Page 5 of Wolf Heir (Highland Wolves of Old #3)

Coinneach was busy planting barley and oats near his family's croft when he noticed two women approaching with a small cart loaded with herbs and food, making their way toward Middleborough Castle. One woman seemed to be in her forties, and the other appeared to be in her twenties.

He guessed they were mother and daughter. Both women, with their striking red hair, watched him as he toiled in the field, his chest uncovered and his plaid resting low on his hips as he moved through the soil.

When he got a whiff of their scents, he realized they were wolves like him. He smiled at the two women, especially the younger one, and flexed his muscles, unable to help himself. The older woman’s gaze focused on the wolf mark on his shoulder that he’d had from birth.

The next moment, her blue eyes widened, her face grew ice white, and he dashed across the field to catch her before she fell. He managed to reach her, caught her, and cradled her in his arms.

“Momma, what’s wrong?” the younger woman asked, squeezing her hand, sounding shocked.

He realized he was covered in glistening sweat, and specks of dirt were splattered across his chest as he crouched and held the older woman in his arms. “Ma’am,” Coinneach said. Then, he asked the younger one, “Do you have some ale?”

“Aye.” She pulled a flask off her hip and gave it to him.

He dribbled a little on the older woman’s lips, trying to revive her.

Suddenly, she opened her eyes wide and again stared at his shoulder, looking ready to pass out.

He rose to his feet and carried her to the croft. “My mother, da, and brother are at market. If you wish, you can lie down on my palette until you’re more yourself.”

“Oh yes,” the younger woman said, answering for her mother.

“Nay, nay, nay, we must leave here at once,” her mother said, her voice raspy and weak.

She seemed so frail that he feared she would collapse again. “I’m Coinneach.” He carried her into the croft and laid her on his bed. He wasn’t about to take her word for it that she was alright.

Tears pricked the woman’s eyes until she was sobbing hysterically.

“Mother, what is wrong?” She turned to Coinneach and said, “I am Aisling, and this is my mother, Blair. Thanks be to thee for your help.”

“I would do no less.”

Her mother’s sobs finally quieted, and she looked resigned to being there.

“Do you work at Middleborough Castle?” he asked, never having been there because of his farm work, but he’d always wanted to see inside the magnificent structure.

“Aye.” Like her mother, Aisling had the most beautiful blue eyes. “I work in the kitchen. My mother delivers babies and cares for the wounded or ill. She never wanted me to do that job. I wanted to, though. She would never say why,” Aisling said.

Her mother was again staring at the wolf's head on his shoulder. “We…we have to go,” Blair said, still sniffling. She attempted to move her legs over the edge of the bed, but when she tried to stand, her legs gave out, and Coinneach caught her again.

“You will stay with us and recover. When my family returns from the market, you will eat with us. Once you feel strong enough, I’ll take you to the castle.” He had decided that once she couldn’t stand on her own, he would take care of her until she was safely at the castle.

Appearing panicked, Blair shook her head. “You…you canna.”

“Thank you. We will do that.” Aisling gave her mother a reproachful look, but then her expression softened with concern.

“Good. ‘Tis settled. I need to finish my chores. Will the two of you be all right?”

“Aye, thank you for your kindness.”

“You’re very much welcome. Just dinna let your mother leave the bed,” Coinneach said sternly. “If she falls, she could hurt herself this time.”

He walked to the doorway, glanced back at the two of them, and vowed to see them home safely. He also wanted to see more of the beautiful lass and ensure her mother was all right, though he was determined to know what had frightened her.

“Mother, whatever is wrong?” Aisling asked, taking hold of her hands and squeezing them for reassurance. She had never seen her mother so distraught about anything.

“Dinna ask because I canna tell you,” her mother said, at an attempt at making her words strong, but they lacked the strength.

Aisling had never seen her mother break down into sobs, except when Aisling’s da died in battle when Aisling was ten.

She shook her head. “You have to tell me what the matter is.” She would help her in whatever way she could.

When her mother wouldn’t say, she sighed, walked over to the open door, and looked out at Coinneach as he plowed the fields.

He was so brawny, his golden muscles rippling in his back as he pushed the plow, his plaid flipping up in the breeze, showing off his muscular legs.

When he turned, he caught sight of her and frowned.

She smiled, indicating that her mother didn’t need his assistance.

She was just intrigued with him—his kindness and helpfulness, and aye, his appearance.

He smiled at her as if he knew just why she was watching him, and she loved it.

When he had first seen her before her mother had become indisposed, he had smiled at her with interest, in a way that sent delicious tingling up her spine. Their pheromones had clashed and collided, and she knew he was just as intrigued by her as she was by him.

No one at the castle interested her like he did, and she planned to make excursions past his farm any chance she got to get to know him better. Then she thought about her mother’s reaction to him. Had he been violent or unkind toward her mother at some time when Aisling hadn’t been with her?

She returned to check on her mother, who had finally stopped crying and was resting. “Has Coinneach ever done anything untoward to you before?”

“Nay, nay.” She sounded sincere about that.

Aisling couldn’t imagine what was wrong then.

“We have guests for the meal,” Coinneach said to someone, and Aisling went to the doorway to see who he was talking to.

A gray-haired woman and a man, whom she assumed were his parents, and a blond-haired man who looked like the older man, but was physically smaller than Coinneach.

She didn’t think they bore a strong resemblance.

She didn’t have a sibling but had seen enough children in the pack to recognize those who favored each other.

Coinneach washed up and put on his shirt. “A lovely woman, Blair, who had become indisposed, mayhap because of the heat on this bright sunny day, and her daughter, Aisling.”

They all looked at the croft door and saw Aisling standing in the doorway. She smiled, hoping that feeding her mother and her wasn’t a big imposition. They might not have a lot of food to spare. She couldn’t help but want to spend more time with Coinneach though.

She returned to her mom and said, “Coinneach’s family has returned. Can you eat?”

“We canna stay, Aisling.”

Aisling let her breath out in exasperation.

“Can you walk? If you can, we’ll go home.

” Despite wanting to stay and get to know Coinneach's family longer, she owed it to her mother to take care of her. And if her mother really couldn’t eat, they might as well return to the castle.

“But know this, Coinneach is taking us home, so if you collapse again, he will be there for you.”

“How now,” Coinneach’s mother said, entering the abode first. “Welcome. Coinneach said you were feeling unwell. I am Elspeth.” The dad came in after that. “And he is my mate, Magnus.”

“I’m feeling better,” Aisling’s mother said.

“Good. Then you will eat with us, and Coinneach will take you home.”

“Aye, we always have plenty of food for guests,” Magnus said, smiling.

The blond-haired man entered the croft and smiled at Aisling. “I’m Tamhas.”

Coinneach joined them then, bringing water for his mother to cook the fish they had brought home from the market. “I’m pleased you are looking more revived,” he said to Aisling’s mother.

She sat up and had her feet planted on the floor, but didn’t make a move to leave Coinneach’s bed. “Thank you.”

“Come,” their dad said to Coinneach and Tamhas. “We’ll join them when the meal is done.”

“I can help you, Elspeth,” Aisling said. “I work as an assistant to Cook at the castle.” She was eager to help Elspeth, as they now had two more mouths to feed. Besides, she had been trained to do this.

Coinneach smiled at her as he followed his da and brother out of the croft.

“Aye, that will be welcome,” Elspeth said.

Aisling made the unleavened bread, while Elspeth cooked fish stew.

“It’s good to have another female here who knows how to cook,” Elspeth said cheerily.

“Aye. I love it.” Especially when Cook wasn’t getting after Aisling for doing things wrong.

Elspeth glanced back at Blair. “Are you feeling better now?”

“Aye, thank you.”

“Well, a bit of food in you will make you feel even better,” Elspeth said.

Once the meal was done, Elspeth called out to the men, “Supper’s ready.”

They were eating at an earlier hour than those who ate their meals at the castle, which meant Aisling would still be able to return in time to help prepare the meal there.

The men hurried in and sat down at the table. Blair remained on the bed, sitting over the edge to eat there. Aisling sat with her since there wasn’t enough room at the table for more than four people. But Elspeth joined them, sitting opposite them on another pallet.

“My mother is a midwife at the castle,” Aisling told Elspeth.

The guys were quiet, listening to the conversation between the ladies.

“Oh, that is admirable. I have some healing skills and have delivered babies,” Elspeth said.

“I delivered the, uh, boys,” Magnus said, smiling.

Coinneach and Tamhas’s jaws dropped. Aisling realized they hadn’t known their da had delivered them.

Elspeth, on the other hand, looked worried. So did Aisling’s own mother. Aisling hoped her mother didn’t dissolve into tears again. She reached out and touched her mother’s hand.

Her mother quickly finished her fish stew and bread. “I’m ready to go home.” Then she looked up at Elspeth, her eyes filled with tears, and said, “Thanks for your gracious offer of a meal. It was perfect. But they will be missing us at the castle.”

“Aye, of course,” Elspeth said, finishing her meal.

The men all stood.

“We dinna need your help,” Blair said to Coinneach.

“I will see you to the castle,” Coinneach said with fierce pride, his blue eyes as blue as the sky on a summer’s day.

Aisling was glad he would walk them home. She worried about her mother’s emotional and physical state.

“Aye,” Magnus said. “Coinneach will make sure you get back all right.” Tamhas looked hopeful he could go too, but Magnus said to him, “I have a chore for you to do since Coinneach worked the field by himself.”

Outvoted, Blair submitted and rose to her feet. She managed to leave the croft on her own power, but Coinneach was right there to help her if she faltered. Aisling thought the world of him for it.

When they left the croft, Magnus said, “Come back to see us anytime.”

“Aye, we insist,” Elspeth said, looking straight at Aisling.

She assumed Elspeth recognized Coinneach and Aisling were intrigued with each other. Wolves could sense things like that—the considered looks, the smiles when they caught each other’s gaze, the heightened scents that told everyone they were interested in each other.

“We would love to,” Aisling said.

Coinneach grabbed their cart and began pulling it. It was full of herbs and mushrooms that they had harvested from the forest and produce from market. Aisling was glad to see that her mother seemed all right now and was walking as fast as she could to the castle.

Aisling smiled at Coinneach as her mother walked ahead of them. She quietly said, “I’ll be back when I can.”

He gave her a wicked smile. “I will look forward to it.”

Coinneach was so glad his dad had put Tamhas to work and that he’d insisted Coinneach take Blair and Aisling home.

He feared Blair would insist that she was fine and leave with Aisling without him.

But he wanted to spend more time with Aisling and, of course, make sure that her mother didn’t collapse again.

When he saw the castle up close, with its massive walls towering above him and a few guards surveying the surroundings from the top of the crenelated wall walk, he felt honored to walk inside the inner bailey.

Several people were doing chores, washing clothes, caring for the horses, and feeding chickens.

Blair seemed to have improved as soon as they reached the castle and hurried to enter it without a backward glance, as if it would prove too painful to look at him again, even though his shirt covered up his wolf birthmark.

On the other hand, Aisling took hold of his hand and kissed him on the cheek, bringing a smile to his lips.

“Thank you again.” Then, she pulled the cart behind her as an older woman hollered at her to get into the kitchen at once.

He felt lighter than air as he headed home, vowing to see Aisling again.