Nighthawk: Sons of de Wolfe (de Wolfe Pack Book 7) Read online

  NIGHTHAWK

  A Medieval Romance

  Chronologically Book Two of the de Wolfe Pack Series

  By Kathryn Le Veque

  © Copyright 2017 by Kathryn Le Veque Novels, Inc.

  Kindle Edition

  Text by Kathryn Le Veque

  Cover by Kim Killion

  Reproduction of any kind except where it pertains to short quotes in relation to advertising or promotion is strictly prohibited.

  All Rights Reserved.

  The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.

  License Notes

  This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it or borrow it, or it was not purchased for you and given as a gift for your use only, then please return it and purchase your own copy. If this book was purchased on any unauthorized platform, then it is a pirated and/or unauthorized copy and violators will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Do not purchase or accept pirated copies. Thank you for respecting the author’s hard work.

  Kathryn Le Veque Novels

  Medieval Romance:

  The de Russe Legacy:

  The White Lord of Wellesbourne

  The Dark One: Dark Knight

  Beast

  Lord of War: Black Angel

  The Falls of Erith

  The Iron Knight

  The de Lohr Dynasty:

  While Angels Slept (Lords of East Anglia)

  Rise of the Defender

  Steelheart

  Spectre of the Sword

  Archangel

  Unending Love

  Shadowmoor

  Silversword

  Great Lords of le Bec:

  Great Protector

  To the Lady Born (House of de Royans)

  Lord of Winter (Lords of de Royans)

  Lords of Eire:

  The Darkland (Master Knights of Connaught)

  Black Sword

  Echoes of Ancient Dreams (time travel)

  De Wolfe Pack Series:

  The Wolfe

  Serpent

  Scorpion (Saxon Lords of Hage – Also related to The Questing)

  The Lion of the North

  Walls of Babylon

  Dark Destroyer

  Nighthawk

  Ancient Kings of Anglecynn:

  The Whispering Night

  Netherworld

  Battle Lords of de Velt:

  The Dark Lord

  Devil’s Dominion

  Reign of the House of de Winter:

  Lespada

  Swords and Shields (also related to The Questing, While Angels Slept)

  De Reyne Domination:

  Guardian of Darkness

  The Fallen One (part of Dragonblade Series)

  Unrelated characters or family groups:

  The Gorgon (Also related to Lords of Thunder)

  The Warrior Poet (St. John and de Gare)

  Tender is the Knight (House of d’Vant)

  Lord of Light

  The Questing (related to The Dark Lord, Scorpion)

  The Legend (House of Summerlin)

  The Dragonblade Series: (Great Marcher Lords of de Lara)

  Dragonblade

  Island of Glass (House of St. Hever)

  The Savage Curtain (Lords of Pembury)

  The Fallen One (De Reyne Domination)

  Fragments of Grace (House of St. Hever)

  Lord of the Shadows

  Queen of Lost Stars (House of St. Hever)

  Lords of Thunder: The de Shera Brotherhood Trilogy

  The Thunder Lord

  The Thunder Warrior

  The Thunder Knight

  Highland Warriors of Munro

  The Red Lion

  Time Travel Romance: (Saxon Lords of Hage)

  The Crusader

  Kingdom Come

  Contemporary Romance:

  Kathlyn Trent/Marcus Burton Series:

  Valley of the Shadow

  The Eden Factor

  Canyon of the Sphinx

  The American Heroes Series:

  The Lucius Robe

  Fires of Autumn

  Evenshade

  Sea of Dreams

  Purgatory

  Other Contemporary Romance:

  Lady of Heaven

  Darkling, I Listen

  In the Dreaming Hour

  Multi-author Collections/Anthologies:

  With Dreams Only of You (USA Today bestseller)

  Sirens of the Northern Seas (Viking romance)

  Ever My Love (sequel to With Dreams Only Of You) July 2016

  Kindle Worlds (Kathryn Le Veque World of de Wolfe Pack):

  River’s End

  The Wedding Fountain (Bella Andre’s Kindle World)

  Note: All Kathryn’s novels are designed to be read as stand-alones, although many have cross-over characters or cross-over family groups. Novels that are grouped together have related characters or family groups.

  Series are clearly marked. All series contain the same characters or family groups except the American Heroes Series, which is an anthology with unrelated characters.

  There is NO particular chronological order for any of the novels because they can all be read as stand-alones, even the series.

  For more information, find it in A Reader’s Guide to the Medieval World of Le Veque.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Kathryn Le Veque Novels

  The next generation Wolfe Pack

  Author’s Note

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Epilogue

  The de Wolfe Pack Series

  About Kathryn Le Veque

  The next generation Wolfe Pack

  The Wolfe

  William and Jordan Scott de Wolfe

  Scott (married to Lady Athena de Norville, issue)

  Troy (married to Lady Helene de Norville, has issue)

  Patrick (married to Lady Brighton de Favereux, has issue)

  James – Killed in Wales June 1282 (married to Lady Rose Hage, has issue)

  Katheryn (James’ twin) Married Sir Alec Hage, has issue

  Evelyn (married to Sir Hector de Norville, has issue)

  Baby de Wolfe – died same day. Christened Madeleine.

  Edward (married to Lady Cassiopeia de Norville, has issue)

  Thomas

  Penelope (married to Bhrodi de Shera, hereditary King of Anglesey and Earl of Coventry, has issue)

  Kieran and Jemma Scott Hage

  Mary Alys (adopted) married, with issue

  Baby Hage, died same day. Christened Bridget.

  Alec (married to Lady Katheryn de Wolfe, has issue)

  Christian (died Holy Land 1269 A.D.) no
issue

  Moira (married to Sir Apollo de Norville, has issue)

  Kevin (married to Annavieve de Ferrers, has issue)

  Rose (widow of Sir James de Wolfe, has issue)

  Nathaniel

  Paris and Caladora Scott de Norville

  Hector (married to Lady Evelyn de Wolfe, has issue)

  Apollo (married to Lady Moira Hage, has issue)

  Helene (married to Sir Troy de Wolfe, has issue)

  Athena (married to Sir Scott de Wolfe, has issue)

  Adonis

  Cassiopeia (married to Sir Edward de Wolfe, has issue)

  Author’s Note

  Welcome to Patrick’s story!

  This one has been a long time in coming (because I wrote The Wolfe twenty years ago), but I think it’s well worth the wait. We essentially get to see the next generation of the de Wolfe Pack, right about thirty years after The Wolfe takes place and about fifteen years before Serpent. So this is a peek into the world directly after Jordan and William’s story.

  Patrick is a big man destined for greatness. We also get the sense that he is his father’s favorite son. The family clearly loves him and he loves them. It was great fun giving Patrick a journey that took him from a serious knight to a man who had fallen in love and learned a thing or two about life (and women). I hope you think so, too.

  Things to note: Berwick Castle features in this story and at this point in history, it was at the transition point between the end of Henry III’s reign and the beginning of Edward I. Edward made major improvements to the castle and to the city’s defenses, but I’ve taken artistic license in moving up those improvements and having Henry start them. I’m about ten or so years off from Berwick really having been a massively built-out bastion, but there is little history about the castle prior to 1296, so I’ve taken the liberty of having the stone rebuilding of the castle starting a little early.

  Castle Questing doesn’t exist – it is a creation of my imagination although I can tell you exactly where it sits on the topography of England. More fun things to note: the knights bearing names you will recognize – Hector and Apollo de Norville are the sons of Paris and Caladora de Norville, while Alec and Kevin Hage are the sons of Kieran and Jemma Hage (The Wolfe). Kevin has his own story in SCORPION, set when he’s about fifteen years older. Anson du Bonne is the son of Stephen and Genisa du Bonne (The Gorgon), Damien d’Vant is a son of Dennis and Ryan d’Vant (Tender is the Knight), and Colm de Lara is a grandson of Sean de Lara and Sheridan St. James (Lord of the Shadows).

  Patrick has several brothers and we get to meet two of them in this book. Scott and Troy de Wolfe have also appeared in SERPENT and they will eventually have their own books. And as a final note – look for a new character, Kerk le Sander, in this book. He has quite a story behind him, coming out in my 2017 novella duet with NYT Bestselling author Sharon Hamilton entitled The Trident Legacy. It would seem that Patrick’s friend, Kerk, has an immortal soul. Fun stuff for great reading!

  More characters of note: Daniel de Lohr makes a brief appearance in this book. His novel is SHADOWMOOR and Chad de Lohr is mentioned as well as the de Shera brothers (SILVERSWORD and THE THUNDER LORD, respectively), so if you haven’t read any of those books yet, they are must reads. In my world, everything is tied in!

  In all, this is a great adventure with a good deal of passion in it because Patrick and Brighton have an incredibly strong bond, as you will see. As always, I truly hope you enjoy the book!

  Love, Kathryn

  PROLOGUE

  In the heady days of Yore,

  There upon a moonlit shore,

  Came the knight known one to all,

  A warrior to heed the nightbird’s call.

  Son of The Wolfe, a legacy born,

  A knight of skill, yet his heart was torn.

  A heart so bold, demanded by kings,

  Yet a lady claimed it, an angel without wings.

  A nightbird with a warrior’s soul,

  This is now the story told.

  ~ 13th c. chronicles

  ‡

  July, Year of our Lord 1269

  Westminster Palace, London

  “No one enters a room like a de Wolfe.” An elderly man with a head of gray hair and one droopy eye spoke. “Even from afar, the moment the doors open and you enter, it is as if all of the air in the room is sucked out by your mere presence. Your father has the same gift, by the way. Think not that you are special in that regard, Patrick de Wolfe.”

  An enormous knight with eyes the color of jade and hair as dark as a raven’s wing was halfway into the great hall, heading towards the dais at the far end where the king sat. Great Henry, he was called, an elderly man who had ruled England for over sixty years. But the king was in poor health these days and his voice was barely above a whisper, which meant that one of the king’s advisors had to repeat what the man had said so that Patrick could properly respond.

  All was formality and pomp within the great hall of Westminster Palace. A mere knight was expected to respond to a kingly statement.

  “You have accused my father of such things before, my lord, or so I have heard,” Patrick responded loudly, as the king’s hearing was also very poor these days. “In fact, he told me that you have refused to allow him to enter a room before you for that very reason.”

  He was drawing nearer to the king now, his heavy leather boots clapping against the wooden floor in loud succession; boom, boom, boom…. Such a big man made very big sounds. He closed the gap quickly for he’d come with a purpose. An audience with the ailing king was something quite rare these days, even for the man who had been appointed to serve as the monarch’s personal Lord Protector. He had only just reached London and had sought audience with the king, which was granted as soon as the king was feeling better. Now, Patrick had arrived and the king could not be more pleased about it.

  But the one person in the room who wasn’t pleased with Patrick’s arrival was, in fact, Patrick himself. He wasn’t one to be nervous or jumpy as a rule. But as he came to a halt before Henry, he realized that he was just that – nervous. God help him, he was here with a purpose in mind and if the king didn’t grant his request, he wasn’t entirely sure what he was going to do. It all came down to the case he would lay out for the king and how convincing he would be. He’d done nothing but pray about it, fervently.

  Sweet Christ, let Henry be in a generous mood today!

  From the way Henry was staring at him, however, it was difficult to tell just how generous Henry intended to be. The man had been ill for quite some time now and his skin was yellowish, his eyes sunken. The silks swathing his body hung on the man’s thin frame. He was staring at Patrick as if the man’s most recent remark had offended him and, in truth, Patrick was coming to wonder if it had. He and Henry had an easy repartee, as easy as one could have with the king, because Henry owed much to Patrick’s father, William de Wolfe. It was on that basis that Patrick had established his own relationship with the monarch and answering the man as he had was something that usually gave Henry a grin. But, at the moment, that grin wasn’t forthcoming.

  Patrick waited.

  The grin finally came.

  “Cheeky devil,” Henry muttered after a moment. Then, he lifted a finger in Patrick’s direction. “Now, you will tell me why you seek audience with me. You are my Lord Protector, Patrick. I have been waiting for you to arrive and assume your duties.”

  “I know, my lord.”

  Henry’s eyebrows lifted when there was no more of a reply than that. “Have you nothing more to say?” he asked. “You have never before sought an audience and I will admit that it has me concerned. Speak, now. Tell me what is of importance to you.”

  Patrick looked at his monarch. Now, the moment had come. Swallowing away his nerves, he brought forth the speech he had planned for weeks. Now, the time was upon him to speak it. He could not delay.

  “This is a formal request, my lord,” he began quietly. “It seemed best served to follow pr
otocol and request an audience.”

  “So you did. What do you want?”

  Patrick took a deep breath, eyeing the advisors that stood around the king, knowing he was about to bare his soul for all to hear. It was an embarrassing event, to be sure, but the needs of his heart were stronger than his pride. The damnable, stubborn de Wolfe pride. But he hardly cared; if the seasoned men surrounding Henry thought him weak for it, then so be it.

  “My lord, it has been the pinnacle of my career as a knight to personally serve you as my father once did,” he said in his rich, melodious baritone. “As a warrior and as a subject, I could ask for no higher honor. But several weeks ago, I had an experience with a raiding band of Scots that has changed my outlook on life. It happened at nearly the same time I received word that I was to come to London to attend you, in fact.”

  “Is that so?”

  “It is, my lord.”

  “And how did this encounter with the Scots change your outlook?”

  Patrick cleared his throat softly again; his nerves were still there. “Because there was a woman with them,” he said quietly. “She was a captive, you see, so I brought her back to Castle Questing for my mother to tend. My lord, it is because of this woman that I wish to return home.”

  The king may have been ill and hard of hearing, but he wasn’t daft. He could see something reflected in Patrick’s eyes, something he’d once seen in the eyes of Patrick’s father. It is because of this woman that I wish to return home. Long ago, Henry remembered William de Wolfe in a seemingly similar predicament with the woman who turned out to be Patrick’s mother. A man so in love that nothing else in the world mattered, not even the prestige of serving a king. He sighed faintly.

  “You want to marry this woman, I take it?” he asked.

  “I already have.”

  Henry was intrigued. “You have?” he said, astonished. “I did not know this. Who is she?”

  “Her name is Brighton de Favereux. Her mother is the sister to Gilbert de la Haye of Clan Haye.”

  “I know of him. But who is her father?”

  Patrick seemed to falter. “Magnus, my lord.”

  “Magnus de Favereux? I do not know him.”

  Patrick shook his head. “Nay, my lord,” he said. “Magnus of Norway. He is the Norse king.”