“It doesn’t matter. The woman is not our goal. Her sister is. And we can’t get to one without the other.” That was what they’d been told before they were sent out to protect the future queen of these lands, and after watching the family, Caid knew the truth of it. Because Keeley Smythe might not be the mother or father of her family, but she was the matriarch. And after seeing how she’d handled herself in the forest, Caid knew she was not a woman to be trifled with. So his sister’s sudden need to challenge Keeley because of her attachment to demon wolves was beyond him. There seemed to be no animal the woman didn’t have a fondness for, and she was not about to let some flames shooting from eye sockets stop her.

By the mighty horse gods of the east, Keeley Smythe wasn’t anything like he’d been expecting.

“You’ll have to get through the sister before you can get to the girl,” they had been warned. “She of the steel and stone.”

There were not many women who were blacksmiths in the Hill Lands, but some tried to follow in their fathers’ footsteps before finding a mate and settling down to bearing children and hard times. But of the very few he’d met in his years, none—absolutely none—had been like her.

She carried that battle hammer with the ridiculously sized head around like it weighed nothing. But he’d seen the damage it—and she—had done. That thing was as heavy as it looked and yet she wielded it effortlessly. Wide shoulders, muscular arms and thighs, and a tattoo of one of the blacksmith guilds made her a woman to be feared. Not dismissed as something in their way.

The witches should have made their warning stronger. Because if this woman decided her sister wasn’t going anywhere . . . her sister wasn’t going anywhere.

Yet despite the obvious strength of her body and the willingness with which she battered soldiers into the ground for no more reason than to help a boy she didn’t seem to know and, perhaps, a little early-morning entertainment, the smile she flashed at the thing standing by her long legs proved that she liked this animal. Liked and protected it the way she did the wild horses in the valley and the sheep on her neighbor’s nearby farm.

In other words, she wasn’t evil. Because those who were evil didn’t care about anyone but themselves. They certainly wouldn’t risk their own lives to protect demon wolves with eyes they had to make sure they didn’t put their hands near.

“Would you like to come to town with me?”

Caid looked over his shoulder at the blacksmith. The wolves were gone, as was the soldier, although they could still hear his screams from the forest, hysterically begging for death.

She smiled at him. “I’ll take you to my shop. You can have some food, something to drink. Relax for a bit before you get back on the road. Wouldn’t that be nice?”

With a nod, Caid agreed. “We’d appreciate that.”

“Well, I do owe you a lot. You protected me and my young friend here . . .” She glanced at the boy. “Samuel? Right?”

“Yes. Samuel,” the boy replied.

“Let’s go, lad. We need to get something on that neck of yours.”

Hefting the head of her hammer on her shoulder and holding the steel handle in her hand, she started off, speaking to them over her shoulder.

“I think you’ll all like my town. It’s a lovely place.”

“Come on,” Caid said to his sister, motioning to Farlan and Cadell. “We’re going with her.”

“And we’re just going to ignore the demon dogs she’s friends with?”

“Demon wolves and yes.” He turned his sister around by her shoulders and pushed.

“I’m in charge,” she reminded him.

“And our father always says if you have to remind your team of that . . .”

* * *

“I’m Keeley by the way,” Keeley told her new friends. She walked backward so she could speak directly to them.

“I’m Laila.” The female Amichai pointed at the dark-haired Amichai. “This is my brother Caid.” She pointed at a shorter but wider blond male. “This is Farlan.” She gestured at the male with light-brown hair and an extremely scarred jaw. “And this is Cadell.”

Facing forward, Keeley said, “Welcome to all of you.”

“So we’re just going to pretend those wolves don’t exist?” Laila asked.

“That’s exactly what we’re going to do!” Keeley joyfully replied. She’d just survived a battle and she felt pretty good about herself. Why ruin it all by fighting a woman she barely knew?

“Are you a witch of the dark gods?”

“Me? A witch?” Keeley had to laugh. “I have one loyalty aside from my family and it’s steel. That’s where my heart and love are.”

The female suddenly cut in front of Keeley, blocking her from going farther.

“Then how did you call those things to you?”

“Laila,” her brother warned, but she merely held her hand up to him.

“I found a puppy once. I helped it.”

“I’ll ask again. The eyes didn’t bother you?”

“Your eyes don’t bother me. Why should his?” When the female’s gaze narrowed and her head tilted to the side, Keeley added—because she still didn’t want to fight—“The world is filled with all kinds. Can’t go around ignoring the suffering of others simply because someone looks different from what I’ve seen before. All I know is he didn’t bite me. He didn’t try to rip my arms or legs off or go for my throat. So I helped. Just like I helped Samuel. Just like I’m trying to help you.”

“I do appreciate that,” Laila admitted, “but still—”

“Life is too short to go around hating things I know nothing about. My ignorance doesn’t mean others should suffer. Now, I’m going to my shop. You can come with me and Samuel, or you can stay here, worrying about animals you won’t see again.” Keeley stepped close, lowered her voice so only Laila could hear her. “Or, you and your lot can keep following me around like you’ve been doing for the last few days and I can continue to pretend I don’t see you. Something I’ve been doing because nothing you’ve done makes me believe you mean any harm to my kin. So it’s up to you what you want to do from here since it seems that you are in charge of this little herd of yours.” Keeley raised a brow. “Understand, Amichai?”

It took a moment for the female to respond. She’d been busy gawking at Keeley with her mouth open. Finally, she tossed her head, hair flipping away from her eyes, and said, “I understand. Perfectly.”

“Good. I’m glad. Come along, Samuel!” Keeley called out.

Then, with a wink and a smile—the one that annoyed her mother to no end—Keeley continued on once more. And this time . . . no one stopped her.

* * *

Laila gawked at Keeley Smythe as she walked off with Samuel and the boy’s three horses. Eventually, her brother came up to her.

“What was that about?” he asked.

“She knows who we are.”

“Why do you look so shocked? Everyone knows who we are. The kilts usually give it away.”

“Let me rephrase. She knows what we are.”

That did make her brother pause. “What makes you think that?”

She looked at Caid. “She called us a herd.”

“Huh.”

Cadell and Farlan joined them.

“Is something wrong?” Cadell asked.

“The sister knows what we are,” Caid replied.

“Should we kill her?” Farlan asked. When Laila closed her eyes in frustration and let out a little growl, he added, “What? That’s a valid question.”

“No, it’s not!” she snapped. “We can’t kill the sister. And we are definitely not killing her because she knows. Before this is all said and done, I’m sure a lot of humans will know. Should we kill them all, Farlan?”

“If they cause us problems . . .”

Sucking her tongue against her teeth in disgust, Laila followed the blacksmith. “Talk to him, Caid!”

“Talk to me about what?”

“The fact that you’re being an ass.”

“According to you, I’m always an ass.”

“This is true.” Caid put his arm around Farlan’s big shoulders.

“And if you harm the blacksmith in any way, I’ll take your cock off and give it to me cousin to make jewelry with. Understand?”

Farlan rolled his eyes but nodded. “Fine. I understand.”

“Excellent!” Caid pushed his comrade on. The less talkative Cadell walked alongside him, his smile irritating his friend.

Caid, sensing he was being watched, looked into the forest. It was deep and dark in there even though it was late morning now, but he could see all those burning eyes staring at him. Studying him. It was then that he felt the blacksmith might be wrong. They would be seeing those wolves again, and Caid was not looking forward to that moment at all.

CHAPTER 3

Caid stood in the middle of Keeley Smythe’s “shop” as she called it and, for once, he marveled at what he saw.

They’d been following her for about five days before meeting her face-to-face during that minor battle, but they’d never gone into her forge. They just wanted to get an idea of who she was and what her family was like.

Her “shop” was not just a forge. She’d apparently purchased the two pitches behind hers and had hired masons to come in and erect a proper building. The first part was a typical forge, with a large hole in the ceiling to allow the smoke to go out. But behind that was the “shop” part, where she sold all manner of steel weapons and then, behind that, was where she brought in the horses for reshoeing.

There were two horses already waiting for her when she arrived, and they were clearly happy when they saw her, affectionately nudging her with their big bodies and resting their giant heads on her shoulder.