by Terry Spear
“You’re coming home with us now.”
She glanced back in the direction of Senton Castle.
“Seems that’s our home also. If you’re worried about them taking your car again, your kin have a surprise waiting for them.”
She looked up at him inquiringly.
“We’ll go to my car. It’s closer,” he said, standing, then lifting Rafferty over his shoulder. He stalked toward the woods and Elaine ran beside him. “Then we’ll drop Guthrie off at his vehicle to avoid Oglivie’s farm.”
Duncan and Guthrie raced ahead until they disappeared. She couldn’t figure out why until quite a while later when she saw Duncan returning at a dead run in human form, fully dressed. He took Rafferty’s body, and Cearnach shifted into wolf form. Then he and Elaine ran at their faster wolf pace to reach the car so no one would catch them running as wolves. She couldn’t help worrying about Duncan if he was caught carrying a naked dead man.
When she and Cearnach reached the car, he shifted and opened the door where Guthrie was sitting, panting in the back seat. Then she joined him while Cearnach quickly dressed and popped the trunk. She was afraid Ian would be angry with her for bringing this fight to Argent Castle. That Cearnach and his brothers would be upset with her for running off. That the whole pack would be. What of Duncan’s mate, Shelley? She had to be worried that he might not return in one piece. Then there were Cearnach’s mother and aunt: she was certain they’d judge her harshly.
When Duncan joined them at the car, he put Rafferty’s body into the trunk, slammed it closed, then got into the passenger’s seat.
Cearnach drove to where Guthrie’s vehicle was parked. Duncan got the door for Guthrie so he could change, dress, and then take over the wheel of his own vehicle.
Elaine thought that Duncan would stay with Guthrie and was about to jump over the seat to sit up front with Cearnach when Duncan returned to Cearnach’s car. He climbed in and cast a smile over his shoulder at Elaine. She closed her panting mouth.
“I’m staying with the two of you. Ian’s orders. He doesn’t want anything further to happen to either of you, should some of the McKinley or Kilpatrick kin decide to attempt to waylay us.” Duncan called Ian. “We’re on our way home, Ian.”
“Elaine’s coming home… for good,” Cearnach said.
Ian didn’t say anything.
Cearnach glanced back at Elaine. She was watching him.
“Is Rafferty dead?” Ian asked Duncan.
“Aye, he is for good this time,” Duncan said.
“Good,” Ian said. “Because if he wasn’t, he would be. Our mother’s already planning the wedding without Elaine so if the lass wants to have any say at all in it, she needs to hurry home.”
Elaine smiled and sat down on the seat. She really didn’t care anything about the wedding… except that she had loved Calla’s ceremony before Vardon ruined it. She was truly mated to Cearnach. That’s all that really mattered. And she was relieved beyond measure that Calla was at Argent and had been safe all this time from that bastard Kelly.
“Aye. We’re all headed back to Argent Castle. Tell Shelley we’re all right.”
“You can tell her yourself.”
“Duncan?” Shelley said, her voice worried.
“Aye, lass, we’re all fine.”
Elaine smiled to see the look on his face. He was one happy mated wolf.
“Thank you for bringing her home,” Shelley said, tears in her voice.
Elaine felt choked up. She’d thought everyone would be angry with her, but the only thing they were showing was that she was one of them now. A tear and then two rolled down her furry cheeks. She brushed them away with her paw. Cearnach looked up at the rearview mirror.
“Everything’s going to be fine, Elaine. I love you,” he said.
She poked her head over his seat and licked the back of his neck. He reached behind while he watched the road and stroked her head.
After Duncan had talked to his mate for a moment, he pocketed his cell.
“How did Ian know about Rafferty?” Cearnach asked, as Elaine settled back down on the seat. “Did you tell him?”
“Nay. He already knew.”
Cearnach looked at his brother, questioning why. Duncan quickly shrugged.
Elaine knew Cearnach would have words with Ian.
Chapter 28
As soon as they reached Argent Castle, everyone came out to greet them, while Duncan directed a couple of their men to retrieve the dead man from the trunk of the car and bury him in the woods.
Cearnach only wanted to get Elaine settled in his room where she could shift, clean up, and dress, and then he wanted to confront Ian.
“I’ll be right back,” he said to Elaine before she’d even had a chance to shift. Then he shut the door to his bedchambers and stalked toward Ian’s solar.
Ian was ready for him, sitting at his desk, looking weary after all the fighting that had gone on that day, and taking care of the aftermath of the battle and the mess left behind. When they’d arrived, the place didn’t look like a wolf fight had taken place there hours earlier.
“How did you know about Rafferty, Ian?” Cearnach asked him.
“Our mother,” Ian said, shaking his head, his arms folded over his chest. “I never would have guessed who was chasing after Elaine. Duncan left that part out when he called me. I assume you had all shifted to take care of the menace before you learned the truth.” He raised a brow, questioning their actions.
“I was driving. Duncan was doing all the calling.”
“Aye, and afraid that I’d be angered that Elaine was mated still to another wolf?”
Cearnach ignored the censure in his brother’s tone of voice. He knew that anything that went on with the pack, particularly something that important, had to be shared with their pack leader. “How did Mother know?”
“Our lady mother learned the truth from the solicitor.”
“Hell,” Cearnach paced. “If she knew…” He shook his head. “Before or after I was mated to Elaine?”
“You’ll have to question her. I didn’t think to ask, assuming that she had only known after the fact. At this point, it doesn’t really make a whole lot of difference. The good news is that I’m having Rafferty’s properties transferred to Elaine’s ownership. Seems appropriate since she was his mate and the closest family he had. It’s little compensation for all that Elaine lost, but it’s hers.”
Cearnach closed his mouth, thinking the same, but then nodded, glad that the properties would go to good use. He turned to leave his brother’s solar.
“If you’re thinking of questioning our mother now, think again. She and Calla—who arrived a couple of hours ago—and the rest of the ladies are discussing wedding plans in our mother’s sitting room. You know how she is when she’s involved in something like that. No one will interrupt her,” Ian cautioned.
Cearnach snorted and headed down the hall.
He heard women’s laughter in the sitting room, even Elaine’s, and he was glad to hear her enjoying herself after all that had happened. The women were having a lively discussion about the upcoming wedding, and Cearnach slowed his pace. He was still angry that his mother hadn’t told him the truth. If she’d known before he mated Elaine, she shouldn’t have encouraged the mating. He had to know.
He stalked into the room and saw Heather, Julia, Calla, Shelley, and Elaine seated cross-legged on the floor as they looked at catalogs of floral arrangements, his aunt and mother sitting on chairs, looking on. Elaine’s hair was damp, and she wore fresh jeans, a red sweater, and a pair of suede slipper boots, as if someone had dragged her to the sitting room pronto to discuss wedding plans.
Calla beamed at him. His mother must have called her in to coordinate the affair. Calla looked so pleased to be here that he paused, glad she
was no longer upset over the situation with Baird McKinley and the almost marriage.
Still, he scowled at his mother. “A word with you, my lady mother,” he said, sounding like a snarling wolf.
His mother’s brows shot up. “I don’t think this is the time or place…”
“Now is the time, and as to the place, we’ll discuss this elsewhere alone anywhere you choose to go, or the ladies can leave your sitting room while we speak of this matter here.”
“Or everyone can just stay where they are,” Elaine said, rising to her feet, folding her arms, and looking as though she was going to defend his mother. His mother, who didn’t need anyone defending her at any time.
“Aye,” his mother said, smiling up at Cearnach. “Did I tell you how much I like your wee lass? A true warrior she is. A real keeper. Did you know she left here because she thought Calla had been taken hostage?”
Cearnach looked at Elaine, his mouth agape, unable to contain his surprise.
“The last time I saw you look like this, like a dark thunderstorm approaching, you had run off the road and ruined two of your tires. Surely whatever it is can’t be as important as all that,” Elaine said lightly.
The last time he imagined he had looked like this was just a few hours ago when she had run off and her kin were trying to chase her down. “He lied to you about Calla?” Cearnach said to Elaine.
“He said he’d taken her hostage, and he said he’d kill you like he had my other suitors.”
He didn’t wish to discuss this matter with his mother in front of the other ladies. He didn’t want to wait to hear her speak the truth, either. He didn’t even want to say what he had to say in front of Elaine. Yet when his mate told him why she had run off, he felt his heart go out to her. She hadn’t done it just to escape Rafferty, but to save Calla and protect Cearnach.
“What difference does it make, Cearnach?” his mother said, her smile warm. “She is yours, like she should have been the first time you went after her. In St. Andrews.”
He scowled at his mother. “You knew, didn’t you?”
His mother took a deep breath and exhaled. “I knew that she needed you and that you needed her. Now run along while we decide on the flowers.”
He ground his teeth and looked from his mother to his mate, her brows raised as she waited for the storm to blow over.
“She wants purple flowers,” he said to Calla, and then swept his gaze over the other ladies assembled there as if making sure they all understood. “That’s all that needs to be said.”
Then he stalked forward and scooped Elaine up in his arms, though she let out a small squeal of surprise at his action before wrapping her arms around his neck. “There are different variations of purple colors, you know,” she said.
“Aye, and you’ve looked at the blasted flowers long enough.” Even if she hadn’t had time to look at them, purple was purple. “We need to discuss more important matters.”
“Oh?”
“She’ll see you ladies later.” He turned and stalked out of the room.
She sighed. “Cearnach…”
“Aye, lass?”
“What in heaven’s name was that all about?”
“I wished a word with my mother.”
“Did you get what you wanted out of the conversation?”
He took a deep breath, nuzzled his face in her hair, and said, “Aye. My mother is a canny woman. She was right.”
“About what?”
“That you were meant to be mine, no one else’s, no matter the circumstances. You were wounded on the battlefield, weren’t you?”
She took a deep breath. “Just a scratch. It’ll heal.”
“Vardon,” he growled.
“Don’t worry, Cearnach. Next time I see him, I’ll kill him.” She gave Cearnach a small smile.
God, how he loved his she-wolf.
He knew why his mother and even Flynn had been so insistent that he mate Elaine right away. She needed protection from the past and a family for the future. He was both for her.
***
Later that afternoon, the ladies gathered in the garden room to talk further about Elaine’s wedding, this time without Cearnach’s interference as his brothers were practicing sword-fighting with him, at their mother’s request.
“I don’t know what I should do,” Elaine said to the women.
Julia and Shelley were sitting together on one sofa. Cearnach’s mother and aunt had taken up another, while Cearnach’s cousin Heather and Calla sat on a third one in front of the fire as it crackled and popped with welcome heat. Sheba’s pups played in a bundle of teeth and fur and legs nearby, growling and woofing. Elaine’s own puppy, Whiskers, named because of her funny little beard, was chewing on her shoelaces.
She was conflicted about wearing her own plaid at the wedding. “I’ve never worn the sett of my clan, but I can’t just borrow someone else’s for the wedding.”
“You could wear a white wedding gown,” Shelley said. “Some of the wolves do for their Scottish weddings. I thought of doing so, but my Uncle Ethan wouldn’t hear of it.”
Surprised that Shelley hadn’t worn what she wished for such a special occasion, Elaine looked at Julia for her input.
“I wore my clan’s plaid,” Julia said. “It felt right to me.”
Elaine chewed her lip as she watched Sheba’s pups biting and growling and yipping in a variation on who’s top dog of the heap. “All right,” she said. “I’ll wear my clan’s plaid.”
Julia and Shelley frowned at her, not looking too happy about her decision, although all along they had said the choice was hers.
“Think of it as Romeo and Juliet, only with a happy ending. I doubt the feuding families will be happy with the match, but it’s kind of like mending fences… in a wolf way.”
Shelley smiled but shook her head. “More likely it will be another reason for them to hate our clan.”
Our clan. Elaine knew she was not only mating with a wolf from this clan, she was also joining them. Becoming family. Part of a pack. Who would have ever thought that a near collision with a wolf from an enemy clan would turn out so well? That he’d become her lover, her mate.
She was finally home. Not in a place she’d ever imagined. It felt right. Good.
“And,” she said, “I want to hold the wedding at Senton Castle.” She knew that would not go over well with Cearnach’s people. Senton Castle was beautiful, even in ruins. It was her birthright. The kirk was still standing. No glass on the windows, no pews to sit in. A stone floor and a roof over their heads in case it rained. That’s all that mattered.
“Not in our chapel?” his mother asked, her brows raised. She sounded more surprised than annoyed.
“I feel… I feel I must pay homage to my parents, to my uncles in some small way. What better way than to sanctify Cearnach’s and my marriage in my family’s chapel?” She thought it would feel like she was including her family in this joyous occasion. That the fighting between the clans had finally ceased. At least between her Hawthorn family and the MacNeills. The Kilpatricks and McKinleys were another story.
His mother nodded. “We will have to ask his lairdship if he approves, but I will put in a good word for you.” She smiled and looked at Julia.
Julia sighed. “I will attempt to convince Ian that you have your heart set on it.”
Calla smiled brightly, and Elaine didn’t think anything was too daunting for the woman when it came to setting up celebrations. “It’s a brilliant idea. Not unlike weddings held where the bride and groom stand in the waves at a beach or skydive into matrimony or scuba dive with their friends. They share in the history of a place.”
“But you’ve never shared anything with Cearnach at Senton Castle,” Cearnach’s Aunt Agnes said. “You’ve never been there with your famil
y. I don’t see why we have to go to the ruins, truly.”
“Cearnach and I did spend time there,” Elaine said, recalling fondly how they’d visited the ruins like two lupus garous on a date. Their first. The way his hand had held hers, keeping her from slipping on the wet, mossy stones. The way he hadn’t wanted to release her even after she was safely inside the inner bailey. The way he’d smiled at her when she’d raced all over the castle as a wolf. “Have you ever entered a home and felt as if you were welcome and that you weren’t just a visitor? That something about the place made you feel good, joyful, at home?”
Shelley and Julia nodded. Cearnach’s mother and aunt had probably never considered going anywhere other than their home at Argent Castle so no place else would feel like home.
Elaine shook her head. “I don’t know how to explain it, but when I was there, I felt as though I’d been there before. I didn’t see it as a place of ruin, but a place where once my people lived, broke bread, laughed, worshipped, worked, fought, and played. My parents were even wed in that kirk. They loved one another until the day they died. That’s where I want to marry Cearnach.”
Cearnach’s mother quickly brushed away tears. “Something in my eye. Blasted dust,” she said.
Julia tried to fight a smile. So did Shelley.
Calla didn’t bother. Aunt Agnes’s face reddened a little as if she was embarrassed for her sister by marriage.
***
On the day of the wedding, the sun was poking out of the light, fluffy clouds. Elaine knew it was going to be a grand day as Ian walked her down the aisle of the kirk, sunlight reflecting off the stained glass of the vases holding lavender flowers. The colorful flickering lights shimmered in the medieval gray stone building, like tiny winged fairies of some Celtic myth or legend.
The men all wore their kilts and Prince Charlie jackets, belted swords at their waists, dirks in their hose. The women wore long plaid gowns, mostly of the green and blue plaid and yellow of the MacNeills, while Elaine wore the McKinley plaid, predominantly green and blue and red, since the Hawthorn didn’t have their own sett and had been allied with the rest of their McKinley kin over the years.
