Cover Copy
There can be only one…for both of them.
Sent back in time to the year 1210 when their Highlander shifter clan first began, three identical brothers known as the ‘power of three’ must find their mates if they wish to save their future line from extinction.
Fae-blooded Arabel holds the deadly and rare fire-wielder skill, an ability that flares beyond her control when her shifter mate travels to the past and begins closing in on her. Unable to allow an intimacy with him for fear she’ll bring about his death, she enlists the aid of one of her fae kind to compel him, so that no matter how many times they might meet, each instance will be as if the first and all other times forgotten.
Highland warrior shifter Finlay Matheson is on a mission to find his mate and each time he meets Arabel, he falls inescapably in love. If only he didn’t keep forgetting her each time they parted ways. Determined and unwavering in his mission, when he is called to save Arabel’s village from being destroyed by her enemy, he races to aid and protect her.
Battling both love and land, Finlay must find a way for them to be together…and without perishing when they do.
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 Passion
by Joanne Wadsworth
Highlander’s Passion
The Matheson Brothers, #2
Amazon Author Page
http://www.amazon.com/Joanne-Wadsworth/e/B00AVRVIBM/
Table of Contents
Cover Copy
Also by Joanne Wadsworth
Highlander’s Passion
Acknowledgements
Gilleoin – The Legend
The Seer – Nessa
The Seer – Murdock Matheson
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Author’s Note
Joanne Wadsworth
Newsletter Signup
The Matheson Brothers Series
Highlander’s Desire, Book One
Highlander’s Seduction, Book Three
Highlander Heat Series
Highlander’s Castle, Book One
Magio-Earth Series
Bodyguards Series
Copyright: Highlander’s Passion
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.
Gilleoin – The Legend
In the twelfth century, a man named Gilleoin became the first and only known man to hold bear shifter blood, an ability gifted to him by The Most High One. His clan was called Matheson, and when he mated with a woman carrying faerie blood, they created a line shrouded in secrecy, a line that far into the future, now neared extinction…
The Seer – Nessa
The ancient House of Clan Matheson, led by Gilleoin, the Chief of Clan Matheson, Scotland, 1210.
As the midnight hour struck, Nessa, her clan’s fae-blooded seer, crossed the darkened inner courtyard toward the gate, her black fur cloak secured tight over her shoulders. Torches mounted on the stone walls spread their flickering glow across the stony ground and up along the battlements where double the number of guardsmen stood on duty in battle attire, their claymores holstered at their sides.
Restless after all that had transpired this eve, she hastened her step and passed through the arched gate then traversed down the winding trail toward Loch Alsh which reflected the beauty of moon’s glow on its white-capped waves.
On a fallen log, she perched and slowly bowed her head. So many thoughts consumed her mind. A seer’s life was never easy and she’d been gifted with a skill she upheld to the best of her ability, although none other than a seer could have ever foreseen the terrible battle about to ensue. Their enemy, the Chief of MacKenzie, would soon strike at their very heart and blood would flow within the village nestled farther along the loch. Some of the villagers, 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. Never would she allow her fae kind to be harmed, and thankfully earlier this eve she’d received aid in her mission, help that had miraculously come from another time and place.
Three identical warrior brothers of immense strength—Iain, Finlay, and Kirk—had traveled through a portal from the future into her time, three men who could shift shape into the form of the bear. They could draw claws and roar as Gilleoin and his two sons could. These three warriors, known as the ‘power of three,’ had also arrived with Iain’s mate, Isla, a fae-blooded shifter from the future, the daughter of Murdock, her clan’s chief and seer.
Over the years and the centuries separating them, Nessa had come to know Murdock through joint visions. They held the same beliefs and goals, although unfortunately in the future where he lived, Gilleoin’s shifter clan now neared extinction and required a new infusion of fae blood within their shifter line, an infusion she needed to make certain occurred.
Eyes closed, Nessa once again searched deep within her mind. Visions couldn’t be forced, but with this level of worry and anxiety rolling through her, it usually meant one was close to rising. Images teased the periphery of her mind and she grasped ahold of them.
Her granddaughter hurried through the forest nearby, her fae skill of fire flaring beyond her control, each step she took scorching the earth underfoot. Arabel raced toward an icy pool of water, fell to her knees at the edge and plunged her hands into the cool depths. Steam billowed into the air, and she slumped forward, her shoulders heaving as she gulped deep breaths.
Nessa’s sight swirled again with another barrage of images, her second vision coming hard on the heels of her first. Finlay, one of the three brothers who’d arrived from the future, jogged through the postern gate on the other side of the castle then dropped to all fours, and in a sizzling display made the Change. One massive bear with silky black fur lumbered into the woods, his beast restless as he pawed the ground then rose up on his hind legs and roared. His thunderous growl stated his frustration, that he searched for his mate and he wouldn’t leave this place until he’d found her.
For five long years Iain, Finlay, and Kirk had been searching for their chosen ones in the future. Iain had found Isla recently, but Finlay and Kirk’s search co
uld only now truly begin, their women residing here in this time. Both brothers were now far closer to finding their mates than ever before, and all here wished to aid them.
With care, she returned her focus to Arabel. Her granddaughter still knelt at the pool’s edge in a cloud of steam, a sense of loss and frustration rolling through her.
“Why is this happening to me?” Arabel whispered into the dead of the night. “I’ve never lost control for no reason afore.”
Nessa would need to keep a close eye on Arabel. Not all was as it seemed, and that knowledge reverberated strongly through her. Aye, as she always would, she’d watch over each and every one of her kin, including the newcomers who’d arrived from the future. None of them need ever face their difficulties alone, not when she remained close by.
The Seer – Murdock Matheson
Matheson Castle, led by Murdock Matheson, the Chief of Clan Matheson, a man with dual shifter-fae blood, Scotland, current day.
Alone in the misty moonlight, Murdock Matheson paced the battlements overlooking the night-shrouded waters of Loch Alsh. Either side of the castle, the forest stretched for miles upon miles, providing their shifter-fae skilled clan descended from Gilleoin’s firstborn son’s line with the perfect level of isolation they needed from the rest of the world. As the seer and chief of his clan, he kept a constant eye on his daughter, Isla, as well as the three warrior brothers known as the ‘power of three’ who’d traveled through time with her to the year twelve-hundred and ten.
His daughter now resided over eight-hundred years in the past, and although he couldn’t speak to her, he still sensed her closeness even over the wide chasm of time. So too Iain would never allow Isla far from his side, not now they’d finally found each other and completed their mated bond.
Aye, what a mission they all now had ahead of them. Finlay and Kirk now searched for their chosen ones, a mission of untold danger as the coming battle with the MacKenzie loomed. Hell, he desperately wished he could aid his kin in saving their fae people, although glad he was for Nessa. The seer of ancient times would watch over them all, of that he had no doubt.
Gripping the thick stone crenellation, he brought Nessa’s image to the forefront of his mind. Visions came as and when they pleased, but he sensed one was close. With his eyes closed, Nessa’s image fully crystalized. She sat on a fallen log under a midnight moon before the very loch he too stood before, although so many centuries past. Her head was bowed and a black fur cloak covered her shoulders, a vision cloaking her mind. At times, if the same vision assailed them, they could tap into each other’s thoughts and speak across time.
With focus, he drew his attention on his ability and the vision Nessa was under. A half mile from Nessa, a young woman with long blond tresses knelt at the edge of an icy pool of water, her hands submerged within the cool depths and steam puffing into the air. A fire-wielder. The steam signified her attempt to cool herself, and her frustration and loss of control pervaded the air. Something was amiss.
He returned his focus to Nessa and whispered to her across time, “Nessa, I’ve caught images of the fire-wielder losing control of her skill. Who is she?”
“Murdock, ’tis good to speak to you again. The fire-wielder is my granddaughter, Arabel. The lass rarely loses control of her skill, and only if her emotions swing too widely, although we’ve certainly experienced quite the upheaval this eve with the arrival of the newcomers.”
“Is there anything more I can do to aid you?”
“If there is, I shall let you know.” The care and concern in her voice shimmered through. “Murdock, Finlay’s bear rides him hard. He is desperate to find his mate.”
“The war approaches and he fears losing her in the coming battle, before he’s even had the chance to find her. The fae village must be saved, Nessa, so that we might once again have hope. Gilleoin’s future shifter line must survive.”
“Aye, I will keep a watchful eye over all. ’Tis time to right the wrongs of the past, and this is our chance.” Nessa touched her heart. “Until we speak again, my friend.”
“Aye, take care.” He touched his heart in return.
Nessa’s image slowly fluttered away and he opened his eyes and released his grip on the rough stone crenellation. Farther along Loch Alsh, where the village had once stood, a sacred memorial standing stone tormented him with its solitary starkness. The loss of his fae kind within the village had been a burden that had consumed him for years, as it had Nessa. The unjust death of the villagers could be no more. Aye, the time to save their people had arrived and clan Matheson must once again rise to its greatest strength. The “Son of the Bear,” couldn’t be allowed to falter.
Chapter 1
Near the ancient House of Clan Matheson, Scotland, 1210, four days following.
Arabel’s skin heated as the fire she held deep within her body raged again for release, now a fourth night in a row. She hurried along the forest trail near the castle with her twin sister at her side and emerged before a pool of water encircled by towering pine trees. Moonlight beamed through the thick foliage overhead and lit the loch’s dark, glassy surface. “Thank you for coming with me, Julia,” she breathed in a rush.
“Should you ever have need of me, I’ll always be here.”
“I’ll need to fully submerge myself this eve. My heat flares too greatly to simply dunk my hands in.” She turned around and gave her sister her back. “Be careful as you unlace my gown.”
“Of course.” Julia stepped in behind her and worked the laces loose. “Oh, you are so very, very hot. Why is this happening now?”
“I wish I knew, as well as why my very soul aches as if I’ve lost someone important.”
“We might very well lose those we love if the MacKenzie isnae stopped.” Julia wiped her brow as she stepped back. “Please, you must cool yourself. These flares must stop.”
“If only there were others with my skill I could go to for guidance.” She was the only one of her fire-wielder kind left, hers one of the rarest of their kind’s skills. Swiftly, she shoved the long sleeves of her gown down then wriggled her hips. The soft layers of burgundy fabric slithered down her legs and swished to her feet. Grasping the folds of her ankle-length shift, she jumped out of the puddle of velvet and dashed across the damp, mossy ground and scrambled onto a large boulder.
The loch deep within the forest, small, private and perfectly round, beckoned with the promise of its cool depths within and its ability to bring her heat back down. With one deep breath, she leapt and down she went, the blessedly cool water closing in over her head. Bubbles fizzed around her, and in the murky dark, she kicked upward and emerged. Steam billowed all around, so thick her sister on the grassy bank became shrouded in the dense cloud that plumed. Treading water, she called out, “Are you all right, Julia?”
“I am. What of you?” Julia flapped a hand through the air as she moved around the pool to a clearer spot, her cheeks rosy and red.
“The water soothes me.”
“I wonder,” Julia said as she plopped onto a rock in her forest-green skirts, her brow wrinkled in concentration, “if the four elements have something to do with your loss of control. Fire is one of them.”
“Mmm, fire, water, air and earth.”
“Your first loss of control also occurred the night the newcomers arrived, the air so disrupted.”
“Yet the air has settled while my fire continues to rage. What are they like?” Her sister had been to the fae village over the past few days and met the travelers as she had not.
“Iain is the eldest of the three and never allows Isla far from his side, no’ since she is expecting. She holds both shifter and fae blood and in the future her clan lives here, while the others come from farther across the Highlands.”
“Does she hold an ability?” Her fingers still itched with heat and she waved them through the water.
“One of the strongest, the skill to compel. With her hypnotic voice alone she can command any around her. The last ma
n at the village to hold that ability passed away five and twenty years ago. ’Tis wonderful to know it continues on.”
“What of Finlay and Kirk?”
“They’re causing quite the stir as they search for their mates. The lasses are all quite giddy with excitement, hoping they might be the one. So far no matches have been made.” She leaned forward. “The warriors are identical in every way and ’tis almost impossible to tell them apart.”
She could well understand the excitement. The mated bond was an all-consuming one any couple would wish for. “I hope they find their women soon.”
“So do—” Frowning, Julia rose and narrowed her gaze. “Something’s wrong. Your aura has suddenly changed.”
“For the better I hope.”
“Nay, it now spikes out with sharp tendrils of cold-fire blue. I’ve no’ seen the cold-fire enter your aura since our parents passed away.”
“Are you certain there is cold-fire present?” She touched her chest, the soul deep ache within her having not abated one bit. Such feelings of loss could bring her cold-fire about.
“It bleeds deeper as I speak, which I dinnae like.” Julia walked toward the trail’s entrance. “I’ll go to Nessa for an answer.”
“You’re leaving right now?”
“Aye, she willnae leave our village kin during their time of need.”
“I’ll come with you.”
“Nay, remain. I’ll sail rather than take the forest path, and I’ll send a guard to keep watch over you.” She lifted one hand and disappeared down the trail.
Wonderful. Now her aura was changing too. She hardly needed to burden her sister or their clan with all of her problems when a deadly battle loomed.
Kicking out deeper, she sent rippling waves swelling out. The cooler water continued to wash over her, as did the soul deep ache, an endless throb she couldn’t disperse. Long minutes passed as she swam back and forth.
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