Fire Maidens Scotland (Billionaires & Bodyguards #6) - Anna Lowe Page 0,69
the dragon shifter…”
She shook her head absently, still gazing at the letter. “Wolf.”
Lachlan stared. Her mother was a wolf shifter, her father a cougar. Shifter species could mix, but their offspring usually took one form or the other. In rare cases, like Liam, the offspring was a myriad shifter who could shift into both forms. But no shifter could turn into a beast neither parent had been.
His mind rewound to her comments that night they’d been out flying, along with Holly’s comments to Tony.
Neither of my parents is much use when it comes to aerial combat.
My father… A cougar shifter…
Her father — or stepfather, maybe?
Lachlan’s mouth fell open. Bloody hell. How had he not seen?
So, tell her, his dragon prompted.
He forced his hand to stop shaking while he continued to read.
I talked about regret, and I have a few. One was believing my son had let me down. The truth I discovered told me how wrong I had been, and now I know my boy made me proud. I wish I could shout it from the rooftops for all Scotland to hear. My boy Terence made me proud, just as his daughter makes me proud.
Lachlan found himself hammering the words out the way he imagined Trevor doing. Holly, meanwhile, froze.
“His daughter?”
The sun was setting over the horizon, but it seemed more like dawn to Lachlan.
How does all this relate to you? And why did I wait until now to explain? Perhaps I am not as strong a man as I wish. Perhaps I enjoyed my anonymity too much. Either way, I must tell you now. My son Terence died defending your mother’s secret. He died defending you, his unborn child.
The wind whistled over the hillside in the stunned silence that followed.
Lachlan swallowed, reading the last few lines of the letter in short, staccato bursts.
I didn’t stumble across Wildcat Distillery. I was looking for you.
Holly’s mouth fell open, and her lips formed a single word. Me?
Then her throat bobbed, and she shook her head. “Wait. My birth father’s name was Alan, not Terence.”
Lachlan pointed to the little cross and dates inscribed on the bottom of the page, together with a name. Terence Alan Stuart. RIP.
“Sounds like the rebel went so far as to use a different name.”
“But my birth father’s last name was Addair. My mother told me so.”
Another piece of the puzzle fell into place. “Addair was Ava’s maiden name.”
Holly stared, then shook her head in wonder. “Did my mother keep all this from me, or did she not know?”
“It seems to me Trevor didn’t want her to know. That he truly was a stranger who stumbled across the distillery one day.”
“But why?”
Lachlan pointed to the letter.
I brought you to Scotland every summer to gradually introduce you to the dragon world. But I guarded your identity, because powerful families have powerful enemies. I pray you are strong enough to withstand them now. No — I trust that you are. I have done everything I can to prepare you for this moment, and I believe destiny will do her part, too, bringing you the protector you need. At least, I pray that is the case. Destiny introduced the two of you a long time ago…
Lachlan sputtered to a halt. What?
Holly leaned closer. “Whoa. What was that?”
Lachlan angled the letter so she could read it in the last rays of the setting sun, and together, they silently followed the words.
I believe time will teach him the lessons I have learned. To follow his heart, and not to believe everything he was taught.
Lachlan’s heart pounded, but his dragon gloated. See?
“He means us,” Holly marveled.
The handwriting on the page had become tight and edgy for a while, but the next section was full of sweeping letters, as if Trevor’s heart had lightened when he wrote that part.
Oh, I knew about you two from the very start. But the greatest of love affairs can take the longest to come to fruition, especially when those involved are as headstrong and stubborn as you two.
“Headstrong?” Holly protested.
“Stubborn?” Lachlan frowned.
I can imagine you shaking your heads now…
Lachlan threw on the brakes in mid-shake.
…and demanding more proof than the ramblings of one old man. For that, read the packet of letters enclosed — a record of my son’s last correspondence with me. He loved your mother deeply, and she loved him. He wanted to make a new start far from Scotland. But evil forces intervened, and it was not to be.