A Highland Werewolf Wedding (27 page)

If he wanted Elaine to run, that wasn’t a good thing. He needed her beyond the castle
walls.

She couldn’t just kill Rafferty, either, or she’d be just like him. Not that she had
anything she could use to kill him with. Unless she shifted. And only if he remained
in his human form. She knew he wouldn’t let her strip off her clothes, shift into
the wolf, and tear into him.

An odd mist formed behind Rafferty. She stared past him, just as a hefty, younger
man appeared, wearing what looked like an ancient plaid and a pirate’s kind of shirt.

“Flynn, my lady,” he said to her in greeting, bowing slightly.

“You’re…” Her mouth gaped. She glanced back at Rafferty, but he didn’t seem to see
the apparition.

Flynn looked as real to her as Rafferty did.

“Why are you here?” she asked Flynn, feeling foolish for even speaking to a specter.

“I told you,” Rafferty said.

“To save you, lass. Cearnach is busy.” Flynn unsheathed a sword, but she didn’t hear
the telltale swishing sound of metal pulling from the leather scabbard. That was because
there could be no sound. His sword and scabbard were as much apparitions as he was.
He sliced the sword through Rafferty, but it had no effect on the man.

“Do you know if Calla is safe?”

The ghost frowned. “Nay, lass.”

Rafferty took another step forward, stretching his hand out to grab her wrist. “I’m
here because you mated with me and you belong to me. We could go together to the car
with my arm securely around your neck, threatening to choke you to death if you don’t
go peaceably. You know I don’t make idle threats.”

No, he didn’t.

She whipped around and unlocked the door. Her heart was beating as if it was trying
to get out of her chest, but she couldn’t breathe.

She yanked the door open. Saw the mayhem in the bailey. The fighting and snarling
wolves. Saw Cearnach sword-fighting with a man she didn’t know. Heard the dogs barking
even louder behind her now. Knew she’d never see any of them again.

If only Rafferty had died long ago.

She bolted for the car, the driver’s door still open, and jumped in, jerking the door
shut before Rafferty in the form of a wolf tried to join her. His body slammed into
the door with a loud thump.

Keys in the ignition, she flipped the engine on and jerked the steering wheel to the
left, turning hard until she’d maneuvered through the battling men and wolves. She
saw Cearnach glance up from where he was fighting, saw the look of horror on his face,
his sword lowered in his hand, watched his brothers look in her direction with disbelief,
and that blasted Kelly Rafferty racing after her in wolf form.

He’d never catch up to her. Ever again.

Not if she could help it.

Then she saw Cearnach running for the garage. “No, Cearnach!” she shouted from the
car. Tears trailed down her cheeks.

She wanted to die.

Cearnach was so angry that he could barely think straight except for the need to go
after Elaine. What in the world was she doing? He’d thought she’d be safe in the kennels.
He knew he’d been wrong when he saw the wolf racing out of the building after her
and Elaine heading for her car. At first, he’d been stunned. He thought she meant
to get into the car for protection, lock the doors, and stay there until he could
kill the wolf.

When she drove off, he couldn’t figure out what was going through her head.

“Elaine,” he said, half groaning her name.

Duncan was right behind him, his boots tromping against the pavers. Out of his peripheral
vision, Cearnach saw Guthrie headed for another car.

“Where the hell is she going?” Duncan yelled.

“Damned if I know,” Cearnach said, climbing into the car and slamming the door.

As soon as Duncan shut his door, Cearnach tore out of the garage, men and wolves scattering
to get out of his path.

The wolves and men from the enemy clan took off toward the gate, escaping, as if they’d
finally gotten what they’d wanted: Elaine beyond the protective walls surrounding
the keep.

“She can’t believe that her leaving will stop the fighting.” Actually it had, damn
it, but how could she believe they couldn’t deal with her kin in a satisfactory manner?

“Did you recognize the wolf who was in the kennels with her?” Cearnach asked, unable
to suppress his anger and concern.

In the rearview mirror, he saw Guthrie barreling down the drive after him and Ian
giving orders in the inner bailey, waving his hands, red-faced and angry. Not at his
brothers. He knew they’d do whatever was right to bring Elaine back to the pack. Ian
was furious with her kin for attacking them at Argent Castle.

“He wasn’t any of the McKinleys or Kilpatricks,” Duncan warned. “He’d been in her
rental car. I smelled his scent when I opened the door and took a good whiff. I smelled
him again when he ran past me to get to her. Worse?”

Cearnach glanced at his brother.

“He’s the wolf who’s been living in her keep.”

“Why? Who the hell is he?”

“A henchman of her clansmen?” Duncan guessed.

Cearnach shook his head. “It’s personal between Elaine and him. Whoever he was, he
forced her to run. Now she’s beyond the keep and beyond our protection.” He mulled
the situation over further, but he couldn’t come up with any logical explanation.

“You don’t think whoever it was told her where the stolen goods were located, and
she had to get there before someone else did, do you?” Duncan asked, then shook his
head as if dismissing the idea. “She probably doesn’t know these roads that well.
I doubt she’d be able to find any place quickly. She looked terrified when she raced
past us.”

Cearnach recalled how she’d missed the turnoff to Senton Castle before. He didn’t
think she’d easily find her way anywhere quickly without someone to guide her.

“Where is she going?” Cearnach asked, thinking out loud and not expecting Duncan to
know any more than he did.

“I’m not sure.” Duncan put his cell on speakerphone and called their brother. “Ian,
we’re pursuing Elaine. We have no idea where she’s headed.”

“What happened?” Ian asked.

“We don’t know. The wolf who was with her in the kennels forced her to run. That’s
all we can figure.”

“Bring the lass back,” Ian said. “Whatever she’s afraid of, we’ll straighten it out.
We’ll be cleaning things up here. Let me know what’s happening and where she’s headed.
I’ll send backup as soon as you have some idea.”

“Aye, Ian. Thanks.” Duncan rested his phone on his lap. “Are you sure she went this
way and not toward Edinburgh and the airport?”

“Why in bloody hell would she be going there?” Cearnach growled.

“Just a thought, Cearnach. I haven’t any idea why she would. Or why she would leave
our protection.”

“Her solicitor wanted to speak to her alone,” Cearnach said. The notion continued
to bother him. Something had been wrong from the start.

Duncan didn’t say anything.

Cearnach let out his breath. “It was something important. Something he said he’d ask
Kilpatrick if it was all right to discuss with her.”

Duncan pulled out his cell. “What’s his name?”

“Hoover.”

“Is he a wolf?”

“Aye.”

Duncan searched for the number, then finding it, tapped on his cell and put it on
speakerphone. “Mr. Hoover? This is Duncan MacNeill.”

“Yes, sir? What may I do for you?”

Cearnach thought the solicitor sounded defensive, like a wolf backed up against a
wall, even though he couldn’t know why someone from the MacNeill wolf pack was calling
him.

“I’m calling on behalf of Elaine Hawthorn, mate of my brother, Cearnach. You had some
news for her but didn’t wish to give it to her. Some important news. I need to know
what it was.” Duncan was all business, his voice taking on a tell-me-or-else tone.
Most wolves would bend to the pressure.

“I’m sorry, sir. I can’t give that information out to anyone but—”

Typical solicitor response. Wouldn’t work with alpha male wolves who expected an answer…
pronto.

“Fine. We’ll come call on you, and then you can decide if your answer is still the
same,” Duncan said, his voice so dark that even Cearnach glanced his way. Duncan gave
Cearnach an evil smile, his brows elevated just a fraction.

“Sir, if you’re threatening me—”

Cearnach couldn’t help snorting.

“I’m making a promise. I don’t threaten anyone,” Duncan said.

Cearnach smiled at that. With just a look, Duncan could change any beta wolf’s mind.
Hoover was definitely a beta wolf.

Hoover cleared his throat over the phone. “Sir—”

“
Just
… tell… me.”

Despite Duncan’s ability to get what he wanted out of someone, the man still hesitated.
Then probably envisioning Duncan coming to meet him at his office and dealing with
the wolf face to face, the solicitor said, “Kelly Rafferty’s come for her. He paid
Kilpatrick to seek her out and encourage her to come to Scotland.”

“Kelly Rafferty? Who the hell is that?” Duncan asked, glancing at Cearnach.

Cearnach nearly grabbed the phone out of his brother’s hand. “He’s dead! Damn the
man.”

He knew Elaine wouldn’t have lied about it. Why in the hell had the man kept the truth
from her about his being alive for so long? Then the realization hit him. That’s why
she’d run!

Duncan stared at Cearnach, then said, “Who’s Kelly Rafferty?”

“Elaine Hawthorn’s mate,” the solicitor said.

***

Elaine’s cell phone rang, nearly giving her a stroke as she headed away from Argent
Castle in the direction of Edinburgh. Robert Kilpatrick had charged up her phone?
She lifted it off the seat as she drove as fast as she was able on the narrow, winding
road.

“You can’t mate with Cearnach,” Robert said vehemently.

Elaine glanced in the rearview mirror. No sign of any car yet. She drove faster on
the twisting road, hoping she wouldn’t end up in the trees, her car disabled like
Cearnach’s had been.

“You knew all along, didn’t you? That Rafferty was still alive.”

“Oh, aye, lass. You’ve come home to him. The near-death experience changed him,” Robert
said as if he was assuring her that the man was someone she’d want to be with again.
“When he could, he made his way here. He’s been living here as a respectable businessman.
He owns three pubs and a hotel. He gave up on ships after he was able to make his
fortune and settle here.”

Elaine didn’t believe Rafferty was a changed man. She understood his need for revenge,
that he’d killed the men who’d tried to kill him. But he’d murdered the men who’d
wanted to mate her, her parents, and her uncles by having them turned in. None of
them had deserved to die.

Tears filled her eyes and she choked back a sob. He hadn’t changed. He was the same
as before. She didn’t want to be mated to him any longer. But wolf law only allowed
a mating for life. They didn’t believe in divorce, and most never re-mated if they
lost their mate early on. The bond between them usually was too great and no other
wolf would do.

“I was supposed to meet with you to coordinate a meeting between the two of you later.
He was certain you wouldn’t go to him if he tried to arrange the meeting himself.
Then you didn’t arrive and I had to go to the wedding and try to figure out a way
to find you… again,” Robert said.

For all these years, she’d felt happily secure in the knowledge that Kelly Rafferty
was dead.

“Did you know he killed my uncles? Your kin, too?” she asked.

“
Lord
Whittington
had them hanged.”

“Because Rafferty told him they were arriving in St. Andrews!”

Robert didn’t say anything.

“You knew. You wanted their stolen goods. You bastard.” She hung up on him. He was
just like all the rest—thieving pirates who cared nothing for their distant relatives
except for the money they could help them get from the dead.

She drove and drove and drove. The maps she’d used to find her way here were gone.
At least her suitcase and purse and clothes all seemed to be in the car.

Then she remembered Calla. She had to get hold of her. To see if Rafferty had lied
about holding her hostage. She called information for Cearnach’s mother and heard
the older woman say, “Elaine, where are you?”

“Did you call Calla to have her go to Argent Castle?”

“Aye, about your wedding. Where… are… you? My sons are frantically searching for you.”

“Have you talked with Calla recently?” Elaine asked in a rush.
Please, please, Calla, be okay.

“Aye, I told her to wait to arrive here until after the fighting ended between the
wolf packs. She couldn’t come here in the midst of it.”

Elaine bit her lip, trying to judge the time that had passed. An hour? Two? “Call
her and make sure she’s okay.”

“She’s here, dear. Right here with me. What is this about, lass? Cearnach is ready
to have a heart attack over you vanishing like you did.”

“There… there won’t be any wedding. I had to know Calla was safe.”

Elaine stared at the landscape she was passing—a small house in a glen, fenced-in
Highland cows, a creek half hidden in woods.

Everything seemed familiar as she drove farther away from Argent Castle. She was sure
she was heading back to Edinburgh where she could return the rental car and get a
flight out to anywhere that she could. Not to the States, though. She couldn’t return
there yet. Not without him finding her too quickly.

“Elaine? Calla arrived at Argent Castle a few minutes ago. What’s wrong?” Cearnach’s
mother asked, her voice troubled.

Thanking the heavens Calla was safe, Elaine realized she was in real trouble. “I’m
sorry for everything,” she said with tears in her voice. “Don’t make any wedding plans.
There won’t be a wedding.”

Before her almost mother-in-law could say anything, Elaine cut off the connection
and stared at the road she was on, finally recognizing a few of the landmarks. She’d
been so shook up that she hadn’t realized she had gone the wrong way. She was on the
road to Senton Castle.

Like a wolf returning to its own territory, she was back home again—at her family’s
castle.

She was so turned around. So angry with herself that she could scream. She hated getting
lost more than anything else in the world. How could she do this to herself now?

If she continued past the castle, she had no idea where she’d end up.

She pulled into the parking lot at the castle ruins to turn the car around, figuring
that she’d have to drive to the nearest city she could find and get directions, when
three vehicles rushed in behind her.

Heart nearly failing, she glanced over her shoulder to see them tactically blocking
her in. They must have been following her. The road twisted and turned so much that
as long as they kept back far enough, she wouldn’t spy them. Or maybe they had suspected
where she was headed from the direction she had taken and had come straight here.
As if she’d come here of her own accord.

Or had they planted a device in the car that would make her easy to follow? Sure,
that’s why Rafferty had suggested she take the car and run. Oh, how could she have
fallen so easily into his trap?

Her heart was pounding so wildly that she didn’t know what to do. They’d blocked her
in and she had no way to move the car. As a woman, she had no defenses. As a wolf,
sure, but if anyone had a tranquilizer dart, she wouldn’t stand a chance against her
kin, either.

She could run. But they could shift and run after her. Males could catch up to her
with their longer legs.

She didn’t have a choice.

She closed her eyes. She could only do one thing. Attempt to return to Argent Castle.
God, how could this nightmare get any worse?

As much as she hated to, she had to solicit the MacNeills’ help to get away. Like
Cearnach had intended to aid her so many years ago.

She shoved open the car door, yanked off her clothes, and heard the men shouting,
“She’s shifting!”

Car doors were thrown open. She willed herself to be a wolf, and before anyone could
strip or chase after her, she dashed off. She would never be Rafferty’s punching bag
again.

She would have to find a way to defend herself in the future. Arm herself. Be prepared.
Kill him if he ever found her again.

She raced toward the castle ruins, wishing she had an army of men who could rain arrows
down on her own kin. Then she tore down the stairs until she reached the walkway and
leaped to the beach. She would have to find her way home. No not home. To Argent Castle.
Cearnach’s home. Not hers.

He’d be so angry with her. She didn’t want to face him. She’d ask Ian instead. He’d
probably be just as angry with her. She’d mated with his brother when she should never
have done so.

What a mess she’d made of things.