A Highland Werewolf Wedding - By Terry Spear Page 0,114
feel like home.
Elaine shook her head. “I don’t know how to explain it, but when I was there, I felt as though I’d been there before. I didn’t see it as a place of ruin, but a place where once my people lived, broke bread, laughed, worshipped, worked, fought, and played. My parents were even wed in that kirk. They loved one another until the day they died. That’s where I want to marry Cearnach.”
Cearnach’s mother quickly brushed away tears. “Something in my eye. Blasted dust,” she said.
Julia tried to fight a smile. So did Shelley.
Calla didn’t bother. Aunt Agnes’s face reddened a little as if she was embarrassed for her sister by marriage.
***
On the day of the wedding, the sun was poking out of the light, fluffy clouds. Elaine knew it was going to be a grand day as Ian walked her down the aisle of the kirk, sunlight reflecting off the stained glass of the vases holding lavender flowers. The colorful flickering lights shimmered in the medieval gray stone building, like tiny winged fairies of some Celtic myth or legend.
The men all wore their kilts and Prince Charlie jackets, belted swords at their waists, dirks in their hose. The women wore long plaid gowns, mostly of the green and blue plaid and yellow of the MacNeills, while Elaine wore the McKinley plaid, predominantly green and blue and red, since the Hawthorn didn’t have their own sett and had been allied with the rest of their McKinley kin over the years.
When the minister asked if anyone would object to the marriage, Elaine smiled at Cearnach who was looking down at her with such profound love that tears gathered in her eyes. She hadn’t wanted to cry, told herself she wouldn’t, but she loved him and couldn’t help herself.
Growling between the hounds as they fought over something made everyone turn and look as Logan ran into the chapel dangling a piece of dirty blue silk from his fingers. He waved the torn fabric like a flag. “Anlan found it and Dillon was playing tug of war with him over it.”
Elaine let out her breath and thought to continue with the ceremony, but then she remembered what Cearnach had told her. One of the goods her uncles had stolen from them was silk.
She rushed to join Logan. “Where did the dogs get it?”
Cearnach was close behind her.
His mother said, “What… what are they doing?”
Aunt Agnes said, “I told you we should have had the wedding in the chapel at Argent Castle. Nothing would have interrupted the ceremony there.”
Logan led the way across the bailey to the cellar in the southeast tower and pointed to a place where the dogs had been digging. Two of the pups were deep in the hole, yipping and running around. “They smelled something in there. They were digging and… well, they opened up a wee passage.”
“Let me see.” Cearnach crouched down to get a better look. “It’s too dark.”
Ian leaned down with a flashlight, and Cearnach used it to peer into the hole. “Flynn, what are you doing in there?” He studied the silk, the shimmering gold, the pearls, the emeralds. His eyes widened at the sight of his sword poking out of the crate of green jewels—with the first carved handle he’d made, the one he had used in the fight against Elaine’s Uncle Tobias and had lost to the older male. He shook his head. “Figures you put the dogs up to locating the hidden room, Flynn.”
Cearnach smiled and looked up at Elaine, who was waiting to hear what they’d found.
“Was hidden in a secret room, buried for centuries. It’s all there. Well, the pearls and gold and silk. The sugar I’m certain your kin used long ago. The loch surrounds the castle on three sides. During a downpour, water runs off the cliffs, making it appear like a waterfall. Here is where your uncle said the treasure was all along. And my sword,” he said quietly, remembering when he’d fought so hard, determined not to give up while his da and clansmen and the pirate crew watched.
Her uncles had brought them together—the sword, their niece, and the Highlander who would one day steal her heart.
She touched his arm and stared up at him, her eyes wide with disbelief. “The one my uncle took away from you during a sword fight aboard your ship?”
“Aye.”
“My uncles would be happy for me. Your sword will have a special