She wouldn’t hide from her husband or her family anymore. She would tell them when the images or feelings of what Malcolm did to her were too much. Greylen had already made her tell him everything she remembered, when she’d broken down in their bathing chamber after she’d sparred with Gavin. And he’d made her tell him more than once. He took from her every blow, every kick, and every vile insult she described to him. Each moment of fear and despair. She knew it killed him to hear it, yet he insisted. And she knew, too, he did it because he was trying to help her. It’s just who he was.

No one was about as she made her way through the entrance. In fact, it was strangely quiet. As she held the latch of the front doors, she smiled at the steps she’d already taken. No one had seen her take her shorts from the new trunk at the end of her bed. No one had witnessed her tears when she saw that they had been placed on top of everything else, and her running shoes beside them. Greylen must have put them there before everything happened, when he had first proposed this run. She had planned to run with him then. Now she would follow him, though he would never know.

She took a deep breath and opened the doors.

Oh my God.

Her husband stood just beyond the steps with his men by his side. They were eight now, including Alex, and they all smiled as they looked up to her.

Eight of the most incredible smiles all directed at her.

Greylen came forward, resting a foot atop the bottom step as he reached out with his hand. “’Tis your run, wife. We’d not go without you.”

Gwen was speechless. They had known she would come, and they had waited for her. The other men had already left the courtyard, so now it was only her and her men. They were her elite circle this morn, and she was one of them.

She reached out to take Greylen’s hand, and as she stood beside him, he bent to whisper in her ear. “You could have at least worn a shirt over your halter, wife.” She smiled, biting her lip, and he kissed her before swatting her bottom to urge her on. “Set your pace, sweet. This journey we take together.”

And as simple as that, she began. They ran from the gates together, toward the line that symbolized her freedom. Freedom that she now knew her husband had planned only for her.

It was a beautiful September day, and the men cast their shirts aside within minutes. All of the children had taken places along the trail, handing water to the runners as they passed. Halfway through, Gwen smiled at Greylen as she breathlessly called to him, “We’re wealthy, husband, aren’t we?”