ROMANCE: BIKER ROMANCE: Werewolf Rider (MC Shifter Pregnancy Romance) (New Adult Paranormal Romance Short Stories) (151 page)

Everyone in the bar raised their glasses in celebration, and the music began to play ‘For He’s A Jolly Good Fellow.’ “To Mrs. and Mr. Daniels,” Billy announced. “May we all be so lucky!”

“To Mrs. and Mr. Daniels!” everyone shouted, drinking.

Jasper ordered two glasses of water for himself and Annabel. He was serious about becoming a better, cleaner man for her. She was his priceless prize and he was not going to risk losing her ever again.

The din of the saloon was almost too much for him, and he realized what it must have seemed like when she arrived there in search of him. He had never noticed before how loud it got, or how smoky the air became when bachelors gathered around to drink, gamble and be merry.

“When Clayton gives me the check in a month,” he told her, clinking water glasses with her. “I promise to send it along to your parents. My days of betting are over.”

“And your days of bedding will soon begin,” she said with a smile and a wink.

She knew full well what she did to him, and he could not get enough of it.

LORD OF THE STAG

The couples whirled around Shona like birds in flight. The darkness of the men’s tartans set a bold contrast against the soft pastels of the women’s silken skirts. Their colors filled her eyes and she felt a longing that she could not describe.

              She blinked once and suddenly she found herself standing in the middle of the ballroom, surrounded by dancing couples, blocking their path. Shona tried to move out of the way. She ducked and dived but she could not seem to find her way out. She tried to speak but she realized immediately that no one could hear her. She stood still and watched. Everything was moving through her as though she were a phantom examining a world she was no longer a part of.

“I am here,” she said to the passing couples, but her words fell on deaf ears.

              Slowly the couples around her started to blur, until they became specks of diamonds that were carried away with the wind. Shona focused her eyes and found herself standing on the musky earth of the forests just outside Northwick castle. She turned her head to the right and caught a pair of large, warm brown eyes staring back at her under the sun’s dewy spotlight.

              Its hide was the color of dark rust-gold, spotted with deep brown markings on either side of its sleek but muscular body. Its antlers were larger and longer than any she had ever seen before. Shona tried to move closer so she could better admire the stag, but the moment she took her first step, the stag dissolved into silver mist and morning dew.

“Wait…” Shona tried to call out.

But the stag was already gone.

Chapter One

“Where have you been lass?” Clary’s voice was gentle but impatient.

“I’m sorry,” Shona replied immediately. “I… had a bad night.”

“Did ye have the dream again?” Clary asked with a shrewd glance in Shona’s direction.

“Aye, but it was different this time. The stag did not show up until the very end.”

“Hmm,” Clary’s bright brown eyes seemed to grow softer as she pondered over Shona’s recurring dream. “Perhaps it is a sign of things to come.”

“What kind of things?” Shona asked.

“I suppose we shall have to wait and see,” Clary replied as she ran a hand through her silver-grey hair. “Now pass me the sage.”

              Shona suppressed a smile and did as she was told. Clary was understanding and kind but she was also extremely methodical and that made her impatient. As she got to work on her latest remedy, Shona moved to the herb cupboard and started to tidy it. She was half way done when she heard steps on the cold stone floors. A moment later, the large wooden door was pushed open and Lady Macfie stepped through. Shona felt tension engulf her immediately, but she pushed it aside and turned around to face her stepmother.

“Good morning my Lady,” Shona said with a well-practiced curtsy as Clary mimicked her movement.

              Lady Etaine Macfie was a beautiful woman. She was five and forty but youth still clung to her features. Her eyes were a mixture of blue and brown and her hair was an uninterrupted gold that fell to her lower back in waves. She turned her thickly lashed eyes onto Shona with an expression of tolerant distaste.

“Ye look worn this morning Shona,” Lady Macfie said with a smile that did not reach her eyes.

“’Twas a hard night is all,” Shona replied.

“Take care to rest yourself. Your looks will abandon you soon enough.”

              Shona bit back her retort and nodded her head in acquiescence. Lady Macfie turned her head slowly to Clary. “I will need a new batch of your skin remedy,” she said delicately.

Clary nodded curtly. “I shall begin now.”

              Lady Macfie’s eyebrows rose suddenly as though she had just had a brilliant notion. “Perhaps it would be better if Shona were to make the remedy. She must learn if she is to be a healer.”

“If that is what you desire,” Shona replied trying to be agreeable.

“Tis. I shall expect you to deliver the finished remedy to my bedchamber,” Lady Macfie said, her tone betraying a threat.

              Shona bowed her head in acceptance. Lady Macfie nodded and walked to the door with a flick of her skirts. She was on the threshold when she turned her head back and called out Shona’s name.

“Aye?” Shona replied looking up.

“Lord Macfie is hosting Royce McKenna of clan McKenna tonight,” she said with a smile that Shona did not understand.

“Aye, I know,” Shona replied. “I have made preparations for the supper in his honour.”

“And I am grateful, but you will not attend the supper tonight.”

Shona blinked once. “I don’t understand, my father –

“Your father has changed his mind,” Lady Macfie went on smoothly pretending as though Shona had never spoken. “You will be absent this night.”

Shona felt her body grow cold with anger. “Why?” she asked, her voice raised louder than she had intended.

              Lady Macfie’s eyes narrowed infinitesimally. “Because it is no place for a bastard.” With that, she turned on her heel and disappeared through the door. Once her footsteps had sung its last echo, Shona turned to Clary trying to control the frustration coursing through her.

“She can’t do this to me,” Shona replied.

“I agree,” Clary said coming forward and putting a hand on Shona’s shoulder. “You must speak to your father.”

Shona nodded. “Aye… of course. He doesn’t know of this. If he did, he would never have allowed her to bar me from the feast tonight.”

Clary smiled reassuringly at her. “Aye, now there’s a smart lass. Don’t you worry.”

Shona sighed and sunk down onto one of the crooked wooden chairs that surrounded the centre table. “I wish she didn’t hate me so much.”

              “Tis not you she hates lass,” Clary said comfortingly. “’Twas your mother. It does not help that you inherited her fiery red hair and her sky-blue eyes. Except for the sharp nose and freckles you are the very image of your mother.”

“Sometimes I wish I wasn’t,” Shona admitted out loud. “If that would make her hate me less.”

              Clary’s eyes grew soft with sympathy. “Turn your mind from such thoughts lass. It wouldn’t have made a difference.”

“I know,” Shona said with a sigh. “She will never be my mother or my friend. But it does not matter, as long as I have my father.”

Chapter Two

              Shona walked down the long, narrow corridors of Northwick Castle. Light streamed in through the slitted windows creating intricate patterns of light as they fell onto the burnished grey stone floors. When she was a child, she used to hop between the little spades of light, making sure to step only on the shadows. She had been a lonely child and the castle had been her one constant playmate.

              Shona turned the corner into another corridor; this one was broader than the last. At its end was a large circular recess with a door at its centre. It was flanked by the coat of arms of clan Macfie. It depicted an eagle in flight, its prey clutched firmly in its steely talons. Shona knocked hard and she was greeted a moment later with a gruff ‘enter’.

“Father?” Shona asked as she stepped inside.

              Her father was an impressive man. He was well past six feet tall with large broad shoulders that made him look much taller. He had a head of dark curly hair and a full beard that had streaks of grey running through it. His freckles were barely visible anymore.

              “Shona,” Lord Macfie greeted quietly. His chamber was a large one, but Shona knew he liked to sit by the fire that rested just below a series of arched windows that gave the solar its spectacular brightness. She moved towards the hearth and sat down just as she used to do when she was a little girl.

“What brings you here my bonnie lass?” Lord Macfie asked softly.

              Shona had learnt early on that her father had two voices. One was loud and booming and was used in public and at clan gatherings. The other was soft and quiet and used only in private with his wife and children.

“I came to ask you about something father,” Shona began cautiously.

“Aye,” Lord Macfie nodded. “And what is that?”

“The feast tonight…” Shona said trailing off, feeling a sudden panic engulf her.

“Aye?”

“Lady Macfie says I am not to be present,” Shona forced herself to continue. “But… I cannot believe that you would have agreed to that?”

              His eyes dimmed considerably and he pursed up his lips. Shona knew immediately that he had in fact agreed to just that. She felt her stomach plummet as disappointment, hurt and rejection struggled over dominancy.

“You… did agree,” Shona said before he could speak.

“Don’t turn your eyes from me lass,” Lord Macfie said as he reached for her chin and pushed it up to meet his face. “It is an unpleasant thing… but…”

              He trailed off, leaving Shona feeling worse than before. “What… exactly is an unpleasant thing?” Shona asked once she had processed her father’s words. “My presence at the feast tonight or my presence in general?”

Lord Macfie looked taken back. “That is not –

“Tis true then,” Shona interrupted him as she stood abruptly. “You are ashamed of me.”

“No of course not, I –

              “I was a fool to think a Lord could love his bastard child,” Shona said as she walked to the door. She felt her father rise but he did not move to follow her. She turned at the threshold of the door and curtsied formally. “Thank you for the audience my Lord,” she said weakly before she turned and walked out.

Chapter Three

              There were always people milling about the stables but horses were always being taken out to ride. No one took any notice of Shona as she slipped in and found Frazier in his stall munching on a bale of hay. The feast was only a few hours away and Shona did not wish to be anywhere near the castle when it took place. 

“Come on boy,” she whispered into his ear as she stroked his chestnut brown muzzle. “Let’s run.”

              Minutes later, she and Frazier were flying under the castle’s keep, through the gates and out into the open air of the highlands. The moment they had cleared the castle’s shadow, Shona breathing came easier and her chest felt considerably lighter. She slowed Frazier to an easy gallop as she steered him towards the forests that clan Macfie shared with clan Maclver. It was a large, wild expanse of forest that hugged the Elsick Mounth. 

“Let’s ride through,” Shona whispered to Frazier. He whinnied as though he was answering back and a moment later they sped into the forests.

              Once they were surrounded by trees and nothing else, Shona slowed Frazier down to a trot. They moved through the forest in calm as she took in the earthy breeze that ruffled through her hair.

              “Things are so much easier here Frazier,” Shona said softly looking up towards the large cracks in the forest’s canopy. The light streaming in was warm; it touched her face gently so that she didn’t need to shield her eyes from the brightness. “I wish we could stay here forever.”

              She dismounted and let Frazier graze around at his leisure. She picked up her skirts and explored the little clearing they found themselves in. She recognized many of the herbs that Clary used in her remedies and unconsciously she started plucking off fresh stems and dropping them into the tired sack that hung down Frazier’s side.

              She immersed herself in the forest, so much so that she didn’t even realize that the sun was slowly setting and darkness was settling over the highlands. Her thoughts became abstract until she was no longer thinking of her father or the feast taking place at the castle that very minute. Even after night had finally come in, Shona refused to go back to the castle. A small part of her wondered if anyone would even notice. Suddenly she heard the sharp crack of a tree branch a few feet away. Shona jumped back with a gasp caught in her throat. Frazier raised his large head for a moment and then went back to grazing.