Page 61 of The Chief's Wild Promise

His chest started to ache. Lord, she was beautiful.

“No,” he replied with a half-smile. “I’ve always liked to watch the dawn … it’s the quietest time of day.”

“Aye.” She halted next to him, her face lifting to where a glow appeared through the trees to the left. The sun was rising. “At home, I get up before anyone else and go up on the walls … it gives me time to put my thoughts together.”

“Ye’ll be able to do that at Dùn Ara soon,” he murmured. “The views from the walls are breathtaking first thing.” She nodded at this, yet didn’t reply. He cleared his throat then. “Times like these, ye realize how lucky we are to be alive.”

“Aye,” she whispered. “Staring death in the face does that to ye.”

Silence fell between them then, stretching out as the first of the larks began to twitter amongst the treetops. However, Bran sensed Makenna’s tension. She folded her arms across her chest and, after a while, started to tap her toes.

He inclined his head. “What is it?”

“Ye apologized to me yesterday,” she said, keeping her gaze firmly on the approaching dawn. “And I should return the favor.”

“Aye?”

She nodded, discomfort rippling across her face. She still didn’t look his way. “I’m proud and rebellious by nature … asking for forgiveness doesn’t come easy.”

He snorted. “It doesn’t for any of us. But ye don’t need—”

“No … but I am sorry, Bran.” She swung around to face him. “For snarling at ye as I have … for deliberately goading ye instead of trying to build trust between us.”

Warmth kindled under his ribs. “Apology accepted,” he replied softly. “Although, it takes two to quarrel.”

They stared at each other for a long moment, the air between them growing heavy. “We are married now, and we should embrace it,” she murmured. “I want us to start afresh. Can we?”

He nodded, even as his throat thickened. “I’d like that.” Stepping near, he then lifted a hand and brushed away a lock of hair from her cheek. “Black Duncan came close to ending our short marriage,” he said, his voice catching. “But we are free of him now … and I too want to begin again.”

25: BE BOLD. BE BRAVE

CHAOS REIGNED INSIDE Meggernie’s bailey.

Men, women, children—and dogs—swirled around the travel-weary band that clattered under the portcullis and into the wide cobbled yard beyond.

Rae’s wife and sons clung to him, while his boisterous collie, who’d accompanied him from Dounarwyse, bounced around the huddle, barking.

Liza flew across the bailey and threw herself into Alec’s waiting arms as he swung down from his horse, sobbing with relief as she hugged him. Craeg was close behind her and drawn into their circle as Alec assured them all was well.

Makenna’s mother rushed to her husband, face distraught.

“All is well, mo chridhe,” the MacGregor rumbled, pulling his wife into a hard embrace and then kissing her passionately. When he drew back, his gaze was shadowed. “Black Duncan Campbell attacked us on the return home from the hunt … and took us back to Finlarig Castle. But we got free.” His expression grew strained then, his eyes shadowing. “Lloyd is dead though.”

Carmen’s face crumpled at this news.

Watching her father comfort her mother, Makenna’s throat started to ache. Lloyd had been with them for years; both her parents had been close to him. And after his wife died, they’d invited him to take supper with them most evenings in the clan-chief’s solar. Her eyes started to sting then. Being back here without Captain Walker’s steadying presence made her sorrow even sharper.

During the journey home, her grief had swelled and then receded in waves, like a rising and ebbing tide. All it took was a memory of Lloyd striding through the bailey, calling out to his men, and tears welled.

This castle wouldn’t be the same without him.

Swallowing, Makenna dashed away a tear that trickled down her cheek. Lord, it was difficult to hold herself together.

Curse Black Duncan.Fury bloomed like a dark flower in her belly then, momentarily chasing away her grief.We must make them pay.

Meanwhile, her parents had forgotten she was even present. The bond between Bruce and Carmen MacGregor was so strong that sometimes they were oblivious to others.Shegrieved Lloyd too. Her mother would eventually withdraw from her husband’s embrace and seek her youngest daughter out. But for the moment, she was invisible.

An arm went about her shoulders then, squeezing gently. Surprised, she glanced up to see that Bran had stepped close. It felt odd to have a man, who wasn’t her father, hold her like this, and she momentarily stiffened.However, one look at Bran’s face told her he understood.