He crouched down and waited for Gerald to make his move. The man spit on the floor and growled. He swung his sword first. Eoghan ducked it easily. ‘Twas not the sword that worried him, ‘twas the knife.

  Gerald came at him like a man possessed. He lunged and stabbed at Eoghan until he almost succeeded in plunging his blade straight through his chest. Eoghan grabbed him by the forearm, allowing the blade to slice into the skin just to the right of his heart. He twisted and heard the pop of the bone breaking.

  “Ye bastard! Yer brother is taking yer bride the now! Ha! I have my revenge!”

  “I gave you a choice, Gerald. You chose wrong.”

  He took his head in both hands and twisted. The snapping of his neck made a sickening sound, but Eoghan was not stranger to battle. He did not even flinch.

  He turned frantic. His Ailis was there, trapped by magic and worse, his mad half-brother! He needed in now. He ran to the door and pushed with all his might, but it would not budge.

  Frustration warred with rage! If only the moon was full! He’d break down the bloody walls if he had to!

  “Ailis!” he yelled.

  “Shut up, bitch! Wait, ye cannot leave!” Lyall screamed at Ailis and stared at the place where the Witch had been swallowed by darkness.

  She’d left him. Abandoned him. Well, how was he supposed to take control of the Pack now.

  “You two, guard the door! You hold this one down. I’ll have my brother’s wife the now! Do ya hear me Eoghan, I’ll plow her fields within yer hearing! I’ll use the bitch and leave her with nothing left!”

  The sound of Eoghan banging against the outside walls and pounding against the door was constant. He’s here! Ailis was almost relieved, but she was still trapped in the tower. She needed to get out. She needed Eoghan.

  Two huge, stinking guards grabbed her by her restraints. They made to pull her up, but something was happening. She looked at them, blue eyes glowing silver and snapped her teeth.

  “What is this?”

  “Sir, she be possessed!”

  “Nay, fools! She is Wolf like we, and the moon is weeks away. Come now this is how you take a bitch to heel!”

  Lyall stalked towards her, but Ailis’ Wolf was in charge for the moment. She’d not be used by the likes of him. She whipped her head side to side and snapped her teeth again, catching his finger. She spit out the appendage and ignored the metallic taste of his blood in her mouth.

  His screams were like fuel to her fire. The sound of her mate drawing close was greater now. Ailis knew what she needed to do to help him get to her.

  He heart roared inside her chest. Love for the man, her husband, overwhelmed her. She tossed back her still human head, though her Wolf was clearly in charge, and she howled.

  She recognized a sort of ethereal glow emanating from her entire body as she howled and howled. A cry so loud and fierce that the men in the room all fell to their knees.

  Those guards who would have held her while she was raped began to sob and scream, blood poured from their ears, but still she howled. Lyall yelled for them to seize her, but they were helpless.

  Then the miracle happened. The huge wooden door, that was minutes ago held shut with black ropes of magic, fell open to the cold stone floor. Eoghan!

  “What? How?” Lyall sputtered and backed up till he hit the wall behind him.

  Eoghan snarled and growled his lupine jaws inches from the four guards. Only one remained conscious and he bowed to the floor in submission, wailing and crying, as Ailis’ howl came to an end.

  He looked down his ice blue Wolf eyes at Lyall. The lecherous bastard already had his clothes undone. He cradled his hand where Ailis had bitten his finger off in his lap and he was sobbing incoherently.

  The Wolf that was Eoghan was huge and black, his fangs a good three inches long. Saliva dripped from them as he growled and barked at his brother. He was furious as he moved to stand in front of Ailis.

  He turned his back on his brother and bit through the cords and chains that bound her. She stood, her eyes still glowing, her Wolf near. She wanted to rejoice in him, in them, but then movement to their left startled her.

  Eoghan turned just in time to see Lyall lunge towards them with a dagger in his hand. Eoghan had no choice. He reacted as any mated Wolf would. He charged his brother.

  His great jaws closed around Lyall’s neck. He took no time to think about the fragility of his brother in human form. No, he had taken what was his, and now he would pay.

  As his long, sharp teeth came into contact with the soft flesh, he bit down. With a mighty tug, he tore out Lyall’s throat, ending him quickly and succinctly. The blood that spewed forth was black, tainted as he was with Dark Magic.

  Eoghan continued to snarl and snap his teeth at Lyall’s gaping mouth and shocked expression. His eyes were glazed over, the life drained from them. And still he growled.

  Until he felt a hand on his back. Without turning he know it was his mate. Mine. The connection between them was bright and strong. He wanted to Change back to man, but his Wolf insisted he remain. To see her to their home.

  Together, they left the fortress and met with Eoghan’s men along the path back to Castle MacContire. They gasped and started when they saw the familiar black Wolf with one white paw.

  “How can this be?”

  “Are you Tom?” Ailis spoke with her hand still on the back of the Wolf who was her husband.

  “Aye, lady, I am Tom Kelly, at yer service.”

  “There are bodies that need gathering ahead. A search party of Hounds to go after the Witch as well. Oh, and Eoghan says you are to lead them.”

  “Y-yes, my lady,” he bowed deep and turned to his duties.

  No one dared get close to the them. Some crossed themselves and muttered prayers, others smiled through tears. Seeing their leader as Wolf on a night other than the full moon was amazing indeed.

  They continued side by side the way back, as fog and mist cast by the Witch lifted from the ground. The stars and half-moon shone above them. Lighting their way.

  Chapter Ten

  Eoghan and Ailis settled into the large wooden tub filled to the brim with hot water, thanks to Gwinnie. They soaped each other and bathed until both were free of the grime and blood of their ordeal.

  “On the morrow, I shall stand before my father, Ailis. I shall have to answer for my crimes.”

  “Nay, we shall stand together.”

  “Are ye certain?”

  “Oh, aye. Blood was spilt by us both, but not without provocation.”

  “Tis true, but I acted without the Alpha’s orders. And I killed my brother.”

  “I am sorry, Eoghan.”

  “Nay. I am sorry for I did not see what he truly was sooner. I am only glad you are okay.”

  “Thanks to you.”

  “Thanks to us.”

  Once clean and dry, they settled in front of the fire under blankets and furs aplenty. Eoghan stared at the face of his beloved bride with wonder in his eyes. She was free of the heavy scent she wore, and he was able to smell her. All of her. Wolf and woman.

  “Why did ye hide yerself from me?”

  “Tis not fashionable for a lady to be Wolf. My father was afraid the match would be called off.”

  “Damn fashion! The fool. Did he not think ye were special?”

  “Nay, my father has never had a kind thought or care for me. I, I only wonder, now that ye know the truth, will ye still keep me?”

  Eoghan ran his hand over her soft skin exposed from her thin chemise. She was beautiful. Her long hair in its multitude of colors swirled around her shoulders and hips. It was soft as down feathers from a goose.

  He followed his hands with his lips. If he could not tell her how much he loved her, he’d show her. Kisses trailed along her sweet body soon turned into something more.

  “Eoghan,” she groaned and grabbed his face and brought his lips to hers.

  “I love ye, Ailis, and I’d die for ye, don’t ye know that?”

  “Yea, my love, as I would for you.”

  He leaned his head and met her lips with his. Their kiss was long and deep. She wound her hands through his long flaxen hair and over the soft whiskers that covered his face.

  His hands were skilled and gentle as he removed her thin layer of clothing. The heat of his body seeped into her skin as he licked his way from her neck to her breasts.

  He feasted on her creamy flesh. Kissing and teasing, then nibbling the peaks with his teeth. His Wolf growled deep inside of him. He recognized her beast and demanded he claim her again as mate with a bite on her shoulder.

  Eoghan recognized the command now for what it was. Mine. He reveled in the knowledge that their bond brought him to her and allowed him to carry her away to safety. Now he’d show her his love.

  “Aye, my Ailis, I love ye,” he breathed the words as he suckled her. His hands found their way down her thighs and parted them.

  She was smooth and warm and so ready for him by the time he reached the nest of soft brown curls that graced her body with his long fingers. She was a fine form of a woman. And she was his.

  In every sense of the word. His own, his mate, his Wolf bride. His mind went cloudy with lust as he smelled her sweet musk when he smoothed her slit open. He dipped a finger in and smiled at her moan.

  Pleasure at the sounds and feel of her swept through his body. He wanted to make her howl again, this time with satisfaction. He nudged her legs open a bit wider so he could more fully attend to her.

  She was slick and hot, ready for him. Eoghan could wait no longer. His cock was full to bursting. He entered her with a swift flex of his hips. Her inner muscles squeezed him as he pumped in and out of her body.

  An eruption of feelings flowed inside of him as he buried himself inside of her. She was fire and light, strength and goodness, everything he ever wanted. He rolled her onto her back and sank even further, lifting her legs and wrapping them tightly around him. He lowered his head and kissed her mouth. Her tongue met his and together they explored each other.

  She was naked beneath him as she’d never been before. Her Wolf scent invading his nostrils and making him hungry for more. She smelled like lavender fields and fresh Irish rain, like home and something more. He couldn’t put a name to it.

  He’d never experienced pleasure so intense and so right as this before. Nay, she was the only one to make him feel so. She writhed underneath him, meeting him stroke for stroke.

  She was earthy and sensual. Unafraid of the intense connection between them. His Ailis ran her hands around his chest then down his back to his buttocks. She stroked and cupped and squeezed.

  He pumped and pounded until she moaned out his name in her completion. Aye, she was beautiful like that. Sweat glistened on her body and he licked the saltiness from her skin as he pumped once then twice more.

  He growled his pleasure and spilled himself inside of her. She was his everything. Tomorrow they would face his father and their future, together.

  “Eoghan! Aye, ye feel so good when ye fill me like this.”

  “We are matebonded, Ailis, can ye feel the connection?”

  “Yea, feel it and see it, in my mind’s eye.”

  “As can I, love. You feel like heaven. I never want to stop loving ye like this.”

  “Then don’t, husband.”

  “I never shall, my Wolf bride.”

  The following day…

  “Though it pains me to give ye both this sentence, it is by our laws that I, Chief of the Name, banish ye from our lands, Eoghan MacContire and yer bride, the Lady Ailis Dungannon…”

  The speech ordering their banishment for the crime of fratricide was made to the entire village, then again to the Pack and the Hounds. It differed a trifle from audience to audience, but nothing said was a lie.

  He killed his half-brother. And, to protect Ailis, he would do it again. It was what was whispered in Eoghan’s ear by his father that would stay with him for a lifetime.

  “Son now is yer chance to go explore yer new worlds with yer Wolf Bride. Take her to a new place where she and ye will both thrive and be safe. Know in yer heart that I am with ye. I am only sorry I have failed yer mother in caring for her sons.”

  “Nay, father, ye were a fine father. I shall not forget all yer teachings.”

  “Aye. Go now, lad, or I might not let ye.”

  “Fare thee well, father, God keep thee.”

  “And thee.”

  Epilogue

  Many years later.

  Eoghan looked at his wife with a wide smile on his face. Her belly was swollen with their second child and she was radiant with it. They were lucky that in their long lifetimes they had known so much happiness.

  Her Wolf was strong and beautiful as she and he had no course for complaint. They’d lost one babe months before the infant was ready for birth, as She-Wolves were wont to do. It pained him to think of it, but this one was strong inside of her.

  He stood to lift the crate she was looking through so she wouldn’t strain herself. He kissed her head as she nodded her thanks. Ailis was still unpacking their belongings after their recent move from Jamestown to the new Dutch settlement just north of where they lived the past twenty years.

  They were known as Eoghan and Ailis Maccon in the New World. A shortened name, one Ailis recalled the Witch had called him with fear when he found her in the tower. Maccon. In Irish it meant the son of a Wolf and that he was.

  Letters from Ireland reached them from the lad who had once cleaned his mail, Tom Kelly. He informed them that his da had passed on some years after their banishment, the Witch had never been found, but the Greyback Pack was strong, and a new Alpha placed. There was no mention of the Dungannon, other than that he too has passed. Ailis wept not for her stern father.

  They closed the door on their past with that letter. Content with each other and strong in their bond. They settled into a wonderful life together of adventure and love.

  Young Nathaniel’s giggles could be heard from outside. He was running amok with Gwinnie as she hung the wash. Ailis’ lady’s maid had insisted on accompanying them in their exile.

  The small village they’d built was thriving. He built his house with good timber and thatching for the roof. He’d encountered few Werewolves since uprooting his family. Those he had joined them on their journey.

  The Wolves were restless without a leader. They were uncertain in their new home, but they all agreed they recognized his natural dominance. Before he knew it, they named him Alpha and swore loyalty to him and his.

  He swallowed to stop the tears that naturally sprung to his eyes when he thought of his da and all he taught him about being an Alpha. He’d make his father proud and he’d only lead his Wolves to prosperity.

  Ailis called them the Macconwood Pack in honor of their new name and the place where they two first met. It could not be more perfect. Another adventure indeed.

  “Well, love, is this new land agreeing with my son that you carry?”

  Eoghan wrapped his arms around his wife’s increased girth and nuzzled her neck. Pride and contentment filled his chest as he inhaled her sweet musk. Mine.

  “What makes you think tis not a daughter then, sir?”

  Ailis said and leaned into him. His manhood stood at attention as it did whenever she was near, but suddenly his mind went black. Did she say daughter?

  “Aye, well, wait- a daughter?”

  “There is a chance, you do recognize that?”

  “Uh-”

  “Oh, Eoghan!” She laughed and swatted at him. He ignored her and picked her up.

  “I swear, Ailis, I love ye more each and every day. You’ve given me a fine son, and if this here be a daughter, then I’ll strive to be an even better man for ye both.”

  “As if you could be any better, my love.”

  Their lips met and Eoghan lost himself in her kiss. This woman, his wife, who had braved Witches, Wolves, banishment, oceans, settlers, natives, strange lands, childbirth, and more. And all just to be with him.

  She was still his wild thing, his lady of the wood. Beautiful and fierce.

  And his.

  His Wolf Bride.

  Dear Readers,

  * * *

  I wanted to thank you for taking this journey back in time with me to the start of the Macconwood Pack. This remains my only historical paranormal romance to date, but if you are interested in continuing the tales featuring more of our contemporary Wolves check out the whole series here: The Macconwood Pack Tales.

  * * *

  Looking for more about the Macconwood Wolves try my Maccon City Shifters books.

  * * *

  Or catch up on how the Alpha and his Wolf Guard found their mates in the Macconwood Pack Novel Series from book1, Charley’s Christmas Wolf, to book 8, Werewolf Fever.

  * * *

  Thank you so much for reading!

  Del mare alla stella,

  C.D. Gorri

  Have you met my Bears?

  Looking for a Paranormal Romance series that is loads of growly fun?

  Meet the Barvale Clan first in the Bear Claw Tales! A complete shifter romance series about 4 brothers who discover and need to win their fated mates!

  * * *

  Followed by two more spin off series, the Barvale Clan Tales and the Barvale Holiday Tales!

  * * *

  No cliffhangers. Steamy PNR fun.

  Go and read your next happily ever after today!

  Beware… Here Be Dragons!

  The Falk Clan Tales began as my stories surrounding four dragon Brothers and how they find their one true mates, but when a long lost brother arrives on the scene, followed by a few more Shifters…what can I say? The more the merrier!

 

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