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

your father before that cow comes looking for me. And you must see to those chambers. Make haste, my lady. The de Wolfe army approaches.”

Gavriella nodded and continued down the stairs, pushing Giddy out of her mind. She had other things to focus on. Men to bed, food to provide. All in a day’s work as the chatelaine of Falstone.

Little did she know what, however, she would soon be facing.

Her stars were about to change.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

“Look to the east,” Gareth said. “A storm is coming in. See it?”

Andreas was astride his muscular war horse, the one that had replaced the horse he’d had for eighteen years who had fallen in battle three months ago. The horse’s name had been Otho, a gray beast missing one eye, but he’d been hell in a fight. Oddly enough, it hadn’t been a weapon that killed him – he’d simply seized up in the middle of a fight and dropped dead, leaving Andreas pinned beneath him. It had taken his father, his brother, and several men to lift the horse enough so he could be pulled out from underneath.

Andreas missed that horse.

He was still getting used to the Belgian charger he now rode, the one as dark as a moonless night. The horse was gorgeous, young, and powerful, but Andreas felt like all he did was wrestle the beast to keep him controlled. The horse seemed to have the same disposition in battle or out of it – vicious and edgy. He swung that big head around and knocked men down with ease, a particularly valuable trait in a fight, but not so much when they were simply riding along and not trying to kill anyone.

It was Cassius who had named the horse The Hammer, but it was Andreas who felt like he was the one being hammered every time he rode the damned thing.

“I see it,” he said after a moment, cuffing The Hammer on the side of the neck when the horse threw his head once again and bashed into Gareth’s horse. “That means snow. We must get to Falstone before the weather lets loose. I do not want to be caught on the open road with a snowfall.”

Gareth agreed with him. “Should I send a man ahead to tell them of our imminent arrival?”

Andreas was looking ahead at Falstone in the distance. “I want you to look at the location of the castle,” he said. “Is it fair to say that from their position, they would be able to see our approach?”

Gareth was young and eager, but he wasn’t stupid. He knew what his brother was getting at. “Aye,” he said sheepishly. “So they already know we’re coming.”

Andreas fought off a grin. “They do,” he said. “But that does not mean you cannot send someone ahead to give them exact numbers so they know where to position everyone. From the looks of it, the castle isn’t terrible sizable. There might be some logistical issues.”

Gareth nodded. “Agreed,” he said. “May I ride ahead?”

“You may.”

Flashing a smile that looked very much like their father, Gareth spurred his horse onward, thundering down the road that was a mixture of mud and ice. As he charged off, another knight rode up to take his place.

Andreas glanced over at Brodie.

“He reminds me of you at that age, Dray,” Brodie said, grinning. “So eager. So ridiculous.”

Andreas had known Brodie most of his life. The man was about eight or nine years older than Andreas was, so they’d done much growing up together, as Brodie had served Troy since he had been newly knighted. If Andreas had ever had an older brother, Brodie would be it.

“Ridiculous or not, I’m still better looking than you are,” he said. “I still cannot believe my cousin married you. I thought we’d warned Uncle Scott sufficiently about you.”

Brodie laughed, low in his throat. “Your poison did not take root, thank God,” he said. “Sophia and I are quite happy. I should be an inspiration to you, in fact.”

Andreas looked at him as if he’d said something utterly ridiculous. “Inspiration?” he repeated. “For what?”

“Because I married late in life and I married for love,” he said. “You can, too.”

That stripped Andreas of any hint of humor he might have had. He shut his mouth, facing forward as they drew closer to Falstone. Brodie may have been sociable and outgoing, but he wasn’t insensitive. Like everyone else in the de Wolfe ranks, he knew what had happened to Andreas in London those months back.

He hadn’t meant to hurt the man.

“Dray,” he said softly. “You know I love you. I did not mean that as a flippant comment.”

Andreas nodded. “I know.”

“I meant it as encouragement.”

“That is not necessary,” he said. “Send word back along the lines. I want the wagons moved forward. I want to get those into Falstone’s bailey sooner rather than later. If they’re last in the line, then we may not be able to fit them in at all.”

He was changing the subject and Brodie went along with it, though he felt badly about it. He whirled his horse around and headed back along the column towards the six provisions wagons they’d brought with them. That left Andreas riding point with Will mid-pack and Corey and Reed covering the rear. They weren’t full-fledged knights, but they were properly armed and quite skilled even at their young age. They were so damned excited to be riding with the army that they had obeyed every order Andreas had issued down to the last letter.

They didn’t want to chance being sent home.

Riding alone, Andreas tried not to let Brodie’s comment bother him. He knew the man had meant well. Therefore, he shook it off, as it was becoming easier to shake off those things these days. Thoughts of that woman from London leaving him sitting alone at The Fox and The Wolf were easier to push aside.

He just tried not to think of her at all.

He couldn’t even bring himself to