We've gotta cage t'bitch!"
Donal hit the man. It happened fast. One moment, Donal's arms were around her, his hands in her fur, and the next, he'd stood and brought his fist hard across the man's face. Gregor howled and fought back, and the men tussled, wrestling each other to the floor.
It was the only opening Kirstin needed and she took it.
There were more men in the hallway, but she was faster than they were, by far. One of them nearly clipped her tail with his sword, but she sidestepped, escaping through the breezeway. She used the bench in the garden to launch herself over the wall. It was an eight foot drop and she took that too, whimpering as she landed, feeling the whistle of an arrow beside her ear as she ran for the forest.
It was full dark now but she saw everything. The world was hers at night, full of scent and possibility. She stopped at the edge of the woods, seeing the castle being lit up, room by room. The alarm had been sounded. They would be looking for her.
Donal would be looking for her.
Kirstin threw her head back and howled, hoping he could hear her, hoping some small part of him understood if he did. She couldn't tell him, not like this. It was all she could do.
She turned and ran through the forest, heading toward home. Toward hope.
Her heart pounded, and she howled again, thinking only of Donal. There was no way to convey her message except through the plaintive, keening wail of a wolf.
A wolf, she prayed, she would no longer be, when she returned to him.
If only he would wait for her.
8
"Bloody wulvers," Lord Eldred swore. "This she-wolf is the most evasive one I've ever run across."
Kirstin took some pride in his words as she padded silently behind the trees. She could see the light of their fire from this distance and smell the roasting rabbit. They'd burnt it, which wasn't too pleasant. Her ears picked up their words floating downwind to her.
"How're we supposed to know if it's a wulver or a wolf again?" One of Lord Eldred's captains asked. It was the one called William, she remembered. She'd met him that first day. The day she'd met Donal. Thinking of Donal made her ache and she tried to shake it away, venturing closer to them, careful to avoid making any sudden movements or noise.
"All wulvers have blue eyes," Lord Eldred replied. "Real wolves are born with blue eyes, but adult wolves don't ever have blue eyes."
"How do you know so much about them?" the other captain asked, gnawing on a burnt bit of rabbit. Kirstin's stomach growled but she ignored it. That one was named Geoffrey, she remembered. Seeing them all together made her remember that first day, when she'd been trapped up in the tree and Donal had come to her rescue. It hurt to think of Donal, all the way to her bones. She was still in heat, and her whole body felt swollen, aching for him.
"I've been hunting wulvers since before you were born," Lord Eldred snorted, poking the fire with a long stick. Sparks flew up into the night.
"There are wulvers in England?" Geoffrey asked, chewing thoughtfully. "I've never seen one."
"To my knowledge, this is the last pack of wulvers in existence," Lord Eldred told him.
"So this female we're looking for-she can't turn into one of those half-wolf things?" William mused, stretching his boots toward the fire.
"No, females cannot turn into halflings." Lord Eldred sighed. "Have you not paid attention to anything I've said? You two are woefully unprepared to hunt these animals. You could learn a thing or two from Salt and Sedgewick."
Kirstin wondered about the two Lord Eldred spoke of, the men with the funny, unlikely names. Were these two also wulver hunters?
"So what do we do with her when we find her?" Goeffrey threw a bone into the fire, picking up another piece of meat to gnaw on.
"Sometimes I could swear you're deaf, young captain." Lord Eldred sighed, running a hand through his salt and pepper hair. "I already told you. After she leads us to the wolf den, we kill her. Then we send word to King Henry to call up his waiting army from the borderlands so we can kill them all."
Kirstin froze, staring at the man poking a stick at the fire, her hackles up out of her control. She felt a growl rising in her throat and swallowed it down. The urge to attack-to protect her pack-was overwhelming. She sat back on her haunches, teeth bared, but no sound come out of her. She made sure of that. She wouldn't dare let them find her, not now.
She'd always had a bad feeling about Lord Eldred Lothienne, and now, she finally knew why.
"What about the wolf pact? The MacFalon thinks it's still in effect." Geoffrey spit a piece of gristle into the fire. "If he hears we've killed a wulver..."
"Especially his she-wulver..." William's face clouded at the thought.
"Who's going to tell him?" Lord Eldred sneered, looking between the two young captains. "You?"
"No, m'lord..." William held up his hands in a warding off gesture, looking genuinely scared and Geoffrey affirmed his sentiments, assuring his Lord that he wouldn't tell anyone either.
"Besides, even if word did get back to him," Lord Eldred said with a shrug. "By the time he found us, it would be too late. The wulvers would be dead."
Kirstin's body went cold. Her paws felt numb. She could barely feel the forest floor. King Henry planned to kill the wulvers? She had to warn her pack. She had to tell Donal that he'd been deceived.
"So this she-wolf, she'll turn back into a woman?" Geoffrey mused. "A real woman? With woman parts?"
"Once her estrus has ended." Lord Eldred glanced up at the sky, cloudless, the moon high above. "Another day perhaps. You've seen her for yourself, Geoffrey. She's exceptional."
"Yes. I was just wondering..." He cleared his throat, glancing over at William across the fire. "Maybe we could force her to change into human form? Chain her up and uh, have a little fun-before we get rid of her?"
"After she leads us to the wolf den, of course." William interjected.
Kirstin's breath caught, her eyes flashing at the two English captains. She could have bounded into their camp and ripped them to pieces-and she wanted to. The two young men she wasn't worried about. She would have both of their throats torn out before they knew what was happening. It was Lord Eldred she had to concern herself with. She didn't dare attack while he had two free hands and was able to face her.
"You like to live dangerously, my young friends." Lord Eldred chuckled. "And if she turned back into a wolf in the middle of your ‘fun?' As a wolf, she outweighs you by a hundred pounds and could tear your throat out with her teeth in less than a second."
Bloody well right, Kirstin thought with a low snarl. She caught herself, hoping no one had heard it. She often forgot how little humans paid attention to the things their senses told them.
"So, no fun then?" William sighed. "I'd like to say I bed a wulver."
"You'd be in good company. King Henry himself has indulged." Lord Eldred grinned. "Unfortunately, you can't rape a wulver woman in human form. She can turn back into a wolf at will. So if it was a woman's hot cunt you were looking to fill, you'd be out of luck."
"So King Henry bed a wulver... when she was... uh..." Geoffrey looked at William and the realization dawned on both of them at once.
"In wolf form?" Lord Eldred's grin widened. "Yes, indeed he did. The issue from that union runs the wolf den she'll lead us to. If we can find the bitch. I hope Salt and Sedgewick are having better luck than we."
Lord Eldred scowled into the woods. For a moment, Kirstin thought he was looking directly at her and she shrank back behind a tree.
"Do you think we've really lost her?" William mused.
"Mayhaps she's back at the den already," Geoffrey speculated.