A Highland Werewolf Wedding - By Terry Spear Page 0,10

through the church, chasing away the gloom and making him realize how important it had been to her for him to be here.

Baird McKinley, the groom, looked beyond his bride in Cearnach’s direction, his face reddening when he saw Cearnach. The two men locked gazes. Cearnach’s expression was a warning—Treat Calla right. Baird’s was just as much of a warning—Get lost and stay out of Calla’s life.

Unruffled, Cearnach stood in the pew until he realized Elaine had backtracked and was now standing in a pew on the groom’s side. At first, Cearnach figured: What difference would it make where she sat as long as she stayed put? He tried to watch the wedding procession in progress, but two bachelor wolves standing in the pew in front of Elaine must have caught the scent of the new, intriguing lone she-wolf.

The Kilpatrick brothers moved from their pew and slipped around to the one she was standing in like a couple of wolves on the hunt. Everyone sat down and the brothers took their seats on either side of the American she-wolf, boxing her in and declaring their interest.

Cearnach growled low. The arrangement wasn’t acceptable at all.

Even though she was a wolf sitting in a church filled with people, he thought she looked small and vulnerable. Hell, he thought she looked sexy and vulnerable. That was the problem.

For a moment, all thoughts of Calla and her wedding fled from his mind as Cearnach swore under his breath. He watched the Kilpatrick brothers, cousins of the McKinleys, crowd her. He didn’t like the way they were declaring ownership of the she-wolf. Or the way she pulled her arms closer to her body, showing she didn’t like their close proximity. He was certain she didn’t want to make a scene by moving, though.

Intent on rescuing her, he rose from the bench, crossed the aisle, and stood by her pew where Robert Kilpatrick kept her blocked in.

Cearnach growled at Elaine in a low voice meant only for her ears, “Sit by me, now, lassie.” He hadn’t meant to sound so growly, but if she’d sat beside him in the beginning, he wouldn’t have to rescue her now.

Appearing innocent and sweet, as if any alpha she-wolf could who looked like she did, Elaine smiled up at him and mouthed the words, “No, thank you.”

The Kilpatrick brothers both patted their swords and grinned up at him as if to say, “Leave the lady alone.” They’d see to her needs.

Over his dead body. Cearnach took a deep breath. Ian would kill Cearnach himself if he learned Cearnach had started a sword fight in a church during a wedding ceremony over an American she-wolf he didn’t even know. Not that sword fights didn’t break out during wolf weddings from time to time. Usually they occurred over the bride, not a guest, though.

Annoyed to the max, Cearnach restrained himself from reaching over and hauling Elaine out of the pew. He waited as patiently as wolfishly possible for her to move on her own accord. Two more of the McKinley brothers, the younger ones, entered the church, arriving late to Calla’s wedding and surprising Cearnach.

They both smiled at him in such a sinister way that Cearnach figured they’d be up to something before long. They glanced at Elaine and raised their brows in wolfish speculation. They walked past him to join Baird McKinley’s two older brothers at the front of the church. Which also surprised him.

Elaine didn’t spare them a glance as she watched the wedding, ignoring Cearnach as he waited for her to comply with his request.

Not used to anyone saying no to him, he hesitated. Like his older brother, Ian, he was used to giving commands and having people respond quickly to do his bidding.

When she didn’t move, he grasped her arm and pulled her out of the seat, which meant her skirt brushed over Robert’s kilted lap and her bare leg touched his long legs as she couldn’t avoid them. Not surprisingly, he wouldn’t be a gentleman and stand up to allow her through. Robert Kilpatrick smiled broadly at her. Her face was either red with embarrassment or flushed with anger. Cearnach couldn’t tell.

Cearnach marched her across the aisle and sat her beside him in the empty last pew, this time blocking her in.

“Highland barbarian,” Elaine whispered, still frowning.

Cearnach crossed his arms over his chest and smiled.

“I didn’t mean it as a compliment,” she said. “Why did you make me sit over here, anyway? I was perfectly fine where