Highlander's Sword: Paranormal Bear Shifter Romance (Clan Matheson Book 3)

by Joanne Wadsworth

  “I’ll be here watching over you while you’re gone.” Cherub perched on the bed beside her, patted her hand. “Close your eyes. Seek out the ones closest to your heart, no matter where they are.”

  “I shall.” She breathed deep and turned her gaze on the window and the wind whistling in. The dark clouds in the night sky broke apart and the moon blazed through, although ’twas no golden as it usually shone, but instead a mystical red. A blood moon. A most unusual occurrence and one said to bring spirited souls together when separated. A good omen, or at least it better be.

  Eyes squeezed shut, she continued to slow her breathing and all wispy-white, drifted toward the skies and the dream realm beyond. Upward, she soared, her very soul seeking her nearest and dearest. There, a single star twinkled more brightly than any other. Alec’s star, his very essence calling to her with the soul-deep strength it always did, although Father and Ronan’s essence remained without light, their stars not blazing. Damn it. When would they permitted some rest?

  Longing for Alec flared through her and she breezed toward him, floated down and burrowed her head against his firm shoulder, his strength needed so very much. He moved underneath her, his arms wrapping around her as she solidified her ethereal form more fully, just as she’d done the night before. Head up, she soaked in the sight of him. “I’ve missed you, my mighty bear. Wake up. I need what only you can give me.”

  “Annella?” His arms bunched tighter around her, his eyes blinking open. He jerked then frowned. “Well, it’s about damn time you returned. Where have you been this past day? You left so suddenly and all I’ve done is worry ever since.”

  “I’ve missed you too.” She nuzzled his neck, her heart lifting a little from the dreary cold that had consumed her.

  “I didn’t say I’d missed you.” His white bedsheets were all askew as if he’d tossed and turned for hours, his thick black fur bedcover over top having slithered onto the ground.

  She rubbed her body against his, their full length touching from head to toe as she lay on top of him. Not a position a lass should likely take with a man who was not her husband, but she truly had missed him and—

  “I can feel every single inch of you.” Wonder flickered in his golden shifter gaze as he swept his hands over her shoulders and down her sides then caught one of her long locks and twined the length around his finger. “It’s incredible. I didn’t imagine this last night, and for a moment I thought I might have.”

  “Nay, I am real, will always be real.” She tingled wherever he touched her, his body gloriously firm as she pressed her hands against his broad chest. His skin, all golden and smooth, held a light smattering of dark hair the same midnight-black shade as his head, and enticed her beyond reason. He slept with little covering him and his abs rippled as she edged up a little more and traced each defined ridge, the magical blood moon beyond his window casting its shimmering red glow over them both. “There is a blood moon this night in my time too.”

  “We shouldn’t be touching each other so familiarly.”

  “Aye, you are right.” Never had she done so with a fellow warrior before. She scuttled off his bed, her feet sinking into a thick white fur spread across the entire length of his floor. “Oh my, this is incredible. What do you call this large rug?”

  “It’s called carpet, and what’s incredible is you being here, although now that you are and I know you’re well, you need to leave.” He shoved his bare feet to the floor, hauled the bedsheet with him and hooked it around his waist.

  “I can return the way I came, but I’m no’ ready to leave yet.” She stepped up to him, speared her fingers through his shoulder-length hair, her heart and soul exalting in the silky feel. “I dinnae mean to touch you so boldly, but I can still cannae quite believe I’m here.”

  “Yours must be a coveted fae skill.”

  “It can be, yet also not. My mother held the same skill as I do and unfortunately once we evolve and can solidify our spiritual form as I’ve now done, we can also become terribly reliant on doing so. There is no need for sleep, to eat or any other such thing in this form, which means if we arena careful, we can disregard what our true body needs and fully ascend.”

  “Fully ascend?” He arched a brow. “As in…”

  “Full ascension is when we pass from this Earth. My mother did so and now resides beyond the veil. I was only five at the time, far too young to lose her.” She lowered her hands, sighed and paced his chamber. “Now I’m about to lose my father and brother too if I cannae find them within the dream realm and discover exactly where Duncan MacKenzie has taken them. I wouldnae put it past Duncan to keep them awake. He knows of my skill and what I can do, which means he also knows I can reach them in the dream realm to ensure their rescue as such.”

  “You’re saying you can find them the same way you found me?”

  “Aye, their essence shines as brightly as yours does within the dream realm. I’ve been soaring through the skies this past day as often as I could.” She halted in front of him, leaned in and touched her nose to his neck, drew in a deep breath and relaxed as his heavenly fresh aroma surrounded her. “Mmm, you smell like the outdoors. I always imagined you would.”

  “I’ve been outside chopping wood.”

  “I’m only ever at home when I’m outside and as one with nature.” She plucked the sleeve of her blue tunic over top of her black breeches then tapped the sword belted at her side. “I am the daughter of a warrior, one who’s been raised at his hand, just as my brother has. I am likely far different to any lass you might have met.”

  “Quite clearly.” Snorting, he frowned something fierce. “I wish you’d told me you knew Cherub and Kirk. Why didn’t you ever speak of them?”

  “I told you Gilleoin was my chief, that I lived at the House of Clan Matheson farther across the Highlands along the mainland’s western shoreline. I certainly didnae mean to deceive you in any way.” He’d been resolute, that she was naught more than an apparition and couldn’t possibly be real. Which had made him almost impossible to reason with, let alone mention her fae princess to convince him she truly spoke the truth. It had been best just to let him think what he had. Being naught more than an apparition to him, had clearly brought him some form of calm. With a deep breath, she stepped away, wandered toward the wall opposite where his bed sat and stroked one finger across a large square of darkened glass with a silver edge framing it. “What is this?”

  “It’s called a television.”

  “And what does a tel-e-vis-ion do?” She stumbled over the foreign word. “Did I say that right?”

  “You did, and one watches shows on them.” He crossed his arms and planted his feet wide. “And now that I’m well aware you’re real, that it’s possible for my aggressive other half to bring harm to you, you need to turn around and leave. My bear likes his space, gets a little antsy when others encroach upon it.”

  “That I’ve learnt this past month while sharing your dreams with you.” She unsheathed her wrist dagger, touched the tip to his chest and arched a brow. “Spirit-walkers arena like others. When in our solidified spiritual form as I currently am, I am untouchable. Neither you or your bear could ever bring harm down upon me.”

  “I still insist you leave.” He lifted the tip of her blade from his chest, leaned in and glared. “Also, don’t ever raise a weapon against me again, not unless you wish to fight. My beast loves a good battle and your current move is about to ensure it.”

  “I dinnae mind a good battle myself.” She turned her dagger over and offered it to him hilt first. “And when I say I’m untouchable, I mean it. My solidified spiritual body can withstand any injury. I exist in this form, yet I also dinnae exist. Cut me. See if I bleed and you’ll find I speak the truth.”

  “Don’t tempt me.”

  “Cut me.” She thrust her dagger toward him. “Take it.”

  “No.”

  “You fear hurting me?”

  He extended his hand, his claws slicing out. “I could k
ill you with one single swipe across your pretty little neck.”

  “Your bear is close to the surface?”

  “More than close.” He shoved her against the wall, pinned her hands together over her head against the paneled wood and gritted out, “I don’t fear anything, especially a mere slip of a woman like you.”

  “Never mistake my size as a possible inability to hold strength.” She tried to move, but he held her firmly trapped in place, the bedsheet wrapped around his waist sliding dangerously low on one hip. “Hmm, I do believe you fear me, Alec. What if I am indeed untouchable to you in this form? What will that mean to you?”

  “You mean nothing to me, other than that you’re a pest.” He slid her weapon from her fingers, ran the pointy tip gently over her wrist, so whisper soft. “Where do you wish to be cut?”

  “Wherever you please.” Chin lifted, she met his unwavering gaze with one of her own. “Try to be inventive if you can.”

  “You have a sassy mouth, whether in wispy form or not.” Growly words as he dipped his head to her neck and licked her throbbing pulse point. He sank his teeth into her flesh and heat flared through her body, flushed her cheeks and pooled in her belly, his bite both aggressive yet also delicious.

  “How interesting.” She arched a challenging brow. “Gilleoin is a shifter, the first of your kind and I’m well aware shifters only bite their mates, the one they’re soul bound to. Kirk nibbles away on Cherub as if she were his own to devour. Now you’ve bitten me. Is it possible we’re mated?” That would explain why she’d sought him out time and time again within the dream realm.

  “That’s true of my kind, but I’ll never take a mate. Biting you, means nothing.” He slammed her dagger right through her forearm and into the paneled wall behind her then hands on his hips, muttered, “See. You mean nothing to me.”

  “I see, but so should you.” She heaved her dagger free, not a drop of blood gushing forth or even a mark gracing her flesh. With her dagger sheathed, she advanced on him, on the one man who believed himself to be far too aggressive for any woman. “Your chief would never allow you to remain here at Ivanson Castle if he believed you’re as harmful to another as you say you are.”

  “You should take what I did as a warning. Next time I’ll harm you without any request to do so. I don’t trust my bear and neither should you.” He stormed across to his tall corner chest and opened a drawer, rummaged within and pulled out a loose white tunic. Over his head it went, the sheet at his waist loosening and slipping free as he lifted his arms. The sheet fluttered to the floor, his firm buttocks on full display for a mere breath of a moment before the hem of his white tunic slithered down and covered him to mid-thigh. He selected a pair of black leather pants from the next draw, drew them on and fastened the ties at his waist.

  She should truly avert her gaze while he dressed, but she’d grown up amongst warriors and seen far too many of them changing right before her to ever worry overly much about it, although this warrior was far different to any of her fellow kinsmen. This man she couldn’t keep her gaze from, didn’t have a chance of doing so, had been seeking him out this past month for a very good reason. Aye, her very soul had led her directly to him, night after night. Cherub had said the mated bond was a sacred union that even she wasn’t permitted to breach with its creation or completion. Her princess must have known she and Alec were mated. Certainly very little ever escaped Cherub’s notice. “We need to speak.”

  “No, what I need to do is shake off some of this frustration you’ve gone and lumped on me.” He strode past her, nabbed his boots from beside a blue suede settee and tugged them on. Sword belt and weapons strapped in place, he loomed over her. “Please leave. You need to go.”

  “You too have lumped a great deal of frustration on me now I’ve found my mate and discovered he resides over eight-hundred years from my true time.” Frustration she would shake off the best way she knew how. By training. She opened his chamber door, marched down the passageway with its burgundy and blue runner and strange lighting coming from bright overhead orbs of glass recessed into the ceiling above. She halted at the top of the stairwell and motioned toward the lights. “What are those?”

  “Lights.” He banged his door shut and thumped down the hallway after her. “And we are definitely not mated. How many times must I tell you that?”

  “You are a stubborn one.” Surely he must feel the strength of their bond taking form. ’Twas impossible to miss now she’d acknowledged it. She trotted down the stairs and into an open foyer. Two large doors stood propped open with a wedge of wood underneath each and she swept one hand over the beautiful carving of the chief’s arms embossed on each door. The chief’s arms held two bears as supporters either side, those bears signifying all that their Matheson clan fought for—the survival of a loyal race of shifters—Gilleoin’s line. Alec’s line as well. Her mate was descended directly from Gilleoin’s second-born son, Ivan.

  “You are not my mate.” Alec swept past her and into the great hall lit only by the odd light as the hallway had been. “Go away, pest.”

  “My name is Annella, and aye, I am your mate.” She allowed her solidified form to dissolve into a swirl of wispy-white then breezed through the great hall and under the thickly paneled doors leading outside. The cool night air brushed over and through her then she reemerged and took her form once more in the inner courtyard.

  “I would know if you were my chosen one. The men in my clan always sense who they’re soul bound to and I sense nothing with you. Thank heavens.” Alec banged the front door shut after himself.

  “You bit me.” Unable to help herself, she tickled a finger under his chin and smiled. “Which means you know exactly who I am, even though you dinnae wish to acknowledge it.”

  “Pest doesn’t even begin to describe you.”

  “So says the grumpiest warrior I’ve ever met.”

  “Damn it, woman, would you cease touching me.” He flicked her finger away, shoved forward and towered over her. “Inside me is a beast who would love nothing more than to tear you from limb to limb, then nibble on your bones until I’d picked them clean.”

  “You’re just mad that you cannae see any mark upon my skin from your bite.” She tipped her head to one side and stroked over her neck, right across the spot where he’d bitten her. “You can bite me, thrust a blade into me, but never will you actually be able to harm a hair on my head.”

  “I could kill you with absolute ease should you be in your true form.” He snapped his teeth together, his claws slicing out and in. “My bear is a beast you don’t want to tangle with.”

  “You and your beast clearly need a mysteriously annoying sprite such as me to keep you in line.” She reached up on her toes and kissed his chin. “Come train with me. I could use a new opponent other than my brother to battle with. He is far too lenient when we train, yet I doubt you will be, mated bond included.”

  “I can’t wait for you to be gone.”

  “I must remain for now. We still have much to speak about.” She dissolved her form and wisped away across the inner courtyard, streamed up the stairs leading to the top of the battlements and solidified herself on the ramparts overlooking the width and breadth of the moonlit forest. Stunning. This parcel of land was so remote and called to her very heart, as did the man who held the other half of her soul.

  * * * *

  No one currently frustrated Alec more than the woman who’d had him worried for an entire twenty-four hours with her annoying absence, and then exclaimed she was his mate. Not over his dead body were they soul bound. The fact he’d bitten her was irrelevant. Aye, what he needed to do was send her on her way then ensure she never returned. His path was set, a solitary one that didn’t include her.

  Up the stairs to the battlements, he bolted then stopped behind the woman who had every hair on his neck rising. He breathed deep, drew in her intriguing fragrance, one that held the golden and glittery enchantment of a night sky teeming with stars. Her scent evok
ed the dream realm she traveled within, and made his lower region harden with lust. She stared up at the blood moon as if it intrigued her, her long golden tresses fluttering in the breeze and whispering over his arms and chest. Hell, she was so small of stature, the sword belted at her side all that gave any indication she in fact knew how to battle.

  Carefully, he spread his hands over her hips, then determined to prove his point, that she wasn’t his chosen one, he muttered, “Those who are soul bound can never harm the other, but all I want to do right now is sink my claws into you and rip you apart. You need to steer well clear of me, to leave and never return.”

  “Since the night we met”—she turned in his embrace and he retracted his claws for fear he’d actually scratch her—“you’ve grumped and growled and snapped at me to be gone, but through it all I still sensed within you a deep need to have someone close. I am here if you wish to talk, can provide quite the listening ear if you were but prepared to accept me. We are meant to be together. A bond certainly wouldnae have formed between us otherwise.”

  “I’m a warrior, born and bred. I fight, draw blood and have no issue doing so.” It would take only one wrong move on his part and he could so easily kill her. Why couldn’t she see that? “I fight within my clan’s specialist team who work high level government cases, and out of all my kin, I’m the one who gets called away from Ivanson Castle the most. My beast isn’t just aggressive, he’s bloodthirsty, which makes him the perfect assassin when needed to take down the vilest of criminals.”

  “I’ve chased a few vile criminals myself.” She dissolved into a wisp and swirled around then reemerged behind him with her sword in hand. She tapped the tip of her blade against his belted sword. “Arm yourself and train with me for what remains of this night. I must be fully prepared to fight Duncan MacKenzie when I find him. I cannae lose my coming battle with him if I wish to free my father and brother.”

  “You shouldn’t be fighting anyone on your own, and certainly not a warrior who managed to capture both of your closest kin.” He lunged, grasped her sword hand, his fingers sliding through nothing but air as she wisped back farther and reappeared.