Highland Shifters: A Paranormal Romance Boxed Set

by Unknown

  “You look like you’re in the mood to talk,” he said.

  “It’s been a long time since I’ve spoken to anyone. I don’t usually bother, but there’s something about you, Rafael. Maybe it’s just having her scent in my lungs that’s making me do it, but I can’t help but reminisce.”

  “Well, the bar is closed so you’ve got all night,” he said, smiling.

  “I’ve wandered a lot these many years and I’ve learned how to change my language and appearance to fit in. I’ve never told anyone my story before, but for your benefit, I will tell it to you in your modern English.”

  “Thank you,” he said, pulling up a stool and taking a seat. “I’d be honored to hear it.”

  I gave him a nod, appreciating the respect of someone so young. It was something I didn’t often find these days.

  “My story starts a very long time ago in a magical place, the Highlands, my home...”

  Chapter Two

  Bran

  Mid-1500s, Scotland

  The sun rose over the deep green hills. Morning was my favorite time of day, and I rarely missed the sunrise. Those few minutes to myself before our clan rose was enough to make my day great. The only thing that made a day perfect was spending time with my love, Ainsley.

  Ainsley had the fairest skin and green eyes that rivaled the hills of our home. Her dark red hair flowed down past her shoulders and was as wild as she was.

  The first time I saw Ainsley, she was climbing a sea stack near Handa. She couldn’t have been more than ten at the time. I was twelve and hunting with my father when I noticed her red hair waving like a flag in the breeze. But her hair wasn’t what first caught my attention, it was her scent.

  ***

  I was in the field, with my arrow tracking a red stag. My father was somewhere nearby. We didn’t hunt for food. That was something the clan provided for my father, who was the clan chief. We hunted for sport.

  The deer was in a perfect spot. I could lie down in the high fields and creep closer towards the unsuspecting animal. I was moving just a little closer, to guarantee a hit, when my head began to spin.

  “Aye, come on, lad,” my father whispered. “You’re about to lose that stag.”

  I tried to focus once more on the large animal in front of me, but it was useless. Something was calling me, tugging at me to pay attention. I popped my head up out of the grass, scaring the deer, which froze before it darted away.

  I didn’t care about the deer. My mind was focused on something else, the call only I could hear. I looked down the cliff with its heather towards the sea stacks of Handa, and the scent of raspberries overwhelmed me.

  In the distance, I noticed something red waving on the side of one of the sea stacks. It was a wisp of a girl, but she was climbing the sea stack with a confidence I had only seen in grown men.

  “Oh no, you don’t, Bran,” my father said. “I know that look. Don’t tell me it’s that Drummond girl. She doesn’t wear our colors.”

  I turned towards my father and met his disapproving stare.

  “Drummond? You know her?”

  “Aye, that’s Ainsley Drummond. Her father wasn’t lucky enough to have a son, so he raised her as one.”

  “Is that her? The raspberries? She’s so far away, how is it that I’ve caught her scent?”

  “I don’t know, lad. But forget about it. There will be plenty of others once you’re of age. Forget you ever saw her.”

  “I don’t know that I can,” I said as I looked back towards her.

  “You’re just children, and she is the daughter of our clan’s foe. I’m ordering you to forget about her. She is not and will never be your mate!”

  ***

  I was too young to understand what a mate was back then, and I didn’t care to find out. My father had made it clear I was to have nothing to do with her, but I couldn’t stop thinking about the strange girl climbing the sea stacks.

  Chapter Three

  Bran

  It had been nearly ten years since I first encountered Ainsley Drummond, and not a day passed that I didn’t think about her. I regularly hunted or went for walks near the cliffs by Handa with the hopes of seeing her climbing the sea stack again, but it never happened.

  One day while sitting on a large stone looking out towards the sea, Donal joined me with his flock of sheep. It was something he did every so often when he thought I was becoming too quiet. Donal didn’t appreciate the need for a man to be alone with his thoughts.

  “A group of us are going hunting at sundown,” he said. “It should be safe, no one has heard of any planned wolf hunts tonight.”

  The wolves began to make themselves known as more villages appeared in the Highlands. The townspeople were afraid of the wolves and believed they were digging up their graves and causing mischief, but their real fear was losing their animals to the hungry wolves. As the wolves became more of a problem, James VI sanctioned several hunts throughout the year.

  No one knew we existed in the Highlands as shifters. There were tales of other shifters occupying the area, but those were more fantastical creatures such as dragons and sea creatures, or that thing that lived in the loch. When humans saw a wolf, they never suspected that it could be one of us.

  “I’ll join you,” I said. “I could use some air, and a hunt will do me good.”

  “We’ll be meeting in the fields outside your home, just before the Caledonian Forest.”

  After Donal left, I gathered my things and returned to our village. As the sun lowered itself on the horizon, I saw several others from our village already in wolf form, ready to join the hunt. Undressing, I left my clothes on the cot and slowly let myself feel the change take over my body.

  Fur sprouted along my arms, up over my chest, and then continued down the length of my body. My ears shifted up along my scalp before they lengthened and stood. As my nose and mouth began to change, growing and filling with teeth, I sped the process up and let the wolf take over.

  Joining the others, we walked as a pack along the pathway from the village towards the forest. Many of the others hunted regularly, but I only did it for exercise.

  The Caledonian Forest was filled with ancient pine trees. With the sun setting, our hunt wouldn’t last long. The ground was steep and rocky and at night, when we couldn’t see our footing as well, it could be dangerous. Still, as wolves, that was part of the fun.

  As we entered the woods, I let the others race ahead of me and enjoyed the feel of the earth beneath my paws. A rabbit peeked out from under some brush, and I pounced to make it run.

  The rabbit was quick and ducked behind a tree, thinking it was out of my sight. I had no interest in capturing it, but I wanted the rush of a chase. Crouching low, I carefully stepped around the wide tree trunk when a familiar scent stopped me.

  It was her! The girl I saw all those years ago climbing the sea stack. Putting my snout to the wind, I took in several short sniffs, and scent of raspberries surrounded me. This wasn’t my imagination playing tricks on me, this was for real.

  Stepping over the frightened rabbit, I followed the scent through the woods. I was in an unfamiliar area when I saw her. She was a female wolf with silver fur unlike any I had ever seen before. She was crouched down, ready to pounce, with her eyes focused in front of her.

  Following her gaze, I noticed a deer in the clearing just ahead. I was so taken by her scent and the beauty of her fur that I didn’t watch my step. As I put my weight onto one of my paws, the loud snap of a branch echoed through the trees, startling the deer, causing it to run away.

  With bright amber eyes, the wolf turned and looked at me angrily with her teeth bared. She changed into her human form, her dark green eyes narrowed at me, her jaw clenched. She was naked but didn’t seem to care.

  My eyes roamed her lush, ample body. I longed to touch the softness of her skin, to feel the curves of her body pressed against me. I wanted to bury my face in her dark red hair and taste her neck. But now wasn’t the time for tha
t.

  As she charged towards me, her eyes flashed angrily again. Unsure what to expect from her, I changed into human form.

  “Do you have any idea how long I tracked that deer? It’s my father’s birthday tomorrow and that was going to be dinner. You owe me a deer,” she said as she poked me hard in the chest.

  I was speechless. No one had ever spoken to me that way before, let alone a woman.

  She poked my chest again, this time a little slower, then moved her hand over my pecs and up to my shoulder. She tilted her head to the side as her eyes traveled down my body then back up.

  “Hmm, you’re strong, and you’re much larger than me. I’m sure you’ll have no problem getting me a deer,” she said before she turned around.

  “I’m not killing a deer,” I said.

  “Why not? It’s your fault it ran away. It was meant to be a present for my father. Now what am I going to give him?”

  “You can find something else to eat.”

  “I don’t want anything else to eat. Like I told you, it was for my father’s birthday, and he deserves something special.”

  Thinking about the young girl climbing the sea stack and now the woman hunting game for her father, I had to smile. She was far from that young girl now with her womanly figure and full bosom. I forced my eyes away from her body and settled on her face. She folded her arms over her chest, and her eyes narrowed at me again.

  “You think I’m funny because I’m a woman, don’t you?”

  “No, not at all. I was just thinking, remembering something. I’ve seen you before. It was many years ago. You were climbing in Handa.”

  “Aha! I knew I recognized your scent,” she said. “That was the last time I was there. My father forbade me to return. He said it was too dangerous, but I just wanted to visit my mother’s grave.”

  She looked down and then turned back towards where she was watching the deer.

  I thought about how fate worked in such mysterious ways that it introduced me to her so many years ago and then brought her back into my life again. I wasn’t going to risk another ten years of not finding her again.

  “I returned to those cliffs hoping to see you again.”

  “Why?” she asked. “You’ve never seen a girl climb a sea stack before?”

  “It has nothing to do with that. I think I returned for the same reason I found you now. We’re meant to be together. I can feel it. Every part of me says you belong to me.”

  She turned and looked at me for a moment then back towards the clearing.

  “I’m not a chattel. I don’t belong to anyone.”

  “I didn’t mean it like that,” I said.

  “Shh! There he is. I knew he’d be back,” she said as she flashed me a grin with her glowing amber eyes.

  “Wait,” I said. “Will you tell me your name?”

  “Ainsley Drummond. And you’re Bran MacCulloch.”

  She changed into her wolf form and leapt towards the deer. The deer bounced out of the clearing and back into the woods, but Ainsley didn’t follow it. Instead, she turned back towards me and then left in the other direction.

  I turned and walked back towards the area my clan was hunting in. Imagining the feel of her hand on my chest, I stayed in human form. I didn’t want to forget her warmth.

  A familiar wolf loped closer to where I was standing. “You met someone, didn’t you?” Donal said as he changed into his human form.

  “She’s remarkable,” I said. “She’s even a hunter.”

  “Aye, the Drummond girl,” Donal said.

  “You know her?” I asked.

  “Of course. She’s the only lass who enters these parts of the woods.”

  “She hunts like a man,” I said, looking towards the direction of the deer.

  “She’s named for a man, too. I heard her father was hoping for a son and when he didn’t get one, he raised one anyway.”

  “I saw her long ago, at Handa, and never forgot about her. Her soul speaks to mine.”

  “You must be drunk,” he said as he clapped his hand on my shoulder with a laugh. “Besides, she knows better than to mingle with the likes of us. Her father is clan chief, and he’d never allow it.”

  “Just as my father wouldn’t,” I said. “Our clans are apparently old foes.”

  ***

  Later that night after tossing and turning in my cot, I looked out the small window of my family’s cottage. The night was clear but moonless, making it seem darker than it should have been.

  I couldn’t sleep. The only thing I was capable of doing was thinking about her. Ainsley Drummond. I wasn’t going to wait any longer to see her again.

  Stepping out into the cool air, I changed into my wolf. My village was asleep as I knew hers would be, too. A run would help clear my mind and bring me closer to her.

  Chapter Four

  Ainsley

  The sound of a howling wolf woke me from my sleep. I let my eyes adjust to the dark and waited. I knew the wolf would howl again. It was Bran. I couldn’t explain how I knew, I just did.

  Glancing across the room to where my father lay, I listened for the steady breath of sleep. I got out of bed in my long white kirtle and stood in front of the window, trying to spot him on the horizon. Was he out there? Or was I dreaming?

  I was about to give up and return to bed when a howl broke the silence. I turned around and checked on my father, who was still deeply asleep. I could probably leave our cottage and he would never know I was gone.

  Opening the large wooden door of our home, I stepped outside and quickly closed the door behind me, not wanting the cool air to wake my father. Stepping towards the shed where I had hidden my clothes plenty of times before, I was ready to change into my wolf form when I caught his scent.

  I closed my eyes as I let his familiar scent surround me. It strengthened, and I knew he had changed to human form. I waited, listening for his bare feet, which hardly made a sound as he came up behind me.

  I would never admit it to him, but I remembered him from that day long ago, too. I spotted him with his father all those years ago. He was the reason I never returned to my mother’s grave since. My father wouldn’t let me.

  “Come with me,” Bran whispered, his warm breath against my neck sending chills through my body.

  He picked me up, cradling me in his arms, and my arms went around his strong shoulders. I grinned at him as I remembered touching him in the forest earlier and how badly I wanted him then.

  “The barn,” I said as I pointed to the slouching wooden structure. “There’s a blanket in there I sometimes nap on.”

  We entered the barn and without putting me down, I grabbed an oil lamp and he walked to the far corner of the barn where none of the animals went. My wool blanket was still spread over the ground.

  He set me on the ground gently, then turned on the oil lamp. It was dim enough that anyone outside wouldn’t notice a light on in the barn. He knelt in front of me on the blanket and I got on my knees to face him.

  His body was chiseled and muscular with some dark hair on his chest. I reached up and pushed his wavy dark hair back, and our eyes met.

  Bran’s eyes were a pale grey that reminded me of storm clouds, but it gave me nothing but comfort. As I lost myself in his gaze, he smiled and softly touched my cheek.

  “I’ve dreamt about you my entire life,” he said.

  He dipped his face down to mine, and his full lips closed over my mouth. His hands cupped my face as his tongue slipped between my lips.

  The kiss made me dizzy. I moved my hands behind his neck to keep my balance. I didn’t want him to stop, but he pulled away. With his forehead against mine, he looked deep into my eyes.

  “Say something, Ainsley,” he said. “Anything. Tell me you feel the same, tell me you hate me. I just need to hear your voice.”

  “I hate you,” I said as I pulled off my kirtle. “I hate you for taking so long to find me.”

  Moving his arm behind my head, we laid down on th
e blanket. My head nestled on his shoulder as his arm curved down along my back and held me tightly against his body. I had never felt so secure before.

  His lips met mine again and the barn vanished. It didn’t matter where I was, I was with him. He pulled me closer to him, pressing my breasts against his chest. I held onto him tightly, wanting to feel as much of him against me as I could.

  Releasing me a bit, his lips traveled to my neck and shivers ran through my body. As he kissed my neck, his hand moved down my side to my hip and he pulled my hips closer to his, letting me feel his hardness pressed against me. His hand slid further down over my thigh until his fingers clasped me tightly and he pulled my leg up towards his hip.

  His lips came back to mine and I ran my palm along the rough stubble of his chin. Bran pulled back and our eyes met again. He pushed back my long hair from my face and then traced my face with his fingertips.

  “I know it sounds crazy, Ainsley, and I know you don’t know me, but know that I will never hurt you. You are the other part of me and without you, I’m nothing.”

  “I do know you,” I said. “I’ve always known you. You are my mate, my one love. Fate brought us together and nothing will ever come between us.”

  Chapter Five

  Bran

  Present Day, Leeds Point

  “Bran? You okay?” Rafael asked, his voice full of concern.

  I blinked and focused on the man in front of me. It was disappointing to not still be in that barn all those years ago.

  “I’m sorry, I was just thinking about her,” I said.

  “I was wondering where you went. What happened when you went to her that night?”

  My memories filled me once more, but I was too much of a gentleman to tell anyone those details. I smiled at my new friend, and he laughed and nodded as he filled a frosted mug with more beer.