Milly laughed and hugged Tara again. It all made so much sense now. Insane sense, sure. But sense nonetheless.
However, all too soon the good-bye was over, and Milly watched Tara disappear into the apartment she already knew she’d never live in again. When she turned back around, she found Iain standing below on the curb. As close as he could get without invading her private time with Tara.
With a deep breath, she walked down the steps to stand in front of him. Iain. Her mate. The father of her child. The man who’d saved her life, only to have her ruin his in return.
“Dinna cry. You know I canna bear it,” he said when her shoulders began to shake. But this time instead of handing her a tissue, Iain drew her trembling body into his arms. “You’re wrong. None of this is your fault, chridhe.”
“Can you read my mind, too?” she asked, sniffling into his shoulder.
“Aye, but only the stronger thoughts. It’s the mate bond. Normally, we’d be able to read each other’s minds, and you’d be able to control what I do, and dinna hear. That’s the wolf way when it comes to mates. But from what I understand so far, turned wolves don’t have the capacity for it.”
“In the pub, it was like I could feel your anger. Like it was my own. Was that the bond?”
“Aye, and that’s just the start of it. Over time it deepens until you don’t even fight anymore because you understand exactly how your mate feels. But in my parents’ case…”
Now he sighed. “…I reckon it must have been incredibly hard on them both toward the end. My da understanding exactly how unhappy my mother was. My mother unable to abide life in the Highlands. Wolves mate for life—at least we’re supposed to. But my mother left, which is why it’s been so hard for me to forgive her all these years. It nearly tore Da apart when she ran off, and that’s the main reason Magnus got the throne so young. But in most cases, the bond is a good thing, meant to keep two wolves happy and mated for all of their lives.”
Another point of guilt for Milly. By mating with her, he’d never get that soul connection. He’d given up his chance to mate with someone like him. A born wolf who he could communicate back and forth with—
“Don’t be daft, Millicent,” he said, voice chiding as he pulled back to peer down at her with an irritated expression. “It’s just a feature. Like the Bluetooth in my car. I don’t really need it, do I? And the USB cable’s more dependable anyway.”
She smiled sadly and shook her head. “But Bluetooth’s standard in most luxury vehicles.”
“I’m just as happy with talking,” he answered, a tender smile in his voice.
“But why did you do this?” she asked. “Give up so much to help me?”
He blinked down at her as if her question had taken him by surprise. Then with a tight-jawed shake of his head, he said, “Ach, I’ve really gitted this up, haven’t I? Kept so many secrets that I’ve confused you at every turn. Well, let me tell you the all of it, Millicent.”
He cupped the back of her neck then, stroking it with his thumb in a now familiar way. “That first day you came into my office to interview for the position, I knew you were mine. Knew you were the woman I was meant to mate at first sniff. Felt it so powerful, I assumed you were a wolf. But then I noticed the scent that was missing on you. The wolf pheromone, and then I knew…”
Iain let out a shaky breath as if the memory still pained him. “I knew I couldn’t have you. Not even as a girlfriend. That’s fine in the States where they’ve plenty of werewolves running about. But here in Scotland, my village isn’t the only one suffering. The number of new births has dropped dramatically all over. And after our first zero birth year ten years ago, the Council of Kings strictly forbid long-term relationships with humans. So though I wanted you from the moment I saw you, I knew I couldn’t have you. But I couldn’t just let you go, could I? So I hired you on anyway, and vowed to my brother I’d keep my hands off you.”
One side of his mouth lifted in an apologetic smile. “And even though I made you wear that ridiculous fragrance to cover up your intoxicating scent, that vow’s put me in a right terrible mood for nearly three years on. You see, my heart still knew what my nose could no longer smell. I think that was why Magnus was so keen to flirt with you. He was most likely hoping if he turned your head and got you into bed, I’d lose interest. But you never gave him a second look, did you? Which left me to love you from afar, trying to forget you with other human women—but it never worked. The more time we spent together, the more I discovered how smart you are, how clever. My brother thinks you’re a mouse, but to have survived what you did and put up with a cranky bastard like me—well, I know what strong mettle you’re made of, Millicent. Which is why I nearly lost it when I smelled how sick you were last week. Like I said, we wolves can’t contract human diseases, but humans…”
“Humans are so fragile,” she quoted, remembering what he’d said in the waiting room at the ECCC. “It makes it hard to form connections.”
He gave her as sad nod agreement. “I couldna do it, Millicent. Couldna let you die when I knew turning you would solve everything. I suppose it also didn’t hurt that if you became a were like me, then I’d be allowed to mate you.”
“You can only mate with another wolf, but you live in an island nation. That’s probably why your fertility rates have dropped so drastically,” Milly pointed out. “If you can only mate with each other, your gene pool has got to be majorly compromised.”
He nodded. “Our numbers had been reducing for a while before they hit null. Back when my father was a young prince, the Council of Kings started encouraging our young wolves to leave the villages and head to the cities and even outside Scotland and the U.K. That’s why my father decided to attend university in Italy. And the plan worked at first, but not for long. As times changed and she-wolves became more independent, many of the wolves we sent out didn’t return with wives like my father did. But as you can see, it’s become a severe problem, which is why they finally created the Rule of Succession back in the 90s.”
Milly nodded, understanding if not liking the rule Iain had told her about in the car. The one that declared if a king’s sibling brought forth an heir before the king successfully mated a she-wolf, then the king would be deposed and the sibling—regardless of gender—would take over as the rightful ruler of the specific kingdom towns.
“How many kingdom towns are there in Scotland?” Milly asked.
Iain shook his head. “There used to be at least two hundred or more, but now we only have nine left in the entire British Isles.”
“Oh…”
Her breath caught. She’d guessed the answer would be bad, but not that bad.
The memory of all those villagers reaching out to touch her came back in a new light. Banrigh! Banrigh! Queen. That’s what Iain had said the word meant during the long car ride back into Edinburgh.
And she had to ask, “So when you turned me…”
But he started shaking his head before she could finish. “Nay, impregnating you wasn’t my intention at all. My plan from the start was to bring you back to Faoltiarn when the full moon came round. I would’ve kept you safe while you changed. Trust me, Millicent, I wanted to do right by you. Get you through your first transition without burdening you with my notion of us being together. But then you went into heat, and I couldna keep my hands off you. But I also couldna tell you what I really was.”
And he really couldn’t, she realized now. Because it was the law. “But me becoming queen won’t solve anything. This is just one baby. And you don’t even want the throne.”
“I dinna desire it, that’s true. Magnus was born to the role, and I’ve never had an interest in ruling like he has. But I canna just turn my back on it, and on my people. Also, what else am I to do if I’m banished from my city of business?”
“So you don’t want Magnus’s throne, but he’ll have to officially mate a she-wolf before our child is born if he wants to remain in charge? Until then, the only reason you’re all
owed to remain in Scotland even though me carrying the next queen or king of Faoltiarn is the only reason you’re allowed to stay in Scotland after telling me?”
Iain nodded gravely. “The punishment for revealing yourself to a human is banishment. That’s precisely why I chose to bite you as a wolf: wolves are not held responsible for things that happen while they are in wolf form. So the only thing I did wrong was to invite you to Faoltiarn. But that rule is frequently broken by our kind—especially with the rise in popularity of Amazon Prime. Now, any wolf can pay a penalty fee of three hundred pounds and voila, they qualify for a year’s worth of Prime two-day delivery. Low price to pay for saving the woman you love at any rate.”
He smiled down at her, but she looked back up at him, beyond stunned. “You truly love me? I mean, you’re not just with me because I went into heat before you were able tell me you turned me into a werewolf?”
“Of course, I love you, you daft woman! Like I said, my nose knew you as soon as you walked through my door. And though I never would’ve wished that diagnosis on you, I hope you eventually come to see it as I do: as the thing that allowed us to be together. Without it, I would’ve spent the rest of my life pining away for the woman I couldn’t have.”
“Oh, Iain…” she said, breathing out his name like a prayer of gratitude. “You don’t need to wait for me to realize how lucky I am, I already know. Thank you. Thank you so much for loving me enough to save my life.”
Milly kissed him then. Sealing in the gratitude. Making the kind of apologies that cannot be conveyed by mere words. I’m sorry for not falling in love with you sooner. I’m sorry I wasted nearly three years not knowing you for who you really are. I’m sorry I only have one life to make it up to you.
They kissed, and then drew back to smile at each other. And for the first time since her long ago interview with Iain, Milly felt like they were on the exact same page.
But then he became serious once more and said, “Now we need to talk about New Zealand…”
Epilogue
“What. A. Dick.”
“Tara…” Milly began, tilting her head at the woman now filling up her phone’s FaceTime screen.
“No, don’t ‘Tara’ me! First, he bites you…”
“Saves my life,” Milly edited.
“Then he mates you without telling you what he is.”
“After I begged him to,” Milly noted.
“And then he goes crazy on you when you attempt to go to New Zealand…”
“Because he’s my bonded mate, and he didn’t know how to handle my leaving. But I’m here now, aren’t I?”
Boy, was she ever. Milly looked around the Queenstown hotel room, hardly able to believe she’d be meeting up with the Milford Track tour group in just a couple of hours.
Tara ignored Milly’s arguments to point out, “You say bonded, I say crazy obsessed stalker. And I think we can all agree after everything that’s happened over the last month that Tara is always right.”
“About most things, yes. But this referring to yourself in the third person business? Not so much.”
A beat of annoyed silence, then Tara said. “I don’t love this new wolf version of Milly either. What happened to laughing at all my jokes, and being too scared to talk back to me?”
“I still laugh at all your jokes,” Milly insisted. “But now I also point out when you’re being crazy or annoying. Or both. For instance right now.”
“Bitch, I am ten minutes away from a full moon shift. You’re lucky I’m calling your ass at all before you throw yourself out into nature to get eaten by bears.”
“Okay, Tara, since you only have ten minutes left to talk, I won’t waste it by pointing out that New Zealand doesn’t have bears—”
“You’ve got your satellite phone, right?” Tara cut in, since apparently she’d decided to switch roles and become the worrywart in their friendship.
“Yep.”
“And you’ll call me as soon as you’re done with this stupid walkabout?”
“Walkabouts are Australian, but yes, I’ll call you right after. I promise.”
“And you’ve got a snake bite kit?”
“Um…no,” Milly answered, trying hard not to laugh. “Because aside from the random escaped snake, there are no native land snakes here. Seriously, Tara, stop worrying. I’ll be fine.”
“Will you?”
“Aye, she will. Especially since she’ll have her mate here to make sure nothing happens to her,” another voice answered across the hotel room.
Milly glanced over the top of her phone screen to see Iain coming out of the hotel bathroom. Her heart hiccupped at the sight.
He was nude, yet he looked so much different to her now than he had a mere four weeks ago at the Balmoral Hotel. He’d acquired a tan thanks to a couple of weeks spent in Italy visiting his mother. And his beard had gone from stubble to a full-on thing, which made it near impossible to see when his jaw was ticking underneath. Not that it did much of that these days. Not only had her grumpy boss transformed into a sexy mate, but the aloof mask he used to wear had all but completely disappeared. And right now, Milly knew exactly what was on his mind when his eyes landed on her with a hot and greedy expression in them. He was looking at her as if the simple cotton pajamas she wore were the sexiest lingerie.
“Hey, Iain,” Tara called out, interrupting the intense eye foreplay between he and Milly. Then she asked, “Why aren’t you turning the phone around so I can say hey?”
“Because he’s naked,” Milly answered with a laugh.
“I repeat…why aren’t you turning the phone around so I can say hey?” Tara asked again, her tone completely serious.
This time both Milly and Iain laughed.
“Okay, well, thanks for calling, Tara,” Milly said, deciding now would be a good time to kick her cheeky best friend off the phone.
“Wait a minute, Tara…before you ring off,” Iain came to stand at the end of the bed, and his voice took on a serious tone. “I dinna suppose you’ve heard from Magnus since we left?”
On the phone’s small screen, Tara’s whole face visibly wrinkled as if she’d just smelled something foul. “Why would I have heard from that tool?” she asked. “I figure he’s still pissed at me after what happened in Faoltiarn.”
“Aye, I’ve no doubt he is. And that’s why I’m asking. This isn’t Canada, Tara. And Magnus can be…temperamental.”
Tara rolled her eyes. “I’m not afraid of your brother, and I can take care of myself.”
“I’ve no doubt about it,” Iain responded, his tone agreeable enough. But his expression remained resolute as he advised, “Magnus has been a wee bit too quiet for my liking these last few weeks. And he tends to make most of his moves after the full moon when he’s feeling rejuvenated. My flat is a lot more secure than yours, and he probably wouldna think to look for you there. I reckon you should move in until we get back.”
Since she still couldn’t see Iain, Tara shot Milly a super huffy look through the phone screen. “And why would I do that? I can take care of myself,” she insisted, stretching out the last sentence as if she were talking to a dimwit who didn’t understand what a badass she was.
“Please, Tara,” Milly said. “I know you’re not afraid of anybody or anything. But please do it for me?”
“Seriously, I don’t need—!”
“Did I mention Iain’s flat has a washer and an American-style dryer?”
An annoyed beat passed. Then, “Ugh! Fine, I’ll move in tomorrow.”
But Tara gave Milly a none-too-pleased look for hitting her with the ultimate kryptonite. Because as every American and Canadian expat knows, it is physically impossible to resist a private residence that doesn’t require you to lug your clothes to a local coin-op laundry, or hang each item up to dry in the notoriously damp Scottish climate.
Milly grinned. “You’ll love it…” she assured her resentful best friend.
And after a few final moments of chit chat, they h
ung up.
“You’re becoming very good at that,” Iain said as Milly placed her phone on the nearby bedside table.
“At what?”
“Getting people to do what’s best for them.” A tender look came over his face. “I’ve made peace with my mother. And now Tara’s moving into a more secure space. You’ll make a good mother, moi chridhe.”
“I hope so,” she said, gazing back at him with an equally tender smile. Milly no longer cared that he could read her mind and she couldn’t read his.
When he looked at her like that, she knew exactly how he felt.
She still couldn’t believe he was here with her. That instead of moving his offices to Ireland in accordance with his banishment, he’d left the new AlgoFortune launch in the hands of his capable team and decided to travel with her until the baby was born.
“You were right about not really living until now. And if we’re speaking truth, with all this work I do, I haven’t done much living myself either,” he told her four weeks ago outside her former apartment building. “I’ve decided if I have to return to Faoltiarn to serve as King, then I want to do as much living as I can with you until the day comes.”
And now they were smiling at each other across a bed in Queenstown, New Zealand hotel room.
“Speaking of living…” Iain said, casually reading her mind as he bent down and started crawling toward her on the bed. “This will be our last chance to make love in a proper hotel bed. Don’t you think we should take advantage of it?”
Milly had to laugh.
“No, I don’t. We took more than enough advantage of it last night. And we’re meeting the guide in less than two hours, so we should probably go through our packs one more time to make sure they’re up to standard. Plus, I still need to take a shower myself.”
All valid points. But none of them slowed his incoming crawl in the least.
And the next thing Milly knew, she was on her back with her naked husband on top of her. The tip of his long length pushing into the cotton panties beneath her pajama shirt.
Her Scottish Wolf (Howls Romance): Loving World Page 11