by Sky Winters
“Well my dear, this is a nice surprise, I hardly recognized you in that outfit. You are a proper Robin Hood and no mistake. You will be pleased to know that I have come to rescue and take you back to Inverness where we can be married post haste.”
The girl shrank from his gaze. What she had once thought of as handsome, she now saw as cruel and heartless. She could never love this man, ever.
For a moment she stood defiantly, trying to hold her head high and stop herself from shaking.
“I no longer wish to marry you sir. I am grateful for your offer but I will not be coming with you.”
Lord Andrew felt the ire rise within him.
“So, you are going to stay here, but a young girl on her own, under whose protection will you be?”
He was playing games with her but she had to continue.
“James Macadam.”
He could no longer contain his jealousy. He loathed James Macadam with a passion, he was everything that he was not and now it seemed he had the love of his betrothed, his Arabella. He had not loved the girl but she was attractive and would have suited him well between the bed sheets.
He smiled down at the girl with the eyes of a serpent.
“I’m afraid I have made a pact with your father and I am a man of my words. You will come back with me now and we will be married tomorrow. I am prepared to overlook your little indiscretion, but you will remain under lock and key in the castle until you can be trusted. I can think of many ways to keep you entertained,” he licked his lips lasciviously as he looked her up and down.
“Get her into the carriage men, we head back immediately.”
Arabella tried to struggle but the men soon had her captive and she was soon bundled into the back of the carriage. It was no use, there was nothing she could do, only hope that somehow James would get to her in time.
She did not weep, she would not allow herself to weep in front of this terrible man, and she dug her nails into the palms of her hands to stop her from crying.
“At least now you have me, you can relinquish the lands you have stolen from the Macadam Clan and release James’s father?”
Andrew Stewart snorted in derision. “Then you are more naive than I thought my dear. Of course I will not be giving back the lands. The old man will be put to death and the others will shortly follow, including your beloved James.”
She wanted to tear at his face but her hands were bound and she sat, hopeless, pondering her fate, as the carriage rumbled on towards Inverness.
The men had decided quickly on a plan and James hurried to tell Arabella the news. When he could not find her in the camp he began to worry. Some of the men had seen her wander off into the forest a little more than an hour ago but had not seen her return. James was angry that no-one had stopped her, and getting up a small band of his men they started to comb the forest. Soon the little cap of berries was found and James feared the worse. The tracks of a carriage and horses was found a little further out and his fears were confirmed – it could only be one man that had taken his beloved Arabella – Lord Andrew Stewart.
Racing back to camp James saddled his horse and with two of his most trusty men they set off on the trail of the Laird. They would ride much quicker than the lumbering carriage and they would soon be able to track it down.
Andrew Stewart had been asleep, dreaming of bedding the delightful Arabella when the coach came to an abrupt stop and the lurching motion of the carriage caused him to wake.
He pounded on the roof of the carriage and called out to see what the matter was.
The driver’s voice was thin and afraid.
“I think you had better come and look for yourself sir.”
Frustrated with the stop to his journey, Lord Stewart stuck his head out of the window. He could not see anything and opened the door and jumped out into the open.
Walking to the front of the coach he froze in fear. There stood three enormous brown bears, directly in their path.
Turning back towards the carriage, he raced forward to collect his gun, but was too slow. The largest of the bears had him trapped in its gigantic paws and dragged him away into the undergrowth. The sharp claws tore at his skin, the large teeth gorging into the soft flesh until he was no more.
Arabella had sat quietly in the carriage, she had managed to work on the bindings to her hands and finally break free. There had been strange noises outside and she had been afraid. Now it was silent and she cautiously stepped outside to see what had happened. At first she wondered where Lord Stewart had gone, and then she noticed a trail of blood on the grass leading into the bushes. The coach driver was missing too and the air was eerily silent. As she walked towards the undergrowth she thought she saw something move. A crackle of dry leaves followed by the snap of twigs, and then she saw it, the magnificent brown bear. It had seen her and she froze. She had heard stories of these creatures and how they could tear a man apart with their sharp claws and teeth.
It lumbered towards her, its brown deep eyes staring deep into hers. It seemed calm and yet she closed her eyes, braced herself for the inevitable. All was quiet again.
Opening her eyes the bear was stood a short distance away, still gazing at her. A large paw came towards her and she held her breath, yet the claws were pulled back and the dry leather paw touched her face softly. She almost fainted with fear, yet there was something about this creature, something almost familiar.
With a great bellow it raised itself onto its hind legs and waved its gigantic paws into the air before falling down onto the ground.
The poor thing looked ill, it seemed to writhe around in agony and she could only stand and watch. The face twisted and contorted, it was changing before her very eyes. The body was changing shape and instead of brown fur there was bare skin. Soon James Macadam was lying naked before her and she eventually swooned, the whole experience being too great for her mind to contemplate.
When Arabella next awoke, she was back at the camp. She did not know how long she had been asleep, but it had grown dark and she was very hungry. James was sat next to her, he looked tired and worn, deep shadows forming under his eyes, yet he smiled when he saw her wake and his whole visage changed to one of joy.
“James I had the most fantastic dream.”
His smile changed to a look of concern.
“Arabella, there is something you need to know about me.”
As she looked into his dark, brown eyes, she thought of the bear and deep inside already knew. There had always been something different about James Macadam, and although she could hardly believe it, knew it was true.
“I would never hurt you Arabella, you must trust me. My family is ancient and we have handed down the werebear gene from generation to generation. It is said that one of my ancestors was cursed by a witch for not returning his love and was turned into a savage bear, but through the centuries we have learned to tame our bear and use it only when we must –that is our code”
She placed her hand in his for comfort, not knowing what to say.
“Can you still love me after this Arabella, I understand if it is too much. I should have told you but I was afraid?”
Weaving her fingers into his she looked openly into his deep, dark eyes.
“I love you, no matter what James and I always will.”
The pair kissed and James gave her a knowing smile.
“It’s good job that you do. I fear that our first night of passion has produced a new life within you,” he touched her stomach tenderly.
She had felt different too, something that she hadn’t quite grasped, but there had been a fullness about her, a blossoming that she had put down to love, yet how could he know? She looked up at him quizzically.
“Call it my animal instinct.”
The new Laird of Inverness was a kindly, younger man, a nephew of the late Lord Andrew Stewart. His had been a terrible death, ripped to pieces by a pack of wild bears, but many said it was not undeserved. The lands were restored to the Macadam Cl
an by the new Lord Stewart and the old man was immediately released and recovered well in his ancestral home.
James and Arabella were soon married with the full blessing of her parents. With Lord Stewart dead there was nothing more to be done. Besides, they had never fully understood who was behind the kidnapping of their daughter in the first place.
Their joy was complete with the birth of their son, James Macadam the second, a bonny baby with dark brown eyes like his fathers and a shock of wild brown hair.
He was her baby bear.
Book 3: Lord of the Wolf
Chapter 1
I squinted my eyes and looked about me. The place I was in was a hazy, purple world, full of flames and fury. Violence was everywhere. Suddenly, I saw what I must have been looking for. I ran toward my brother Kain's silhouette. He seemed to be further away from me with every step that I took toward him, and I knew that I would never reach him in time. It was the same, endless battle, the same grueling images playing in my mind since the day he died. I heard his murderous cry, and I knew what was going to happen before it ever did.
He was fighting for his life – a battle he had lost once, three years ago, and again, over and over in my dreams many nights since. Suddenly, the image of Kain disappeared, and standing in front of me, as if keeping me from reaching him, was a great, white wolf. It was the most majestic and beautiful creature I had ever seen, and seemed to have no place among such violence. We stared at each other for a moment, and I had the silly impulse to reach out and touch it. I had no idea what it might want, or whether to be afraid. The war was loud in my ears, and the sounds of death surrounded me. The wolf howled, and I was startled into wakefulness.
I sat up in my bed panting, my heart racing in fear. Kain's name was on the tip of my tongue and I cried out, reaching my hands into the darkness and touching nothing. My nightmare had stirred the servants down the hall, and the woman who had cared for me since childhood burst through the heavy doors of my room. I looked down at myself, the vision of my chest, heaving against the thin fabric of my nightclothes.
All I could see was my brother Kain, my twin. The person I'd loved the most in the world and the only friend I'd ever had. That is, until he was taken from me by the highlanders, slaughtered in cold blood.
“Lady Bethia, are you all right?” Rose asked, fanning me from the bedside. “You must have been having one of those dreams again. Kain?”
My heart lurched at the sound of my brother's name and I nodded, holding back tears.
“Everything's all right now, my Lady. He's made it to the west, and will be taken care of in Tir nan Og. Many men would envy him for his residence in the land of eternal youth, my Lady, and he is waiting there for you still. Do not shed tears for him. Time will heal your wounds, and reunite you to him inevitably.”
Rose, normally a quiet and simple woman, was the only one who could console me when my brother's death racked my frail body with sobs. She knew just what to say, and took comfort in the tales of the west of Scotland, where the souls of the dead were said to dwell. Her quiet faith brought me peace when nothing else ever could.
“Now lay back down with you, miss, you don't want to catch your death of cold. Your dreams were a fright, but everything is all right now.”
She gently pushed my shoulders against the soft down of my bed and tucked the covers over me. I nestled into them and returned her kind smile.
“I'll be down the hall if you need me,” she whispered, and picked her candle up off the bedside table and headed from my room, casting lengthy shadows in her wake until my door closed on the candle light and left me alone in the darkness.
***
The next morning, the halls were in a flurry of activity. I dressed and was suddenly whisked away to speak with my parents, who were sitting autocratically at the large banquet table where we usually dined with guests. I opened my mouth to ask what the occasion was, when they told me to take my place at the table.
“This is the last meal you will be sharing with us for quite some time. Tensions between the highlanders and the lowlanders has been high for far too long. Finally, we have a chance to change the course of our history together. We can bring peace between these clans. We have made a deal, one that can finally unify the land again.”
I stared at my father in disbelief as he spoke. What was he talking about? Our last meal together?
“What kind of deal?” I asked, suddenly nauseated. The servants were bringing out dishes of food and the smell wafting in my nostrils brought bile to my throat. I was afraid I knew what was coming.
“You are to be wed to Lord Lachlan. Your betrothed is to send his emissaries here to retrieve you and take you to your new home. He requested the wedding be held in the highlands, where he feels most comfortable.”
“The highlands?!” I exclaimed, rising from my seat. For the first time in my life, I was yelling at my father. “I am betrothed to a highlander? It was the highlanders who killed Kain! My brother, your only son! Or did you forget that?”
“Know your place, child! Sit down at once.”
My father's steely gaze pierced through me. I seethed, tempted by years of training to sit down and shut up, but I held my ground.
“I understand your distaste for the highlanders,” he said. “But it is this union that could prevent another war like that which your brother died in. Your hand to Lord Lachlan could mean that no other men must die for the sake of our disagreements. Do you not understand that there are bigger things at work in this world than yourself? You silly, selfish girl. Now sit down and eat your breakfast.”
I opened my mouth to retort, but my father made the kind of stern sense that he always made, and all I could do was sit down and poke at my food, waiting for the moment when my life would change forever.
Chapter 2
Breakfast had been very uncomfortable, like most meals with my parents were. We didn't have the closest of relationships. They were both frequently busy with the toils of the kingdom. My father was always cooped up in his office, signing documents and chattering passionately with his advisers. As a child I used to sneak in with Kain to spy on him. It was the only way we felt close to our father. We would listen in from our hiding place in the curtains, but the older we got the harder it was to remain concealed. And the bleak nature of our father's conversations began to leave me with a heavy heart, full of doubts and concerns for the future of our kingdom. Directly after breakfast, he told me to ready myself to meet my betrothed and locked himself away into his study.
I quietly mourned the distance between my father and myself, and turned to my mother, who was eyeing me sternly. I knew exactly what she was thinking; I was hardly presentable to be wed in the outfit I had chosen for breakfast. I wasn't close to my mother either. My father, of course, busied himself constantly with the affairs of the kingdom. In the meantime, my mother had taken pity upon the impoverished, and spent much of her time out in the world, accompanied by servants as she made it her business to feed and clothe the sick and hungry. She had recently made a name for herself for feeding a small group of vagabonds who had made their camp just outside the limits of our kingdom.
Most of the villagers were disapproving of her tendency to take pity on that group. They had caused trouble just weeks beforehand when they raided a few farms of food and mead. My mother announced that they would not be punished – instead, they would be fed. Time revealed that the group were an unfortunate band of highlanders who had lost their supplies to bandits on the road as they headed back home. My mother took care to show them all great kindness, something I privately resented her for. I wasn't alone, but I still felt defensive of her when she was heckled for it.
The vagabonds had escaped back to the highland not long ago, undoubtedly boasting about my mother's great naivety. It was undoubtedly the message of her kindness that had caused Lord Lachlan to reconsider peace with the lowlanders. Perhaps he saw a window of opportunity to take something valuable from the poor woman. His kind had t
aken her son, perhaps now they could take her daughter as well.
My blood boiled as I stared into my mother's regal face. She was certainly beautiful, and had passed on her stunning looks to me. What good would they do anyone now if I were to be enslaved to wed Lord Lachlan? There couldn't be a fate worse than that. Except perhaps to be slayed by him.
Again, my thoughts returned to my brother Kain, and I suddenly remembered the white wolf in my dream. It had appeared there many times before, and I had yet to make any sense of what it might mean. For some reason, the wolf's image in my mind pacified me, and I allowed my mother to whisk me off to my chambers to help prepare me for my journey.
***
I inhaled as shallowly as I could, grimacing at the sharp pain I felt in my ribs from the tight corset my mother had laced for me. She claimed that I had to be presentable to meet Lord Lachlan for the first time, and when I had rolled my emerald green eyes toward the ceiling she gave me a resigned smile.
“He is rumored to be quite handsome,” she said as comfortingly as she could.
“He is a brute, I shall hate him until I die,” I vowed, jutting my lip out. Mother laughed quietly.
“It may not be so bad as you think,” she said before spritzing me with scented water and walking out of the room. “Pack a small bag and be down soon with it. Don't make poor Rose drag you down for me. You know she will.”
I sighed and glowered out the window, annoyed that she would use my warm feelings toward Rose against me. Whatever would I do without Rose by my side in the night, comforting me from the horrific nightmares of Kain that I was haunted by? Nothing about this was right. Everything was all wrong. I wasn't supposed to marry a disgusting highlander. Even if mother was right and he was attractive, I would rather die. Maybe I could find some way to escape.
Kain's fierce face flashed before my eyes disapprovingly. If I wanted to protect other men like him, I would have to go. I owed it to the memory of my twin, and to all the other families out there who could be divided by the ravages of war if I did not comply to my father's demands. Kain would have died in vain. I felt powerless to stop this cruel union, and waited with my stomach rolling in fear for the escort that was to be sent by the highlanders.
