WolfeBlade: de Wolfe Pack Generations by Kathryn Veque (top 20 books to read .TXT) 📗

A dark-haired, blue-eyed boy.

Weeping with joy, Gavriella took the child out of Sister Fiona’s arms and held him up to get a good look at him before hugging him tightly. The babe was clearly still very young, a stout little lad who was wrapped tightly against the cold weather. As Gavriella hugged the baby and rocked him gently, Andreas came to stand next to her.

“Look at him,” Gavriella wept happily. “He’s so big! When he was born, he had light hair, but it has turned darker over the months. My mother had dark hair, you know. I think he looks a little like her now. He’s more beautiful than I remembered!”

Andreas was trying not to look too stunned and too confused. He forced a smile as she held the lad up so he could get another look at him. He really was a gorgeous little thing with dark hair against his pale skin, chewing his hands and wide-eyed at all of the activity.

“He’s quite handsome,” he concurred, putting a big hand on the baby’s head, dwarfing it. “Why not sit down with him and become acquainted? I must speak to the sister about… a donation.”

Gavriella didn’t notice the tone of his voice, as if he were both confused and annoyed. She was too focused on the baby. As she went to sit in the chair next to the hearth, setting the baby on her lap and speaking sweetly to him, Andreas made his way over to Sister Fiona, who was watching the exchange carefully. When she saw the knight approach, she simply lifted her thin eyebrows.

“He was in need of a mother,” she murmured. “She was in need of a son. See how happy she is? Now, she does not have to know the truth unless thou feels the need to tell her. Does thou?”

Andreas sighed faintly, looking at the pair. Now, Will was standing next to them, admiring the baby, who was starting to squeal happily. “Nay,” he said, resigned. “Sister, I am not entirely sure this is the right thing to do, but she is overjoyed and, for that, I am grateful. If you feel this is the right thing, it is not something I will spoil.”

“As I said, one must have faith.”

“I’ll try.”

Sister Fiona smiled encouragingly, giving him a bold wink before heading over to Gavriella to tell her a little about the child she believed to be her son. The little lad was nearly the same age as the child she lost, perhaps slightly younger, and he’d come to the foundling home after both of his parents, Scots from Clan Maxwell, had died in the clan wars that had been going on for the past several months.

But Sister Fiona wasn’t going to tell her that.

Truth be told, the little nun knew the child to be the grandson of a chieftain, one of the very men who was wreaking havoc on de Wolfe lands. Oh, she knew all about it. She was far from being a naïve woman who tended children, because being a dependent of the Earl of Northumbria, she knew a great deal of what went on this far north. And she knew the little lad’s name to be Peyton Maxwell. But now… now, he was to be Storm, raised by a de Wolfe.

But Andreas and Gavriella never need know any of it, and if little Peyton’s relatives came looking for him, she’d simply tell them he’d met the same fate as Storm.

He’d have a better home with the House of de Wolfe, anyway.

A little lie she was certain God would forgive her for.

As Sister Fiona sat down next to Gavriella to tell her about her son, there was a knock at the heavy entry door. The tiny sister who had admitted them went to the door and unbolted it to reveal another nun, the one who worked in the stable yard and kitchens, with Brodie behind her.

Andreas spied him immediately.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

Brodie was wise enough to motion them outside rather than shout out the message for all to hear. Andreas, Will, and Gareth emerged into the bailey, facing him.

“Our scouts have just returned from Kelso,” Brodie said in a low voice. “They have spotted de Soulis entering the other end of town. He’ll be here in a matter of minutes, Dray.”

It wasn’t unexpected news. It simply confirmed what they’d all suspected. In fact, Andreas felt a little as if he’d been hit with a fist to the gut. Nay, the news wasn’t unexpected at all, but it was the realization that Merek had been right, after all.

Giddy had been looking for the child.

“How many men?” Andreas asked.

“The scouts think at least one hundred,” Brodie said. “As many as we have.”

Andreas said a quick prayer that it wasn’t more.

It was time to move.

“Get our men into the bailey,” he said. “Quickly, get them out of sight. We’ll all wait here for de Soulis to ring that bell.”

Gareth and Will were already moving for the gate, already shouting at the men to get inside. But Brodie remained focused on Andreas.

“And then what?” he asked. “What are you going to do when they ring that bell?”

Andreas began to rub his hands together, like a man ready for a fight. He was greatly anticipating it.

“When they ring that bell, both gates open and our men pour out to attack,” he said. “They will not be expecting it, so we’ll use the element of surprise. They think that they have been clever all this time, trying to find out where Gavriella’s infant was. Now that they’re here, they’re going to get a big surprise. And, Brodie – no mercy.”

Brodie liked that order. A smile flickered on his lip. “I’ll spread the word.”

“We have men with crossbows,” Andreas said. He pointed to the wall that surrounded the foundling home. “That wall isn’t much, but we’re going to use it. Get them on it. When the fighting starts, I want them to take out everything that moves.”

“It shall be done.