Page 103 of Taken By the Ruthless Highlander

“I havenae the foggiest,” Nathan answered, his brow creased in utter confusion.

“Gregory,” Orella whispered, dropping her head to his shoulder. “Yer faither was Gregory. It’s the reason ye were given a seat on the council. It was his will that ye have a place here.”

“Ye lie,” Nathan growled, shrugging her off.

Ryder felt as if all the air had been squeezed from his lungs. He swallowed past the lump in his throat. Morgana clapped a hand over her mouth, her eyes wide in shock.

“Ye were supposed to take that to yer grave,” Cohen hissed.

Orella’s shoulders slumped. “I was there. It was only my second time attending a birth,” she explained in a low voice. “Nathan, yer maither, she… I’m sorry for all of it. But yer faither saw potential in ye that he didnae see in Ryder. Ye came into the world a killer, and he liked that. It was Ryder’s maither who refused to have ye in the castle. So, we kept ye hidden till ye were of age. Ye have always been like a son to us.”

“Regrettable son, more like it. We could have ruled the Highlands. But ye had to go all noble,” Cohen snarled as she kneeled before him. “And ye, wife, are the biggest disappointment of my life. I belong with Morgana, but ye… ye just hated the fact she caught my eye. Ye couldnae let us be happy. I wish I never married ye.”

“Ye were my husband,” she said.

Ryder felt Morgana pull his dirk from his belt. He watched as she handed it to Orella.

Amid the chaos, he saw peace and order. And while he wanted to deliver the killing blow, he knew it was Orella’s.

“But unlike ye, husband, I’ll make sure ye’re dead. And when I see the light leave yer eyes, I’ll be free.”

“I’ll haunt ye till the end of the earth,” Cohen gargled as she drove the dirk into his chest.

Morgana buried her face in Ryder’s shoulder. “Get us out of here.”

“Felix,” Ryder barked and jerked his head.

Felix nodded once and moved to Orella. “Come on, love, let’s get ye back to the castle, where it’s nice and safe,” he cooed.

Ryder pulled Morgana to the corner and looked her over.

“Are ye all right?” he asked, keeping his voice level.

But the truth was, he was thrilled to have her back. The fact that they had been so close to losing each other rattled him to his very core.

“I think so,” Morgana said, watching Felix escort Orella out of the cottage.

“Can ye ride?” Ryder asked.

But instead of answering, she broke down in tears.

He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight, wishing he could make all the pain go away.

“Oh, hush now. We’ll get back to the castle, and I’ll make this right.”

“There’s nothin’ that will make any of this right,” Morgana sniffled. “Oh, Ryder, I’m sorry. He said he had found Feya. I thought she’d be here. I trusted him.”

“Aye, so did Orella,” Ryder murmured. “And she was his wife.”

“How could he do this? He was goin’ to… I mean, he was right there…”

“Did he touch ye?” he asked, his voice hardening. “Morgana, answer me. Did he touch ye?”

“Nay,” Morgana hiccuped, swiping her hand across her cheek. “Orella stopped it. He thought she was dead, and she… she clobbered him over the head with the log right there. And then…”

“Hush,” Ryder soothed, pressing her head to his chest.

The wounds were far too fresh from them to rehash everything. All he wanted was to pick her up and carry her out of the madness that surrounded them.