Katrina felt smothered and so hot. She tried to kick off the blankets that were on her and growled in frustration when they seemed to magically reappear. Hearing an unfamiliar male voice telling her that she needed to stay covered, made her kick her legs again, determined to kick off the blankets.

“What a stubborn little lass you are,” she heard with a small chuckle.

She wanted to open her eyes and see who this voice belonged to but couldn’t seem to work up enough energy. As she started to fall back to sleep, she wondered where she was and had a nagging feeling she was forgetting something.

They were chasing her. Men with markings were chasing her, as she held her bag tightly to her. The baby was crying, and she had to get away. No matter which way she ran, they seemed to find her. She let out a scream when she tripped. When she fell, it felt like they’d covered her with nets pinning her to the ground.

Katrina’s eyes flew open, and she screamed again seeing a pair of dark brown eyes above her. The sound of a baby crying made her panic more. Trying to stand, she felt him pushing her down. “What have you done with him? Where is Arthur?”

She felt him put something cool on her forehead, as he made a soothing noise that confused her. “Shh, the lad is just fine. You just woke him up.”

She tried to get up again, as the panicky feeling clawed at her. As he pushed her back, she felt him put something heavy on her chest, and he continued to wipe her forehead with something wet and cool. She wanted to protest but couldn’t seem to gain the strength to move or fight him. Her eyes closed, and she gave in to the need to let sleep overtake her.

As soon as she fell back asleep, Bryan went to the baby to pick him up. When she screamed, Minx had gotten up and run in to the room, going to the crying baby. Minx nudged him and stayed with the baby, calming him down while Bryan talked to the woman who had apparently been having a nightmare. She had been having several over the last few days, causing him to learn a few things. First, whoever she was to the baby, she believed she was in charge of protecting him. He still hadn’t learned her name, but at least he could stop calling the baby lad and instead call him Arthur.

When he was sure she had fallen back to sleep, Bryan took the baby into the front room. “Arthur,” Bryan said, watching as the baby tried to suck on his fist, letting him know he was hungry again. “A strong name for a strong, little lad. Let’s get you fed, so that you can grow into it.”

Bryan had gotten into a routine with the baby and the woman. The baby was simple; he wanted to be fed and cleaned, and when he wasn’t sleeping, which was often, he wanted a bit of attention. Minx often checked in on him, and little Arthur seemed to enjoy it. The woman, he tried to bathe in warm water in an attempt to get her temperature down, saying a silent prayer that her fever would break soon. He kept her warm and sat with her sometimes at night when the house was quiet, and he wondered about her. Sometimes, when she awoke from a nightmare, she would look at him, her eyes glazed, screaming about Merlin, or the painted men. He had met the wizard twice before, and he wondered how it was that this woman had come to know him.

Other times, her eyes focused on him. Those times she let things slip. He tried to ask her what her name was, but she never answered him.

When Arthur was fed and changed, Bryan smiled at how easy it had become to change the baby’s clothes since the first time. Bryan was impressed with himself.

A yawn escaped him, and he lay on the pile of furs. He had created himself a makeshift bed since the woman had taken up residence in his. He felt protective of her and chose to sleep on the floor next to the bed. This kept him in position to watch over her and the baby. So far, there had been no signs of the men who had been chasing her. The wolves had gone out regularly. Bryan knew that the wolves would most likely keep anything from getting too close to the home. If they managed to get past the wolves, they would be in trouble.

Bryan listened to the woman above him sleeping soundly. Her breath was even, telling him that she was in a deep sleep and wasn’t presently plagued by nightmares. He hated that she was troubled in dreams, but until she awoke, he couldn’t think of how to help her.

Bryan’s mind wandered for a bit before he finally fell asleep. His dreams were haunted by the mysterious woman in his bed who had appeared so suddenly in his life.

The sound of the baby making little happy noises woke him up. He rolled to the side to see Snow leaning over the baby, tickling him with his fur. He smiled, out of all the wolves during the day, the big male appeared to be bored with the baby. It was nice to see the old guy more interested than he appeared. After a minute, Snow took a step back and gave him a look that made him laugh out loud.

“Too bad, old dog, I saw you playing with the baby,” Bryan said, as he got up to check on the little lad. He patted Snow on the head before picking up the baby, “What do you think, Snow? Does he look like an Arthur?”

He fed and changed the baby before laying him on the floor, on the rug. Arthur was an easy baby with the help of the wolves who often seemed to like to lie next to him. Snow, pretending indifference, walked to the corner of the room to lie down. “You’re already caught, Snow. You can lay with him.”

Snow huffed and put his head on his paws. When he laughed, he noticed how Arthur was startled by the noise. He had so many questions about Arthur. There was a cut on his hand that, even though he thought the baby was young, was totally healed and a mark on his backside. It reminded Bryan of a brand marking, but that was ridiculous, right? Branding a baby was barbaric, and if that was the case, did the woman in his bed steal him from the men he had saved them from.

They had gotten into a bit of a routine. After he fed and changed the baby, he put him on the rug and watched him. Besides crying, the baby had a few sounds that he interpreted to mean the baby was happy. He didn’t stay awake very long, and he ate often. Bryan smiled down at him thinking that if the baby kept eating like he was, he would grow up quickly.

When Arthur started to fuss, he picked him back up and walked him around the room, until he felt him fall back to sleep. Taking him back to the room, he laid him in his bed. Since he wasn’t sure how long they were going to be here, he started making a bed for him. The wood already cut, Bryan spent the little bit of time he had carving everything in the living room. Bryan had a small farm for his food, and animals, but traded mostly in furs and his woodworking. The bed would be finished in a day, two, max, if the woman or infant needed his attention more than normal.

He sighed, glancing at the door to his room. The woman in his bed was beautiful, and he had a hard time believing that she, or the baby, would not be missed. She was stunning and based on her soft skin and fine clothes, she was a highborn lady. That came with another set of problems. If he got caught with her in his bed, her reputation would be ruined. He would have dressed her, but with the continued baths and making sure her needs were met, it was just easier not to worry about putting something on and off.

It had been more than ten days since he’d brought her home, and Bryan was just starting to think he was about to lose her when her fever finally broke. She hadn’t awoken yet, but when he found her covered in sweat, he gave her a warm bath. A sigh of relief escaped him, as he glanced down at the baby in his arms. “Arthur, the little lass is going to pull through.”

The baby made a noise, and he laughed, “I’m happy about that too.”

Arthur was strong, and the two of them had formed a bond of sorts. He seemed to understand that Bryan had no idea what to do with him, besides feeding and changing him. He helped his mother and his sister with his nephew but never for a full day. The rest of his baby experience came from the animals he had raised. Besides his three horses, he had several pigs, cows and goats. He didn’t count the chickens, since he never really did anything with them after they had hatched.

Bryan knew it was best to feed the baby before he even attempted to take care of the woman in his bed. As good as Arthur was, he definitely didn’t appreciate having his breakfast pushed back. When Arthur scrunched up his face letting him know he was going to express his unhappiness with the situation, Bryan chuckled. “I got you some fresh milk this morning, no need to throw a fit.”

He didn’t want to leave her alone but knew better than to wait. As he sat in the chair feeding him the milk, Bryan thought about the baby in his arms. Every day, he seemed to get just a bit stronger. He wondered how long it would be until he started holding his own head up or trying to walk. An image of him trying to chase the wolves around made him smile. “I have a funny feeling you’re going to be a handful when you get bigger.”

The wolves had left this morning to go on a hunt and the house felt empty. It had been snowing for a few days and the wolves were eager to go out for a run, making the house feel quieter than normal. The baby fed, he took him with him into the room.

As he laid Arthur in the bed, Bryan smiled. “Soon we will find your parents. They must be worried about you.”

Bryan had brought in a basin of water and a cloth earlier before the baby had demanded his attention. There was something compelling about the woman in his bed. The few times she had opened her eyes, she had been in the middle of a nightmare, and he couldn’t make sense of what she had been trying to say. She seemed to be mad at Merlin and frightened of the demon men who were chasing her. She had asked him about the baby several times, even asking if he was an angel sent to protect them. Bryan had chuckled thinking his sister would have laughed at hearing him being called an angel.

A hand reached out and grabbed his as her clear, golden-brown eyes opened and met his for the first time. “Where is Arthur? Is he safe?”