Cover Copy
There can be only one…for both of them.
In the twelfth century, a man named Gilleoin was gifted with the ability to shift into a bear. His clan was called Matheson, and when he mated with a woman carrying faerie blood, they created a line shrouded in secrecy, yet still, far into the future, whispers would abound...
For five long years, Isla Matheson has run from the one man her fae ancestor prophesized would be hers, but now her time for running is done. Her shifter mate is closing in and when he captures her and takes her home to his clan, she can no longer deny either of them. She chooses to merge with him in all ways, and in doing so sets a twelfth century prophecy in motion, one that sends her hurtling back through time to when their clan first began.
Highland warrior shifter Iain Matheson has fallen under his mate’s spell. She’s the one woman he would die to protect, and when a portal opens and takes her from him, he dives in after her. He’ll never allow her to escape him, not even when he becomes embroiled in one of the greatest feuds raging at that time.
Now they have a mission, to save their future line from extinction, to give hope to their people, both in the future and the past.
Also by Joanne Wadsworth
The Matheson Brothers Series
Highlander’s Desire, (Book One)
Highlander’s Passion, (Book Two)
Highlander’s Seduction, (Book Three), Coming July 2015
Highlander Heat Series
Highlander’s Castle, (Book One)
Highlander’s Magic, (Book Two)
Highlander’s Charm, (Book Three)
Highlander’s Guardian, (Book Four)
Highlander’s Faerie, (Book Five)
Highlander’s Champion, (Book Six)
Highlander’s Captive, Novella (Short Story)
Magio-Earth Series
Protector, (Book One)
Warrior, (Book Two)
Enchanter, (Book Three)
Hunter, Novella (Short Story)
Bodyguards Series
Witness Pursuit, (Book One)
Bodyguard Pursuit, (Book Two)
Highlander’s Desire
by Joanne Wadsworth
Highlander’s Desire
The Matheson Brothers, #1
Amazon Author Page
http://www.amazon.com/Joanne-Wadsworth/e/B00AVRVIBM/
Acknowledgements
I have an incredibly supportive family who allow me so much time to write. Huge thanks go to my hubby, Jason, and kiddies, Marisa, Caleb, Cruise and Rocco. Hugs.
For my readers, I can’t thank you enough for joining me, and taking this journey to where imagination and magic soar.
Table of Contents
Cover Copy
Also by Joanne Wadsworth
Highlander’s Desire
Acknowledgements
The Prophecy
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Author’s Note
Joanne Wadsworth
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The Matheson Brothers Series
Highlander’s Passion, Book Two
Highlander’s Seduction, Book Three
Highlander Heat Series
Highlander’s Castle, Book One
Magio-Earth Series
Bodyguards Series
Copyright: Highlander’s Desire
The Prophecy
The ancient House of Clan Matheson, Scotland, 1190.
Sorcha screamed as pain gripped her belly and racked through her.
“Your twin bairns wish to be born, my dear.” Nessa, Sorcha’s mother and their clan’s fae-blooded seer, knelt at her bedside. “I see a vision of them. Two lads of mayhap eight or nine. They’re very strong.”
“What else do ye see?” Panting, Sorcha fisted the bed sheet either side of her.
“They’re tussling and giggling in a meadow as Gilleoin watches on.” Nessa caught her hand. “Your sons are so very like their father. They can shift shape, call forth their inner bear, and draw claws.”
“Are ye certain?” She longed to give her husband bairns who held his revered ability, one gifted to him by The Most High One. Gilleoin was the first and only known man to hold shifter blood. The night she’d first met him, five years past, had been when he’d sailed along the loch to her village, strode right toward her and gazing into her eyes, lowered to one knee. He’d declared, under the brilliance of the full moon, that a mated bond had formed between them and she was his. She’d sensed the bond too, to the depths of her soul, with her sudden need to touch him and the pure aura of energy surrounding him. Some of her village people, those directly descended from the faerie prince who’d wed their chief’s daughter two centuries past, held a touch of fae blood and as such also held rare and divine skills. Upon her birth, she’d received the ability of aura reading and could perceive another’s true intentions. Gilleoin’s aura drew her toward him and later that night when she’d lain with him, he’d merged their minds with his shifter ability and forged a link along a pathway known only to them. His shifter blood was strong, and though he held not a touch of fae blood and wasn’t one of her people, he was still hers and always would be so.
“Very certain, and there’s more.” Swaying, Mother closed her eyes, her red locks wisped with gray coiled high upon her head. “Your eldest son and his descendants shall possess the skills of our fae people, although your youngest son willnae. He and his progeny shall be shifter alone.”
“What skill will my eldest be gifted with?”
“That of death-warning. Of those who live but are soon to die, he shall receive a vision and with his skill save those who perish unjustly afore their time.”
“A worthy skill, one Grandfather had. Will my sons seek the ones they’re mated too when they come of age, as Gilleoin did with me?”
“Aye, that alone is in their shifter blood, as is the ability to merge minds with the one their soul cries out for. When your sons reach the age of twenty, their soul shall lead them to their mate, the full moon guiding them to their chosen one. To join in all ways, they will need to complete the bond and forge the unbreakable merge of the mind as Gilleoin did with you.”
Such relief rolled through Sorcha. “Where shall they find their mates?”
“Your eldest shall remain here, his chosen one from our village along the loch. She, like you and I, is part fae. She will bear him many bairns, and with the infusion of her fae blood into your eldest son’s line, ’twill also ensure our people’s fae skills will remain strong in his offspring. Your youngest son though will travel far from this place in search of his chosen one. When he finds her, they will join and their line shall be shifter alone. Your youngest son will grow from strength to strength as chief of his own clan, a mighty leader who will draw the respect of all his people.” Nessa stroked her forehead and pushed back her damp hair. “’Tis time for you to push, my dear. Your bairns cannae wait any longer.”
“Nay. I must wait for Gill—” Pain surged through her and she cried out and bore down.
She pushed with all that was within her. At the end of the bed, her midwife crouched between her legs and caught her firstborn son as he slid free from her body. The babe let out a mighty cry as her midwife handed her son into her mother’s waiting arms.
Nessa carried her grandson to the wide basin on top of the side table, settled hi
m within the warm water and bathed him. Then carefully, she marked the side of her firstborn’s neck and wiped the blood from the mark, one which took the shape of a bear’s claw ringed by a star. “This claw-and-star mark,” her mother said, “will symbolize your firstborn’s dual shifter-fae blood.”
“A worthy mark for the ‘Son of the Bear.’”
“Aye, it is. What shall you name him?” Mother wrapped her crying babe in Gilleoin’s Matheson plaid and with him swaddled in her arms, carried him to her.
She held her son and cupped his precious cheek as he gazed at her with striking golden eyes. His aura shimmered so profoundly, the most glorious pure white threaded with heavenly strands of gold. “I shall name him Kenneth, for he carries the divine skills of our fae people in his blood, just as his descendants will do.” Each strand of gold in his aura gave proof his progeny would be strongly fae-skilled shifters, just as Mother had said.
“A most worthy name.” Nessa took Kenneth from her, kissed his forehead and whispered to him, “You’ve also been given your late grandfather’s name, and he would be honored if he knew.” A soft expression crossed Mother’s face as she glanced at her. “My dear, ’tis time to push again. Your second son desires to join his brother. The two dinnae care to be parted.”
More pain. Her belly tightened and she thrust her elbows into the mattress, bore down and pushed. Her second son wailed with a hearty cry as he emerged and the midwife lifted him up for her to see. Fair hair, just like his elder brother had. So too he had the most stunning golden eyes—shifter eyes. His aura, so pure and white held a tinge of sizzling red around the edges, just as Gilleoin’s did. Aye, he was shifter alone and so too his descendants would be. “I shall call him Ivan, for he shall be gifted with strength and wisdom. He shall become a man of great honor when he is called to lead his own clan.”
Mother returned Kenneth to the crook of Sorcha’s right arm then took Ivan from the midwife and bathed him.
“I shall mark your youngest son as well, but only with the bear’s claw to symbolize his shifter blood alone. This mark will grace his line.” Gently, she marked the side of her second-born son’s neck and wiped the blood away. The singular bear’s claw was perfect. Nessa wrapped him in a plaid and rocked him in her arms then carefully settled Ivan within Sorcha’s other arm.
Sorcha cradled her sons to her chest, right next to her heart, where they would forever remain. “I’ve longed for this day, when I would hold you both in my arms. I love ye, as greatly as I love your father.”
Mother’s eyes filled with tears and one trickled free. “My dear, I must impart to you all I’ve seen, and you must ensure your sons never forget the prophecy I’m about to speak of.” Nessa’s aura shimmered like that of sparkling stars, reflecting her divine honesty and her great seer ability.
“Speak of what you’ve seen. I will hear it all.” Her mother’s prophecies, so strong and true, were never to be taken lightly. She would hold whatever words were spoken close to her.
Hands lifted high, Nessa’s wise eyes clouded over. “Gilleoin’s sons will separate when they come of age and rule their own clans, yet there will come a time far in the future when a mated bond forms between the two clans. Only then must Gilleoin’s descendants once again merge, and the ‘power of three’ be unveiled.” She opened her eyes and blinked the haze away.
“Why must their descendants once again merge?” Sorcha brushed a kiss over Kenneth and Ivan’s brows.
“If they dinnae, then both Kenneth and Ivan’s lines shall be like the leaves that fall from the trees. They will scatter too far and wide then turn to dust, and in doing so, their shifter race will be no more.”
“Sorcha!” Gilleoin rushed into her chamber, shirttails fluttering over his kilt and his claymore bobbing within the baldric holstered across his broadly muscled back. He stumbled to her bedside, his golden eyes wide. “My love, you’ve birthed our bairns?”
“Aye, ye missed their arrival. Meet Kenneth and Ivan.”
“Are ye well? Are they well?” He wrapped his arms around her and their sons. “They are such wee things.”
“We’re very well, and Mother had a vision. Both our sons shall hold your ability to shift, and the eldest, Kenneth, also holds my people’s fae skills.”
“Such a blessing.” He kissed her then grinned at his sons. “This day our clan shall celebrate a new beginning.”
Aye, a new beginning she would treasure to the depths of her soul, for Gilleoin was now no longer alone. His sons would lead with strength and determination, just as their father led their clan. The heart of the bear would beat strongly within them both.
Chapter 1
Matheson Castle, Scotland, current day.
Isla Matheson gripped the stone windowsill of the briefing room as the dawn’s rising sun sent a blaze of yellow and pink shimmering across the treetops and the glassy stillness of the loch. The forest stretched for miles either side of Matheson Castle, providing their shifter-fae skilled clan descended from Kenneth’s line with the perfect level of isolation they needed from the rest of the world. That isolation though would never keep her bear shifter mate, a man born to the other clan—Ivan’s line—from finding her, not when his senses reared to life when the full moon rose. This was the one night she both feared and desired. For five long years, she’d run, attempting to keep one step ahead of her mate’s relentless pursuit. He was strong, but then again so was she.
“I thought I’d find you in here.” The door to the briefing room shut with a soft snick and her father walked in with a laptop wedged under one arm. Murdock Matheson was both a seer and the chief of their clan, her only parent and one she loved dearly.
“I just needed a quiet place to gather my thoughts. The full moon looms.”
“Speaking of the full moon. I have some new information about your shifter mate.” He laid one hand on her shoulder and gave a gentle squeeze. “Are you prepared to listen?”
“Always. Did you have a vision?”
“I did, and from that vision I was able to discover exactly who he is.”
“I already know who he is.”
“You only know he’s from Ivan’s line.”
“That’s all I need to know. He’s not from our clan and I’m worried about being the one who sets the prophecy in motion, as well as anxious about losing you.” At least the other Matheson clan kept their location as tightly a guarded secret as they did theirs. Even during those times of the month when the desperate need to join with him rode her hard, she couldn’t.
“You’re in pain and I can see it. Running from your chosen one is difficult. This is a bond that runs to the depths of one’s soul, whether you’ve met him or not.” He set his laptop down on the large mahogany table in the center of the room and wrapped one arm around her shoulders. “Gilleoin’s sons will separate when they come of age and rule their own clans, yet there will come a time far in the future when a mated bond forms between the two clans. Only then must Gilleoin’s descendants once again merge, and the ‘power of three’ be unveiled.” He breathed slowly out. “Yours is the first mated bond to form between the two clans in over eight-hundred years and whether you wish it or not, Gilleoin’s lines must once again merge.”
“I can’t leave you, no matter if I want him.” Damn the strength of the mated bond and its unearthly pull on her. She didn’t want to leave her father. She was all he had. He needed her.
“Yet your future has been set, and I can’t continue keeping you all to myself, even as much as I would love to.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Let me show you what I’ve uncovered. This is footage taken by a city surveillance camera I was able to download.”
“If you believe I need to see it then please, show me.” With her heart torn in two, she walked to the table, prepared to face her future even as she ran from it.
“I’ll hook this up to the big wall screen.” In his navy trousers and tan button-down shirt, Dad powered up his laptop, keyed in a sequence and moments later, the
high definition floor-to-ceiling TV screen on the far wall, lit up a solid blue then flashed to the first image.
A city street. The glass front doors of a bank opened and a tall man with shoulder-length locks of midnight-black strode out. A tattooed mark, in the shape of a bear’s claw on the side of his neck, gave evidence of exactly who he was. Only the chief’s eldest son within Ivan’s line—the second-born son—held that mark.
She palmed her dual claw-and-star tattoo hidden low on her hip under her jeans. As her father’s only daughter, his only child, he’d marked her with the firstborn’s mark. She lifted her gaze. The man on the screen strode along the pavement, his black pants hugging his muscled legs and his white collared shirt stretching tight across his broad shoulders. His bearing and imposing height ensured those walking toward him veered out of his way, then he slowed and stopped next to a sleek red convertible. He opened the door, his long sleeves lifting and exposing the tip of a sheathed wrist dagger.
A slow heat invaded her limbs and spread in a rippling wave through her body. This kind of reaction to her chosen one, she didn’t need. “What’s his name?”
“Iain, the eldest son of Michael Matheson, the chief of his clan.”
“Where’s their shifter base located?”
“That I haven’t unearthed yet, and last night when I called my government contact, he informed me he couldn’t disclose that information, just as he couldn’t disclose our location to the other clan.” They’d been aware for some time that the other clan worked the same high level government cases that they did. “Although I was informed that your mate has put in several requests demanding further information on us. Of course he’s been denied each time.”
“He’s impatient.”
“I’d say he’s done trying to track you on the night of the full moon. You’re too fast, too quick at running.”
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