Page 10 of Her Scot of Bygones (MacLeod Dragons #2)
–Lucas–
ALTHOUGH IT HAD only been a few hours since I last saw Hazel, I was surprised by how desperately I missed her until she joined us in our smaller dining chamber. I missed her so much, it took a great deal of inner strength not to go to her the moment she and Aspen entered the room. I forced myself to stay perfectly still, warring with my emotions not to throw caution to the wind and pull her into my arms.
To feel her against me again and never let her go.
I could not be blamed, either, because she was a vision.
No longer in modern-day clothes with a frilly apron, she wore a deep purple dress that complemented her curves and looked stunning with her long, thick, wavy, vibrant crimson hair flowing around her shoulders. In truth, it was hard to believe she might be destined for me because her beauty was unparalleled. A priceless gift if she were to end up being mine, which I unfortunately knew might not be the case because, according to Aspen, she’d abruptly left my chamber after seeming so drawn to it.
Although tempted to go up and at least escort her down to dinner, Aspen had been clear that it was best she be alone with her sister so they could talk. There was no way to know what they discussed because they blocked me from their minds, but my heart skipped a beat when Hazel met my gaze and smiled. It might have been a small smile, but it did wonders for my confidence and soothed my inner beast.
“You must be Flame,”
Hazel exclaimed, her smile growing when the grey pup born of the Wolves of Ossary trotted over from where he’d been curled up in front of the fire to greet her as if they hadn’t seen each other in far too long. Much to his pleasure, she crouched and scratched him behind the ear.
“Aspen told me you helped quite a bit on her adventure.”
She cocked her head.
“Any chance you’d like to do the same for me?”
Flame licked her cheek, then headed my way, plunked down beside me, perked his ears, and cocked his head at her in return, giving me much-needed hope. Although a shifter, he had been born in wolf form, so it would be some time before he shifted to his human half for the first time and finally spoke.
“I would say that means yes, Hazel, Flame will help you.”
Chara smiled.
“Both of you, it seems.”
“’Tis good to hear,”
Marek said, undoubtedly sensing how pleased that made me and my dragon, because yet again it implied Hazel was my mate. He winked at me and urged everyone to sit and dine.
“Let us eat. ‘Twill be a good opportunity for you to get a bit more acclimated to your surroundings before meeting our clan, Hazel. I encourage you to ask us anything you like so you might better ken this era.”
Thankfully, she was seated beside me with Aunt Chara and Uncle Marek across from us, and Broderick and Aspen at the heads of the table. Hazel was relatively quiet, listening as everyone caught her up on everything from strife at the Sassenach border to what she should know about the Sutherlands and the blasted pact they were holding over our heads.
“So the King of Scotland, Robert II, is fully aware that not only the MacLeods but the Sutherlands possess dragon blood, and both are tied to a pact that if not honored could start a war between two of his most powerful clans?”
Hazel said at one point, fascinated by not only the details of the pact but the various dishes being served. Aspen had made sure it was a variety, given Hazel’s love of cooking, and so different from what she was used to. I, of course, took every opportunity to describe each dish to her.
“Aye,”
Broderick replied.
“The king is fully aware and was, is, the driving force behind us fulfilling the pact.”
“I can imagine.”
She smiled and thanked me when I saw she chose a choice cut of succulent meat.
“He doesn’t need internal war when he’s constantly dealing with it externally.”
A caring, protective sort, whether it was of her kin or kin by extension, given Broderick was now her brother by marriage, worry furrowed her brow when she looked at him.
“How is your brother, Tavish, and cousin, Sloan? Both are fighting at the border, right?”
“Aye.”
He nodded.
“Last I heard, both fare well and are fighting hard on behalf of king and country. Thank ye for asking.”
“I’m so glad to hear it.”
Her eyes drifted a little when she tried the meat, murmuring how delicious it was.
“And what about Storm?”
She looked at Aspen.
“Have you heard anything from her besides the letter she sent with Flame?”
It was still hard to believe Storm, yet another modern-day woman who had visited this era sporadically over the years because she was good friends with Broderick, who then ended up in ancient Ireland, had found a way to write letters to Hazel and her sisters from the time they were children. Although vague about who she was, it turned out, as far as we could ascertain, she was trying to be there for them during difficult times, eventually steering them in our direction once they were older.
Or, better said, when the time was right for the pact to ignite.
Did she know about their father, Malcolm Sutherland, and his role in the pact? Were they assisting each other from wherever in time they were? It was impossible to guess. All we knew was we had to see the pact through, and one of the sisters was doomed to be with a Sutherland, hopefully tying the two clans together to usher in a new era of peace with our enemies, which would only mean a stronger Scotland.
“No, I haven’t heard a word from Storm,”
Aspen told Hazel.
“What about you? Did you hear anything before you traveled back in time?”
“Outside of her last letter saying I should settle into the colonial in New Hampshire with you, Willow, and Ellie, no.”
She shook her head.
“Nothing out of the norm except…”
When she trailed off and tilted her head in thought, Aspen prompted her to go on.
“What is it? Did something happen?”
“Actually, yeah.”
Having barely touched the mead she walked in with, Hazel sipped her water.
“Now that I think about it, something strange did happen, but I’m not sure it had anything to do with Storm.”
She explained how she continually lost track of time the afternoon before I stole her away. She kept burning corn muffins she’d been trying to bake for Willow.
“Yet I burned them over and over.”
She frowned and shook her head, baffled.
“I just kept looking out at my hazel tree because it wasn’t there hours before, and kept losing time.”
“Losing time,”
I murmured, sensing something in that. Fearful of it in a way I couldn’t explain, only that I related it to the woodland vortex that came for her in the tunnel, and said as much, unable to keep my brogue from thickening with my heightened emotions.
“Whatever that was, ‘twas verra much symbolic of time and taking ye from me…”
I narrowed my eyes when my inner beast flailed in defiance as if fighting her being torn away from us all over again, and I spoke through clenched teeth, meaning every word, but unsure why I said it.
“Stolen away, so I stole ye back.”
I didn’t realize just how forceful my words were until it occurred to me that the room had gone silent. It turned out it wasn’t just because of my vehemence either, but because of the look in Hazel’s eyes.
Moreover, the dragon in her eyes.
Where I found them brilliant and mesmerizing in the darkness of the tunnel, now I found them so familiar my chest tightened with the pain of it. The sheer want of her. Her shining emerald green dragon eyes didn’t just flicker but stayed steady on me as if her inner beast reached out to mine in recognition.
“I’m sorry,”
she whispered, saying the last thing I expected to hear, but it seemed her dragon would not keep it from me any longer.
“I saw something upstairs you should know about…something that told me where I have to go next. Where we have to go.”
“And where is that?”
I said roughly, not much liking the vibe I was getting, but knew I had no choice but to heed her wishes. It had been clear in Evan’s letter, and I’d given Broderick my word.
It was my turn to risk losing my lass forever for the sake of Scotland.
“I saw a huge bronze dragon flying over the sea that Aspen assured me was a vision,”
Hazel said, calmer than I would have expected, given I knew it was the first dragon she had ever seen, but then I could also see she’d been drawn to it rather than afraid.
“Then I remembered something ….”
Her voice thickened with emotion.
“I ran to him and embraced him, Lucas. The memory we witnessed of me as a little girl on Sutherland land, I saw the rest of it, and I was happy to see Evan Sutherland. Really happy.”
“As in happy to see a good friend?”
I couldn’t help but frown because Evan’s dragon was bronze-colored, yet I knew if it were actually here, Broderick would have known he was on our territory and in our airspace.
“Or happy to see a fated mate?”
“I’m not sure, but I’d say a friend at least,”
she said softly, shocking me when she rested her hand over mine on the table, comforting my inner beast, which was a good thing because it was fuming beneath the surface.
“I have a feeling I was too young to understand if it was anything more.”
I did my best to rally my emotions and not behave impulsively when all I wanted to do was throw her over my shoulder, take her as far away from Sutherland land and Evan as possible, and never let her go until she swore she would be mine and mine alone. Yet whether I promised my chieftain or not, I knew as I gazed into her eyes the only way she would be mine was if I let her go first and prayed she was my fated mate so she would find her way back to me.
“What comes next, lass?”
I forced myself to say because I knew I had to.
“Where do you need to go? Where do we need to go?”
What she told me surprised me yet again, but I could not say I was opposed to it. Nay, if anything, it gave not just me but my inner beast a great deal of hope.