A Highlander's Obsession (Highlander's Beloved) (24 page)

Creighton lifted a hand in a stop gesture. “Nay, I’ll not have me people thinking I’ve been drinking before meting out justice.”

Bryce downed another glass of Scotch.

Creighton stepped next to him and clasped his youngest brother’s shoulder. “I ken ye care. I ken yer hurting like hell right now. We’re going to protect her—”

Bryce swirled, his jaw clenched and his eyes narrowed. “Aye, and if I’d moved quicker last year, she’d be me wife. Safe, happy, and carrying me
bairn
. Not grieving over the loss of
his.”

“A lesson learned, Bryce. When a man finds a woman he cares for”—Creighton’s gaze swept over Paisley in a possessive way—“he has to swoop in and lay claim.”

Every ounce, every heartbeat, every breath of her femininity chanted
Yes
. Oh, she was definitely in big trouble when it came to him.

Bryce reached for the bottle again and Creighton wrapped his hand over his brother’s. “Nay. Put away the pain and display the compassion a man should feel fer another clan member’s wife. She disna belong to ye. She belongs to the clan and we’ll take care of her by removing the spineless arsehole who struck his woman.” His voice was low and affectionate, yet commanding. The man had a way of validating the feelings of those he cared for. “I need ye sober to run with me tonight. To capture Duncan and administer our brand of justice.”

“Aye. I ken yer meaning.” Bryce nodded. “Just give me a few minutes to calm down. Damn it to hell, I canna bear the thought of her in pain!”

Creighton turned to Ronan. “There’s more.” A muscle bunched in Creighton’s cheek and his expression hardened. “Duncan’s been using cocaine. Have either of ye heard rumors about clan members using drugs?”

“A few smoke pot. Ye know that.” Ronan slipped off his vest, folding it before laying it on the seat of a leather wing-back chair. “I’ve not heard anything about coke.”

“Fukin’ hell!” Bryce’s eyes widened. “We canna have that shite around our children. I canna let Colleen go to her friends’ houses to play if there’s a chance the kid’s parents are strung out on drugs.”

“Where is Colleen tonight?” Paisley had been so intent on fighting with Creighton at the dinner table, she’d forgotten to ask if Colleen were sick.

Bryce spun in her direction, as if he’d forgotten she was still in the room. “She’s spending some time with her other grandparents. By seeing them, she gets a strong sense of how special her mother was. ’Tis important for Colleen’s emotional health.”

“Yes, it is. Parents and grandparents help children develop their sense of self-worth.” While their withdrawal of love and attention leaves the child feeling “less than whole.” She knew that fact on a very personal level.

Bryce turned his attention back to Creighton. “What will ye do about this?”

“I plan to hold a clan meeting tomorrow afternoon and ask some damn hard questions.
I’ll not have our clan decimated by drugs. We’d better be off. Get the door while I say good night to Paisley.”

Ronan stepped to the bookcase, pulled back the spine of an old tome and pressed a button hidden behind it. The shelves swung inward, and he flicked a light switch just inside the darkness.
A secret passageway. How cool is that?
Although in a castle as old as this, she should have expected at least one. Both brothers entered the dimly lit area, their footfalls growing distant.

Creighton’s warm hands cupped her shoulders and turned her toward him. “I’m sorry I have to leave ye. We’ll talk when I get back if yer still awake.”

Her gaze drifted to the open portal. “Will Bryce be okay? I’ve never seen him like that.”

“Me impish baby brother, who laughs and teases, hurts more inside than any man I know. He wasn’t much more than a fuzzy-faced teenager when his girlfriend got pregnant with Colleen. Not for a minute did he shirk his responsibilities.” Creighton’s hand rubbed her arm, his touch comforting. “Bryce married Miranda and lost her after she bore Colleen. Only our wee sweet bairn kept him from tumbling into madness. Years later, when Kenzie captured his heart, he was reluctant to act on his desires. Afraid, as most men are, when it comes to loving a woman.”

“So, he lost her too.”

“Aye, he did. Duncan came back from serving in the armed forces and swept Kenzie off her feet. Evidently, the girl was tired of waiting on Bryce to lay his claim. It’s been hard on him watching the woman he loves with another man.”

“I can only imagine.” She would be devastated if Creighton suddenly turned his attentions on another woman. An ache, acute and absolute, encircled her heart and squeezed.
Dear God, I love him. How could I have fallen in love so quickly?

He ducked his head so he could peer into her eyes. “Are ye okay? Ye’ve turned absolutely pale.”

“I … I’m okay.” She placed her hand over his heart where it beat steady beneath her palm. “Promise me you’ll be careful. You don’t think Duncan will be armed, do you?”

He brushed a strand of hair from her face. “Nay, he won’t be armed.”

“May I ask one more question before you go?”

He captured her hand and brought it to his lips for a kiss. “Everything I know is yers fer the asking.”

“Why don’t you simply go out the front door?” She glanced at the gaping opening at what appeared to be a stone stairway. “Why go that way?”

“The secret stairway leads to a door facing the woods. That’s where Duncan will be hiding.”

“In the woods on a chilly night like this? Why wouldn’t he get in his car and drive somewhere?”

“We’re Scots. Highland Scots, with an affinity for our harsh and rugged hills.” He wrapped his arms around her, one hand sifting through her hair. “Kiss me before I go, then have a cup of tea with Effie. Tell her about our secret passageway. I’m betting she’ll wonder if there are any at Iverson Hall.”

“Are there?”

His dark eyes twinkled for an instant. “Aye. And one day soon, I’m going to kiss ye behind every single one.” His lips covered hers and drew her soul into the power of his testosterone-laden essence. His tongue swept into her mouth for a bit of silent, sensual communication with hers before he pulled back. “I must go,
leannan
.” He stepped into the dimly lit area and tugged on a rope. The shelves slid back into place.

Dear God, what would happen to this Duncan when the Matheson brothers caught up with him? No doubt he wouldn’t stand a chance, just like his unborn child.

Her mind flitted to Creighton and what the deer had told her. Animals were inherently more honest than humans. Did proof exist to back up its statements? She hurried upstairs to her bedroom, rushed to her window, and pulled back the drapes. For an instant, she closed her eyes. Her heart pounded in her ears and she gulped in air.
You know what you’re going to see. Don’t be such a ninny. Open your eyes and look
.

A bear with glowing golden eyes stood below her window. Although Creighton hadn’t admitted the stag’s claims were true, the fact he hadn’t immediately denied them had been affirmation enough for her.

Stay safe. Return to me
. She couldn’t endure it if something happened to him.

The fires of hell couldn’t keep me from ye
. He turned and joined the two bears waiting at the edge of the woods. In single file, with him in front, the large bears ran into the darkness.

Her hand drifted from the drapes and she dropped onto her bed. She placed her elbows on her thighs and planted her face in her upturned hands. Shape-shifters really existed. She inhaled a
ragged breath and struggled to remain calm. The Matheson brothers were part man and part bear—shape-shifters. Things clicked into place and started making sense. Tears flowed.

Dear God, she’d fallen in love with a shape-shifter.

Creighton led his brothers to a stream to drink and trawl for fish to re-energize. They’d searched for Duncan for hours. The waning moon was high in the night sky and would soon begin its western descent. Breezes blasted across the Highlands in intervals of frosty puffs like dragon’s breath gone clay-cold.

Bryce scratched his back side to side against the bark of a tree.
Where in the hell could the fukin’ bastard be hiding?

We’ll find him. I’m not giving up until we do
. Creighton shook the frigid water off his fur, relishing the shock to his fatigued system. Carrying two rainbow trout, he waded to a large boulder near the stream’s edge and sat.
I canna get over the dead sheep we found
.

Their feckin’ hearts were clawed out
. Bryce switched to an up and down motion on the Alder’s trunk.
Not cut out like a human would do, but clawed
.

Ronan sat against a fallen tree and examined his paw.
Wish I had me a flashlight. I canna see what’s rammed into the pad of me paw. Hurts like bloody hell
. He probed as he telecommunicated with his brothers.
Those sheep we found reminded me of a book me human once read on cults and rituals
.

Aye, that consideration went through me mind too. Druids were thought to sacrifice humans and animals, but I canna recall bears having such rituals. We’ve been searching for rogue wolves, blaming animal killings on them
. Creighton dipped his paws into the rippling waters to wash away fish scales.
What we saw tonight were bear-claw marks. Bear prints and scat
.

Found it!
Ronan held a small object that glittered in the pale moonlight.
A fukin’ needle!
He looked up as Creighton approached.
A needle for drugs
.

See that Earnan examines ye after ye shift back. Have him do blood work fer AIDS and other diseases
.

An albino owl hooted from the heights of the Aspen next to the tree Bryce was using as a scratching post. Creighton and his brothers moved to regard the
cailleach-oidhche
. The owl swooped, alabaster wings silent in the darkness. Creighton rose on his hind legs and extended his front paw. Many thought the nocturnal bird foretold death, but his da had taught him the ancient
Celts believed the sacred bird not only protected the bears, but possessed magical powers, the ability to show who sought to deceive another, and to reveal unseen truths and prophesize the future. The owl circled Creighton’s head three times before coming to rest on his outstretched paw.

Destruction has come to Mathe Bay. So has your blonde deliverer
. The owl’s obsidian eyes transformed to amber, glowing from within as if they were licked by internal flames of crystallized truth and eternal knowledge.

Do ye mean drugs?

Aye. A man who befriends ye is the harbinger of this destruction
.

Ye mentioned a blonde deliverer. Paisley?

The owl’s head bobbed, feathers undulating with its movement.
She is the answer for all of us. Prize her. For now ye seek a shifter who no longer protects his mate. Follow me
. The owl flapped its wings and soared.

The three bears scrambled to follow in the direction the bird led. A lot of things preyed on Creighton’s mind. What did the owl mean “someone befriending him brought destruction”? How was the woman he loved a deliverer? Were there some kind of rituals going on in his bears’ habitat involving the killing of sheep? And how did a bear, or bears, get involved with drugs?

Before long, they approached the stone cliffs hugging Mathe Bay. Fog had settled on the area like a down quilt over sleeping children. The owl flew closer overhead as if to make sure they could see where he led. They scrambled down rocks they’d used as young cubs, sometimes leaping from one boulder to another and sometimes rolling when they lost their footing on the slippery, mist-covered outcroppings.

Their alabaster guide led them to a familiar sea cave. The bird once again circled Creighton’s head three times before soaring upward out of sight.

Creighton led his brothers through the arched opening, wading through the water the tide had brought in. About halfway into the oval-shaped pool, he crawled onto a rocky ledge washed white by the sea. As he climbed higher, the cave’s darkness became more pronounced. He turned left into a tunnel for a short distance and then right. His nose detected Duncan’s presence, fire, and something more—sheep’s blood. Around the next bend in the grotto’s interior was a large flat area of rock. The flames of a bonfire sent smoke spiraling toward the round opening at the top of the chamber.

Duncan sprawled over the stone floor. His head turned slowly in their direction as they filed into the interior cavern.

What are ye doing here alone?
Creighton surveyed the area as he approached. Discarded needles and vials littered the floor. His stomach roiled in disgust and dread. How many of his sleuth were involved in this destructive madness?

None of yer fukin’ business
.

Is this where ye come to shoot up?

Bryce forged forward, past Creighton.
Or is this where ye come to hide after ye beat up yer pregnant wife?

Duncan staggered to his hind legs, blood staining his muzzle.
Me wife is me business. So is me drug of choice
. He roared with a drug-induced belief in his own superiority.

Creighton roared too, and then charged, driving Duncan against the boulder behind him. He clawed at his opponent’s chest and bit his neck. In their struggle, they toppled to the floor. Ronan and Bryce joined the fray. Roars, grunts, and sounds of tearing flesh echoed off the stone walls.

* * *

A heavy arm wrapped around Paisley’s waist as gentle snoring woke her. A thick thigh covered her legs and an erection poked into her backside.
Creighton, if this naked man spooned against me isn’t you, we’re both in a heap of trouble
. She rolled into the man’s embrace and Creighton murmured her name in his sleep and planted a kiss on her neck below her ear.

During the night, she’d tossed and turned as thoughts and questions stormed through the valleys of her mind. She cared for this large man, with his strong arms wrapped around her. In fact, she cared so much she’d decided to move to Scotland, leaving her old life behind. Doing so was no great stretch. After all, she was currently without romantic attachment or a job. Her friends from college were married and busy with their lives, and her parents were happy without her in theirs. Since Gram, the only important person in her life, was moving here, Paisley was amenable to making the cross-Atlantic transition too. If she and Creighton grew closer because of it, she was okay with that as well.