A Highland Werewolf Wedding (14 page)

“I take it your mother wants me out of here as quickly as she can manage.”

“Wine?” he asked, already pouring her a glass.

She accepted the glass and sighed before she took a sip. She knew she shouldn’t drink
anything after not having eaten for so long. With the meal, fine. Or after the meal.
Not before.

For the first time in a long time, though, she felt she needed the fortification,
wishing everything could be different between them.

Cearnach studied Elaine as she pressed her lips against the wineglass, recalling when
she was so young in St. Andrews. He wondered how innocent she’d truly been. Had she
known what her family had worked at? Where they had gotten their wealth?

Not caring what she’d known back then, he shook his head and lifted his glass of wine.
“My mother said she wanted me to mate with you.”

Elaine had just taken a sip of wine and choked on it. Sputtering and coughing, she
tried to catch her breath, her eyes tearing.

He patted her back, wishing he had waited until after she swallowed the mouthful of
wine before he made the comment.

She held up a hand, tears in her eyes, as she indicated she would be all right.

He still rubbed her back, craving the intimacy between them. She didn’t move away
and, in fact, leaned a little closer to him as if wanting more of his touch. He wanted
to give it. But they had to talk.

When she finally caught her breath, she hoarsely said, “You can’t be serious. She
hates me. From everything she said, her posture, all of it.”

“No, Elaine,” he said tenderly. “My mother can be hard to read. I believe she sees
in you something of herself. A fighter. Someone who would protect one of her own when
she had no stake in risking her own neck. She likes you. That’s saying something,
believe me.”

She gave a harsh laugh. “If the way she reacted to me indicates she likes me, I’d
hate to see her when she hated me.”

“She tests a wolf’s mettle. You have what it takes to impress her.”

She let out her breath softly. “I didn’t think she appreciated what I’d done—standing
up for you against Vardon.”

“Hmm, lass, enough to suggest I mate with you. She wouldn’t make a proposition like
that flippantly.”

Elaine laughed again, softer now, more amused than bitter. “Did she choose your brothers’
mates for them?”

“No.” He recalled how angry his mother had been when she learned Ian had taken Julia
as his mate but hadn’t bothered to consult her. When Shelley became Duncan’s, his
mother had actually been glad that the she-wolf had helped to recover their money,
so she was more than willing to open her home to her. Shelley’s Uncle Ethan was an
added benefit because Cearnach could see that his mother was becoming quite smitten
with the American.

“So why does she think she can decide who
you
mate?” Elaine asked.

“She thinks I’m in lust with you and that can turn into something deeper,” he boldly
said, watching her reaction. Elaine had to know how much he wanted her already, and
not just because of the way she heated his blood with sexual craving.

Her eyes sparkled in the soft lights, her mouth curving up. God, how he wanted to
cup her face in his hands and kiss her like they hadn’t a second to lose.

She finished her glass of wine and poured herself another. “So what has that to do
with anything? Lust is lust. It doesn’t necessarily lead to a long-term relationship.
Not between wolves who mate for life.”

He cocked a brow. “She believes that the feeling is mutual.” He knew the feeling was
mutual because Elaine’s pheromones told him so. Because of the way her heart raced
when he drew close to her. Because of how he felt the air sizzle with sexual tension
between them. Aye, the lass lusted for him as much as he did for her. There was no
denying it.

The glass of wine that Elaine was about to sip from stopped at her lips, and she studied
him before lowering it again and saying, “Okay, so if we’re being brutally honest
here, what is this really about?”

He admired her for her insight. He wasn’t about to hide the truth from Elaine. Best
to get it all out in the open. He leaned back on the pillows covering the couch, observing
her reaction to what he was about to say although he wanted to pull her close, kiss
her, forget talking, and get to more pleasurable business.

She sipped her wine, then set the glass down, pressed her back against the soft cushions,
and folded her arms, ready to hear the naked truth.

“The Hawthorn brothers…”

As soon as he mentioned them, she stiffened slightly. She was uncomfortable right
away. Her past had come back to haunt her.

“…stole the goods from three of our merchant ships. The word was that they hid the
goods somewhere in Scotland.”

Her lovely, dark brown eyes narrowed fractionally. Not enough that most would have
noticed, but a wary wolf would see the shift in her response.

“My mother wants us to become mates. I help you to locate the goods and you get to
keep them, but they stay in the family,” he said.

Elaine narrowed her eyes even further. “I see. You agreed to this scheme?” Her tone
was icy now.

He hated how he’d turned a blossoming friendship into something else. A business relationship
no longer in the least bit friendly.

“No. My mother dictates, but we do as we see fit,” Cearnach said easily.

She relaxed a little, but the hostility was still smoldering beneath the surface.
“Thank you, Cearnach, for being honest with me.”

“I wouldn’t want it any other way.”

“I didn’t know my uncles had stolen from your family before your mother told me. I’m
sorry for what… for what they did.”

“Aye. I doubted you knew much about any of their operations.”

“I didn’t.” She took a deep breath. “The truth is that once I learned the goods probably
belonged to your family, I would have given them back anyway.”

“Aye, lass,” he said, believing her even though her expression said she was ready
to argue her point.

“You believe me,” she said. Her reaction was half question and half statement, indicating
just how surprised she was.

“Aye, lass. You are not a pirate like your kin.”

Tears filled her eyes. “Your mother said something awful happened to your men. That
they lost everything. Did… did my uncles kill some of your people?”

“Nay, Elaine. They were privateers and believed they were fighting for a good cause.
We fought them, of course, but when we knew we were undermanned and outgunned, we
gave up. Lives were worth more than a few measly trinkets. I have to admit that I
lost a favored sword to your Uncle Tobias. I was but a lad and wouldn’t stop fighting,
though my
da
ordered me to. Tobias Hawthorn fought me until he knocked my sword from my grip.
He said he wanted me to join his crew but instead took my sword for safekeeping.

“I was the only one of my brothers who had traveled with my
da
on that trip. Duncan chided me that he wouldn’t have lost his sword. Truth be known,
Ian is the best swordsman of all of us, and
he
might have kept his sword. Maybe not. We were all just lads then. After the theft,
we were short on funds and had a harsh winter to get through, but we managed to survive.”

“You fought my uncle?” she said, disbelief threading her words.

“Aye. He had no intention of killing me. He could easily have done so, as large as
he was compared to how scrawny I was in my youth. He showed he had honor.”

Elaine swallowed hard, tears misting her eyes. “If we find the treasure…” she said,
taking his hand—and all at once he was back to his original need to move closer and
make this personal. To see the heated look in her eyes right before he kissed her
sweet mouth. To feel her soft curves plastered against his hard muscles. That’s what
he wanted—but then she continued talking, and he realized her touch had made him lose
all thoughts but one.

“…I want those families who suffered the most to share whatever is found,” she said.
Then frowned. “Are you listening?”

He tried to contain his wolfish smile because she was being brutally honest with him
and that had nothing to do with where his thoughts had roamed of their own volition.
“Aye, lass. You are nothing like your uncles. I imagine they’d be rolling in their
graves if they knew what you’d offered to do with their loot.”

“
My
loot,” she corrected him, giving him a little smile.

He pulled her into his arms, loving her, unable to keep the distance between them,
and she was kissing him and running her hands up under his sweater, her fingertips
warm and soft as she teased his skin.

But he had to know more. He had to before they could go any further.

“What happened when I lost you in St. Andrews? What happened to Kelly Rafferty? The
man your uncles said you had to mate?”

Sitting on the sofa in the garden room, Cearnach wanted nothing more than to take
Elaine right then and there. The way her hands had slid up his chest underneath his
sweater and the way she was kissing his mouth with such pent-up need, her tongue teasing
his lips, stroking his tongue, made his fingers tangle in her hair as he tackled her
mouth with just as much enthusiasm.

He told himself he had to know what had become of the man who had mated her, but he
couldn’t get his feelings for her under control. Until a knock sounded at the garden
room door. Cearnach frowned, looking down at a tussled Elaine, her lips swollen from
their kisses, her cheeks high with color, her hair tangled. She was beautiful.

“Stay,” he said, not wanting her to move an inch until he took care of the matter.

She smiled up at him, her brows and the corners of her mouth lifting as she took a
deep breath and relaxed even more against the cushions, her expression saying she
was more amused than annoyed with him that he would command her in such a way.

When he reached the door, he found covered dishes sitting on the table outside, Heather
and Shelley’s scent lingering in the air. He loved his family.

He carried the trays inside, closing the door with his boot.

Elaine had moved to the table but finished off her wine as if it would brace her to
speak to Cearnach about that bastard Rafferty. He wanted to return to the sofa, to
pull her into his arms, and comfort her while she spoke. But he needed to get some
food down her.

Cearnach studied her as they ate the hearty lamb stew Heather and Shelley had prepared.
Or… at least he ate the food. Elaine merely moved chunks of celery and lamb meat around
in her bowl.

The warm fire, the orange-red flames licking the air, the aroma of the stew, and the
wine all added ambience, he thought. The golden lights silhouetted her, and she looked
like a wolf goddess.
His
wolf goddess.

She leaned her chin on her hand, resting her elbow on the table, and he wondered if
her tired posture had to do with the wine. Then she perked up a little, and he thought
she was going to eat. Instead, she refilled her empty wineglass. He raised his brows,
wanting to ask if she normally drank that much or felt the need because of what she’d
been through today.

“Okay, here’s the story. Kelly Rafferty was furious I had left St. Augustine with
my uncles.” She tipped her wineglass one way and then the other, watching the wine
tilt like waves on a shifting sea. “I meant to sail home after my uncles were hanged.”
She swallowed hard.

“I planned to secure as much of my inheritance from my parents’ estate as I could
and then flee the city.” She looked down at the table. “Pirates attacked our ship.”
She glanced up at Cearnach, eyes narrowed, and gave a little snort of derision. “Imagine
that. Sailing on the high seas wasn’t safe at all. Worse, the ship was one of Rafferty’s.

“He wasn’t the captain of the vessel, but one of his men recognized me, which was
probably good since some of his men were ready to treat me as fair game. He locked
me in the captain’s cabin to keep me safe so I wouldn’t be spoiled goods. They returned
home with all haste. You see, I was the biggest treasure of all. They didn’t want
to anger Rafferty if they should somehow lose me before they could turn me over to
him.”

Cearnach clenched his hand around his fork, afraid of where this was headed and not
liking it one bit.

“My parents maintained a manor home, a couple of lodging houses, and three ships.
When Kelly forcibly took me as his mate, he owned all of it.”

Cearnach growled low, wanting to kill the bastard.

“He’d actually been in competition with my family for years before that. So mating
with me was strictly a business arrangement. He possessed me and everything I could
bring to the relationship. I was the perfectly reticent mate, waiting for his return
each time he went out on a voyage.”

“I have a difficult time imagining you being reticent,” Cearnach said, stabbing a
chunk of potato and wishing he could have protected her so long ago.

She humphed. “I prayed he’d perish every time he went out to sea. Rafferty had bodyguards,
werewolves who were completely dedicated to him and who would have died before they
let anything happen to me, including allowing me to escape. Not that I didn’t try.
When he returned home, his men told him that I had tried to run away, and Rafferty
beat me for it. No one raised a hand to stop him. It was his right to do with me as
was his will. He would have done the same to any of his men, had they gotten out of
line. Or he would have done worse.”

“He better be dead,” Cearnach growled.

She nodded and suddenly looked even wearier as she sank down in her chair.

He noticed the dark shadows beneath her eyes, but he had to know more before they
retired for the night. He still hoped she’d eat some of the stew.

“Did you have children?” He could hardly bear the thought of the pig lifting her skirts
and rutting into her like some wild animal. Cearnach was certain, given her description
of the man, that he couldn’t have cared about pleasuring her.

“No. I protected myself. I didn’t want children who would be treated as harshly as
I was. Nor did I want to bear any males who might have been forced to become pirates.
Not having any children emasculated him in front of his men. He couldn’t produce one
child. He blamed it on me, and rightly so. I won’t deny I took evil pleasure in knowing
he worried about his own manhood.”

Rafferty’s distress over his inability to procreate wasn’t enough to compensate for
what Elaine had experienced at his hands, Cearnach thought.

“What happened to him?”

“As privateers, my uncles had some honor. Maybe not a whole lot, but they believed
in part they were justified. Not Kelly. He never served as a privateer. All that he
stole, he kept for himself, except for the proceeds he had to share with his men.
On an earlier voyage, he cheated his men out of their share of the loot. When he went
out on the next one, he didn’t come home.

“His men said the quartermaster, Terrance, killed him in a squabble over his share
of the loot. He was supposed to have received twice the usual share, like the captain,
for seeing that his orders were carried out and managing the day-to-day operations
of the ship, administering punishments, and dividing up the loot. The crew threw Terrance
overboard to make him pay for murdering the captain. They gave Kelly a burial at sea.
I envisioned the captain and his quartermaster floating there together as their ship
sailed away. A perfect end to their despicable lives.”

She took a long breath. “I don’t believe it happened that way. One of his men had
overheard Kelly and Terrance speaking in the library of my parents’ home about cheating
the crew when the two men had had too much whisky to drink, celebrating their return
and the loot they’d stolen. Before their next voyage, which was to be their last,
the word must have spread among his crew and the men mutinied. That’s loyalty among
thieves for you.”

Cearnach didn’t care how the bastard had died as long as he was dead. “What happened
to you?”

She shrugged as if it didn’t matter. Deep down he knew it did. Everything that had
gone on in her life had made an impact of one kind or another.

“The men figured I was part of the spoils. Probably payment for what Rafferty hadn’t
given them, even though they had his ships. They didn’t know what a fighter I had
become. Only two of them were guarding me the afternoon they received word that Rafferty
was dead and one of the men had taken over as captain of his ship. They didn’t expect
me to shift and use my teeth.

“After I’d dealt with them, I sold the properties and moved. Robert Kilpatrick finally
found me, saying he’d been contacted by a solicitor in Scotland concerning some correspondence
that had to do with our family. The lawyer was reviewing old records and needed to
locate me.

“My uncles had mentioned the goods and where they were hidden in a roundabout way,
in case anything ever happened to them. They didn’t give me sufficient information
to know what the treasure was or where it was kept. For two years, Robert had tried
to locate me to see if I knew anything about where the treasure was hidden, or if
I at least had the other half of the puzzle.”

She offered Cearnach a wicked smile. “He tried to learn what information I might have
without giving up the fact that he knew something of the matter. If he’d gotten the
rest of the clues from me, I wouldn’t be here today. I had the impression that his
kin knew nothing about what he had discovered. That he was keeping the treasure secret
from them so he could have the spoils and not have to share them with the others.
Especially when he planned to meet me at the castle ruins two hours before Calla’s
wedding. I assumed he didn’t want the McKinleys to know what he was up to. Or maybe
even his own brother.”

Cearnach could see Kilpatrick doing that. “If you hadn’t come to Scotland, that would
have been my great loss.” He couldn’t imagine not having met her again today. He would
never return to Senton Castle’s ruins without remembering how she had looked there
earlier this afternoon, first as a human, observing the castle with such awe and reverence,
then exploring it like a wolf—eager, excited, loving it.

Elaine turned to him. “So, all I have to do is mate you, and we can go on a treasure
hunt. For your peace of mind, I’m not mating you. You can let your mother know that,
too.”

He loved her pragmatism and fighting spirit. He also saw the challenge in her eyes.
He was certain she was waiting for him to contradict her, to say he wanted her. She
had to know he did. That he recognized she wanted him also.

He cast her a predatory grin, tilted his chin down, and reached under the table to
take her hand from where it was resting in her lap. Her gaze latched on to his, and
he knew she could see the desire he had for her as plain as he could see the interest
in hers. “We’ll see about that.”

He was named “victorious” for a reason. He was often victorious in anything he set
his mind to accomplish. And he was determined to have her.

He released her hand and finished his stew.

“All these years, you’ve never been mated?” Cearnach asked, not believing Kelly Rafferty
could have been the only one she’d mated with.

“Oh, sure, several times…
nearly
.”

The inference that she’d been mated several times got to him, until she clarified
with
nearly
. As beautiful and fun to be with as she was, he wasn’t surprised she could have been
mated many times over, although hearing it bothered him deep down. He couldn’t fathom
why any wolf wouldn’t have followed through.

She took a deep breath, then said brightly, her tone incongruent with her body posture,
“A lot of wolves took interest in me over the years. They just always vanished before
anything could come of the relationship.”

“That’s hard to believe.” He meant it. Why would any of them show interest and then
quit the relationship? Not when she was as intriguing as she was.

She smiled a sad kind of smile. “Maybe so, but it’s true. I began to believe I could
easily attract attention, but no one was interested in mating me for a lifetime.”

That’s why she thought he couldn’t want her? Because the others had skipped out on
her?

Why would they change their minds overnight like that? He pondered that for a moment
more, then a realization dawned. “They were betas.”

“How… did you know?”

“No alpha who wanted you would vanish without making you his. So they had to be betas,
unsure whether being mated to an alpha would work out. Why your interest in betas?
You need an alpha.”

Like
me
, he wanted to say.

She gave him a ghost of a smile. “An alpha would have been like Kelly Rafferty—in
charge, beating me when I didn’t do as he wished, in control of my money.” She gave
a half shrug. “I didn’t need a mate for that.”

Cearnach clenched his fists and wanted to kill the wolf himself for hurting Elaine.
“You’re certain he’s dead?”

Though the point was moot. No alpha who had taken her to mate would have left her
alone all these years. Not one as controlling as Rafferty had been.

He would change her mind. Not all alpha males were like that bastard.

“Yes, he’s dead. His men wouldn’t have come for me if he hadn’t been dead. They’d
know he would have killed them.”

She looked so tired, her eyelids drooping, the swelling and bruising on her face from
where Vardon had hit her making her look all the more done in. Cearnach took her hand
again and rubbed his thumb over her soft skin. “We can talk more tomorrow. Did you
want to eat any of the stew?”

She shook her head. “Too tired.”

“All right.” Then he made his claim, unwilling to put it off any longer. “You need
a mate.” He kissed her cheek, deciding this once and for all. “And a family. You’ll
have both with me.”

Her eyes widened and her lips parted.

He knew she would disagree with him for now, but he would sway her one way or another.
She needed a family, a pack, him.

She said softly, tears glittering in her eyes, “You’ll vanish before we do it. That’s
the way it always happens. A wolf promises me the moon, and then he disappears as
if he didn’t have the courage to tell me to my face that it wouldn’t work out between
us.”

His jaw dropped. He couldn’t conceal his surprise. She was agreeing to be his mate?
He was expecting to work a lot harder at it than that. He was ready.

He had to be sure that she was.

He stood, then pulled her from her chair and into his arms, and hugged her with all
his might, relieved as hell that she wanted him as much as he wanted her. At least
he believed so. “Not this time, lass. You’re exhausted. I’ll take you up to your guest
chamber. I’m not losing you again.”