Sea Wolfe_Pirates of Britannia Lords of the Sea Book 4) Read online

  Table of Contents

  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

  Sea Wolfe

  A Medieval Romance

  Pirates of Britannia Series, Book 4

  Poseidon’s Legion, Book 2

  By Kathryn Le Veque

  © Copyright 2018 by Kathryn Le Veque Novels, Inc. DBA Dragonblade Publishing, 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 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

  Warwolfe

  ShadowWolfe

  DarkWolfe

  A Joyous de Wolfe Christmas

  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)

  With Dreams Only of You

  House of d’Vant:

  Tender is the Knight (House of d’Vant)

  The Red Fury (House of d’Vant)

  Unrelated characters or family groups:

  The Gorgon (Also related to Lords of Thunder)

  The Warrior Poet (St. John and de Gare)

  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

  The Great Knights of de Moray:

  Shield of Kronos

  Highland Warriors of Munro:

  The Red Lion

  Deep Into Darkness

  The House of Ashbourne:

  Upon a Midnight Dream

  The House of D’Aurilliac:

  Valiant Chaos

  The House of De Nerra:

  The Falls of Erith

  Vestiges of Valor

  The House of De Dere:

  Of Love and Legend

  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

  Sons of Poseidon:

  The Immortal Sea

  Pirates of Britannia Series (with Eliza Knight):

  Savage of the Sea by Eliza Knight

  Leader of Titans by Kathryn Le Veque

  The Sea Devil by Eliza Knight

  Sea Wolfe by Kathryn Le Veque

  Multi-author Collections/Anthologies:

  Sirens of the Northern Seas (Viking romance)

  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.

  Author’s Note

  A de Wolfe at sea!

  What a fun concept this has been. Pirates of Britannia has been such great fun writing – a little out of my wheelhouse, but that’s been a great challenge.

  The heroine in our tale is Genevieve Efford, a young woman that was introduced as a spoil of war in LEADER OF TITANS. She and her sister (and her sister’s puppies) were taken from a merchant ship that was subsequently sunk, and Genevieve proved to be quite a fighter. That streak continues in this novel as she and Lucifer come to know one another, because any woman worthy of a de Wolfe must be a strong woman, indeed. It’s safe to say that Lucifer has met his match.

  Something to clarify in thi
s novel – Lucifer’s father is Wyndham de Wolfe, a descendant of Robert de Wolfe, who was William de Wolfe’s eldest brother (remember that lineage from THE WOLFE). William’s line are the Earls of Warenton, a title that was granted to him much later in life by Edward I, so Lucifer is related to William, but only distantly. Still, he’s a de Wolfe, and they’re all pretty much the same in composition – noble, strong, driven, and passionate.

  Lucifer is, however, a direct descendant of Gaetan de Wolfe from WARWOLFE – since Gaetan was the first Earl of Wolverhampton, and Lucifer is the eldest son of the seated earl, there is a direct line from Gaetan to Lucifer. That’s not something even William de Wolfe can claim.

  So, enjoy this sea-faring adventure about a de Wolfe who really discovers himself, and gets in touch with all of those de Wolfe emotions, thanks to an unruly young woman.

  Love,

  Kathryn

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Kathryn Le Veque Novels

  Author’s Note

  Pirate Information

  The Legend of the Pirates of Britannia

  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

  Pirates of Britannia Series

  About Kathryn Le Veque

  The Pirate factions:

  The English faction: Poseidon’s Legion

  The Scottish faction: Devils of the Deep

  The Spanish faction: Los Demonios de Mar (Demons of the Sea)

  The French faction: Les Porteurs d’eau (The Water Bearers)

  The Irish faction: Na Madrai Mara (The Sea Dogs)

  Pirate towns/home bases:

  Puerto de los Dioses off the Azores Islands (Spanish)

  Trésor Cove (North of Calais, a series of connected caves where pirates can dock their boats hidden inside) – (French)

  Clew Bay (Ireland – used by the English and Scottish)

  Carantec, Brittany (French)

  Scarba Island (Scottish Stronghold)

  Perran Castle/Holywell Castle/Mithian Castle in Cornwall (English Strongholds)

  Port Eynon Bay, Wales (English/Scottish controlled, also a smuggler’s cove)

  Cobh, Ireland (Irish Pirates)

  The Legend of the Pirates of Britannia

  In the year of our Lord 854, a wee lad by the name of Arthur MacAlpin set out on an adventure that would turn the tides of his fortune, for what could be more exciting than being feared and showered with gold?

  Arthur wanted to be king. A sovereign as great as King Arthur, who came hundreds of years before him. The legendary knight who was able to pull a magical sword from stone, met ladies in lakes and vanquished evil with a vast following who worshipped him. But while that King Arthur brought to mind dreamlike images of a roundtable surrounded by chivalrous knights and the ladies they romanced, MacAlpin wanted to summon night terrors from every babe, woman and man.

  Aye, MacAlpin, king of the pirates of Britannia, would be a name most feared. A name that crossed children’s lips when the candles were blown out at night. When a shadow passed over a wall, was it the Pirate King? When a ship sailed into port in the dark hours of night, was it him?

  As the fourth son of the conquering Pictish King Cináed, Arthur wanted to prove himself to his father. He wanted to make his father proud, and show him that he, too, could be a conqueror. King Cináed was praised widely for having run off the Vikings, for saving his people, for amassing a vast and strong army. No one would dare encroach on his conquered lands when they would have to face the end of his blade.

  Arthur wanted that, too. He wanted to be feared. Awed. To hold his sword up and have devils come flying from the tip.

  So, it was on a fateful summer night in 854 that, at the age of ten and nine, Arthur amassed a crew of young and roguish Picts and stealthily commandeered one of his father’s ships. They blackened the sails to hide them from those on watch and began an adventure that would last a lifetime and beyond.

  The lads trolled the seas, boarding ships and sacking small coastal villages. In fact, they even sailed so far north as to raid a Viking village in the name of his father. By the time they returned to Oban, and the seat of King Cináed, all of Scotland was raging about Arthur’s atrocities. Confused, he tried to explain, but his father would not listen and would not allow him back into the castle.

  King Cináed banished his youngest son from the land, condemned his acts as evil and told him he never wanted to see him again.

  Enraged and experiencing an underlying layer of mortification, Arthur took to the seas, gathering men as he went, and building a family he could trust that would not shun him. They ravaged the sea as well as the land—using his clan’s name as a lasting insult to his father for turning him out.

  The legendary Pirate King was rumored to be merciless, the type of vengeful pirate who would drown a babe in his mother’s own milk if she didn’t give him the pearls at her neck. But with most rumors, they were mostly steeped in falsehoods meant to intimidate. In fact, there may have been a wee boy or two he saved from an untimely fate. Whenever they came across a lad or lass in need, as Arthur himself had once been, they took them into the fold.

  One ship became two. And then three, four, five, until a score of ships with blackened sails roamed the seas.

  These were his warriors. A legion of men who adored him, respected him, followed him, and, together, they wreaked havoc on the blood ties that had sent him away. And generations upon generations, country upon country, they would spread far and wide until people feared them from horizon to horizon. Every Pirate King to follow would be named MacAlpin, so his father’s banishment would never be forgotten.

  Forever lords of the sea. A daring brotherhood, where honor among thieves reigns supreme, and crushing their enemies is a thrilling pastime.

  These are the pirates of Britannia, and here are their stories…

  Book Four: Sea Wolfe

  Prologue

  Near St. Ives, Cornwall

  He knew they were out here.

  It was early morning and the sun was barely up, turning the fog that had rolled in overnight into shades of gray. Everything was still and quiet. Even the sea was quiet. So very quiet.

  But he knew it was a ruse.

  The pirate commander known as Lucifer stood on the deck of The Madness of Melinoe, or simply the Melinoe, a small but fast and heavily-armed vessel that was known to fight battles against ships twice her size and win. This lady was fiery, and she was commanded by a man that no sane man would tangle with. Any pirate named Lucifer was surely a man to be feared and avoided.

  “What is wrong?” came a soft question. “What do you hear?”

  The query came from a younger pirate, but a man who had proven himself indispensable on sea or on land. Felix d’Vant, tall and sinewy and blond, stood next to Lucifer, trying to figure out what had the man so fixated. He was simply staring out into the fog as if beholding a hidden enemy. But only tense, brittle silence filled the air. Lucifer simply shook his head.

  “Hear?” he repeated. “I hear nothing. It is more a… feeling.”

  Felix didn’t like that at all. Lucifer’s feelings were often truer than most men’s facts. Without a decisive command given by his leader, Felix took matters into his own hands. He turned to the men on deck, men who were on edge because Lucifer was seemingly on edge, and began to give them silent commands. His gestures were firm, bordering on panicky, and the men began to move. Something was in the air and they needed to be prepared. But before they could get to their posts, Lucifer suddenly bellowed.

  “Hit the deck!”

  Men began to fall, for a command of that nature wasn’t mean to be ignored.
As they began dropping to the damp deck, a faint whistling could be heard that very quickly grew deafening, and the masts and wooden portions of the ship around them began to explode around them as nine-pound cannonballs hurled over the decks.

  And just that quickly, they were in battle.

  “Gun crews!” Lucifer roared. “Roll out the port side battery!”

  Since the Melinoe was a smaller vessel, her gun deck was quite cramped and directly below the main deck. Lucifer found himself screaming commands to the gun deck officer, who in turn rolled out the five four-pounder cannons they had on the port side. The gun crews began to work furiously to load the long, iron cylinders.

  They were very swift in their tasks. As the Melinoe continued north on her original course, the gun crews rolled out a strategic barrage of cannon fire in the direction of their enemy, hoping it would do enough damage to them before they could turn around and level off their other battery. The concussion was staggering, and the great blasts of smoke floated up onto the main deck, making the air toxic. As Lucifer rushed to the port rail with his spyglass to get a look through the fog, one of his men shouted to him.

  “Lucifer!” Remy de Moray was a close friend and an excellent warrior. He was pointing up to the mainmast. “Look!”

  Lucifer peered up through the damp, rolling mist to see a nine-pound cannonball wedged into the mainmast, not enough to collapse it, but enough to create an interesting situation. He shook his head.

  “Damnation,” he muttered. “It is supporting the entire mainmast from the way it is sitting. We are bloody fortunate it stopped when it did and did not rip off the entire structure.”

  Remy nodded, grinning. Young and handsome, with dark hair and jet-black eyes, Remy came alongside Lucifer.

  “That’s a nine-pounder,” he said. Then, he looked out onto the fog. “That does not come from any ordinary vessel.”

  Lucifer shook his head, his golden gaze still fixed on the mist. “There are only three ships that I know of that can fire off a cannonball of that size,” he muttered. “The French, and their main warship is near Lisbon last I heard, or the Spanish, or us. And I do not see the ships in our fleet firing on us.”

  Remy wasn’t hard pressed to agree. “The Spanish, then?”