Craved By The Highland Wolf (The Clan MacGregor Book 3)
Page 7
He nodded weakly while I pressed a cloth to his face, finally able to dab him dry. Then I turned to the next man in need and settled in to see what I could do to ease his pain.
We worked steadily through the night, trying hard to ignore the clanging sounds of fighting outside. I wanted to go to the window, to look outside and see how we were faring. But whenever I thought I had a spare moment, the doors to the church would burst open and another poor soul would be brought inside in urgent need of our care. The world outside felt like a dream. Something real and yet not quite real, as though if I were to reach out and touch it my fingers would slip right through it without connecting.
Suddenly, I could smell the faint scent of smoke and out of the corner of my eye I could see a faint red glow outside. “Oh my God!” I ran to the window and looked outside.
I cried out at the sight, my hands flying to my mouth in horror. The buildings outside were ablaze. The Campbells had set the village on fire. It wasn’t enough for them to kill us all; they wanted to erase any sign of us from the earth, to destroy the very memory of us.
Rage tore through me as I watched the scene outside. Men, women and wolves were fighting side by side, pushing the swarming group of Campbell men back from the church.
I looked around the church, at the women running back and forth administering what aid they could as Father MacGregor walked slowly up and down the rows of the dying, administering the last rites to those we had been unable to heal.
I looked down at the blood on my hands and then back out the window just in time to watch another of my clansmen fall to the ground, as a Campbell dressed all in black plaid ran him through with a sword.
I shook with fury and spun from the scene, marching toward the door of the church, tearing off my gown as I went. I stood before the doors clad only in my shift, then threw the doors open wide. I shrugged my shoulders and the shift fell to the floor. I heard gasps behind me as I stood naked in the church doorway, focused on the change.
“Lady MacGregor!” Mrs. Fletcher cried out. “You mustn’t!”
I looked back over my shoulder at her, feeling the warmth from the fires of my burning town caressing my skin. I said nothing, but she understood. She would be unable to stop me.
I ran forward out of the church in a burst of speed, and felt the muscles and bones in my body shifting and realigning as I ran. I barely registered the looks of shock on people’s faces as I ran naked past them before I lunged, completing my shift into wolf form.
I came down on top of a Campbell, knocking him down into the street, ignoring his screams as he threw his hands up to protect his face before I killed him.
I threw back my head and howled into the night, rallying the other wolves around me. Together we regrouped and began forcing the Campbells back, working in tandem to surround and decimate them in groups of three or four at a time.
The Campbells were one of the largest clans in the highlands, and Robert Campbell had enlisted more men to Allina’s cause than we could have imagined. There was no telling the amount of damage they had done to the other towns. It they had used this kind of force to sweep across the rest of the lands, the farms and croftings were surely decimated.
Fuelled by sorrow and rage, I threw myself into the fray, killing blindly and letting my animal nature overtake me. Buoyed by the sight of me in my giant wolf form, my pure white coat almost glowing in the moonlight and streaked through with Campbell blood, the MacGregors gathered their strength and pressed on. Soon we had the last of the Campbells on the run and we split up to hunt them down before they could escape.
I turned the corner between two houses and found myself surrounded by a group of Campbells.
I lowered my head and growled, trying to back away slowly. They pressed forward with their swords drawn as I looked for an opening to attack. I had to be careful, not just of the sharpness of their blades but of being touched by them at all. They had come well prepared to destroy us thanks to Allina’s treachery. All of their weapons had been coated in pure silver. Even a touch from the flat of their blades would burn.
I turned and ran, drawing them from the alley to more open space where I would not be so easily trapped. I moved quickly to take out the first man while the others encircled me. I howled in pain as my flesh burned when one of their blades sliced through my shoulder. Turning, I lunged at my attacker, throwing him against the wall of the nearest building, where he crumpled to the ground and collapsed.
The Campbells surrounded me and pressed me back, trying to block me in against the building behind me. Suddenly a brown wolf came out of nowhere and tore through the men. They screamed and tried to scatter but we ran them down and finished them off together.
I turned to look at the brown wolf, gratitude flowing through me.
“Lady MacGregor.” Graham’s voice floated through my head.
“Graham. Thank you.” I projected the thought into his head, communicating with him silently.
I had been wrong all along. Graham really was trustworthy. I felt a pang of guilt about how hard I had been on him, but it had felt necessary at the time. When I looked at him I could see that he would not hold it against me in the future.
“We have gathered all of the survivors that we could. We have to leave this place. More Campbells are already on their way.”
“There can’t possible be more!”
“Word has arrived that Allina has married Robert Campbell. There will always be more.”
I cursed as I ran with him to where he and his men had gathered all of the survivors that they could find. I looked around and saw Donald and Gregory, Ian and Liam, but could not see Alastair anywhere.
I shifted back into human form and my shift and gown were quickly pressed into my hands. The clansmen averted their eyes to give me some privacy while I clothed myself. While nudity was fairly common among those who could shift, it did not change the fact that I was the wife of the clan chief.
“Where is Alastair?” I asked the men as I dressed. “Where is my husband?”
“We’ve not seen him in some time, Glenna,” said Donald. The worry was clear on his face. “We lost sight of him some time after the fighting broke out.”
“You mean he’s out there alone? We have to find him!” I demanded.
“There is no time,” said Donald, shaking his head. “We have to get these people to safety and we have to do it now. Alastair will be all right, lass. I promise ye he’ll find us.”
But I knew that Donald could promise me no such thing.
We led our people away from the town and up into the mountains as Fortingall burned at our backs. I couldn’t believe that we were being run from our homes. Not even the keep was safe. If Robert Campbell decided to alert the rest of the highland chiefs to our secret, the clans combined could easily surround our castle and tear it down brick by brick to get to us. We had no choice but to disappear.
We pressed on for hours up into the hills, with the bright glow of Fortinall behind us. When we felt that we had traveled far enough away to risk stopping to rest, I stood at the edge of the cliff and looked out across the long stretch of glen and forest below.
I focused on the bright ball of orange in the distance as the first streaks of daylight began to caress the sky.
My heart ached as I gently placed a hand low on my stomach. I had felt the truth of it in my shift, which would be my last for the next nine months. Now my body would be incapable of taking wolf form—nature’s way of protecting the life that was growing inside me.
CHAPTER 11
“My lady, my lady, come quickly!” Mrs. Fletcher cried as she shoved her head into my tent.
I wrapped my shawl tightly around my shoulders and hurried outside after her. Winter had come early that high in the mountains and I could already see my breath on the air. I moved carefully, with one hand on my belly. I was four months pregnant but some days I felt further along than that. The size of my stomach made me think that my child would easily grow to be as
large as his or her father.
At the thought of Alastair I doubled over in pain. My heart felt as though it was being squeezed inside my chest and tears burned at my eyes. Four months. Four long months of searching and praying and there had been no sign of him.
I walked through the camp, vaguely aware of the murmurs as I went, curious as to what had Mrs. Fletcher so excited. Then I froze in my spot, my body jerking as I stopped. I shook my head, unable to comprehend what my eyes were seeing.
Alastair strode forward through the camp with Graham at his side. Graham, who had been gone for days, weeks at a time, looking for him. Never giving up. After everything, Graham had been the one to bring him back to us.
I let out a sob and started running. Alerted by the sound, Alastair turned to me and let out a whoop as he ran to me. He grabbed me and swept me up into his arms, covering my face in kisses. His wild, unkempt beard scratched against my face.
“You’re here!” I gasped as I tried to kiss every inch of his face while he kissed mine. “You’re here, you’re here! He found you.” I burst into joyful tears and clung to him, shaking. The dam of sorrow that I had tried to keep under control broke and I sobbed into his neck as he held me.
“Not even God in heaven could keep us apart, my love. Is that not what I promised ye?” he whispered into my hair, his voice tight with emotion.
I nodded, laughing as I wiped away my tears. “Yes, yes, it is. You’re a man of your word, Alastair MacGregor. And for that I’ve a gift for you.”
I pulled back from him and placed his hand on the swell of my belly.
He looked down at my stomach and then up at my face in wonder. He opened his mouth to speak but closed it when nothing came out. Shaking his head in disbelief, he looked down at my stomach again, where his child was growing inside.
“Glenna. Glenna, you’re pregnant?”
“Yes,” I laughed, my shock at seeing him changing into pure joy.
“You’re going to have my child?” he asked again, as if unable to believe it.
“Yes!” I told him, laughing louder.
“You’re going to have my child!” he shouted.
He lifted me off the ground again and I let out a happy shriek. I threw my arms around him and kissed him deeply as our people cheered.
Over the months we had found hundreds of MacGregors and had brought them here to safety. We knew there were more out there, and with my husband safely home we would continue to look for them. We would survive and we would rebuild.
We would have our children, and in time they would grow. Together, we would regain what had been stolen from us. But for now we would bide our time, regather our strength and allow ourselves to fade into legend until the time was right. Gone, but never forgotten. Eventually, we would take back what was ours. But for now, we would become the wolves of the mist.
COMING SOON!
A new series involving members of the Clan MacGregor
Wolves of the Mist
OTHER BOOKS BY STEPHANIE MARKS
THE CLAN MACGREGOR SERIES
CLAIMED BY THE HIGHLAND WOLF
TAKEN BY THE HIGHLAND WOLF
SILVERLAKE CITY STORIES
HIDDEN FALLS
HUNTING CRIMSON
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