THE CLAN MACGREGOR
CLAIMED BY THE HIGHLAND WOLF
STEPHANIE MARKS
RED DAGGER
Copyright © 2015 by Stephanie Marks
All rights reserved.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Acknowledgements
To my editor, Carol, thank you for all of your hard work. I couldn’t have done this without you.
A NOTE TO THE READER
I hope that you enjoy this book. If you are interested in finding out about my latest releases, be sure to visit my website to sign up for my newsletter.
- Stephanie
http://www.StephanieMarksBooks.com/
EXCERPT
He stood too close to me, the toes of his boots almost touching those of my slippers. He raised his hands and rested them on the shelf behind me, effectively caging me in.
That was what came of thinking of him like a friend instead of my captor. I should never have joked with him so freely. I couldn’t breathe with him so close.
“Are ye afraid of me, lass?”
I swallowed and shook my head. “No, it’s just a bit… unnerving. You are nothing like what I was expecting. I thought you would be… wild… and cruel.”
“And now?” His deep voice was low, barely above a whisper. I looked up into his vivid green eyes and resisted the urge to touch him.
“Now I just think you’re wild. But how could you not be, being what you are?”
“Aye, lass, I’m wild.”
“And dangerous,” I whispered.
“Why do ye say that?” he asked, leaning closer.
“Because when you’re near me like this, I cannot think straight. I forget who I am and how I came to be here. I forget my loneliness. I forget everything but how badly…” I shook my head, trying to clear it of the fog. “How badly I want you to touch me.”
He lifted a hand to cup my cheek, then trailed his fingers down and around the back of my neck.
“If anyone here is dangerous, lass, it’s you…”
Table of Contents
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 1
I stood frozen in fear, struggling to breathe as the crisp winter air attacked my lungs like shards of jagged glass. Bright amber eyes stared back into mine, burning straight into the core of me, and surrounding those eyes was… nothing. There was nothing but a dark screaming void, reaching out to me. Ready to drag me down into the darkness.
I tore my gaze away, desperate to be free, and the darkness was replaced by blinding white snow. The forest was eerily quiet. Not a single animal or rustling of trees was to be heard. I looked down to see my mother lying in the snow, her eyes wide and her mouth open in a scream. Her throat had been torn out, and her blood was splashed across the virgin canvas of the forest floor.
A snap came from behind me. A branch breaking. My whole body tensed as I turned slowly toward the sound. It had come back for me.
The giant wolf lunged at my face, huge jaws open wide, and I let out a bloodcurdling scream…
***
I sat up in bed in a flurry of blankets and pillows, looking wildly around the chamber for the great savage beast I knew to be lurking in the corners of my room. My heart beat like a war drum on the eve of battle and I clutched at my sweat-drenched shift, slowly coming to the realization that it was just a dream. It had only been a dream.
I hadn’t had the nightmare in years, not since I was a child. But it had come to me three times now over the last fortnight, and each dream was more vivid than the one before.
I lay back in bed and pulled the covers up to my chin. The air was chill in the castle and I had no fire to warm me. I inhaled deeply through my nose and out through my mouth in an effort to calm myself, but the beat of my heart refused to slow. The burning amber eyes continued to float in front of my face in the darkness as if seared into my vision, and closing my eyes only served to make them appear more vivid instead of blocking them out.
Sighing in defeat I threw back the blankets and got out of bed. I walked across the cold stone floor to my window and looked up into the sky. The partial moon shone down over the Gordon lands, illuminating the hills behind the keep, and I rubbed my arms against the chill of the highland air.
I winced as my stomach rumbled in hunger. I had not eaten much at supper and was paying for it now, just as my father had said I would. It had been foolish of me to not think to bring something back with me to eat in case the mood struck, but there was naught for me to do about it now. I would just have to sneak down to the kitchens in search of something.
As I made my way through the halls in the dark I heard the low murmuring of voices coming from one of the rooms. The closer I got the more I could make out the heated voice of my uncle, and then my father’s.
Curious as to what they were arguing about downstairs in the middle of the night, I crouched low outside the closed door to listen.
“We have no other choice, Cameron. It’s the only way,” my uncle insisted.
“No, Dougal, I’ll nay hear any more about it. We must come up with another way. I’d rather tear out my own heart and feed it to the savage MacGregor myself before I’d go along with your plan. Have you gone completely mad, man?”
I gasped at my father’s words. They were fighting over the dreaded highland chief, Alastair MacGregor. The man, if in fact he was a man and not a beast from the deepest pits of hell as the rumors claimed, was a fierce warrior. It was said that he rode into battle with a pack of giant wolves at his side that tore his enemies to pieces with their monstrous jaws.
The image from my dream came back to me and I shivered, inching closer to the door in order to hear more clearly.
“Ye cannot avoid this forever, Cameron, and ye know it. The rider came this very night. You’ve looked upon the warning with your own eyes. The MacGregor is moving this way and will be upon us within the week. Maybe you’re right and it’s just a matter of a simple reiving he’s after. Maybe he’ll not even come all this way. But ye know as well as I that he cannot be trusted to think like a normal man. We cannot just ignore this and hope he goes around us. And even if he leaves us be this time, ye know it won’t last forever. Sooner or later it will be our turn. He’ll slaughter our men and rape our women, then take the children for slaves. Are ye willing to let your people meet that fate all because you’re feeling sentimental? And you’ve got the gall to stand there and call yourself our chief?”
I jumped at the sound of a fist coming down hard on wood. My father was a kind and understanding man, but my uncle ran the risk of seeing his seldom-shown temper by insulting him that way.
“Dinna push me on this, Dougal. I’ll not be changing my mind on the matter. My sweet Glenna will not be sacrificed to that devil. Mention it again and I’ll be sore tempted to send you out to face the MacGregor in my place. Alone.”
“Damn ye, Cameron. Your soft heart will be the death of us all.”
There was a shuffling of feet, followed by heavy footsteps coming toward the door.
I scrambled back as quickly as I could, running to the end of the hall and around the corner on the balls of my feet so as not to make a sound. When I was safely out of sight, I swept my thick blonde hair back over my shoulder so that it w
ould not be seen, and peered slowly around the corner. I watched my uncle’s back disappear around the corner at the other end of the hall and gave out a relieved sigh.
I fell back against the cold stone wall and pressed the palm of my hand against the hammering beat of my heart. My mind was trying to reject what I had heard and yet I knew it to be true. Not only was the MacGregor heading for our lands, but my uncle wanted to offer me up to appease the warlord. While still innocent, I was no foolish young lass. I understood that my uncle meant to try to marry me off in an attempt to save our people. But to a murderer of men and a rapist of women? How little must he care for me to be so eager to condemn me to such a fate?
I hurried back to my room and locked the door once I was inside. My hunger was long forgotten as I crawled beneath the thick blankets on my bed. The half moon was high in the sky, and I stared at it, playing over and over again in my mind what I had just heard.
Even though I was scared, I knew that my father would keep me safe. Though my younger brother Fin would be the one to take over as clan chief after our father, I had always had a special place in his heart. So much so that he had even found me an English tutor to teach me languages and sums and soften my highland speech, just as his father had done for him. It was an unheard-of education for a young Scottish lass. I knew that his indulgence of me was the only reason I was still unwed at the age of five and twenty years.
If I had been any other woman, any hope of seeing me wed would have been lost long ago. But as the daughter of a highland chief I still held value, even if it was only my dowry that suitors found attractive. My father had indulged me by never forcing me to marry and allowing me to try to make a love match. But no man had yet been able to claim my heart. And if my uncle had his way, it looked as if for all my stubbornness on the matter, I would end up even worse off than I ever could have thought.
***
I sat at the breakfast table in my family’s private dining room, staring forlornly at the eggs on my plate. My stomach had been tied in knots from the first moment I had opened my eyes that morning and I could not bring myself to eat a single bite.
“Glenna, did you hear what I said?” my brother Fin asked me, tugging on my sleeve.
At twelve years old Fin was at that age where he was growing out of his childish ways, eager to become a man, but still had the fresh, precocious disposition of youth. What would become of him if the MacGregor were to take our lands?
“I’m sorry, Fin. I was over the hills and far away. What did you say?”
“I asked if you would come riding with me this afternoon. I want to go to the glen but I canna go alone. Oh, please say you’ll come with me, Glenna. We can have a picnic,” he pleaded.
I laughed and ruffled his dark hair. Finlay was my half brother, born of one of my father’s serving ladies. My father, being the honorable man he is, had claimed Fin as his heir and moved his mother to a small, comfortable cottage on the lands where she would be able to live comfortably for the rest of her life.
Having spent so long as an only child, I had not been too pleased by the idea of having a little brother, but I had loved him from the first moment I set my eyes on his bright red face and thatch of dark hair as he waved his little fists and wailed lustily in my father’s arms.
His cries had quieted the moment our father had placed him in my hands, and I had sworn to be the best sister he could ever wish for.
“Of course we can, Fin. I’ll see about getting a basket put together for our ride,” I said, pushing past my worries to find a smile for him.
I could see our father watching us out of the corner of my eye. Worry lines were etched deep around the corners of his eyes as he studied me.
“Fin, lad. Give me a moment alone with your sister. We have a few things to be discussing this morning.”
Fin looked back and forth between us and frowned. “Is Glenna in trouble?” he asked our father.
“No, lad, of course not. I just want to have a private word with her, is all. Run along, now. She’ll find you when it’s time to go to the stables.”
Fin hesitated then threw his arms around me in a tight hug before leaving us.
I sat quietly with my head bowed and pushed the food around my plate.
“Now then, lass, why don’t you tell me what’s on your mind.”
“It’s nothing, Da. I just slept poorly, is all.”
“Glenna, you’ve never slept poorly a day in your life. If you’ve started now, then something must be troubling you. I cannot help you unless you tell me what the problem is.”
He sat back in his chair and waited patiently, watching me as I struggled to find the words.
I worried my lip, unsure of how much to tell him. If I told him my fears about my uncle’s plans for me, I would have to admit to eavesdropping on their conversation. I had been tossing and turning all night with worry.
“It’s nothing, Father, truly. I was hungry last night, but too lazy to leave my bed. It must have affected my sleep, that’s all. There’s nothing more to it than that,” I told him.
“All right then, lass, if you insist.” He got up from his seat and came around the table to kiss the top of my head. “I’ll leave you to your breakfast, then. I’ve a busy morning ahead of me.”
Heavy footsteps entered the room and I froze at the sound of my uncle’s voice.
“Are ye ready to go, Cameron?” my uncle asked my father.
“Yes, Dougal. I was just having a quick word with my daughter.”
“Good morning, Glenna,” my uncle said.
I turned stiffly in my chair to face him. His expression was blank as he looked at me and I wondered if even at that very moment his mind was scheming ways to convince my father to feed me to the MacGregor.
“Good morning, Uncle,” I said coolly. “Did you sleep well?”
My uncle Dougal frowned at my tone, but did not remark on it.
“Yes, thank ye, Glenna. Now if ye don’t mind, your father and I have much to do today. Cameron?” With that, he turned and walked from the room.
“Have a good day, Glenna,” my father said to me, patting me on the shoulder, “and be sure to actually put some of that in your mouth, aye?”
The moment I was alone I flopped back in my chair and sighed. I knew that my father would do everything he could to keep me out of the MacGregor’s clutches. So why did I not feel more comforted by the thought?
CHAPTER 2
I leaned forward on my horse and laughed as I crested the hill in front of the keep. Looking back over my shoulder, I watched as my little brother urged his stallion faster, trying to keep up with me as we raced home.
“You’ll have to do better than that if you plan on beating me one day, Fin!” I called back to him.
As we got closer to the castle I began to slow down, allowing Fin to close the gap and then pass me completely. He let out a cheer as he galloped past and crossed into the courtyard ahead of me.
It warmed my heart to watch him, and I grinned as he pulled back on the reins, bringing the horse to a stop, and jumped down.
“I beat you, Glenna! I knew I would!” he crowed.
“Aye, Fin, you did! And a mighty fine victory it was, too. Come, now, let’s get the horses back to the stables and go wash up. And be sure to scrub under your fingernails unless you want Mrs. McNally to box your ears for you.”
“Glenna, Fin, you must come quick!”
I turned from my brother to see Angus, my brother’s sword instructor, rush into the courtyard toward us.
“What is it, Angus? We were just about to take the horses back to the stables,” I told him.
“That can wait, lass. Your father is about to speak in the great hall. I was just headed out to fetch ye back to the keep. Come quickly, now, the both of ye. Someone else can see to the horses.” He looked around the yard and called out to a young boy with bright red hair.
“You, there!” he called, getting the boy’s attention. “Take these horses back to the stabl
es. There’s a good lad. Come on, now, the both of ye, follow me.”
We followed Angus into the keep and he led us to the great hall. The room was so full that we had to shove our way through the crowd in order to reach the front where we would be able to see our father. People grumbled at first about being dislodged from their spots, but soon recognized us and shifted over to give us more room.
My father’s eyes found mine and I nodded, wrapping an arm around my brother’s shoulders. I knew what was coming. The troubled expression on my father’s face and the deep lines in his brow gave it away long before he opened his mouth.
“News has come from the north.” My father’s booming voice filled the rafters of the great hall and we all listened intently.
“We have been warned that clan MacGregor plans to move against us within the week,” he continued.
The room erupted into chaos at his words, with everyone shouting and talking over each other.
“Quiet, everyone. Quiet down, all of you!” he hollered, raising his hands in the air to regain our attention. “I’ll thank you all to stay calm. Women and children are to stay inside the keep. Scouts will be sent out night and day to alert of us any sign of their approach.”
“How do they expect to see the devil himself coming for them?” a man’s voice called out.
“The MacGregor is not the devil. He is a man. He bleeds like a man and he will die like a man,” my father said to the room.
“What of the wolves he commands?” cried a woman. “Giant beasts, unnatural. The hounds of hell!”
“If these hounds come for us, then your men of clan Gordon will send them back to the pits they came from. Them and the man who commands them. We will not be cowed. We will not quake in fear behind our walls. We are Gordons!” he boomed.
“We are Gordons!” the room yelled back.
When the announcement was finished my brother and I hurried up to the dais, where our father pulled me in for a tight hug and squeezed Fin’s shoulder. Even though I still had the tendency to treat Fin like a boy, our father treated him more like a young man. With my mother long dead and Fin’s mother no longer in the keep, I felt like between my father and I it gave my brother some balance. I didn’t want him to grow up too quickly, but it would do him no good to grow up soft either.
Claimed by the Highland Wolf Page 1
