by Alisa Adams
Kaithria and Neely quickly nudged their horses to follow them.
Keir looked over at Beak from his horse. “Did she just call Kaithria a princess?” he asked, stunned.
“Aye, I do believe that is who she was referring to,” Beak said as he squinted after the four Ross sisters.
Keir and Beak turned their horses to follow the others.
Swan silently walked over to Peigi and tightly hugged her mare’s neck. Then she quickly mounted Peigi, not waiting for Wolf. She nodded her goodbye to the old Laird, who smiled and raised his hand at her. She spun Peigi around, pushing her into a canter as she rode out the gates of the castle.
She was gone before Wolf had mounted his own horse.
15
They rode until it was too dark to see the road. Riding hard, getting distance between themselves and the Sutherland lands. Wolf was not worried that any Sutherland warrior would follow them. He just wanted to get them well behind him. He did not want to risk the boys. When he felt sure they were off the lands owned by the Sutherland Clan he slowed. He knew they were on McKay land. Finally, he was home.
Wolf kept looking back at Swan, who rode far behind him, talking with the Ross sisters. She would not look at him. He frowned and narrowed his eyes. Why was she not riding beside him as they had on the start of the trip?
He wanted her near.
They found an open spot to camp for the night. There were several cairns here in this clearing. The circle of rock walls would offer shelter from the wind, though their roofs were long gone. These were homes of the ancient people.
They ate a quick meal with the Ross sisters chatting away about their young daughters, and then started dispersing to find a place to sleep.
Swan got up, took her woolen blanket, and went into one of the cairns. She lay down and looked up at the dark night sky.
A big form blocked the light of the campfire coming through the doorway for a moment.
“May we share this space with ye?” came Wolf’s deep, velvet voice.
Swan said nothing as Bhric, Charlie, and Albie came hurrying in, dragging their blankets across the ground. Beans was right behind them. The boys spread out their blankets and flopped down with weariness and Beans tucked himself against them.
“Will ye sing to us?” Albie asked Swan in a tiny voice.
Swan nodded and sat up, tucking the blankets firmly around the little boys. When they were all tucked in, she began to sing.
* * *
“Baloo, my boy, lie still and sleep,
It grieves me sore to hear thee weep.
If thou'lt be silent I'll be glad,
Thy moaning makes my heart full sad.
Baloo, my boy, thy mother's joy,
Thy father bred me great annoy.
Baloo, baloo, baloo, baloo,
Baloo, baloo, lu-li-li-lu.”
* * *
Swan took a breath to sing the next stanza of the song, but Wolf opened his mouth and began to sing, his low baritone singing the words softly in the night as the sleepy boys’ eyes drooped shut.
Swan lay down on her side, her head upon her hand as she stared up at the fierce wolf who sang so beautifully.
* * *
“O'er thee I keep my lonely watch,
Intent thy lightest breath to catch.
O, when thou wak'st to see thee smile,
And thus my sorrow to beguile.
Baloo, my boy, thy mother's joy,
Thy father bred me great annoy.
Baloo, my boy, lie still and sleep,
It grieves me sore to hear thee weep.”
* * *
When Wolf sang the last line of the song, he looked down to see the boys fast asleep.
He moved over and lay down, facing Swan.
They stared at one another, wordlessly, though their eyes said so much.
Wolf ran a finger over Swan’s lips. Softly, gently.
Why did ye not ride with me?
I miss ye by my side.
I want ye near, for always.
Swan opened her lips slightly, letting the tip of her tongue touch his finger.
Are ye going to give the boys to the King?
My heart is breaking.
She sighed and rolled to her back to stare up at the night sky.
I have done the silly, romantic, female thing and fallen in love with the wild and angry, fierce, Highland wolf.
She heard Wolf exhale a deep breath as he too rolled over to his back.
She stared up at the night sky, a tear forming and clouding her vision. She thought she saw colors, green and blue and orange billowing across the night sky. She blinked several times and opened her eyes, and there they were in all their glory. The Northern Lights. She watched in awe as they moved across the sky, their mysterious colors blending into a strange and mystical glow.
“Tis a rainbow in the night sky, Wolf,” she said softly.
There was no answer.
Swan looked over, thinking he had fallen asleep.
He had not.
He was staring up at the dark night sky, his lips open, his eyes glittering with the stars and the lights, taking in the sight.
“Have ye never seen the Northern Lights before?” she asked softly.
“Nay,” he whispered, as he continued to watch. He swallowed tightly. “I dinnae need to see a rainbow in the dark night sky to know I love ye Swan.” He added softly, “My word is truth.”
“I have done a foolish thing meself,” she whispered. When he turned his head to look at her there was a soft question in his eyes. “I have gone and done the silly, romantic, foolish, female thing and gone and fallen in love with a Highlander warrior.”
Wolf swallowed. “I pray it is me ye speak of,” he said in a hoarse whisper.
Swan smiled sadly. “Oh aye, though it breaks me heart.”
“Why?” he asked with a frown. “Ye dinnae want to love me?”
“How can I love a man that would take away my children?” she said as a tear rolled down her face.
Wolf rolled over to his side and gently wiped the tear away. “Nay. I willnae. They are my children now too. Marry me, my Swan. Marry me and be the mother to the children we already have, and those I know we will have in the future. I love ye. And I understand all that ye have been trying to tell me.” He swallowed again and looked deeply into her eyes. “Love is the most important thing. It is what we live for. I understand, for I would fight to the death for ye and the little ones.” He smiled a crooked grin, his white teeth flashing in the darkness. “Though I dinnae think I’ll have to for ye are the bravest and strongest woman I know. And ye are kind, and good, and my heart is near to breaking with how much I love ye,” he whispered.
Swan grasped his hand before he could wipe the next tear from her cheek. “I dinnae want ye to fight to the death for me, or the children—”
“Fine, then I will sing to distract those who would come between us,” he said with a small grin. “Only say ye will be my wife, in truth. Then the boys can still call ye Mither, and me their da,” he said and grinned even wider.
Swan smiled at him, tears brimming over her lashes and spilling down her cheeks.
“Say yes Mither!” came Bhric’s voice.
“Please, say yes!” added Albie and Charlie.
Swan laughed as she looked over at the boys who were peeking out over their blankets at her and Wolf.
She turned back to Wolf. “Yes, and yes, and yes!” Swan laughed and cried at the same time.
Wolf pulled her to him and kissed her, there in front of the children under the night sky with all the colors of the rainbow.
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Beasts of the Highlands
Book #1
Highlander’s Lionheart
Book #2
Highlander’s Scarred Angel
Book #3
Highlander’s Wounded Beast
Book #4 (This Book)
Highlander’s Fierce Wolf
Book #5
Highlander’s Heart of Steel
Book #6
Highlander’s Golden Jewel
Want more romance?
Turn the page to read the first chapters of the next installment of the story, “Highlander’s Heart of Steel.”
Chapter 1
Neely Eunson sat on the stone wall in a patch of warm sunshine. The rain had finally stopped. It was quite the storm last night, she thought. The lightning had lit up the beautiful turrets of Castle McKay with their colorful flags flying high atop each of them. She had sat up all night, watching the storm.
And thinking about her father.
Where is he? Is he even alive? she thought, just as she had for the last six weeks since she had left the devastation wrought by the third and final battle at Castle Brough, her home.
The soldiers had destroyed everything.
And her father had fled.
He had deserted her.
She could not understand why he had not taken her.
She had had no choice, as she had hidden during that last attack with the lady of the castle, Lady Swannoc McKinnon, as well as Kaithria, the young woman that had shown up many months ago with some displaced orphans. Kaithria had stated she was looking for a safe place for the children, and Lady Swan had welcomed them to Brough, offering them safety and a peaceful place to live.
For it was a peaceful place, with the castle sitting on the very end of the Dunnet Head peninsula, the most northern part of the Caithness Highlands. In truth, Brough was the most northern part of all of Scotland. They were isolated there, with only a small village, the castle, and the sea.
They had thought they were safe from the evils of the Clearances. But still, the Clearances had come to Brough in devastating waves. The first attack was when her father had fled. Then a second attack which had wiped out almost the entire village and castle. Finally, and most devastatingly, the third attack.
Neely, Lady Swan McKinnon, the six orphan children, Kaithria, and the old horsemaster named Beak had hidden deep in a cave amongst the sea cliffs. After the attack they came out to find only a few cottages were left and fit to live in. The rest were still smoking and in ashes. Food was scarce and the villagers that had managed to escape never returned. Days later, they knew they must leave as nothing was left for them in the ruins that was Brough. It had also been overheard that the soldiers had been looking for an orphan boy that was reputed to be Bonnie Prince Charlie's son.
They had come upon two Highland warriors and their horses stuck in the peat bog on their travel away from Castle Brough. One of the warriors turned out to be Laird Wolfram McKay. He was on a mission for the king of England to find the king’s illegitimate son, who had been sent to an orphanage. It was thought he had ended up in Brough. It had been a grand adventure that ended in marriage for Lady Swan and Laird Wolf McKay. The great laird had to choose between his duty to his king or his love for Swan and the children.
Whether one of the little orphan boys was the king of England’s or Bonnie Prince Charlie’s, also called the Pretender to the throne of Scotland, both Wolf and Swan knew the boy would be used as a weapon between the two warring men. And very likely the little boy would die.
Instead, Wolf adopted them, writing a missive to the king that the boy would be kept safe within his clan. Never saying that he doubted if the boy was the king’s or the Pretender’s.
Lady Swan and Laird Wolf had offered Neely and Kaithria a home within Clan McKay. The six orphan children were now part of Swan and Wolf’s family, and they extended that to Neely and Kaithria as well.
Neely sighed. It was a happy ending indeed for Swan. But herself? She wanted nothing more than to go home. Her home.
Back to Brough.
She wanted to find her father, or at the very least to know if he was alive or dead. Was he captured by the soldiers as he ran perhaps?
She did not know the answer to that. But she did know she needed answers, and the comfort of her own place. Her little cottage by the sea.
Neely sat there on the warm stone wall, swinging her legs under her pale blue tartan skirt. She gave a short whistle and watched as her horse, Mentieth, who had been enjoying nibbling on the rain-sweetened grass, ambled slowly over to her, his all-black coat gleaming in the sun.
“Dia dhaoibh ar maidin,” she whispered in the old language as she stroked the elderly, black war horse’s elegantly arching neck, and then she repeated it again. “Good morn to ye.”
She laughed softly as the horse she called Teeth used those very teeth to latch onto her tartan shawl and pull.
Neely grabbed it away from the horse before he could chew and slaver green grass stains all over the soft, pale blue wool. The horse nuzzled at her hair, pulling bits and pieces out of her neat and tidy braid, and yanking her tam off the top of her head.
“Ye are a rude one, ye are Teeth! Such naughty manners, ye auld battle beast!” She laughed as the huge, black horse flipped his head up and down, waving her tam above her head as if to tease her. She reached up and grabbed it out of his mouth, slamming it back down onto her light brown hair as she gave him a mock glare.
“Shame on ye!” she said as she shook her finger in the horse’s face.
Teeth just leaned down and blew softly in her face, nuzzling her cheek gently.
Neely reached up and pulled her fingers through the tangles in his long, black forelock. It was so long it fell to his nose. Then her hands stroked down either side of his face to hold his large head. She looked into his brown eyes. His once noble head now had sprays of greying hairs intermixed with the black. The grey was showing up over his eyes and down his nose. His mane and tail were still as black and long as ever, and his neck still arched like the once magnificent war horse he used to be.
“Sich a sweet horse ye are. Ye just pretend to be a terror,” she whispered. She sighed as she began working her fingers through the mane that fell all the way to the horse’s still-powerful shoulders.
“I cannae believe that old, hateful, teeth-gnashing battle horse is still alive,” came a voice.
Neely looked up, her fingers stilling in Teeth’s mane. Her heart stopped. She blushed hotly.
There stood Lady Swan’s older brother, Lord Greysteil McKinnon.
Her first and only kiss, when she was twelve years old.
Soon after that kiss he had gone away without even a wave goodbye to train with the Black Watch Army. He had only recently returned to Caithness, stopping to rest with some of his men at McKay Castle, and was surprised to find his sister Swan there, married to Wolf McKay, the laird of the McKay clan.
And at the same time, found out that his home and ancestral lands had been attacked and were destroyed.
He was angry and took it out on everyone around him.
Neely found her voice and sat up straighter. “He is not hateful,” she insisted. Then she quickly added rather begrudgingly, “My lord.”
Steil raised his brow and narrowed his light blue eyes at the girl sitting on the stone wall. She was petting the huge, black war horse that he knew to be a cantankerous, hateful horse.
A horse that liked nothing better than biting people.
Though at this moment the old horse’s eyes were closed in contentment as the girl worked her fingers gently through the tangles in the horse’s black mane.
Neilina Eunson.
His first kiss, though not his last. He had kissed many braw lassies since Neely.
Though none were as memorable as the kiss he had shared with this girl.
The girl who had followed him around incessantly as they grew up together at Brough. The girl who was always clean and neat and tidy and had lectured him and nagged him about the dirt on his clothing or the bottom of his feet or on his hands or face.
Her lips were still as full, soft, and inviting as he remembered. Her hair was still the same mixture of soft brown and blonde that hung silky and luxurious down past her breasts. Her eyes were still that haunting grey color that pulled one’s soul deep into their depths.
She was a woman now.
When they were young he had kissed her in the middle of one of her tirades just to stop her constant railing at him. It had shocked her, silenced her. And surprised even himself.
And then she had given in and kissed him back with an exuberance and joyfulness, a complete giving of self, and a desire for him and only him that he had never encountered since.