A Highland Werewolf Wedding - By Terry Spear Page 0,68
brides before she reached the kirk. We stole a cow in retaliation. Well, six, but who’s counting?”
Surprised that they’d be satisfied with cows in the lady’s place, she frowned. She would have envisioned a fierce battle between the clans lasting for days instead. “Wasn’t the lady worth more than the cows?” Where was the romance in that?
His mouth curved up a fraction more, his dark eyes alight with humor. “She orchestrated the whole charade. The man she wanted to mate couldn’t make up his mind and hadn’t believed she’d marry someone else. When she agreed to marry one of my kin, the Highlander finally took her seriously. And rescued her, or so he believed. In truth, she’d arranged the whole affair through one mishap or another so that she never make it to the kirk. At least she hadn’t wanted bloodshed between the clans.”
“Your kinsman must have felt awful to lose his bride before she even arrived at the altar. He must have been heartbroken.”
“Once he learned of her deception and we were able to convince him that she was not worth any bloodshed, he was all too willing to go on a raid, steal the cows, and forgo the lass. Within a fortnight, he had found a new bonnie lassie to wed.”
“Wow, that was fast.”
“The first lassie had not been the right woman for him. When he found the right one, he realized what a mistake he could have made with the other. The one he married had been living within our castle walls, her father the blacksmith, and not until that day had he ever taken notice of her.”
“I’m glad he found the right woman, then. Did the other clan retaliate for your stealing the cows?”
“Aye. They said if we’d taken one, that would have been enough.”
Elaine laughed. “What did the woman think of that?”
“She was not happy with her husband. She made him sleep with the other men for several days, we’d heard. We always wondered if he regretted rescuing her from our clansman.”
Elaine smiled, then realized perhaps the MacNeill clan was not above stealing like she’d thought they were—and her kin weren’t so bad after all. He might believe differently. Yet her uncles had felt justified in what they had done, hired to do the pirating as privateers. So anyone could justify anything, truly. Not that she agreed with any of it.
“You said last night your clan gave you grief over some other woman,” Elaine asked.
“Calla.”
Elaine took a deep breath, not wanting to hear that he had feelings for Calla that he couldn’t admit to. “She’s just a friend, you said.”
“Aye. Most of the wolves in my pack didn’t believe it. They thought we had to be more than friends. When she told me she was mating with Baird McKinley, many of my family members believed I’d fight him for the right to have her as my own mate. Calla is more like a sister to me, like Heather, my cousin, is.”
“Just a friend.” She realized that he truly meant it.
She considered staying here in the guest chamber and dressing, then frowned and dismissed that notion. “I don’t trust your ghostly cousin.” She pulled away from Cearnach, got off the bed, grabbed her towel, and wrapped it around her. Then she bundled up some clothes. “I’ll go to your room with you while you get dressed.”
“You sure you don’t want to dress here first?” He climbed off the bed and joined her.
She shook her head. “No. We need to get down to the kitchen and have breakfast before everyone assumes the worst.”
He smiled at her words, wound his hands in her hair, and kissed her hard. She melted against him. He loved that his kisses and touches turned her into melted wax.
“They’ll know the truth before long. But this works for me.” He kissed her cheek, pulled away, then stalked into the bathroom. Once he snagged his towel off the floor, he secured it around his waist. He returned to her and clasped her hand in his and led her to the door.
As soon as he opened the guest chamber door, Cearnach saw his mother and aunt coming down the hall as quietly as they could, when they would usually be talking their heads off. They had to have been attempting to eavesdrop, trying to learn what he and Elaine were up to. For Elaine’s sake, he hesitated to leave the room.
To his surprise and delight, Elaine didn’t stop. She hauled Cearnach across the hall to