The Wolf of My Eye (Highland Wolf #8)

Chapter 1

Robert Campbell joined his twin sister, Edeen, and her mate, Lachlan MacQuarrie, for breakfast at their kitchen table in the manor house, where he’d been living while his own home was being built with the vet clinic right next to it. His place was on their property, within walking distance of their manor house, and was finally finished. Edeen’s home was formerly an inn, originally built in the 1700s, and had always been owned by the Campbells in the Highlands of Scotland, though it had been called a manor house for years.

“Thanks again for giving me fifty acres of your one hundred to build my clinic and home on the property.”

Brushing a red curl of hair off her cheek, Edeen smiled at him. “We would have given you much more than that to entice you to leave your veterinary practice in Edinburgh and join us here.”

“The decision was easy to make.” Robert’s sister was four months’ pregnant, but Lachlan’s brothers both were sitting on pins and needles waiting for their own mates to have babies any day now. “Besides delivering both your babies and Lachlan’s brothers’ sets of twins, I can’t wait to be at your wedding to Lachlan in a little over a week.”

“Oh, absolutely. I’m so excited about it.” Edeen had made Robert a grand tux and the works to wear to it. His twin sister had a successful business creating faux vintage gowns and menswear, tartan kilts, and other garments out of the manor house, while Lachlan worked with his brothers, Enrick and Grant, the leader of their wolf pack and clan business, which meant anything concerning the pack, the castle, and their grounds.

Besides, Robert loved the wolf pack, and he’d always been close with his sister, so he couldn’t imagine living that far from her long-term.

“Have they found a replacement for you at the vet clinic there yet?” Edeen asked.

“No, but I’m sure it won’t be long. The other two veterinarians there can manage the workload until that happens.”

“Well, we’re so glad to have you here,” Lachlan said. “We feel really lucky.”

Robert had been a practicing family physician for a few years before leaving his practice and becoming a veterinarian, which meant that they now had a doctor who was well versed for most scenarios.

“Happy to be here.” Robert loved working with animals, though now that he was living among his kind, he loved taking care of the shifters also.

“Hey, we’re having some weapons training in the inner bailey tomorrow afternoon. Edeen says you’re going to come join us.” Lachlan buttered his toast and coated it with grape jelly.

Robert glanced at Edeen. She smiled sweetly at him. His sister wanted him to be immersed in the same things that the other men in the wolf pack were. Robert wanted to be part of the pack in that way, but he didn’t want to look like he could barely hold a sword. He’d always been busy getting degrees and working. Sword fighting just hadn’t been part of his agenda, and he hadn’t had any wolf friends to practice with over the years, even though it was part of their heritage.

He had a sword that had been handed down from his grandfather, but he worried about actually being able to do well in “weapons training.” He would be required to wear his kilt and the rest of his attire, as if they were ready to go to war. He told himself it would be fun, but he was too alpha to want to admit he could be a failure at it. These guys had been doing this training for years.

“And fishing next week.” Lachlan took a sip of his tea.

That was another thing Robert rarely did. “Uh, right.”

Lachlan nodded, serious as could be, and began eating his eggs. “Good. You’re part of the pack now, and you’re my brother.”

Robert appreciated that all three brothers treated him like he was one of their own. “I agree. I’ve been enjoying getting to know all of you.”

“Good. We sure love having a new brother in the family.” Once he finished eating his breakfast, Lachlan said, “I have to go.” He gave Edeen a hug and kiss.

“Love you.” She stepped outside with him to say goodbye.

On a beautiful summer day like this, Lachlan would walk up to the ancient stone dike between the MacQuarrie and the Campbell properties to reach Farraige Castle to do his duties, whatever they were for the day. Robert had had a hand in installing the wrought-iron gate they’d erected between the two properties.

When Edeen reentered the manor house, she said to Robert, “You know you don’t have to worry about looking like you’re clueless at sword fighting. They want to teach you, and they know you haven’t trained in swordsmanship like they have.”

“And fishing?” Robert finished eating breakfast, then got up to help her clean the dishes.

She laughed. “You will have to do an archery match with them. Then you can show them how good you are.”

“Lachlan never mentions that. It’s like he knows I might best him.”

Edeen hugged her brother. “I did let it slip that you were good at it.”

“Ha! I knew it.”

“So what are you going to do today?”

“I’m going to fish.”

She arched a brow.

“Just to get a little practice in before I have to fish with the others.”

She smiled. “You know they love you no matter what. You don’t have to prove anything to anyone. Okay, well, I have to work on my wedding gown. You have fun fishing.”

“I will.”

“And bring something back for dinner!”

He laughed. If he had luck, he would.

***

Later that morning, Robert was sitting in the boat off the western coast, where he could see the MacQuarrie castle and battlements sitting high up on the cliffs—a spectacular sight. The water was calm as he listened to the seabirds calling out above while casting his line out again. He knew the birds were waiting for him to catch something, just like he was. He was trying to enjoy the fishing trip, the solitude, and the summer day before he opened the clinic in three weeks and would be too busy to do something like this. He’d had to wear a waterproof jacket and pants over his T-shirt and jeans though, the wind off the water a wee bit chilly for soaking up any of the sun’s rays.

He was moving into his home tomorrow, first thing, giving Lachlan and Edeen their much-needed privacy, even though the manor house was set up with two complete living areas. As gray wolves, that meant they’d only want to lease to other wolves, and Robert fell into that category, as well as being family. But he was ready for his own space and was also thinking about the grand opening of his vet practice.

Then he got a nibble on his fishhook. Hell, he’d caught something. He began reeling in the fish, careful not to lose it, giving it slack, reeling it in again, but damn, it was big and struggling to get free. He continued to reel in his catch, and it continued to fight him. He was afraid he’d lose it. But then the sky was darkening. Storm clouds were building and moving in his direction. Winds were whipping the water up in a frenzy. Hell, he was facing a fierce squall, and he had to hurry.

The wind was blowing hard, the waves starting to swell. Robert needed to return to the MacQuarrie beach. He still couldn’t see what he’d caught, but as he pulled his catch closer, a hand reached out of the water and grabbed on to the fishing line. The first thing that came to mind was a mermaid, but then logic caught up: He’d caught a person?

That’s when the diver came up with the hook caught in her arm. Och, he was a worse fisherman than he thought he could ever be.

She glowered at him through her face mask, her beautiful blue eyes spearing him. She pulled out her regulator. He at once smelled that she was a wolf, though also wearing the scent of the sea and salt air. He felt awful that he’d hooked her but couldn’t help but be interested in the pretty wolf.

“You were under my boat?” He held his hand out to her.

“I was swimming out there!” She motioned with her good arm to a point a long way off, where he’d tossed the fishing line out in the first place. Of course. “Ohmigod, we’ve got to get out of this weather.” Lightning was striking the ocean off in the distance, thunder following. Gale-force winds were blowing the boat about, the waves capping.

“Here, let me get you into the boat and I’ll remove the hook. Is it just caught in your suit?” He prayed it was.

“No. It’s also in my arm.” She sounded furious with him, her eyes flashing with indignation.

He didn’t blame her. Here she’d been diving, minding her own business, and he’d ruined it for her. “I’ll get the fishhook out, but we have to hurry. I’m so sorry. Here, let me take your tanks.” But as soon as he leaned over to grab them, a rogue wave hit the boat and capsized it. He went into the water, swallowed seawater, and came up coughing. Aww, hell. Panic washed over him in that moment because he didn’t see the woman.

He dove under, but seeing in salt water without a face mask was nearly impossible. Everything was blurry. Then he felt her bump his leg, and he dove down and grabbed her good arm, pulling her out of the water.

She coughed up water, and he held on to her until she could get her bearings. If the boat had hit her, he couldn’t tell because of the wet suit hood she was wearing.

They would have to swim around the cliffs and reach the beach on the other side. The water was cold, and he wasn’t wearing the right clothes for it. Plus, he wasn’t wearing fins like she was. He worried about having to pull her from the water. Had the boat hit her and knocked her out momentarily? She could have a concussion, but at least her wet suit should keep her warm enough.

His hook was still in her arm. His phone and fishing pole had sunk to the bottom of the ocean. The ice chest and overturned boat were floating on top of the churned-up water.

She pushed the inflator button closest to the air inlet to add air from her scuba tank to the buoyancy control device, or BCD, that essentially served as a life vest when needed.

For a moment, she just stared at the upside-down boat, him, and the bobbing ice chest—and then she took a picture with her dive camera.

The storm was getting worse by the second. Yet for one crazy instant, he wanted to ask if she was single and seeing anyone else.

She pulled a diving knife out of its sheath and handed it to him. “Don’t drop it. Cut me free of the fishing line. I’ll go to a doctor to have the fishhook removed.”

“I’m a veterinarian. I worked at a clinic in Edinburgh. I can remove the fishhook.” He cut the fishing line free of the hook and handed the dive knife back to her.

She sheathed it. “Not out here, you can’t, and I can’t help you with your boat. Can you make it to the shore okay?”

“We’ll swim around the MacQuarrie castle coastline and get to their beach. That’s where I launched the boat. Come with me.”

“You’re going to get hypothermia before long.”

Man, he did not want his soon-to-be in-laws to know about the disaster he’d had. They would have to help him retrieve his boat once he and the mysterious wolf made it to shore. “Hopefully, we’ll make it in before that happens. Are you okay?” he asked.

“Aye. I wasn’t out for long, was I?”

Hell, so the boat had hit her and knocked her out. “Only for a few seconds. I had to bring you to the surface.”

“Uh, thanks. I didn’t know I’d nearly drowned. Let’s swim hard. You might not make it otherwise.”

***

After the dinner date Maisie MacTavish had had last night with a guest at her and her sister’s inn, a man named Gus Anderson, she felt he took the number one spot for the weirdest date ever. While taking the marine wildlife photos for her magazine assignment, she’d kept mulling over the circumstances and wondered if Gus had been having another date after that. She could have taken a look at their security video footage last night, though it didn’t really matter. He was just a guest who happened to be from her hometown of Glasgow, not anyone she figured she would ever see again. Besides, if he were meeting another woman after Maisie’s dinner at the pie shop with him, it didn’t mean the woman would have seen him at his guest room, so the security video wouldn’t have told her anything.

Then a fishing wolf had caught her on his fishhook, and now she was swimming to safety with him. The gale-force winds, lightning, and torrential downpour were slowing them down.

She could get to the beach, no problem. But the wolf who had caught her was falling way too far behind. She knew he had to be suffering from the early stages of hypothermia. She swam back to him and pulled out her regulator. “What’s your name?” She felt bad that he had been trying to help her when that huge wave had overturned the boat.

“Robert Campbell,” he said, his words slurring.

“Maisie MacTavish.”

Then another rogue wave headed their way. “Watch out.” She placed her regulator in her mouth and quickly grabbed his arm, not wanting to lose him. They were tossed about under the wave and then finally resurfaced.

He came up coughing.

She pulled her regulator out, though she hated to because the seas were so rough and she kept getting mouthfuls of water. “I need you to hold on to my belt, and I’ll pull you along.” She had already dumped her weights.

Once he was holding on to her, she put the regulator in her mouth again. They just weren’t making enough progress against the currents and waves, the rain pouring down in sheets, the lightning still striking everywhere around them, and she had to swim hard to reach their destination.

She was trying to avoid the rocks below the cliffs, where waves were leaving millions of bubbles in their wake, when she finally got a glimpse of the beach. She was certain that, unless Robert was a beta wolf, this had been grandly humiliating to him.

Every time she looked at him, he was shivering, and now his lips were beginning to turn blue. She swam as fast as she could, though pulling him along was like dragging an anchor. Then she managed to get to the shallower area and they were on their knees. The storm had moved off, and the sun began to peek out between clouds. A rainbow appeared across the water, a light rain still coming down.

Maisie pulled her fins off, stood, and removed her regulator, the water tugging her and Robert back out to the ocean as the surf withdrew and then the waves pummeled them again. She helped him to his feet, and they stumbled up onto the beach beyond the water. They collapsed on the wet sand just as the rain quit, and they soaked up the sun for a moment. That was good for him. But she was getting hot now. She stripped off her mask and BCD. She was going to pull off her wet suit because she was wearing a vest, sports bra, and long swim shorts underneath, but she couldn’t because of the darn fishhook.

She couldn’t fault him for that too much. Seeing the rugged wolf filled with regret and wanting to take care of her so badly, it’d been easy to remind herself he hadn’t done it on purpose. She had caught herself once while fishing, hooked the back of her shoulder, silly mistake on her part, so she knew how fishing accidents could happen.

She glanced in the direction of the castle and saw what seemed like a million stairs going up to it from the beach. Then she howled, though as a human, hoping someone up at the castle would hear her. In the meantime, she laid down on top of Robert to try to warm him.

“Do you know the MacQuarries?” She did because she’d bought an Irish wolfhound pup from them, but she also wanted to keep him awake and talking.

“Sister mated to Lachlan.” He was still stuttering from being so chilled.

“Okay, good. If no one comes at the sound of my howl, I’ll shift into my wolf and race up the stairs to get help.” She could go up them so much faster as a wolf. Then she remembered about the darn fishhook again. She howled again instead. It was a distress call, and this time a wolf howled back. She was grateful to hear the beautiful call of the wolf.

A wolf and three men appeared at the edge of the cliff and peered down at them, then they disappeared. Good, they had seen them. They would get help.

The next thing she knew, the wolf was running down the steep, ancient stone stairs with speed and grace, hurrying to Maisie and Robert. She didn’t recognize the wolf, but she figured he knew Robert. Then she saw a dozen men running down the stairs. “Thank God. They’re all coming for you, Robert.”

The wolf woofed in agreement.

When the men finally reached the beach, they headed straight for them. “His color is returning. He was mildly hypothermic,” she said to Lachlan and his brothers: Enrick, the middle triplet, and Grant, the eldest of them and their pack leader.

They began taking care of Robert right away.

Lachlan got on his phone. “Edeen, Robert’s on the beach below our castle. He has taken a dip in the ocean. He’s reviving, but he’s really cold. We’re carrying him up the stairs to the castle now. See you soon.”

The guys quickly began hauling Robert up the arduous stairs.

“What happened exactly, Maisie?” Grant asked.

Thankfully, one of the guys had grabbed her fins, tanks, and face mask. She was so worn out, she wasn’t sure she would even make it up all those steps.

“He caught me fishing.” She realized the whole time the other guys had been close by, she’d hidden the hook in her arm from them, as if she was afraid they would think it was her fault she’d gotten caught while Robert was fishing.

Grant waited to hear the story.

She didn’t say anything more except, “He had a mishap with his boat. A rogue wave capsized it.”

“Oh, that explains a lot. He was fishing?”

“Aye.” She planned to go with them, and when Robert was feeling better, he could remove the fishhook. She could have gone to a doctor, but she wanted to give Robert the chance to make things right between them. Then she would go home. One of the guys would undoubtedly drive her back to her car.

When they finally made it to the castle, she was trying not to huff and puff. She wasn’t used to walking up that many steps! The guys took them in stride. They probably did it all the time.

“How is Conan doing with his training?” she asked Grant. Maisie loved the Irish wolfhound that she and her sister, Anne, had bought from the MacQuarries, but in his exuberance to see them, Conan had knocked her and her sister over so many times, she’d finally signed him up for training at the castle. In three weeks, he was supposed to be perfectly obedient.

“He’s doing well. The Irish wolfhounds take to obedience training really well, but they can need a firm hand to begin with. They can be stubborn.”

That’s exactly what she and her sister had learned. “That’s great.” She couldn’t even imagine Conan greeting her in a mannerly way. She knew he would just go crazy like he always did. He had another week of training before she did a transitioning training with him so she could work with him on the basics he’d learned and she would learn them too. She couldn’t wait. She really missed him—he was a big goof and so sweet.

She went in through the bailey with the others and joined them inside the castle.

Colleen hurried to greet her. As Grant’s mate and pack leader, she escorted Maisie into the great hall to have some hot tea. Colleen was so pregnant, she looked like she was ready to deliver at any moment. “Do you want to remove your wet suit?”

“Uh, I need to visit Robert as soon as he’s able to see me.”

Colleen closed her dropped jaw and then nodded. “I’ll check and see how he’s doing. They would have taken him to one of the guest rooms.”

“Can I come with you?”

“Yeah, sure.” Colleen smiled. “So you know Robert?”

Now that sure sounded like Colleen believed there was something romantic going on between Maisie and Robert. Maisie sighed. As if that were the case!

“No, not really. We met quite by accident.” She still needed to have the fishhook removed.