Storm Trilogy

by Ria Cantrell

Caleb laughed sarcastically, “Well, ye’ don’t but I gave my word to the lassie. I would not lie to my daughter-in-law. Now throw them down,” he said, nicking him again. Caleb watched Rory, seeing the Darkness coming over him once again. He said, “Son, go to Brielle. Shawn and I will handle this.”

  “Like hell ye’ will, da. This worthless puke is mine.”

  Caleb took one of Derek’s arms and twisted it behind him painfully, watching Rory the entire time.

  “Son, I’d like nothing more than to let ye’ have him and take yer’ revenge. God knows ye’ deserve it, like no one else does, for Caitlyn, yer’ babe and for Brielle.”

  Rory growled sounding more animal than human at the moment.

  Caleb knew it was dangerous to provoke that beast that Rory worked so hard to keep from the surface.

  “But son, Caitlyn would not want this. Ye’ love Brielle so much now. Ye’ canna’ let her down, for he is still her brother.”

  “Brother? What right does he have to claim brotherhood now to Brielle? Ye’ saw what they did to her.”

  Rory spoke slowly, controlling his voice in an effort to not draw attention to its changing sound.

  Derek blurted out, “I dinna’ do anything to her. T’was all Roderick’s doing.”

  “Ever the coward, Campbell…laying the blame solely on another. Ye’ make me sick,” Rory growled; his voice sounding like the snarl of the animal he had been named for.

  Derek suddenly felt fear and it was not from the knife pricking his neck. There was something not right with the one they called Rory; his sister’s lover. He was indeed like a feral beast; The Highland Wolf. Suddenly, Derek was certain the legends were more truth than myth watching Rory at this very moment. Rory’s voice sounded unnatural, with a lethalness that was hard to miss. His visage had seemed to change as well. His eyes had gone dark; pupils enlarged despite the sunlight. He looked more like a falcon ready for the kill than a wolf at the moment.

  “Ruiri, we canna’ kill him, for Brielle’s sake,” Shawn said, hoping to break through the blood lust within Rory.

  “They would have made Brielle a whore to spite me.”

  Despite his fear of the Wolf, Derek spat, “She is already a whore because of ye’.”

  “She is my wife!”

  Rory said that with the last of his control quickly slipping away. Shawn acted quickly, dropping his sword and grabbing Rory, holding his arms in the same manner as Caleb held Derek, minus the dirk to his throat, of course.

  “Easy, Brother. Dunna’ do it.”

  “Let me go,” he roared, fighting to break from Shawn’s hold with an almost unnatural strength. Though Shawn was as big as Rory, it took all his strength to try to still him. Something bigger than both of them controlled Rory, now. Shawn had seen this rage before; after Caitlyn had been killed. He said firmly, “I canna’ do that, Brother. Ye’ know that.”

  Derek stammered, “Wh--what the hell is wrong with him?”

  Caleb jerked his arm back, causing him to wince and he answered, “Wrong with him? Wrong with him? He watched his beloved Caitlin die with an arrow in her heart; one ye’ or Roderick shot. What is wrong with him? After years of grief and regret, he finally falls in love with yer’ sister, who has been scarred from the hands of one of ye’, only to have her taken, beaten and threatened with rape. Roderick told Rory he had passed yer’ sister around to his men, letting them have a go at raping her. If I didn’t love that girl like my own daughter, I would gladly give ye’ over to my son and let him finally finish this evil here and now. But I canna’ have that between my son and Brielle. She is his only salvation and in allowing him to loose his vengeance on ye’, I would lose them both. Make no mistake, Campbell, I am not sparing ye’ for yer’ own sake, but for my son’s and his wife’s.”

  “I never hurt her.”

  “Da’, he’s lying,” Rory growled.

  “I know son. I know.”

  “Let me go, Shawn. Seriously, aye?” Rory struggled against the holding arms of his brother. His ire was increasing and strengthening the Darkness growing within him.

  Shawn held his brother firmly, matching his power, but only just. It was all he could do to still his brother to prevent the violence that would ruin Rory and Brielle, too. He said nothing in response.

  “Shawn I ought to knock the crap out of ye’ for this.”

  “Aye, ye’ should, and mayhap after this is over, ye' will, but while I’ve got ye’ thus, ye’ will be doin’ no such thing.”

  A roar of anger and frustration left Rory. The sound reverberated through the trees. Its unnatural ferocity and strength filled the air.

  Brielle stopped in her tracks. Dear God! That was Rory!

  The hell with her promise to Caleb’s request! Rory needed her and she was not going to fail him again. She ran as fast as her legs would carry her to be back at Rory’s side. She saw him struggling against Shawn’s hold. She ran to him and sank before him. Tears streamed down her face.

  “Ruiri, please, let me help ye’,” she pleaded.

  Her arms wrapped around Rory’s legs. Brielle sobbed, so afraid for his anguish.

  The moment Rory saw her, the tension immediately dissipated from him. Shawn relaxed his hold on his brother. He let Rory’s arms go so his brother could hold Brielle, knowing only she had the power to subdue the torment within him.

  “Lass, what are ye’ doin',” Caleb asked, quite concerned that this girl was also not going to leave without a fight. Ach, he was getting too old for this!

  “Caleb, please. I need to help Ruiri. He is my life. I canna’ fail him again.”

  Rory seemed to come out of his rage immediately upon seeing Brielle crying. He shook off the violence and he drew her up into his arms.

  He said, “Shhhh, love. Dunna’ cry.”

  She sobbed against his chest, his arms holding her tightly. She said, “Ruiri, oh, Ruiri…please be alright.”

  “I am fine, Bri.”

  “Derek did not hurt me. It was always Rod. Rod who cut me…Rod who beat me.”

  Kissing her hair, Rory said, “Perhaps, but this one dinna’ protect ye’. And he probably did many cruel and mean things to ye’.”

  Derek saw the calming affect his sister had on Rory; this Wolf he suddenly had renewed respect for. Derek was certain, unrestrained, Rory would not be a force to be reckoned with. He was actually grateful for the restraint MacCollum had felt was necessary, else he would have been a dead man, lying cold in the earth alongside of his brother.

  There was another thing that suddenly broke through his spirit of meanness. Derek felt years of regret suddenly breaking through his cold heart. He saw his sister as a woman, grown and beautiful and he realized just how horrible he had been to her. He no longer had the influence of Roderick to quiet his conscience. Roderick was so good at justifying the evil they had done to Brielle. Derek finally spoke up.

  “Aye, I did do many of those cruel things, ye' are right, and for them I am sorry. Rory is right. I should have protected you. Ye’ were just a little girl and I should not have let Rod abuse ye’.”

  Facing him, but keeping her arm about Rory’s waist, Brielle said, “There is not a day I can ever remember either of ye’ being remotely kind to me. But now I at least know why. I did not understand it then, but I do now.”

  Brielle was suddenly angry and despite the heartbreak Rory heard in her words, he knew she was simmering a rage of her own.

  “Rod told me…how our Da married my mother only two months after yer’ own ma had passed. I came along after that, so I know I am only yer’ half-sister.”

  Ah, it was as Rory had suspected all along. Brielle let go of Rory and stood before Derek.

  “But ye’…ye’ were the only brothers I had ever known. I dinna’ know I dinna’ belong to ye’…that I wasna’ part of ye’. Or at least, fully part of ye’, because I think my da’ loved me so I think I was his.”

  “Aye, ye’ are my father’s daughter.”

  Brielle felt the years
of injustice and hurt rising to the surface. She met her brother’s eyes, no longer afraid of him or his taunts.

  “Ye’ never even gave me a chance and never gave my mother a chance. Ye’ treated her the same as ye’ treated me and never once made her a part of ye’. I dinna’ understand it and since she died when I was still a little girl, from that terrible accident from falling from her horse, ye’ didn’t have to worry about her any more. When she died, I hoped ye’ both would have shown me I belonged. But ye’ ne’er did. Ye’ made me feel ugly and ashamed…and ye’ made me fear I would end up like my mother; dead from an accident that never should have happened. Tell me Derek, did Roderick cause that horse to spook? Was my mother thrown because of something he did?”

  Derek dropped his head. It was too horrible to admit, but somehow he knew he had to.

  “Aye. He had only wished to have a bit of fun, never thinking she would be thrown. He ran out in front of the horse and it reared to avoid trampling him. Yer’ mother fell and struck her head on a stone. Some say her neck was broken, but she died from the blow to her head, I am certain. We saw the blood pouring from her head and we knew she had been killed. After that, it was then that the guilt of what he had done ate away at any moral fiber Roderick may have had left. It was as if having done that one vile thing, he was forever forsaken. I think he believed it himself, so his only path was to nurture the evil within. I watched him become more and more twisted, relishing in the cruel rather than not…and it was easier to join him than to fight him. I have been a coward.”

  Rory felt sick at this revelation. It now became clear that Brielle had suffered in ways that were worse than Rory could have ever imagined. For what? For cruel boyish pranks that cost the life of her own mother.

  “It was as I thought all along. My mother could ride the fastest and wildest of horses. I knew she would not have lost her seating on her own. That bloody bastard!”

  Rory, moved behind her, horrified at this information. His hands ever so gently, circled her waist. She bit back a sob and said, “Well, now I belong, Derek. I never belonged to ye’…but I belong with this man, who loves me. And I love him. Stay out of my life, Derek, I want no more of ye’ or the legacy of hatred and evil tied to being a Campbell. Ye’ are to leave me be. I had done all I could to be obedient… so I would nay have to endure yer’ hatred and ye’ still forced me to marry that sick old man. I belong with Ruiri now. Ye’ can finally put me out of yer’ mind and forget me, which, I am sure, should not be too difficult a thing to do.”

  Rory wanted to comfort her, but he knew she needed to finally speak her peace. He knew she had suffered years of abuse and neglect; cruel and harsh realities at the hands of these men. It was her turn to say what she had held inside all those years. She was so angry that she practically shook with the force of it. He had never seen Brielle this angry and he knew that she more than had a right to be.

  “Ye’ canna’ hurt me any more. Ye’ are to stay away from me and my husband. Ye’ try to hurt any one of my family and I will forget ye’ are my brother, as you have so easily forgotten about me. I will turn a blind eye and let my husband and our Clan take its vengeance upon ye’.”

  Her eyes blazed with the years of pent up hurt, fury, and with the realization of just what monsters her brothers had been.

  Derek nodded and said, “I …am sorry.”

  “Sorry? Ye’ tried to take everything away from me, even my own mother and ye’ took everything away from Ruiri.”

  Rory leaned in and said, “Nay, love. Ye’ are everything to me now. Come away from him…Ye’ are too precious and good to take any more from the likes of him. It is done now.”

  Turning to look at Rory, Brielle asked, “What will happen to him?”

  She raised tearful eyes to Rory and his heart wrenched in his chest. “He is still my brother, after all,” she sobbed.

  Rory took her into his arms and he held her. She wept so bitterly in his arms that he could not hold onto the anger he felt any longer. If she could have forgiveness in her precious heart for this man who had taken so much from her and who had treated her so cruelly, surely he could do no less. Looking over his shoulder, he called, “Let him go, Da. It is done.”

  “Are ye’ sure, Rory?”

  “Aye, Da. I have to leave the past behind me now, for my Brielle and our babe. I canna bring back Caitlyn, but somehow the heavens saw fit to give me another chance to love. Let him go. Killing him will not bring back Caitlyn or Brielle’s mother, for that matter. Brielle is mine now to love and protect. He is a beaten, broken man, who has nothing; not even a soul. He could never shine compared to this beautiful graceful lady. Look at him. He is nothing.”

  Rory took Brielle and led her to the horses. It was then, as if the dam of emotions she had carefully built had broken, because she sobbed and sobbed. All the hurt from her past flooded to the surface. All the pain of her youth now spilled out when she had worked so hard to be as strong as she could. The emptiness she had felt as a child and at the interment of her brother flooded her; the near loss of Rory, all of it. She cried so hard, that Rory was afraid she was broken beyond repair. In feeling his arms steadfast around her though, her sobs soon ebbed.

  His voice soothed, “Sshh, it’s going to be alright now. Ye’ve been so strong and it is just that ye’ need to release it. I am so proud of ye’, Brielle. Ye’ handled yerself’ ever as a highland lady. Ye’ make me proud to stand beside ye’.”

  At his words, her sobs drifted off and began to cease. Rory brushed her tears away and he said, “I promise ye’ this, Brielle. No one shall ever hurt ye’ again, as long as I have breath in my body. No one shall ever cause you so much grief. I vow not to and to keep those who would far from you. Now, come, Sweetheart. Let’s go home.”

  Rory helped her mount her horse and he mounted beside her.

  “Aye, home, Ruiri…home with ye’.”

  Once the two had mounted their rides and turned away from the clearing, they turned away from the past as well. They now faced the future together. Taking the lead to the road home to MacCollum Keep, they quickly put the ugly scene far behind them.

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Caleb growled next to Derek’s ear, “While my new daughter and son have found it in their hearts to have mercy on yer' worthless hide, heed me. Ye’ make one attempt to hurt my family or that girl and I promise ye’, I will hunt ye’ down myself.”

  Shawn approached and said “That is not going to happen, right Campbell? Yer’ sister may be kind enough to beg for yer’ sorry arse, but I am not.”

  Derek nodded.

  “Oh, and by the way, just so you know we aim to hold ye’ to that promise, here is a little reminder of our agreement. This is for my new sister,” Shawn said, landing a powerful punch to Derek’s jaw and then a second one to his middle.

  Caleb released him as the worthless scum doubled over on the ground. As he lay in the dirt, moaning, Shawn said, “Ye’ feckin’ coward, abusing a woman. I despise the sight of ye’.”

  Shawn spat upon the man sprawled in the dirt. With a final painful kick to Derek’s ribs, Shawn and Caleb turned from him and went to join the riding party set for the MacCollum lands, never mentioning to Brielle the little parting gift Shawn had bestowed on Derek.

  When they caught up to Rory and Brielle, Rory could see the satisfied smirk on Shawn’s face. Brielle looked at Shawn pleadingly; her eyes still welled with the tears she had just shed.

  “T’is alright, Lass. We let him go. We dinna’ kill him.”

  But as she turned to take her reins, Rory saw Shawn rubbing his knuckles. His eyes flew to Shawn’s. With a smug nod of his head, Rory knew what had happened. Rory could not say he wasn’t glad. In fact, he wished he would have been allowed at least as much. Derek deserved worse, but he did not give Shawn’s secret away. A smile lifted Rory's lips.

  And they call me the Wolf of the highlands…because of my temper…God help the man who crosses Shawn, Rory thought.

  Ror
y looked over at Brielle. She was going to be alright. She had already recovered from her long hard cry. She was a strong one, his Brielle. She had overcome so much in her life…from the way he had met her, broken and battered on the road, to all the injustices and grief she suffered through her life and still she was sweet tempered and good… and kind. He had so much to learn from her. She did not let her grief poison her, like he had. If she could overcome so much, so could he. She still was capable to love with all her heart, never closing it off just because she had suffered loss and now so would he.

  Rory said a silent prayer that with love and with many years together, he would learn her gentleness and find a way to love the way she did. He already loved her so much. Time had helped him find his perfect love and mate. Time with this mate would release him from the pall and Darkness of the past.

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Rory stood flanked by his brothers in the little kirk in the village. The past couple of weeks had probably been the happiest he could ever remember in his entire life. He and Brielle had truly begun to put their past behind them; casting the grief and sorrow to the winds of time as they turned to face their future together. They used their time to learn more about each other. Rory thought about how each new thing he learned about her, made him love her all the more. His heart was lightened. He felt the Darkness recede into the shadows of memories, now that he had found Light and Love with this beautiful woman.

  Brielle’s physical wellbeing improved steadily. All physical evidence of her ordeal was gone. She had blossomed back into a true beauty; one who was now strong and happy. Her morning sickness was much less now that she was some place clean and had nourishing food to eat. Morag made Brielle her own personal project of sorts, giving her soothing concoctions to drink and feeding her good things to eat to build her up. Brielle positively thrived under the love and care of the Clan, bringing joy and laughter to all of MacCollum Keep.

  Rory was lost in his musings as he thought about how Brielle continued to inspire him to goodness. Why just last week, Maggie had come to the keep seeking a word with Brielle. Rory was reluctant to allow it, knowing that Maggie could say hurtful things concerning how he had shared her bed many a night before speaking the Ancient Vows to Brielle.