Chapter 26

Surprise held me still. English? That language didn’t exist until the fifth century AD. So, how was it possible my captor could speak the language? By the clothing, the type of palace, as well the lighting around it, I figured I had somehow managed to land myself sometime in the Bronze Age. How, was yet to be determined as I hadn’t had time to even consider the possibilities. But there was no doubt I was no longer in the twenty-first century. And this man holding me down across his thighs? He wasn’t from this time period either—I was in no doubt of that, as well. So, who was he? Needing to see the face of the man, I began wiggling, trying to turn my head. At the action, the hand still resting in the middle of my back once again applied pressure, stilling my movements. Then, bending at the waist, his upper body bent over mine, and breath brushing across my ear, slightly disturbing the loose tendrils around it, he murmured in a low voice, “If you wish not to have my Beta chew on you like a bone, Syd, do everything I tell you with no argument. Do you understand me?”

With a gasp, I breathed, “Declan?” How was it possible I hadn’t recognized his voice earlier? Suddenly his words sank in, and I began squirming again, trying to sit up, at the same time exclaiming, “Chew on me? Beta? I don’t understand. What the hell is going on here? And when you say Beta—you mean as in a wolf pack Beta?”
Mouth still near my ear, he stated, “Yes, that is exactly what I mean. With a sigh he muttered, “I’ll explain later. Now, remember what I said!” Then rising back into a sitting position, he barked, “I said be still!” At the same time as his words had ripped the air, he cuffed me on the back of the head.
With a snarl, I sank my teeth into his thigh again, this time deeply, bringing forth the taste of blood. *Smack me again, asshole*, I thought as Declan let out a roar of pain!
I realized my mistake when a low growl sounded just to the left of my head and a voice questioned, “Alpha?”

At the threatening sound, I lifted my head, only to find myself staring into the most insanely eerie pale blue eyes I had ever seen. As if they were lit up from within, they glowed at me as their owner bared his teeth in my direction. *My, what big teeth you have* I couldn’t help thinking as I took in the man’s elongated incisors.
From above me, Declan murmured, “It’s alright, Aikat. I will deal with this witch accordingly when we get home. Now, remount so we can go. My stomach’s not in the least pleased right now, and I am looking forward to some of Eleni’s cooking.”

The man gave one more threatening growl in my direction, before shaking off his anger, he turned and began making his way back over to his horse. Damn, I hadn’t even been in this time period twenty-four hours, and I had already made an enemy.

With a small shake of my head, I laid my cheek back against Declan’s thigh, remaining silent as with a movement of his heels into the horse's sides, he urged it into a canter.
~~
For a period of time, we traveled through the trees finally coming out from their cover and entered a clearing. A short distance from where we had emerged, stood a massive wooden-fence that stretched for hundreds of feet. Continuing to move forward, we passed a good-sized portion of the fence before reaching its gate, Declan drew his horse to a stop and suddenly let out a horrendous roar, scaring the hell out of me. Quickly recovering from my shock, I watched as the gate swung open, then tapping the horse on its sides again, Declan urged it forward through the opening. Behind the gate and wooden wall, was a small village. From my face-down position, I peered around, seeing children playing on roads of dirt and women scrubbing laundry in wooden tubs, as others draped the freshly washed clothing and assorted cloth items on strips of twined material and over large rocks that lay about the wash area. From there, my gaze shifted to the many brick and rock structures that made up an assortment of shops—the shop owners standing before or or within the entrances of the structures watching the riders. I could see large gardens of grains and vegetables that grew in abundance and attended to by men using a variety of implements as they worked the ground. I couldn’t help being surprised at the fact a community of wolves lived and worked no different than the human villagers did in their own villages. I hadn’t expected to see such humanization here.

As we passed, many of the men and women waved, and called greetings as several of the children broke from their play to run alongside the horses.
When we reached what was the center of the village, Declan let out another roar, this one not quite as frightening, before grabbing a hold of my legs, he dumped me onto the hard-packed ground, before dismounting and raising a leg, he planted his foot on top of my stomach, holding me down, as he informed the bystanders, “This day, we celebrate, for we have captured a Lafoan witch!”

A cheer went up among the people, then lifting his foot from my stomach, he prodded me with it, urging me to stand.

Struggling upward, as I fought the voluminous folds of my skirt, I finally managed to gain my feet, noticing several women had stepped forward. With a shove toward them, Declan ordered, “Bathe her, and prepare her for your Alpha,” then turning his back to me, he handed the reins of his horse to one of the older boys and walked away.