Highlander's Sword: Paranormal Bear Shifter Romance (Clan Matheson Book 3)
Page 1
Cover Copy
There can be only one…for both of them.
Year 1210, Scottish Highlands.
Annella, the fae-blooded daughter of a warrior, holds the spirit-walker ability. With her fae skill, she has only one goal, to find the man who captured her father and brother and seek retribution. The last thing she expects though is to connect within her dreams with an infuriatingly rugged Highlander of shifter blood who lives over eight-hundred years in the future. Her destiny is set, to free her nearest and dearest, although to find them she must now enlist the aid of the warrior from the future. He’s the best tracker there is, and also her best chance at finding them.
Highland warrior shifter Alec Matheson meets the most intriguing lass who visits him in his dreams, a woman who also poses the greatest challenge. His soul bound mate has come to him during her greatest time of need, and now he must travel back through time to aid her. His lithe, golden-haired enchantress wears lad’s clothing and is swift with the sword and trained in all manner of warfare. She is also nothing like he expects, yet everything he has ever desired.
Now, he must make certain they both survive her perilous mission, for seeking retribution could ensure their death, or unite their spirited souls. Let the battle for love begin.
Also by Joanne Wadsworth
The Matheson Brothers Series
Highlander’s Desire, (Book 1)
Highlander’s Passion, (Book 2)
Highlander’s Seduction, (Book 3)
Clan Matheson Series
Highlander’s Kiss, (Book 1)
Highlander’s Heart, (Book 2)
Highlander’s Sword, (Book 3)
The Fae Series
Highlander’s Bride, (Book 1)
Highlander’s Caress, (Book 2) Coming May 2016
Highlander’s Touch, (Book 3) Coming Jul 2016
The Matheson Warriors Series
Highlander’s Claim, (Book 1) Coming late 2016
Highlander’s Courage, (Book 2) Coming late 2016
Highlander’s Craving, (Book 3) Coming late 2016
Highlander Heat Series
Highlander’s Castle, (Book 1)
Highlander’s Magic, (Book 2)
Highlander’s Charm, (Book 3)
Highlander’s Guardian, (Book 4)
Highlander’s Faerie, (Book 5)
Highlander’s Champion, (Book 6)
Highlander’s Captive, (Short Story Book 7)
Regency Books (Standalone)
The Duke’s Bride, Coming 2016
Magio-Earth Series
Protector, (Book 1)
Warrior, (Book 2)
Enchanter, (Book 3)
Hunter, (Short Story Book 4)
Bodyguards Series
Witness Pursuit, (Book 1)
Bodyguard Pursuit, (Book 2)
Highlander’s Sword
by Joanne Wadsworth
Clan Matheson, #3
Table of Contents
Cover Copy
Also by Joanne Wadsworth
Highlander’s Sword
Gilleoin – The Legend
Cherub – The Fae Angel of Love
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
Clan Matheson Series
The Fae Series
The Matheson Brothers Series
Highlander Heat Series
Magio-Earth Series
Bodyguards Series
Copyright: Highlander’s Sword
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…
Cherub – The Fae Angel of Love
Clan Matheson warrior encampment, Scotland, 1210.
In the dead of night, unease consumed Cherub and wouldn’t abate as she paced the sandy shoreline of Loch Alsh. The gentle glow of the moon rippled over the rolling waves and across the treetops of the forest rising high behind their warrior encampment. The foamy swell of the surf tumbled in, bubbled over the tips of her riding boots then washed back out. With her hands raised high and the golden ribbons at the cinched waist of her white gown fluttering about her arms, she allowed the very air itself to whisper across her fingertips and bring to her the secrets it held. As an immortal time-walker and the faerie king’s daughter, her duty to her fae kind who walked this Earth would always come first, no matter what place or time that drew her toward, and in this moment, untold secrets unraveled around her. So many lost souls. So many of her fae kind needing her aid.
“I can sense your worry. Talk to me, my elusive imp.” Kirk, her warrior soul bound mate, stepped in behind her and nuzzled her neck, his body a heavenly heat she wished only to surround herself in.
“No’ only do I sense lost souls this night, but I also sense the pain of loss to come, particularly for one of my fae kind. I also fear ’tis a pain I cannae halt.” She turned around in his loving embrace, slid her fingers through his silky, black shoulder-length locks. Being this close to him soothed her, always eased her tension when naught else could.
“Tell me whose pain you sense.”
“Annella’s. She is soul bound to Alec. The two have actually already met even though they reside over eight-hundred years apart.” Breathing deep, she pinpointed Annella’s current location. She should be right here at their warrior encampment with her father and brother, the young woman an enchanting lass who wore lad’s clothing and was swift with the sword and trained in all manner of warfare. Only something had drawn Annella away from their camp and across their land border with clan MacKenzie, their fiercest enemy. Now, Annella had been strung up within the bow of a tree, her worry and fear pummeling through to her. It vibrated with such strength that she’d easily picked up on it, as had Annella’s closest kin. “Annella’s father and brother both hold the battle skill and have sensed her need for them rising, just as I have. They’ve set out after her, the bonds between the three incredibly strong.”
“How have Annella and Alec already met when you’ve never taken either through one of your portals?” Confusion marred his brow. “I would have noticed them joining us as we traveled.”
“Annella is a spirit-walker and has visited Alec by traveling through the dream realm to him while he sleeps.” She rubbed her cheek against Kirk’s broad chest. “Annella does no’ require one of my portals to reach him.”
“Alec has never mentioned Annella to me before. Are you certain they’re mated?” Alec came from Ivanson Castle, from the same twenty-first century time as Kirk did.
“Very, although even they are unaware a bond has formed between them. Alec believes Annella is naught but an apparition since she remains only visible to him within his dreams, although once Annella’s skill fully evolves, something which is overdue in happening, then she’ll be able to travel to him through the dream realm then emerge and solidify her spiritual body. Spirit-walkers use the dream realm to travel to where they wish to go. That i
s the essence of their gift.”
“What of the pain of loss you sense is coming?” He caressed her back, his love flowing down their merged link and surrounding her with its vibrant intensity.
“Duncan MacKenzie has already captured Annella, and Niall and Ronan have gone to her. The battle to come is one I cannae halt, because if I do, then I’ll forever alter Annella and Alec’s journey to come. The loss I sense is that of Niall and Ronan. They’ll be captured and taken, for they too have a journey ahead of them. All I can say is that the mated bond is a very sacred union and I’m no’ permitted to breach its creation or completion, no’ for any of my fae kind.”
“Alec is so very far away.”
“Aye, and he is also in denial of their bond, although all mated males long for the chase, and part of their journey is in what they must overcome in order to be with their chosen ones. It builds the foundation for their bond and all that ’twill be. Alec needs to see reason.” In the grassy clearing between the shoreline and the forest, a long line of canvas tents dotted the verge and sixty or so warriors sat around the central blazing fire, all except for Annella, her father and brother. “We must wait until things unravel as they should. I will keep my senses open, listening to all the secrets my element brings me.”
“So even you don’t know all that is about to occur until you’re permitted the knowledge?”
“Aye, very much so. The future is interchangeable, always fluctuating and moving. I have no control over it, or at least a very minimal amount.”
“I truly don’t care for any of our people feeling any pain.” He gripped her tighter around her waist. “Holding back when I know a battle is about to rage isn’t easy.”
“The same goes for me, but Alec’s chase will soon be underway and he must be given the chance to hunt his chosen one as he will be drawn to do.”
Never would she abandon her kin during their time of greatest need, but neither would she betray her duty to them either, so for now, she and Kirk would wait, no matter that doing so pained them both.
Chapter 1
Enemy MacKenzie land, Scotland, 1210.
Restrained and tied high in the bow of a tree in the dark of night, Annella Matheson stopped sawing her bound hands together as the forest went eerily quiet all around. ’Twas as if even the small creatures of the night had sought refuge from the warring about to unfold. Certainly, her kin would never allow the enemy to take her.
At the base of the tree she was wedged within, a shadow passed. Duncan MacKenzie. The Chief of MacKenzie’s second-born son was every inch a fierce Highland warrior. If only she’d never left her clan’s warrior encampment. She wouldn’t have done so except for the fearful cry of a child which had drawn her across their border and onto their enemy’s land, a child’s cry that had come not from a distraught bairn but instead one of Duncan’s men. Such trickery and deceit. She should have known better, that the MacKenzies would try such a ploy.
“Captain.” A warrior burst into the clearing wearing black breeches and a steel-studded coat, his sword strapped at his side. “Niall Matheson approaches, along with his son. They’re moving through the undergrowth, one closely following the other.”
“Good. They’ve come for the lass, just as Muirin’s brother saw that they would. The fae sorceress is strong, just as her brother is, their knowledge vast.” Hunkered down, Duncan scooped dirt and smothered the flames, his short black hair blazing blue on the ends in the eerie moonlight. Smoke curled into the air, thick and acrid as he glanced at her up high. “Neither your father or brother will escape their capture this night, although sorry I am that I’ve had to use you in this way, lass. Mayhap in time, you’ll come to understand why.”
Sorry? He’d just apologized to her? Huh. More trickery. Would he never cease with it?
“What will you do with the lass once we’ve captured her kin?” The warrior strode to her tree, pressed one palm against the trunk.
“The lass isnae needed, apart from luring her father and brother to me.” Duncan pulled a rawhide pouch from his pocket and opened the drawstring, tipped a glittering gold dust into his palm then clenched his fist around it. To the warrior, he muttered. “I’ll see to the lass afterward, either ensure her freedom, or mayhap even convince her to come with me. She is a spitfire, a worthy woman to stand at my side, and I’m in need of a wife. She would do rather well, particularly with her spirit-walker skill. Return to your position and make certain the other men are made aware that Niall and Ronan are mine. Neither will escape Muirin’s fae magic this night. Both are about to embrace their destiny, something which even their fae princess will likely understand by now. Their coming capture is meant to be, their journey to come one none of us can halt. ’Tis the way of the fae.”
How dare he speak as if he knew her fae kind so intimately. She’d certainly never stand willingly at his side, not in any capacity, particularly that of a wife.
“Aye, Captain, then I’ll inform the men.” The warrior disappeared into the dark, the breeze whispering through the high canopy and rustling the leaves.
“How do you fare up there, lass?”
If she could do more than release a mere mumble through the foul-tasting gag he’d stuffed in her mouth, she’d tell him exactly how she fared. This was madness, all of it. Duncan was her enemy, and if she could, she’d drop down from this tree and slice his head from his shoulders. ’Twould be the best way to ensure his mad ramblings ceased. He certainly needed to be taught a lesson, that no one imprisoned one of the fae.
Argh, if only she could get down. She’d been taught the arts of warfare at Father’s hand and should have been better prepared for this attack and containment.
Duncan lifted his massive two-handed claymore free of the baldric across his back and swung it in a wide arc as he limbered up and prepared for the battle to come, for there surely would be one. Father and Ronan held the fae battle skill and would fight for her freedom.
She narrowed her gaze on Duncan’s blade, the MacKenzie clan motto blazing upon it. Luceo non uro, “I shine not burn.” All their enemy ever did was burn, destroying lives as they so shamelessly stole in their ferocious battle to take it all. Clan Matheson had never raised arms against the MacKenzies, unless they’d been forced to defend themselves first.
No more burning for Duncan. Even though restrained, she’d find a way to warn her kin of exactly what awaited them on this forested hilltop. With her eyes closed, she calmed her mind and allowed her thoughts to settle until slowly, the dark finally encroached and she glided toward the dream realm. With her spiritual body separating itself from her physical body, she gladly soared free, her true form slumping within the bow and her head drooping to one side. She’d need to hurry. Danger always lurked when she left her physical form unattended.
No more than a wisp of white, she swept away on the breeze then dipped down toward the forest trail and weaved through the undergrowth, her senses on full alert as she searched for the two men who’d always come for her, always stand by her side.
A rustle tinkered to her left, and she breezed in underneath a thick scrub and swirled to a halt. Father lay on his belly under the bush, Ronan beside him. Father moved first, crawled through to the other side and crouched in his belted kilt and leather jerkin. Chin lifted, he breathed deep, his fae battle skill gifting him with added sleuth and strength during any mission.
Gently, she wound her misty form around him and tried to solidify some part of her ethereal form. How frustrating. Still naught came forth. Surely her skill would evolve soon and she could be far more present at her kin’s side. In Father’s ear, she whispered, “I’m so sorry. Duncan MacKenzie set a trap and I fell for the ploy. He intends to use me to draw you and Ronan to him then contain you both. He insists your coming capture is meant to be, that your journey to come is one that none of us can halt.”
“Duncan and his twin brother have never gotten involved in the fighting between our clans afore, not like their father and younger brother, Jerem
iah, have. Although now, he’s clearly taken you and declared exactly where he stands, which is firmly on his father’s side.” He swept his hand out, his fingers lightly and affectionately grazing her misty form. “How many men await us?”
“Close to a dozen warriors, and one of his men has already reported your arrival. They’re everywhere, Duncan’s trap now set. He also holds a fae sorceress’s magic, a glittering golden dust in one hand.”
“I know of no fae sorceress. Certainly there is none within our village.”
“He called her Muirin.”
“Then I’ll take additional care, although no one holds my daughter against her will, or uses her as bait to capture either me or Ronan. If Duncan wishes a battle, then he’ll have one.” Firm determination slashed Father’s face, the silver flare on one side of his blond-haired head catching the moonlight as he bent and motioned to Ronan with a flick of his hand.
Ronan snuck in beside Father, both men an imposing sight. They held their position and scanned each direction, the canopy thick overhead and the bitter scent of smoke from the doused fire drifting toward them.
Slowly, succinctly, Father palmed his dirk, his gaze narrowed on the trail leading to the rise. Keeping to the shadows, they both crept and she breezed in beside them, all wispy-white as she kissed her brother’s cheek. “You’ll find me bound and gagged in the bow of the tree at the top of the hill.”
“I’ll be there soon, little sister. Wait for me.”
“I shall.” Her brother had stood at her side her entire life and she didn’t doubt he would as well this night, and even though she detested leaving them both, she swept upward toward the treetops and whisked back before taking a deep breath and settling inside her physical body. Her heart continued to beat with or without her present, her breath moving slowly but surely through her, and now returned, she lifted her head, her fingertips tingling and her worry pounding strong.