Highland Shifters: A Paranormal Romance Boxed Set

by Unknown

  However, she was anxious to return to Vollstadt and work on the translations. The sun had already passed its zenith in the sky, and she still needed to be sure she had time to perform the second of her three-day ritual and be back in time for when Broderick came to call.

  She gathered the ingredients detailed in the recipe and placed them and the parchment in her basket and trekked toward Vollstadt. With no one she knew passing her on the road to give her a ride, she entered the bustling village a little more than an hour later. After arriving at The Red Stag, she traipsed up the stairs to Thomas’s room and rapped on the door.

  He greeted her with a charming smile framed by his neatly trimmed facial hair and leaned his large frame against the doorjamb. His thick raven hair seemed a bit unruly. “I was worried you weren’t coming back. What a pleasure to see you again, fräulein.” His voice matched his appearance—rough and roguishly handsome.

  She nodded, trying to ignore the quivering in her belly, and waited for him to step back from the door so she could enter. He maintained his cocky demeanor, his eyes openly assessing her as they did yesterday. Comely, but arrogant. She cleared her throat. “May I come in, Herr Carr?”

  He pushed the door open with his finger, but didn’t budge from his spot. Mischief frolicked in his gaze.

  The insufferable flirt wants me to squeeze by him. Monika shoved Thomas aside with an open palm to his chest and his laughter followed behind her. The resounding thud of the door stiffened her spine. She wheeled around and planted her basket on the desk against the wall.

  Drawing a steadying breath and releasing, she then allowed a half-smile. “Let us get to business, shall we?”

  Thomas nodded and crossed his arms, that charming grin still curving his lips.

  “I’ve done a little studying of the notes and the recipe for the ward,” she explained. “As you read yesterday, my mother chose four herbs that have the properties of the four elements. They work together to ward a person from a werewolf and prevent the one cursed from transforming in their presence. However, as we also read, the herbs will kill the one cursed if they wear the ward.

  “The only thing I can deduce at this point is my mother was using the combination of the herbs and elements toward purging the werewolf condition. I noticed four properties in the herbs selected for the recipe: protection, exorcism, hex-breaking and purification.” Monika bit her lower lip in thought. “She may have been trying to protect the one cursed from the werewolf condition,” she mused, then shrugged. “I won’t know until I translate more of the text.” Tossing back the cloth covering her basket, she removed the wrapped bundles of herbs she’d gathered. “The ingredients for the recipe, as you requested.”

  “Much obliged.” He examined the wrapped plants. “And which one is which?”

  She laid them on the center table and described their contents, then laid the scrap of parchment with the recipe onto the table. “I don’t need to tell you to be careful with the wolfsbane, but the other herbs are harmless.”

  He smirked and leaned close to her. “I’m flattered you’re so concerned with my well-being.” His gravelly voice was low and seductive.

  She crossed her arms. “Don’t be, Herr Carr. I’m a healer, remember? My concern extends to everyone I help.”

  He chuckled. “Then I won’t keep you from your task.” Thomas gathered his satchel and strode toward the door. “It is later in the day, so unfortunately I won’t be gone but a few hours. I’ll return early enough before sunset to pay you before I lock myself up for the evening.” That roguish grin appeared and his eyes raked over her body. Monika frowned. Thomas winked, dipped his head in farewell and left the room.

  “Impossible man.” She huffed and sat at the desk where the book awaited her. Her anger easily dissipated once she lost herself in the pages of her mother’s script. Due to the limited amount of time, she focused on finding the notes regarding the werewolf curse and wrote as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, Thomas returned in no time.

  “And how did milady fare with her transcriptions today?”

  “Unfortunately, I didn’t make as much progress as I would have liked.” She stood and sighed, flipping through the loose papers to organize them.

  “Then I am very fortunate I will have the pleasure of your company for another day.”

  His deep, throaty voice sent flutters through her stomach and she repressed a grin, thankful her back was to him. He most certainly doesn’t need any more encouragement to be a rogue. “Well, I can see why Marcus may have been a little frustrated by the process.” She gathered the last of the papers and stacked them neatly beside the book, then faced Thomas. “My mother had tried various concoctions with wolfsbane, from weak to strong, and had Marcus ingest them.”

  Thomas cringed. “That must have been very painful.” The muscles at his jaw ticked.

  “Yes, and she quickly stopped those experiments because of his discomfort.”

  “I wonder how quickly, though.”

  His steel gray eyes pierced her across the room and icy prickles danced up her spine. “I’m sure my mother wouldn’t have condoned torture as a means to an end, Herr Carr.”

  His gaze softened. “Of course not. I can just imagine the pain he must have endured, perhaps even resisted showing some of the discomfort to obtain the cure. He seemed very desperate when I met him.”

  “Your accounts certainly lead me to the same conclusion.” Twisting around to the desk again, she thumbed through the pages. “Sadly, the cure for the curse might actually be death, but only because the werewolf is still mortal and not invincible. The wolfsbane drains him of his regenerative abilities, so he is unable to withstand the effects of the poison. Mayhap she meant these other ingredients to separate the cursed from the condition but didn’t have a way to heal him.” When she turned around, she recoiled from his nearness and dropped the paper she’d found. She had been so invested in searching, she hadn’t noticed him crossing the room to stand right behind her. With the desk now at her back, she had nowhere to retreat, but stood her ground, jutting her chin forward.

  He nodded and raised his brows. “I think you’re on to something, my dear.” Thomas unfurled a rakish grin and caressed her cheek with his thumb. “Your eyes hold a lovely radiance as you unravel this mystery. Do you have any idea how irresistible it makes you?”

  Monika pushed Thomas aside and stepped away, but he gripped her arm, drawing her shoulder against his chest.

  “You can stop pretending there is nothing between us, Monika.” Though he whispered, his words rasped with a harsh edge. “I can smell your desire.”

  “I’m afraid you misunderstand, Herr Carr.” She tried to tug free, but he maintained his hold. She narrowed her eyes and used a clear level voice to convey her intentions. “I don’t know what you think you smell, but desire is certainly not what I feel for you. Need I remind you I hold a certain loathing for what you are? A werewolf destroyed my family. I am hardly eager to jump into bed with one.”

  “I guess I do need to remind you,” he responded with the same clear voice, “that I have the book.”

  “I’ve made myself very clear my services in the healing arts are for sale, not I. I’m sure the innkeeper can find you a willing woman.” She wrenched her arm from his grasp and backed away. “Use your gold for that.”

  Thomas glared at her for several moments, tension building between them. But he dragged in a deep breath, his eyes softened and he dropped his gaze. “Please forgive me,” he offered, his voice abrasive. “It’s in the nature of a wolf to claim what he wants, especially a mate.” He walked to his satchel on the table, produced a gold coin and tossed it onto the desk beside her basket. “You’ve done well. Your pay, as promised. I’m sure you can show yourself out.” He turned his back to her.

  Monika snatched her basket, the gold and the papers and hurried from the room. Racing down the stairs, she marched through the tavern area of the inn, but slammed into a wiry frame. She nearly toppled backward if it wa
sn’t for the bony hands that seized her shoulders and held her steady. Her basket, the gold coin and papers scattered to the wooden floor.

  “Hey, now sweetheart.” The innkeeper set her to rights and chuckled. “Got paid for your services and running out to the door to your next client?”

  Monika’s face burned with humiliation as the witnessing patrons chuckled at his obvious implications. There was no use in arguing. The first moment he saw her, this man had made up his mind about what she was. She dropped to her knees to collect her items.

  “Right here in the tavern, love?” He roared with laughter and the others joined in a chorus of mockery. “You don’t waste time, do you?”

  Her fingers fumbled and dropped everything she tried to pick up, her tears blurring whatever her hands scrambled to grasp.

  “Here, let me help you.” The innkeeper crouched beside her, but made no move to assist. Instead, he watched her with amusement on his smug face.

  She snatched her gold piece and shoved it into her bodice.

  “Oh, and you were paid well. You must be better than I thought. If you conduct business here, I expect a piece of the profits.” The innkeeper reached forward and caressed her cleavage.

  Monika gasped and cracked her palm against the side of his face. She grunted when he seized her wrist and they both glared at each other.

  “Come on, Otto,” one of the patrons complained. “She ain’t—”

  “That’s enough!” Jason Kiefer, the young man Monika met the day before, grabbed the innkeeper and yanked him to his feet. He was fairly tall to begin with, but the wide-brimmed hat on his head added to his height and his breadth was definitely no match for the lanky man in his grasp.

  Otto cocked his fist back and grabbed Jason’s shirt in the other hand. “Watch it, boy! I’ll—”

  Jason shoved him backward with such force, the innkeeper toppled over table and chairs. “You’ll keep your hands off her, is what you’ll do.”

  Otto scrambled to his feet and cast a chair aside, stomping toward Jason, who curled his arms, readying his fists for a fight. The two men glared at each other, Otto breathing heavy but with doubt tempering the anger in his eyes. He snarled down at Monika before he glanced around the room. “She wouldn’t survive a tumble with me anyhow.” The patrons laughed and he stalked off toward the bar.

  Monika finished snatching up her papers and basket and scampered outside onto High Street without a backward glance. Jason was close on her heels. The warm breeze greeting her face chilled the tears streaming down her cheeks.

  “Fräulein, wait!” Jason grabbed her arm. “Are you all right? Did he hurt you?”

  “No, I’m unharmed.” She paced, fighting the tears that demanded an audience.

  “Aren’t you even going to thank me?” Jason crossed his arms and frowned.

  She hitched her breath and clenched her fists. “Thank you? I appreciate you coming to my aid, but in all honesty I am very suspicious of your intentions.”

  “What do you mean? A man comes to the aid of a woman in trouble and is questioned?”

  “Forgive my distrust,” she snapped. “But your presence was very timely. As if you were lying in wait.”

  Jason’s face flushed crimson and his mouth opened. Bowing his head, he nodded. “Actually, I was waiting for you. You see, I’m an apprentice at the barrel shop.” He pointed to the said shop across from the inn. “I saw you when you entered the inn. You’re so beautiful. I just had to meet you, so I ran after you to say hello, but you had already gone upstairs to see your…client.” He avoided her gaze and kicked at a stone on the ground. “I decided to wait for you.” Extending his hand, he said, “I’m Jason Kiefer.”

  Had to meet me? He wasn’t making any sense as they’d met the day before. “I was in there for hours. You waited the entire time?”

  “Oh, well, I couldn’t wait the entire time, so I kept checking back…often.” He shrugged. “Just when I was about to give up, I checked one last time and saw the innkeeper grab your wrist.”

  She tapped her toe and regarded his hazel-gold eyes, then heaved a sigh. “Thank you for coming to my aid.”

  A smile brightened his face. “Shall I walk you home?”

  Monika felt nothing for this young man—in fact, she begrudged all men at this moment, save one particular Scotsman—so she didn’t want to lead him into believing she had any interest. She glanced away, trying to think of a nice way of telling him no, when she spied the innkeeper glaring at her from the behind the inn. She snapped her gaze back to Jason. “Yes, thank you. I think I would feel safer if you escorted me home.”

  Jason proffered his arm and she reluctantly accepted. Once they were far enough from Vollstadt, she would have to disappoint him further down the road. She hoped the innkeeper wouldn’t give chase if he saw Jason return to the village without her.

  The sun hung low in the sky, so she picked up her pace.

  “Don’t you want to enjoy a nice stroll? And by the way, you didn’t tell me your name.” He took longer strides to keep up with her.

  She stopped and faced him, frowning. “Do you not remember meeting me yesterday?”

  “Oh, I would remember meeting you. You’re too beautiful to forget.”

  Monika raised her brows. The man has lost his wits. I most certainly should stay clear of him. “Um…Monika Konrad. Actually, I still have plenty of work to finish before I lose the daylight. You said you worked at the barrel shop as an apprentice?”

  “Yes! I’ve just begun. I moved to Vollstadt only seven months ago. The owner of the shop is my uncle.” Jason rattled on and on about how his father was a farmer and how little that interested him. Monika smiled and nodded as he droned on about working with his hands and what skills were required to make barrels and what barrels were used for and how versatile they were and so forth and so on. He was so involved in talking about his learned profession that he didn’t seem to notice her checking over her shoulder. Nor did he notice the innkeeper had followed them for almost a mile before he finally turned around and went back to Vollstadt.

  She didn’t want poor Jason to have another unnecessary altercation with Otto, so she allowed him to walk her to her cottage. She surmised the distance would give Jason enough time to return to his shop without encountering the innkeeper.

  “Thank you very much for walking me home. I feel safer already.” She grinned and reached for the handle of the door.

  “Will you return to Vollstadt on the morrow? To see your client?” His eyes were full of hope.

  The poor young man just wasn’t a good match, though he certainly was trying very hard to be so. “Herr Kiefer, I don’t—”

  “I understand.” A sheepish grin dulled the sparkle in his eyes. “It’s too soon to be making any commitments. I hope to see you again, though. I’ll be watching.”

  Irma waddled toward them from across the courtyard, a raised eyebrow. She had a knowing grin.

  “Thank you again. Good day.” Monika opened her cottage door and stepped inside while Jason departed.

  Irma followed Monika into the cottage and closed the door behind her. “And just who was that?”

  Monika groaned and put her basket on the table, flopping into a chair. “Oh some young man who seems to fancy me very much, but whom I have no interest in at all.”

  Irma joined Monika at the table, easing into a chair. “Why not?”

  “For one, he tries too hard, and two, we met yesterday and he completely forgot. Three, he’s more interested in himself and what he wants versus being aware of my needs.”

  “Ah, now I understand why you are still not wed.” Irma’s firm-set mouth and sharp eyes appeared as if she’d just solved the mystery of the world.

  “Pray, tell me your wisdom on this topic.” Monika pursed her lips and crossed her arms.

  “You expect too much of men.” She leaned forward with emphasis. “Do you honestly think any man is aware of what a woman wants? What she needs? ’Tis the greatest mystery of the ag
es for all men. They will never understand us, nor will we understand them.”

  Monika laughed. “Perhaps you are correct.”

  “And this means you have two men who are now courting your favor.”

  “Actually, three.” She glowered and shared with Irma about Thomas’s overt advances, but left out the werewolf information. “I am there to write healing remedies for his ailing father,” she lied. “And he thinks he can take liberties with me.” She shuddered. “You’re correct. Men only think of their own needs.” However, Broderick came to mind and the anger melted from her body.

  “Wait…what is that?”

  Monika’s brows rose. “What is what?”

  “Your entire mood just changed. You had that same look on your face this morning at the well.” Irma gasped and tapped Monika’s hand. “The merchant! You just thought of that handsome Scotsman, didn’t you?”

  Monika suppressed a smile. “He might be the one man in this world who does anticipate my needs. You should have seen him last night, how he helped me with the fire in the kitchen house and handled the hot cauldron for me.”

  “Why were you in the kitchen house? Edda told me you were making him some kind of infusion. Could you not have made that here?”

  “He refused to compromise my reputation and go into my house alone with me.” She grinned with pride. “He was a complete gentleman and treated me like a high-born lady, I tell you.”

  Irma’s eyes grew wide. “How delightful! That is rare indeed. You hold on to that one, birdie.” She leaned on the table to rise, but Monika waved her to sit back down.

  “Let me see how you fare.” Monika probed Irma’s belly, pushing and pressing, nodding her head and smiling. “He’s in the right position. I wouldn’t be surprised if you birthed in the next day or so.” She helped Irma out of the chair and planted a kiss on her cheek.

  Irma glanced through the shutters. “I have a few chores before I lose the daylight.”