Most of the men had taken off in a run after the wolves started attacking. There were four in the pack, total. The two brothers Bryan rescued as pups and their mates. Snow, the biggest and the alpha of the group, had attacked the man who was about to strike the woman. After that, the other three attacked. Most the men who resembled demons with their markings took off.

Bryan took note of which way the woman ran before he used his bow to shoot one of the men who’d tried to follow her. Once the arrow flew, several of the men who weren’t already fleeing, turned toward him, swords raised. Several of them were far enough away that he was able to take aim and shoot some arrows at them. Bryan dropped his bow and pulled the sword from its sheath just in time to block the first blow. Face to face with his attacker, the only things between them were two swords pressing against each other. The man’s eyes were dark, and Bryan noticed the black markings all over his face were in an odd pattern. Demon was the first thought that crossed Bryan’s mind.

Bryan was tall, but this man was taller. Bigger did not mean smarter. He knew he couldn’t overpower him, so he pushed forward, hard. When he felt the guy push back, he moved quickly to the left, taking a step that caused the demon man to fall, and giving him time to slice his sword and stab him in back.

As he ducked into position to defend the next attack, he saw one of the female wolves, Minx, jump up and attack a man. A glance around showed him that almost all the men had fled, and Snow was no longer there. Neither was the giant man he’d attacked earlier.

Bryan picked up the bow as he jogged to where he had last seen the woman. From the tracks he saw, the woman had gone one way, while the man who had been holding her went another. Snow had followed the woman. Bryan knew his wolf wouldn’t hurt her, but he wanted to make sure he got to her before the cold did. The woman already appeared exhausted and her dress and cloak would not protect her from the elements.

The three wolves walked with him, as he followed the pack alpha and the trail of the female who had run away. With the snow still falling, both their trails were practically gone, but the wolves next to him let him know which way to go. Bryan started to wonder if they’d wandered too far, when the sound of a baby crying caught his attention. Did the woman have a baby with her?

When he finally found Snow, he was lying tucked against the woman on the ground. Bryan hurried over and saw that the woman had a bag nestled against her and that the crying sound was coming from within. As he picked her up, pulling her against him, he noticed how cold she was and realized that Snow’s heat had probably kept her from freezing to death.

Before standing, he adjusted the bag so that when he picked her up, it would stay nestled against her, giving both her and the baby some warmth. He needed to get them both to shelter as quickly as he could. Bryan sent up a prayer as he hastily walked back the way they’d come. The woman and baby in his arms barely weighed a thing, and when the baby started to quiet down, he felt himself hurrying faster. “Come on, little one, just a bit longer.”

Once he got to the horses, he carefully mounted his, pulling his packhorse closer. He had gone hunting and had extra furs. He picked the thickest one he could find and tucked it around the woman. As he looked down at her for the first time, he noticed how pale her skin was. Her blond hair, clinging to the side of her face, was wet from the snow. She was so small in his arms. He wanted to check on the infant, but with the weather as it was, he decided their best option was to get him back to his cabin fast and get them both warm.

He rode as quickly as he could. Bryan’s home was about half a day’s ride from Camelot or any other major village. Bryan chose it because he loved the quiet. He was more comfortable here in the woods. Normally, riding alone brought him peace, but as he began to worry about the two in his arms he wished his home was closer. When the baby quit fussing, he started to worry. Bryan found himself hoping that the baby was just tired from crying and had fallen asleep.

When Bryan saw his stone cabin appear he whispered, “Just a bit farther.” Since he had gone to check on his traps and knew he would be gone for a long period of time, he had killed the fire.

The horse had barely come to a stop when Bryan hopped off, kicking open the door so he could get them inside. Entering his room, he set them both on his bed, choosing to light the fire before checking on them.

He opened the bag, surprised at how small the baby was. Not sure if it was a girl or boy, all he knew was that the baby couldn’t be more than a few days old. The leather of the bag should have kept out most of the wind, but he wondered what had possessed the woman to take the baby out in this weather. He was a little cold but not nearly as cold as the woman on the bed. Her body heat and bag had shielded the baby from the harshest part of the winter weather.

The woman’s dress was wet, and he quickly removed her soft leather boots before attempting the gown that clung to her. Bryan turned her to her side to untie the laces on the back. Finding the strings wet and knotted, he grabbed the knife from his belt and cut them, loosening the dress enough to pull it up and over her head. Removing the rest of her soaked clothes, he tucked her into the bed putting extra furs over her to try and help warm her.

The fire was not intense enough to warm up the room, let alone his nearly frozen guests, so Bryan did the only thing he could think of and stripped out of his clothes. As he crawled under the blankets, he pulled the woman close and put the baby on his chest. Her body was ice-cold, and based on how little her chest moved, she was barely breathing.

The woman was tiny, her hips and flat stomach were not that of a woman who had just given birth to this baby. Bryan couldn’t help but wonder who she was and how it was she came to be carrying a new baby in a bag. He also wondered about the painted-men who had attacked them. Would they be coming back to get her and the babe?

The infant warmed up the fastest and fell asleep on his chest. Bryan was careful, having had some experience with newborn babies. He moved the child to the other side of the female who was still icy cold, her lips blue. He worried what would happen if he didn’t warm her up soon.

Bryan pulled the woman closer to him, wrapping his arms around her and rubbing her back. At first, she was so still he worried he was too late and sent up a prayer. When she started to shake a bit in his arms, he said a small prayer of thanks.

As he held her close, he brushed her wet hair back from her face. She was tiny compared to him; her features were delicate. He picked up her hand and rubbed it with one of his. Her soft hands told him she was a lady, which raised more questions about who she and the baby that she had carried with her were.

Bryan fell asleep holding the mystery woman in his arms, waking up when the baby started to fuss next to them. Not sure how long he had been sleeping, Bryan got up, picking up the baby. As the child let out a cry, he searched the room for the bag that he’d been in, with the hopes of finding the babies supplies. Finding both a changing cloth and a bladder of milk, he carried them into the living room.

It had been a long time since he had changed a baby; he hoped he hadn’t forgotten. The wolves got up from where they were laying to check out the small human making so much noise. Picking up the shirt, he tried to figure out how the ties were set up before removing the cloth. The baby pulled up his legs and let out a loud cry, his fists flailing in protest.

“Shh, little one. I’m just trying to remember how to put this thing back on you.”

The baby continued to cry, his face going red in protest. “Aww little laddie, we will get you all dry and fed,” Bryan said, as he quickly removed one cloth napkin out from under him to put on a clean one. His first attempt failed miserably, but the second one stayed on well enough.

When the little lad started sucking on his hand and whimpering, Bryan realized he needed to find a way to feed him. Bryan held the baby as he examined the bladder of milk. He had seen something like it once before and remembered that a father had made a similar bag to use to feed the animals when their mothers were not able to produce enough milk.

“Here you go little laddie, it’s all right.” After several attempts, the baby finally latched on and started sucking on the corner of the bag. He sighed in relief. The male wolves lay back down as the two females lay next to him still curious about the little human. Minx, Snow’s female, had given birth a year ago, but the pup did not survive. She put her paw on his lap, her motherly instincts kicking in.

“Minx if you want a pup of your own, you need to bother Snow. This one is not for you.” She huffed before standing up and licking his face. When he laughed, she finally left his side to go lie with Snow.

Once the little lad was fed, Bryan noticed he had fallen back to sleep. Not sure what to do with him now, he put the baby on his bed in order to free his arms to make a makeshift bed of furs. He wanted to make sure the baby stayed warm, and the bedroom was the easiest room to do that. Setting up a pile of furs in the corner of the floor, Bryan moved the baby to the new, makeshift bed.

Bryan went to the bed to check on the sleeping woman. Her lips were no longer blue, instead a film of sweat had appeared on her forehead. Bryan reached out touching her head. She was burning up. Fevers were tricky. As a lad, his mother had taught him that it was best to keep a feverish person wrapped up in blankets and bathe them often.

His sister had just had a baby and would not be visiting until the weather cleared. He would have liked her help with the baby and caring for the woman, but he knew she already had enough on her hands. Plus, Thomas was very protective. He would never let his wife leave the house in the snow just after having their baby.

“I need you to get better quickly, lassie. I’m sure the little lad would much prefer you to take care of him than me. Plus, I don’t believe he’s yours, and his mum and pa are probably worried about him,” Bryan said, as he gently pushed her hair back from her face.

The lad raised a lot of questions. He didn’t appear big enough to be taken from his mother and the woman before him, with her small waist and flat stomach, couldn’t have given birth. How did she end up with him? Were there more people that needed help right now who were attacked by those marked up men? Did she kidnap him? So many questions, none of which would be answered until she woke up.