“But…” Shona stopped, clearly unsure how to go on. After a guilty look at Caelis, she simply bit her lip and nodded. What was that about?
And then it hit him. Shona was upset her friend was in a compromising situation with the Ean warrior, but did not feel she had the right to say anything after the way Audrey had caught her with Caelis that morning.
“When is the ceremony?” Caelis asked Abigail, no doubts at all that one was planned.
“This evening.”
“What ceremony?” Shona demanded. “You aren’t telling me that Audrey and Vegar are getting married,
Abigail bit her lip and looked at Caelis as if asking him a question.
He had no guess as to what that question might be.
After a couple of tense seconds, Abigail blew out a clearly frustrated breath and frowned at Caelis before smiling tentatively at Shona. “Talorc heard their vows before he would let Vegar take her upstairs.”
“But…” Looking lost, Shona seemed to sink in on herself. “What is the ceremony you two are speaking of then?”
Caelis reached over and brushed her cheek. He wanted to touch her all the time. It was only more acute in his
This time, though, he was seeking to give comfort. “It is for their mating.”
“She is my dearest friend and she was married without me.” Shona gave Caelis a very unfriendly look. “I do not believe I like this world of the Chrechte.”
“Things are not done the same in the Highlands, Chrechte or not,” Abigail offered in a clear attempt to smooth things over.
The gaze Shona leveled at the Sinclair lady was not exactly warm either. “Even in the Highlands, weddings do not happen in such an unplanned fashion.”
“You would be surprised.” Abigail’s tone was wry, her expression knowing.
Shona crossed her arms and went back to glaring at Caelis as if the circumstances were entirely of his making. “I won’t have it.”
“She will be there for ours,” he promised, hoping that reminder would improve Shona’s rapidly deteriorating mood.
Her eyes snapped green fire. “Our
“Our wedding.” He had made his intentions clear. Did she doubt them now?
“I am no Chrechte to be dictated to by my animal nature. And none can deny that I have earned the right to choose my own future. There will be no second marriage
A Chrechte’s senses are superior to a human’s, but he does not always interpret what they tell him aright.
—GUAIRE OF THE SINCLAIR
Was she intent on denying his claim on her and their children? “Is it because you have seen my
“It is not your
Meaning what? It was his wolf she found unpleasing? No. She’d claimed to trust him in animal form and had behaved near entranced by his beast when Caelis had shared the wolf with her.
His man, then?
He had never heard of such a thing. How could she find the form most like her humanity unacceptable?
“Because it was the man who betrayed me and who seeks to run roughshod over my feelings and rights as an independent widow now.”
What rights as a widow?
“Those recognized by the law; while not near the freedoms granted a man, they are far superior to those of a never-married woman.”
She was right. Having questions he had not uttered aloud answered would take some getting used to. He had thought the question, though. Mindspeak seemed limited to directed thoughts and he would have to guard his own if he did not want to share them with his mate.
Chrechte were taught that though mindspeak was a benefit of a true bond, it did not always happen immediately upon bonding with one’s sacred mate. It was like other gifts of the Chrechte, bestowed in its own time and growing stronger with use. Just as his ability to shift had been.
“What have these legal boons granted to your status to do with my claims to our children, or you, my mate?” he demanded, more confused than he’d ever been.
Talorc had once given the opinion that women were more different from men than the Chrechte from their human brethren. The man obviously knew what he was talking about.
“Everything!”
“Mama?” Marjory asked around a mouthful of berries. “You mad at our new daddy?”
Expecting Shona to deny it to protect her daughter from upset, he was shocked when she nodded her head without hesitation.
“I am, sweeting. Very angry.”
“Oh.” Marjory went back to eating, taking a bite of her bread and cheese, apparently unworried.
Why this was different than her mother’s upset before, he did not know.
Shona turned her glacial green gaze back on Caelis. “Well?”
He had no idea what it was she was expecting. “You can invite anyone you like to our wedding,” he promised, hoping she didn’t have anyone in England she’d want brought north to witness their vows.
They needed to marry quickly, as he had to return to the MacLeod lands and wrest the pack and clan from Uven’s control.
“There. Isn’t. Going. To. Be. Any. Wedding.” Each word came out with precise enunciation, her voice as cold as the look in her eyes.
Unexpected pain lanced through Caelis. “You are denying me my mate and my children?”
There was no softening in her expression, but she shook her head with firm decision. “No.”
“You said—”
“There will be no wedding or mating ritual, or any permanent bonds acknowledged between us until you have done what needs doing.”
“What needs doing?” he asked with genuine confusion.
The way she reacted, it was clear she believed he was being sarcastic. Shona’s eyes narrowed, her body going rigid as a distinct string of words came across the mating bond.
She’d called him a
The expression on her face said she was proud of herself, too.
Unamused, he opened his mouth to let her know just how little he liked being called names by his mate when he spied the way Eadan watched them with wide-eyed interest. Caelis snapped his mouth shut.
“I
He had no answer to that. He should have married her six years ago and the young man he’d been had had every intention of dropping to one knee and asking her properly. Of course, he’d also been sure of her positive
