A Highland Werewolf Wedding - By Terry Spear Page 0,40
for your cheek.” Shelley gave her a meaningful smile, saying she was supportive of Elaine’s cause, and squeezed her hand with reassurance on the way out.
Julia’s brow furrowed. “I’m surprised Cearnach didn’t kill Vardon for striking you. Cearnach’s the nicest man you’d ever want to meet, usually as cheerful as can be, but he’d risk his life for others to keep them safe from harm.”
“He did unsheathe his sword.” Elaine didn’t want anyone to think he hadn’t made the effort. “But I told him not to fight.”
His mother’s brows arched. “A she-wolf told my son not to fight?”
“Vardon didn’t unsheathe his sword so Cearnach couldn’t fight an unarmed man. I’m sure Cearnach was also afraid I might get injured if he fought Vardon.” Elaine didn’t mention that she thought Cearnach had been ready to kill Vardon over what he’d done and had needed all of his willpower to let it go and escort her outside.
“You were already hurt.” Julia’s voice was hard and unyielding. “Cearnach will not let this insult go if he sees Vardon again.” She took a deep breath and changed the subject. “So what is your business here? Are you staying somewhere already?”
“I had plans to stay at Flora’s Bed and Breakfast.”
Everyone exchanged glances. Round two in the battle with Cearnach’s mother. Elaine could understand his mother wanting to know everything about a prospective daughter-in-law. But she and Cearnach weren’t considering such a thing, not that she didn’t fantasize about it. Who wouldn’t when the wolf wore a kilt slung low on his hips, his chest bare, and the smile in his eyes and on his lips made her whole body heat with desire? Not to mention the kiss that had steamed up the car’s windows and made her temporarily lose her mind.
She wanted to tell the woman the truth—not about the fantasy part, though—but Elaine held her tongue, not wanting to even go there.
“Kilpatrick’s mother, Flora Kilpatrick, runs it. They’re first cousins to the McKinleys, one of the ones whose wedding you attended today,” Cearnach’s mother said hotly. “I thought you said you didn’t know them.”
“I hadn’t met them before today,” Elaine said, defending herself. “Only after we left the church and I said I was to meet with my distant cousin Robert Kilpatrick did Cearnach tell me who I’d been sitting next to.”
Julia let out her breath. “I bet the McKinleys insisting that Cearnach leave went over really peachy with him.”
“He appeared resigned to let Calla live her life the way she saw fit. She seemed perfectly happy. When we returned to where Cearnach’s disabled vehicle was, it was gone. He thought maybe the McKinley brothers had pushed it over the cliffs. When we went to investigate, we found it had been destroyed.”
“You went with him to look for it?” Julia asked curiously.
“Sure. I wasn’t going to stay in the rental car waiting.”
“You went as wolves.” Julia hadn’t asked a question but was more circumspect, as if she was seeing the picture more clearly now.
“Yeah. We could observe more, smell closer to the ground, see if we could sense any sign of the McKinleys. We didn’t find any. Not until we explored the beach, discovered his car, and returned.”
“You found your clothes and rental car gone.”
Elaine nodded, trying to push back the tears that suddenly appeared. She’d thought she was dealing with the situation well. She’d trusted Cearnach to take her someplace safe until she could get her money and ID back, at the very least. She hadn’t expected his kin to be so hostile. She was feeling the ramifications of losing her rental car on top of cutbacks at the college, the long trip here, not getting enough sleep, and then being run off the road, shot at, and nearly drowned… and now Cearnach’s mother was interrogating her.
She looked at the floor, trying to get her emotions under control.
Julia moved closer to her, patted her shoulder, and assured her, “We’ll get everything of yours back.”
“Why exactly were you here in the first place?” Cearnach’s mother asked, as if Elaine had slipped into the country to sabotage her son and she wasn’t buying Elaine’s declaration of innocence.
“I was supposed to meet with Robert Kilpatrick concerning a business arrangement.”
Cearnach’s stern-faced aunt laughed. No one else seemed amused.
Aunt Agnes asked Elaine, “Do you plan to mate with Robert Kilpatrick?”
“Heavens no. We’re related.”
“Distant cousins, so you claim,” Lady MacNeill said.
“Well, no, I have no intention of mating with him or anyone else in Scotland.”