A Highland Werewolf Wedding - By Terry Spear Page 0,45

hurt a woman like that. Are you going to kill Vardon, Cearnach?” his mother asked, her tone serious.

In fact, if he hadn’t known her better, he would have thought she was giving him permission to do just that. He certainly hadn’t expected her to ask such a question. He cast his mother a wry smile. “Is that what this is all about?”

“Mate with her,” his mother said.

His jaw nearly dropped to the floor. He had half expected his mother to tell him not to get interested in the woman and to get her out of their castle at the earliest convenience. That she was a source of danger to their people.

But mating? He was stunned as hell that she would even suggest such a thing. He wanted to ask if she’d been nipping the brandy with his aunt before he and Elaine arrived.

His mother shrugged. “She’s protective of you, a good quality in an alpha female. She’s able to stand up to me. I like her.”

He ground his teeth, studying his mother’s set expression—the one she used when she was determined to have her way. He knew she had to be interested in something beyond just liking Elaine.

His mother was a crafty wolf, always thinking of what would benefit the clan, the pack. She wasn’t impulsive in the least.

“What else, my lady mother? What are you thinking?”

“She knows where our stolen property is hidden. She’s a Hawthorn, niece to those rogue wolves who were pirates. You will help her to locate the stolen goods and keep her safe at the same time.”

Keeping her safe was what he had in mind. And more. But he didn’t like where this was headed as far as the stolen property was concerned.

“The Kilpatricks, who obviously want it, won’t get a farthing, and we’ll keep all of it,” his mother continued.

He frowned.

She quickly said, “Through a mating. We won’t take it away from her. We’ll keep it in the family. It’s ours anyway. You know if they get hold of her, they’ll plan the same thing—to get the stolen goods. Worse”—she cast him a concerned look—“one of their wolves will mate her.”

“Like hell they will. What about her feelings in the matter?”

His mother smiled slyly. “From what you’ve demonstrated, dear boy, you already know what you’re doing in showing everyone in the clan you’ve claimed her. And she… you. No need for you to ask me how it’s done. Of all my sons, I always thought you would be mated first. It’s past time.”

It was true that he’d loved the lassies since he was a wee lad. Ian had been too busy running Argent Castle and the pack once their father had died. Duncan had been much more interested in quelling battles until Shelley walked into his life. Guthrie couldn’t quit thinking about numbers and the pack’s finances. No female wolf in the near future for him.

“She protected you, Cearnach. She stood up for you and risked her own safety. You won’t often find that to be the case. Not when she didn’t know you all that well. In the old days, a woman who could fight her husband’s battles when he had to leave the castle was a real boon to a marriage. Many a castle was kept out of enemy hands because of a wife’s canny wit and, more than that, a backbone and drive enough to make it happen.”

“I’m not running the castle. Ian is.”

She waved her hand in dismissal. “Don’t be so obtuse, Cearnach. You want the girl. Make it happen.” She gave him a wicked smile. “She said you were at fault for ruining your tires.”

He raised his brows.

She nodded. “I have to agree with her. It was your fault. Now go cook something for the lass and make it good. I know she said she wasn’t hungry, but have her eating out of your hands.”

He shook his head. “A mating is for a lifetime.”

“Aye, you think I don’t know that? Everyone can see the way you feel about the woman. I raised you, you know. I probably understand you better than you do yourself. You want her. Don’t you dare deny it. She feels the same for you.”

He let out his breath. “I wanted to give time for us to get to know each other and for her to feel like she was part of the family first.”

His mother scowled. “Don’t give her a chance to get to know the family. She’s mating you, not us. We don’t want