heir two years after the accident. Neither clan received the initial announcement well, but the alliance between the Campbells and Rosses had only grown stronger when the elder Montgomery assumed the lairdship. More than twenty years after being named the heir apparent to Clan Ross, the day had come where Montgomery Óg would be named Laird Ross. Laurel and Brodie agreed their son needed to know and understand the truth about his uncle and Donnan if he was to lead in Montgomery Mòr’s stead. They’d feared their son’s reaction, but he’d only shrugged and admitted he already knew. History had repeated itself, and at much the same age as Laurel was when she discovered Monty and Donnan in the woods, the younger Monty had found the lovers in an embrace when he burst into the elder Monty’s solar. He’d kept the secret for more than a decade.
“Nephew, it isn’t easy to hand over the privilege to lead our clan, but I can no longer ride into battle alongside you. I can no longer make the long journeys to court, nor do I have the patience for negotiations anymore. I know how much it pained your mother to allow you and Aidan to foster here, but I will always be grateful that she did. I retire as laird today, and Donnan retires as my second. You shall rise from tánaiste to laird, and Aidan shall take your place as tánaiste until you have a son. Our clans are one, just as they have been since your parents married. Now it shall be official. The new laird shall be Montgomery Campbell.”
“But for the love of God, find a Ross woman to marry,” Donnan Mòr quipped. “Your aunts will never cease harping at you if you don’t.”
“Who knew ma wee hellion would be the lamb to yer two aulder sisters’ lions,” Brodie chuckled as Laurel pursed her lips. Life with Brodie filled her with more love and happiness than she imagined one person could possess. They still went for rides almost daily, stopping to enjoy the Highland air and the expansive landscape that surrounded them. Laurel rarely looked back at her days at court. Her life among the hills and lochs was too fulfilling to linger over memories of her stifling life as a lady-in-waiting.
Laurel fought against the tears that threatened as she stood beside Brodie in the Balnagown Great Hall. With his arm wrapped around her waist like it so often was, and her head resting against his shoulder, Laurel couldn’t imagine a prouder moment. She watched her son swear his fealty to the clan of her birth. Her brother pinned the Clan Ross brooch onto his nephew’s Ross plaid, naming Montgomery Óg Campbell the new Laird Ross.
She lost the fight to control her tears of happiness when Broderick stepped forward and thrust out his arm for a warrior's handshake with his brother. The gesture signified the renewal of the Campbell-Ross alliance. Their oldest son had assumed Brodie’s duties and position as laird a year earlier. Brodie’s vision wasn’t what it once was, and swollen knuckles made it difficult for him to write and grip his sword. Despite retiring as Brodie’s tánaiste, Dominic remained at Kilchurn while they traveled.
“Wheest, Laurie,” Brodie whispered. “You shall soak my leine.” Brodie kissed the top of Laurel’s head, closing his eyes as he inhaled his wife’s lavender scent. When he opened them and gazed at his two sons—now lairds—and the three who stood behind in support, he couldn’t imagine a life without Laurel beside him. A few carelessly tossed words over too many drams of whisky had brought him immeasurable happiness. Laurel was no tamer than she’d been on the day he met her. She was still as wild as a thistle, with roots that wound deep into the Highland soil. He’d promised her freedom, and she’d trusted him when she’d trusted no other. He never took for granted the faith his wife placed in him. Brodie and Laurel found peace and love together. The bear and the thistle. They were as much a part of the Highlands as the Highlands were a part of them.
“Then I shall just have to help you find a new one, Brodie,” Laurel whispered in return, her hand sliding precariously close to his backside before Brodie felt a small pinch. She may have appeared the staid Lady Campbell, wife to the mighty Brodie Campbell—the Lion of Lorne—and mother to five sons, but she still had the heart of a hellion.
“Promise,