WolfeBlade: de Wolfe Pack Generations by Kathryn Veque (reading an ebook txt) 📕

Leia’s daughter was only the beginning? What if this servant was sent by him to also bewitch the lord himself? And if that doesn’t work, will they go back to the daughter again? I think this is a more dangerous situation than it appears.”

Andreas thought he was doing quite well at behaving objectively on the subject, but Brodie brought out the fears he couldn’t quite bring himself to voice. He suddenly sank back onto the bed and sat there, fighting off visions of de Soulis putting his hands on Gavriella’s soft body. Again.

As if one attack hadn’t been good enough.

He couldn’t be objective any longer.

“Will,” he finally muttered, unable to look at them. “Do you remember when we were in London those months back?”

He was off the subject, causing Will to look curiously at his lowered head. “Of course.”

“And when we went to Gomorrah?”

“I remember that very well. Why?”

Andreas sighed faintly. “The woman who ran into the chamber where we were, the one who was hysterical. The one I escorted out. Do you remember her?”

Will’s brow furrowed. “I remember the event, but I do not remember the woman specifically. Why do you ask?”

Andreas lifted his head to look at him. “That was Lady Gavriella.”

Will’s eyes widened. “That was her?”

“Aye.”

Now, Will’s mouth popped open. “The one you took to Southwark?”

“The one who left me sitting in the tavern, alone, for days until you came for me.”

Will was astonished. “God’s Beard,” he hissed. “Dray… did you know this? Did you know she was de Leia’s daughter?”

Andreas was shaking his head before William even finished asking the question. “She never told me her family name, remember?” he said. “That was why I went to the tavern that morning. She was going to tell me everything. But she did not come and I returned to Northumberland to find her. I was well on my way when this madness with the Scots started and I had to focus on that. But now… now, I find her here. She’s been here the entire time.”

Brodie really had no idea what was going on, but Will did. He went to Andreas, dropping to his knees in front of the man as he sat upon his bed.

“Dray, speak to me,” he pleaded seriously. “Meeting that woman changed you. I know you were heartbroken when she failed to show herself. Did she even tell you why?”

Andreas nodded. “She told me,” he said. “She was staying at her aunt’s home in London and her aunt disapproved of her going to Southwark with me. There was some sort of fight between Gavriella and her cousins because of it, so her aunt sent her home immediately. That is why she never came to the tavern.”

It made sense to Will, but he still wasn’t satisfied. “And now that you’ve found her,” he said. “I know you felt something for her and when she left, it was as if there were a dark cloud hanging over you. We could all see it. She left you in a dark and unhappy place. I am delighted that you have found her, for your sake, but given what you’ve been told about de Soulis… are we going to find ourselves laying siege to Hell’s Guardhouse?”

Andreas looked at his cousin. He was only a few months older than he was, so they were the same age. They’d grown up together. They’d experienced life and death together. Their fathers were brothers and their mothers had been sisters so, in a sense, Will was a brother to him a well.

He wasn’t going to lie to the man.

“Not at the moment,” he said, smiling weakly. “I have a task to complete here and I am trying very hard to keep my priorities straight. But truthfully? I wish I was with her right now instead of you two. Now that I’ve found her… I made the decision in London those months ago that I was going to speak to her father about courting her. That has not changed. But I will not speak to him until the crisis with the Scots passes. I am not impulsive, nor am I foolish. I am a commander of a de Wolfe army at the moment and that is where my focus is. But that woman is never leaving my sight again.”

Will looked at him, seeing the sincerity and feeling some relief to hear that. He put a big hand to Andreas’ cheek. “Good lad,” he murmured. “But what about de Soulis?”

Andreas’ expression hardened. “Even if her father will do nothing, I do not subscribe to that inaction,” he said. “When I marry Gavriella, and I do say when, it is clear that Nicholas de Soulis took that which belongs to me – her innocence. The woman bore his child, for Christ’s sake. The torment he put her through is beyond belief. What about de Soulis, you ask? The man is going to pay with every last bone in his body. When I get finished with him, being overrun by Scots will have been preferable.”

Will believed him implicitly. Given what he’d seen in battle with the man over the past several months, Andreas was more than capable of tearing both John and Nicholas apart given the chance.

He had a feeling this task to protect Falstone was going to turn into something much bigger for the House of de Wolfe.

At least, bigger for Andreas.

He put his hand on the man’s knee. “If you marry the lass, then it is your right to seek vengeance,” he said. “But not today.”

Andreas shook his head. “Nay, not today,” he said. “Now, I am going to retrieve my saddlebags from Gareth, wash some of this stink off my body, and find Gavriella before the evening’s meal begins. And that is all I have to say about the situation. For now.”

Will remained crouched down as Andreas stood up and used him for leverage to maneuver through the small chamber and to the door. Once he quit the chamber, Will stood up and looked at