Saving Grace

They couldn't climb trees either… or could they? The giant wolf started butting his head against the tree trunk. She thought that was an extremely ignorant thing to do. Two of the other wolves were shredding her plaid. They seemed to be in a frenzy, too.

They didn't look like they had any intention of leaving her alone. Joha

Joha

She caught the wolf in midflight. The arrow went through one eye. The animal crashed down to the ground and landed just a foot away from the others. They immediately turned on the dead animal.

In the next twenty minutes or so, Joha

Her fingers ached from holding her arrow against the string of her bow. She wanted to get the giant wolf in her sights. In her mind, he was surely the one who had injured Dumfries. She didn't know why she'd come to that conclusion. Perhaps it was the dried black blood on the animal's fangs when he bared his teeth at her. He seemed to be more demon than animal. His eyes never left her. He was such an evil-looking beast. Joha

"You're the one they call Pet, aren't you?"

She didn't expect an answer, of course. She began to wonder if her worrisome situation had made her mind snap. She was, after all, talking to demons now. She sighed over her own behavior.

Why wouldn't the wolf leave? And where in heaven's name were Michael and Lindsay? They surely hadn't forgotten her, had they?

Joha

She was wrong. She hadn't counted on the rain. She'd been too busy to notice the sunlight had disappeared, and God only knew she didn't have time to look up at the sky and see rain clouds. She was so intent on protecting herself from the wolves, she didn't have time to think about anything else. It didn't matter, she supposed. Knowing ahead of time wouldn't have changed anything. She still got drenched.

Lightning crackled through the trees. A torrential downpour followed. The branches became slick, as though they'd been greased with lard instead of water. Joha

The monster still waited at the base of the tree. Joha

She heard her name being shouted. She whispered a prayer of thank you to her Maker before shouting back. Odd, but she thought she heard her husband's voice. That couldn't be possible, of course. He was hunting.

The pounding of horses coming her way finally encouraged the wolf to leave. Joha

She had little liking for the kill. Even though he looked very like something the devil had let out of hell, the wolf was still one of God's creatures. He served a purpose more holy than her own, or so she'd been told, and though she didn't have a clue as to what the purpose was, she still felt guilty.

The MacBain soldiers came riding around the curve in the path just as Joha

Joha

As soon as she regained a bit of strength, she was going to give the men hell for making her wait so long. Then, after they offered her their apologies, she was going to make them give her their pledge not to mention this shameful incident to their laird. By God, she'd nag that promise out of every one of them.

"Are you all right, m'lady?"

She couldn't see the soldiers' faces. She recognized Calum's voice though.

"Yes, Calum," she called back. "I'm quite all right."

"She doesn't sound all right," said Keith. In a near shout, he added, "You killed our pet."

The Maclaurin soldier sounded stu

"It isn't how it looks," she shouted down.

"You didn't kill them?"

"They look like her arrows," Keith remarked.

"They wouldn't leave me alone, sir. I had to kill them. Please don't tell anyone, especially our laird. He's too busy to be bothered by such an insignificant incident."

"But m'lady…"

"Calum, don't argue with me. I'm not in the mood to be polite. I've had a trying morning. Just give me your word you'll keep my secret."

Joha

Gabriel would be furious. Just thinking about his reaction gave her goosebumps.

The men still hadn't given her their promise. "It's little enough to ask," she muttered to herself.

Calum started laughing. It didn't take her any time at all to understand why.

Gabriel already knew.

"Come down here. Now."

The fury in her husband's voice almost shook her out of the tree. Joha

She knew better. Her husband hadn't been able to keep the anger out of his voice when he'd rudely bellowed his command.

His mount was between Keith's and Calum's. Joha

Some sort of explanation was probably due now, she supposed, and given enough time, she could surely come up with something plausible. Joha