Sold to the Wolf Chief for a Debt, but His Wolf Knelt First novel · Chapter 18 of 24

Chapter 18: Soup and Rain

Peigi put a bowl of broth in front of my stepfather and a spoon beside it.

Hector sat at the end of the long table with his cap on his knee.

He was shaved, and his hands were steady, and he looked ten years older than he had in November.

"Seven weeks," he said. "Not a drop."

"Eat," I said.

He ate three spoonfuls and stopped.

The lad stood at the range with his arm round Peigi's waist.

Four of the tied hands were pretending to scrub pans.

"I came to say I'm sorry," Hector said. "I took the Reeve's money and I didn't ask why."

"You did."

"Your mother would have..."

"Don't," I said. "Don't tell me what she would have done."

His mouth shook.

"I want to say your name," he said. "Just the once, in the right way."

"No."

He nodded slowly.

He had expected it, and he took it, which was more than I had expected of him.

"I'll feed you," I said. "You can sleep in the bothy till the thaw, and you'll keep chopping Peigi's wood."

"And after?" Hector asked.

"After, I'll tell you."

The back door opened.

Coll came in out of the rain with his coat on his shoulders, and every head in the kitchen turned.

Hector half rose.

I did not look round.

"Coll," I said. "Sit. Eat."

He sat down at once, on the bench beside me, in front of his tied hands and my stepfather and the cook.

Peigi set a bowl in front of him without a word.

Under the table his knee pressed against mine, and stayed.

Hector looked from his face to mine.

He put his spoon down.

"Well," he said, very quietly. "Well, Morag."

I took Coll upstairs at ten.

The attic had been empty since the morning I said no.

I had moved out of it, and I had not given it up, and the door opened to my hand.

Rain beat on the skylight, steady and loud, and the room smelled of cold quilts and old wood.

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