The excitement she had exhibited while exploring the ruined castle was real. The terror he had seen in her eyes when she realized her clothes and rented car had been stolen was just as genuine.
“She’s an innocent in all this,” Cearnach said.
“Yet she’s one of them and she’s entering into some kind of business arrangement with Robert Kilpatrick,” Duncan warned.
Two hundred years ago, the Kilpatricks had entered into a “business arrangement” with the MacNeills that took them into a bloody battle that had lasted for months between their clans.
So what was it all about this time? It might have nothing to do with the two clans, but what if it did? Or what if it had something to do with the stolen merchandise her uncles had hidden in Scotland before their untimely demise?
If it was about the MacNeills’ stolen goods, they couldn’t let her hand over the loot to the Kilpatricks and McKinleys. It was a matter of pride. If she thought they would allow her to keep at least half of the proceeds, she didn’t know anything about her cutthroat cousins.
In any event, Cearnach believed that Elaine didn’t know what she was getting herself into. Just like Calla marrying Baird McKinley.
He wanted to help Elaine in whatever way he could while leaving her kin out of the matter.
In the elegantly fashioned guest bathroom where everything was brass or gold trimmed, the walls marbled tile, the shower and separate whirlpool tub stylish, Elaine felt like she was in a luxury hotel instead of an ancient castle as she finished dressing in a pair of black jeans and a long-sleeved, pale blue jersey, the clothes compliments of Julia.
Ian’s mate was a red wolf—Elaine could smell the difference—while everyone else she’d encountered thus far were gray wolves. Julia was a natural redhead with deep red-orange curls resting on her shoulders, translucent ivory skin, and olive-green catlike eyes that made her appear like she had Scottish roots.
Duncan’s mate, auburn-haired Shelley, had offered Elaine a pair of black leather boots because their shoe size was the same. Her eyes were a lovely shade of blue-green, and from the way she gazed at Elaine, Shelley seemed sympathetic to her predicament. She was of average height like Julia and wore a sweatshirt emblazoned with a silver Rampant Lion, silver belt buckle, black jeans, and a pair of black cowboy boots.
Was she from Texas?
As if reading her mind, Julia said, “I was living in California, Shelley in Texas, but we all had roots in Scotland. And you?”
“Florida,” Elaine said, thinking she was family to a bunch of pirates from Florida. Related to the pirates of the McKinley and Kilpatrick clans. She was the enemy in their midst.
“We’ve gathered some clothes for you to wear for tonight and the next several days, and left them on the dresser in the guest room,” Julia said, having concluded that Elaine was their houseguest for the long term.
Elaine had to admit she liked the way the mistress of the house, the alpha pack leader she-wolf, had welcomed her as if she was a long-lost friend. Or already part of the family.
The two American she-wolves remained standing. Cearnach’s Aunt Agnes was seated on a blue brocade chair and introduced to Elaine as Cearnach’s mother’s sister-in-law, although the two referred to each other as sister. Aunt Agnes’s silver hair was tucked up in a bun, her gray eyes studying Elaine like a wary wolf.
Julia’s mother-in-law, Lady MacNeill, was seated on a matching blue chair, and a small curio table was situated between the two women. She barely allowed Elaine to join them before she took charge, though Elaine thought it was Julia’s place to do so as the clan chief’s mate. His mother’s red-gold curls streaked with gray were piled on top of her head in an elegant coif. Her green eyes were sharp and observant, and she wore a lacy green dress as if she was attending a formal tea. All she needed to finish the look were a hat and pair of gloves.
“What happened to you and Cearnach?” his mother asked, her voice sharp and accusatory, as if everything that had happened was Elaine’s fault before she’d heard any of the story.
His Aunt Agnes studied Elaine, her expression more guarded, as she waited to hear the full story before she condemned her. At least that’s what Elaine thought.
“I’m Elaine Hawthorn and I met Cearnach when he nearly ran me off the road earlier today. He ended up with two flat tires near the edge of a cliff instead.”
Cearnach’s mother’s mouth gaped, then she snapped it shut and narrowed her eyes. “Are you sure the fault was not your own?”
“In a hurry to reach the church on time, he was speeding. He was an accident waiting to happen.” Elaine frowned back at the woman. She wasn’t about to allow his mother to turn this around and make her out to be the bad guy.
Julia and Shelley smiled at Elaine, and she got the impression they were on her side.
Cearnach’s mother gave a ladylike snort. “How did you hurt yourself? Was it from the near-accident with my son?”
Ah, the bruise on her face. She didn’t think the woman would appreciate that she’d stepped in front of her son to protect him from Vardon McKinley. She-wolves didn’t have to defend an armed alpha male wolf, after all.
“Well, speak up, young lady,” the woman snapped.
Elaine wondered how the other women could put up with her. She straightened her back. “Vardon McKinley did it.”
Everyone stared at her with wide eyes. The mother’s brows drew together. “Because you were with Cearnach at the church?”
“In a manner of speaking, yes. But not on purpose. I tried to stop the fight headed his way.”
Julia and Shelley grinned. Aunt Agnes’s eyes widened. His mother just stared at her.
Okay, which way was this going to go? His mother would hate her for trying to protect her son, or love her or… well, something in between.
The mother tapped her finger on the arm of the chair. “What will Cearnach say about this?”
She didn’t believe Elaine? What did she think? That another version of the story existed?
“He will probably say he was pissed off that I moved in front of him to…”
“Protect him?” Aunt Agnes asked, speculation in her gray eyes. “Do you always rescue alpha males from others who are ready to rip their throats out, or was today somehow special?”
Oh… my… God. Elaine was being attacked by two female wolves at once? She thought the mother had exclusive rights to the exercise.
“Okay, listen,” Elaine said, her hackles raised. She could fight the most capable of she-wolves any day, and she wasn’t about to be intimidated by these two old women. “Cearnach nearly hit me head-on. He was speeding, and if he hadn’t been going so fast, we could have easily maneuvered around each other. As it was, we didn’t. Then, he forced me to take him to the church. But wait, he wouldn’t let me drive my own car because he didn’t think I could get us there in one piece.”
His mother smiled a little at that.
Elaine paused, waiting for his mother to object or contradict or something, but all eyes were upon Elaine and everyone kept quiet, waiting to hear the whole story.
“Okay, so we get to the church and go inside. I’m not about to be told where I’m to sit. I wasn’t a guest and I was annoyed with Cearnach so I sat on the groom’s side since he was sitting on the bride’s side.”
A gasp from the aunt made Elaine stop. When nobody said anything, Elaine continued. “The Kilpatrick brothers boxed me in, but I didn’t know they were my distant cousins.”
“Distant cousins?” His mother managed to sound shocked and angry at the same time.