A Howl for a Highlander (27 page)

He hadn’t talked to her about the men last night. She didn’t bother broaching the subject because she figured she’d get a lecture. If he even thought about lecturing her, they were going to get into a fight.

Shelley’s phone began ringing, and she hurried to get it. Good thing they had both turned off their phones last night, or she was sure she would have been awakened way too early. When she answered the phone and saw it was Wendy, Shelley was not happy. “Wendy, did you call my mother and tell her I was rooming with a wolf?”

“I didn’t mean to tell her anything, but she was upset about the grant money. You know, heard all about it on the news. She knew you couldn’t afford the cost of the villa on your own. I had to explain that you were okay, but not… exactly alone. I told her you had a roommate, and he was helping to pay for half of the cost. I didn’t mean to tell her he was a
he
. But you know how she is. She started grilling me. She told your Uncle Ethan. He started in on me, trying to learn all the details. Somehow I let it slip that your roommate was a wolf. From Scotland.”

Shelley glanced at Duncan, expecting him to be doing anything else but watching her. She was wrong. He was observing her expression like a wolf would, watching closely and looking for signs of trouble.

She took a deep breath. Things were bound to get worse in a hurry. “Great.”

“I tried to call you, to warn you, but your phone must have been turned off. Your Uncle Ethan is on his way to the island.”

Oh. My. God.

Forget Sal and his thugs. Her Uncle Ethan would kill Duncan.

Chapter 15

When Shelley got off the phone, she knew she had to tell Duncan that her uncle might be on a rampage and that he was headed their way, but Duncan looked like he still had a bucketful of worries of his own. “What’s wrong?” she asked as she joined him for breakfast.

“Cearnach’s not arriving tonight as planned, but tomorrow instead.”

“Oh.” It wasn’t good news. Now that Sal was sending wolves to deal with Duncan, she figured they would be safer if at least one of Duncan’s warrior brothers was staying with them.

Duncan was so tense, so feral looking, that she was fairly certain he was angry with her because she’d been nearby when he’d confronted the two wolves.

“How long were you following me last night?” Duncan finally asked. His gaze was dark, his eyes focused on her, watching her to see her reaction.

She raised her brows, not about to be intimidated. “You went out in the middle of the night without me. We’re mated, you know. So I followed you. All the way to Sal’s estate, if you must know.” She smiled a little. “I liked that you claimed his territory. I did also.”

He ground his teeth, then let out his breath in an exasperated sigh. “Yeah, I found that out. The two wolves were out scoping the area, meaning you could have been in danger. Why didn’t you return to the house when you saw them? Let me deal with them on my own?”

“They intended to shift and fight you, most likely to kill you. You needed my help.”

His expression lightened a bit. He must have thought she wasn’t serious. She
was
sincere, though. And highly annoyed that he wouldn’t take her seriously.

“I always go out, Shelley, marking the territory to let Sal or anyone else that has wolf genes know to back off. It’s instinctual and necessary. I don’t want your enticing smell out there, too, encouraging any male wolf around to come sniffing for you.”

She was his mate now, and he wanted everyone to know she was off limits. She wanted everyone to know they were together, too. She was glad to see his mood shift to something more agreeable and less testy, though.

“Who were they?” she asked.

“I don’t know for certain. Since they were close to the villa snooping around, I assume they work for Sal.” He slid a plate of sausage links and hash brown potato patties over to her.

She loved how he cooked. Everything he fixed tasted great. She couldn’t imagine how he hid his cooking talent from Ian so well.

“What happened to the other man? The one who got away?” she asked, wondering if the guy who was really talkative would return anytime soon. Maybe not. Without his sidekick to help give him courage, he probably wouldn’t come near them. She wondered if the man knew what had happened to his buddy. Hell, she didn’t even know what had become of him.

“I don’t know. The guy didn’t go to Sal’s house.” Duncan sat down with his own plate of sausage and potatoes and began to eat.

So Duncan had tried to track the second man down and eliminate him as a threat?

“Maybe he didn’t go to Sal’s house because he was afraid of what Sal would do if he learned the guys botched the job. What happened to the one you killed?” Shelley still envisioned the man floating face down in the ocean, the sharks taking big chunks out of him, just a little way down the beach or wherever the tide would have taken him. Maybe even lying on the beach with the hermit crabs nibbling on him. Either of which would be bad news if someone on the island came across him.

At least if the sharks were enjoying him, no one would think he might have been chewed up by a wolf. Actually, since wolves had never existed on the island, she figured no one would assume that anyway. More likely they would think a vicious dog had attacked him instead.

Duncan set down his empty mug. “He took a swim in Sal’s pool.”

Shelley had nearly finished her breakfast, but at Duncan’s last comment, she nearly dropped her fork. She meant to say something, but nothing came out. She cleared her throat. “His pool?”

“Aye. If it was Sal’s man, he can dispose of him. It would clue him in on what happens to wolves who get out of hand.”

She stared at the table, envisioning Sal going outside to the pool for an early-morning swim. She half suspected his girlfriend would sleep most of the day. Most wolves loved the dawn and dusk, their natural time to hunt. A human woman would probably still be sleeping, if Sal had had sex with her during the night. Unless she was naturally an early-morning riser. Another thought occurred to Shelley. What if Sal went outside and saw the body, and didn’t know who the hell it was?

“What if Sal didn’t send the men after you?” Shelley asked very quietly.

Duncan rose from his seat, came around the table to Shelley, rested his hands on her shoulders, and gently rubbed in a soothing manner. “That’s one possibility I don’t want to consider.”

His voice was so grave that she feared the worst. “Carlotta might have hired a hit.”

She assumed Sal hadn’t intended to kill anyone. At least she didn’t think so. That made her wonder why he would have sent the men, except maybe to scare Duncan off.

Then again, what did she know? A man who could buy anything he wanted was butting up against a Highlander who wouldn’t bow down to money or some other man’s will. So maybe he was resorting to other means to get his way.

But a woman scorned could be doubly dangerous.

“Aye. What if Carlotta Silverman already got word about Sal’s interest in you and she’s the one who sent the men? It’s entirely possible.”

Shelley stood but her body felt like one big, wet noodle. Duncan wrapped his arms around her and held her tight. She appreciated the heat of his warm body wrapped protectively around her.

“So, if that was the case, what would Sal think about the dead man in his pool?” she asked. She couldn’t quit thinking about who might find him and what Sal would say about it to his men, or to his girlfriend if she saw it and began screaming.

“If the guy wasn’t his man, Sal probably figures his wife learned about his attempt at picking up a she-wolf. If he’s never strayed with a she-wolf before, he might not have realized how mad his wife could become. Most likely, he would assume I wasn’t about to let any wolf harm a hair on your head. In which case, I don’t know what he would do. Flee the island? Presume Carlotta might order a hit on him next, and he has to do it to her first? I think we’ve started a war.”

“Good. Make them give us the money. They can kill each other off afterward. End of everyone’s worries. No more taxpayers’ money spent on trying to apprehend the bastard and bring him to trial, or if he got convicted, to house and feed him for whatever time he got behind bars—even though that’s not an option for a wolf.” She sighed. “What will happen with the dead wolf?”

“Sal will most likely take him far out to sea. I’m certain he has a boat that he can use to get the job done.”

“As long as he dumps it where it’s not close to our beach. What did Ian tell you last night when you called him?”

Duncan rubbed her back, not saying a word. Shelley pulled partly away and looked up at him. “What did he say, Duncan?”

“You’re to be on the next flight out with Cearnach as soon as he arrives. He’s to fly back to Scotland with you tomorrow.”

Thinking they’d already resolved this issue, she scowled at Duncan and stood up. “No.”

“You don’t want to go to Scotland?” Duncan asked, sounding astounded.

“Of course I want to go to Scotland. But not with your brother! With you, when you get your money.”

His expression darkened like that of a brooding warrior. “You can’t be here. Not with whatever’s going down. It’s the only way I can make sure you’re protected.”

She pulled completely away from him, paced, and then collapsed on the couch, bouncing slightly in not too ladylike a fashion. “You’re my mate now. I’m not leaving you behind.”

“Lass…”

Her brows deepened even further. “Don’t you ‘lass’ me. No. I’m not agreeing to it, and you can’t make me. We’re in this together. A wolf team.” She rose from the couch before he could say another word, returned to the dining room, and opened her laptop. “It’s time for Plan B.”

***

As soon as Duncan told Ian that he was involved with a she-wolf, Ian knew that the situation would get out of hand. He knew because Duncan would never have even mentioned the woman if she hadn’t distracted him something fierce. Being distracted in battle was a deadly scenario all the way around. Ian had never expected the little American female wolf to get into this much trouble. That reminded him of his own mate, come to think of it.

He sat at his desk in his solar, motioning to Cearnach—who’d just arrived at his older brother’s summons—to take a seat. “Cearnach, we’re going to have a fight on our hands,” he told his second oldest brother as he explained the change in the flight plans and what he expected him to do.

“Aye, Silverman’s called on some wolves, and we’re going into battle.” Cearnach nodded agreeably, always ready for a fight.

“Nay. The girl is the one who’s going to give us real trouble.”

Cearnach smiled, enjoying this a little too much.

“Hell, Cearnach, the situation is too serious to be amusing. How can you always see humor in every situation?”

“Sorry, Ian.” Cearnach didn’t look in the least bit apologetic. He spread his hands in an appeasing way, a humorous light still gleaming in his eyes. “What is it you want me to do? I can’t force the lass on the plane if she won’t agree. If you tell Duncan to return with her, leaving the money behind while I try instead to take care of the situation, you know he won’t do it. He’s honor bound to both protect her and get the clan’s money back. He’ll want her on the plane and out of danger. He’ll want to remain on the island. We can’t force her to leave. Not unless we had our own pilot and plane. Which we don’t.”

For the first time since he’d ruled the pack, Ian wasn’t certain what to do. He usually had no trouble making decisions. This time, his youngest brother’s happiness and life were at stake. “I’d send my mate to try and talk some sense into her, but I’m afraid Julia would then be at risk.”

“I agree. As a romance writer, Julia doesn’t belong in the middle of a fight like this. What if this is Carlotta Silverman’s doing? What if she paid the men to go after Duncan, or maybe not even him but the lass? It might not have anything to do with Sal.”

“That’s entirely possible. All right. If Duncan and you can’t convince her to leave, you’ll stay with them. Maybe between you and Duncan, we’ll turn this nightmare around.”

Ian was rethinking the situation once again, wondering if he shouldn’t send a larger contingency. The problem was that keeping their wolf identities secret on a small island would be difficult enough. If all four brothers and some of their male cousins arrived, hell, no telling what kind of catastrophe that could be. Yet, he was still considering it.

***

Duncan watched over Shelley’s shoulder as she searched the Internet for email addresses for Sal and Carlotta Silverman, wondering what her Plan B entailed. He had already decided that he wouldn’t agree to it. Mostly because he had the sneaking suspicion that she was thinking about being used as bait.

Instead of asking her about her plan, he asked her about the call she’d gotten from Wendy. Whatever her friend had told her had undoubtedly upset her, judging from the distressed look Shelley had had when she was speaking with her. “What news did Wendy have to tell you?”

He said it conversationally, but as soon as the words left his mouth, her fingers paused above the keyboard and her whole body stiffened.

His hands went to her shoulders. He began to massage the tension out of them. “What, Shelley?”