Chapter 2
Lachlan stared after the fiery redheaded, mossy-green-eyed spitfire as Edeen hurried off through the snow to get away from the castle. “Do you need to borrow another leash?” He immediately thought about inviting her to their Christmas party that was in six days. Before this, the person who bought the property could have been human, so inviting the owner would have been out. But Edeen certainly was not human. Though she might have a mate and family… What did he know? If she was single, he was completely intrigued.
In the back of his mind, he was thinking about Colleen’s comments about befriending their next-door neighbor. He was all for being first in line for that before the other bachelor males in their pack showed how interested they undoubtedly would be.
She didn’t answer him and continued to walk off. She looked like she was struggling to carry the one dog while the other walked beside her like a well-heeled pet. He wondered why she had concluded that their dogs had anything to do with luring her dogs here.
The MacQuarrie pack kind of knew now who they were dealing with as their new neighbor, so he could look into her further. Of course, she might have a whole family living there, not just herself; then they’d have more of her kin to deal with. Especially if she was mated and her mate didn’t take kindly to Lachlan getting friendly with her. He wanted to chase after her and see what he could find out.
At least she was a wolf, and that was good news.
Grant shook his head at Lachlan, signaling he thought she was going to be trouble. But for Lachlan, she was going to be the kind of trouble he wouldn’t mind handling.
Edeen disappeared from their sight as she moved beyond the castle gates.
“She’s going to be just as difficult to deal with as EJ was,” Grant said.
“Nay, worse,” Enrick said. “She has a couple of beastly fox terriers. Did one of our dogs get loose? I was so busy fighting Lachlan, I didn’t see any of ours out here, just suddenly the two fox terriers raced into the courtyard.”
“Same here.” Though Lachlan assumed she hadn’t made up a tale.
“You’ll apologize to the woman.” Grant got ready to spar with Enrick this time, and his two brothers struck each other’s swords.
“For what?” Lachlan was puzzled. If he’d seen one of their wolfhounds in the bailey, he would have apologized, though it wouldn’t mean their dog was at fault. Her dogs could have just raced onto their property, heard all the ruckus of the men fighting in practice combat, and came to check it out. Which meant they had no reason to apologize for anything. Though in retrospect, he did like the idea of talking with her and getting to know her before any of the other guys had a chance.
He noticed several men were watching him speaking with Grant, looking as though they were ready to take on the task if he was in the least bit reluctant.
Grant and Enrick paused in their sword fight. “The lass obviously thinks we had something to do with her dogs coming here. Find out what it was and apologize to her,” Grant reiterated.
“And ask if she wants to sell the property?” Lachlan asked.
“Nay, of course not. She’s already riled up. We don’t want to stir things up more by suggesting that. Once we get to know her better, aye. Make it your job. You were supposed to learn who bought the property. If she and her family did, then find out all you can about them. But go apologize to her first. Welcome her to the community also. Invite her and her family for dinner.”
Enrick smiled. Lachlan knew his brother was glad Grant sent him on the mission instead.
“What about the Christmas party?” Lachlan believed that would be a great way to break the ice.
“Maybe wait on that,” Grant said.
Lachlan sighed, grabbed his shirt, and pulled it on. He would have preferred wearing his regular clothes to talk with her, but when Grant wanted something done, he wanted it done now. “I’m off then.” He sheathed his sword, another thing he wouldn’t normally have carried with him to meet with the lassie who was already antagonistic toward him, but everyone would be fighting, and he didn’t want to leave it just lying about. Plus, he intended to return to spar some more because he hadn’t trained for all that long at today’s session.
He took off after Edeen at a run, and then he smelled Hercules’s scent coming from the same direction she was headed. Why, that sneaky wolfhound! Hercules must have slipped back into the keep while they were getting in their sword practice without anyone being the wiser. Of course Lachlan had smelled Hercules’s scent in the bailey, but he smelled all the dogs’ scents in there because they’d all been outside at one time or another today.
Lachlan could see Hercules’s paw prints in the light-snow-covered ground and of course the little terriers’ paw prints and the woman’s small boot prints. She was way up ahead, and he raced even faster to catch up to her. Hearing him coming, she glanced over her shoulder and raised her brows, her pretty mouth pursed, her cheeks red from the cold, reddish freckles sprinkled across the bridge of her nose, making her even prettier.
“What?” She was curt with him.
“Sorry. I should have brought a leash for you to borrow.” But he wouldn’t have had time to grab one from the kennel and reach her quickly enough. Not that he’d even thought about it again once he was trying to catch up to her. “Let me carry your dog for you at least.” Even though he’d offered, she hadn’t acknowledged his offer.
“Aren’t you worried Jinx will bite you?” She looked cross with him, then glanced at his sword and the dirk sticking out of his boot.
Yeah, he did look a bit like a warrior on a deadly mission, not on a peaceful one. “If he’s a biter, I’ll let you continue to carry him, but I can hold the leash of the other dog.” Dogs normally loved him, so he wasn’t really too worried.
Smiling and looking amused that he might be afraid of her smaller dog, she handed the one dog over to him. He took hold of him and held him snug against his body. He was used to holding their Irish wolfhounds like this only when they were puppies. This one was so small and lightweight compared to his full-grown dogs. The dog seemed perfectly content to be carried home in Lachlan’s arms. “Who might you be?” he asked the dog in his arms, as if he needed a proper introduction.
“That’s Jinx. You can easily see the difference in that he has more of a white face, some tan, and the larger black saddle,” she said. “This is Rogue, with a tanner face and more white and tan on his back, but just a little bit of black.”
“Okay, got it. Rogue, Jinx,” he said, greeting them. “I’m sorry Hercules went onto your property. That must have been the reason your dogs chased him back to the castle.”
She raised a brow at Lachlan.
“I smell his scent and see his tracks. He was sneaky and got by us while we were fighting. None of us even saw him.”
She released her breath. “Good. I didn’t think you believed me.”
“Nay, I do. He’s normally well behaved.”
“EJ said otherwise, and your dog Hercules proved it.”
Lachlan stiffened a little. He didn’t appreciate that even in death, EJ held sway over a Campbell’s belief. Lachlan figured Hercules had realized there were dogs on the property next door, probably heard them barking at some point, and went to check them out. He was the most curious of their adult hounds and the greeter of the bunch. EJ had never owned dogs, and this was an interesting development for the MacQuarrie dogs to learn the new neighbor had some.
Lachlan figured it was time to change the subject. “We didn’t think EJ had any relatives, so I was surprised to learn you had taken over the property.”
“We were not related, unless it was very far back in our family roots and the families split up and lost track of each other. It’s possible since we were both wolves.”
“I think it’s incredible that he sold his property to a Campbell wolf who isn’t related to him. I mean, it sounds like a huge coincidence.” Too much of a coincidence.
She didn’t say anything, but when they came to the dike, he realized she had to have climbed over it and her dogs too. Definitely Hercules had leapt over the wall here. He felt bad for her then.
They both waited for her leashed dog to climb over the rock wall, but it was like Rogue didn’t know how to or didn’t want to now that he wasn’t in hot pursuit of his prey.
Now Lachlan was in a quandary. He couldn’t carry two dogs over the wall, and he didn’t think Edeen could manage to carry one.
“Come on, Rogue, you did it before.” She sounded exasperated with her dog.
“They need something to chase to make this work,” Lachlan said.
She rolled her eyes at him.
He smiled. “Okay, let me see if I can carry both dogs over at the same time.”
“You can’t. You need at least one free hand to climb up the dike unless you can jump over the wall like your dog did.”
“As a wolf, sure.” He figured she was right. He needed at least one hand to climb up and over it. “Okay, give me the leash and you climb over the dike. I’ll climb up and partway down to hand off Jinx and then go back for Rogue. I’ll still be holding his leash so he can’t run off.” Luckily, the leash was long enough to accommodate the maneuver.
She looked skeptical, but unless they walked for a mile through the woods down to the road, the only other choice they had would be to walk back to the castle and he would give her and her dogs a ride home.
She climbed over the dike and then waited for him to ascend the stone wall with one of the dogs tucked under his arm while the other dog’s long leash was tied securely to his belt.
“Do you always come armed for a fight when you see a new neighbor?” She eyed his sgian dubh and then his sword. She sounded like she thought they always did this when they had confrontations with EJ. Lachlan wondered if he’d told her that!
“Nay, never.” Lachlan handed Jinx to her, then climbed back over and down the other side of the wall, but all of a sudden Rogue ran up the dike to the caprock all on his own. Lachlan figured he was afraid to be left behind. Then Lachlan climbed back up to where Rogue was still standing as if he’d changed his mind and descending the rocks or leaping to the snow down below was too much of a challenge. Lachlan lifted him off the wall and carried him the rest of the way down. He handed Rogue’s leash to Edeen, then took Jinx from her so they could finish making their way down the hill.
He noticed then a smooshed bunch of Hercules’s poop in the snow on the way to her house and her boot prints where she’d run through it. He sighed. He was sure she was annoyed about that too. He hadn’t seen her footprints colored brown, so maybe it had come off just fine on her long trek to the castle in the snow.
“Your dogs seem to be very well trained,” Lachlan said, which was a credit to their owner.
She scoffed. “When they’re not chasing your beastie off my property.” They finally reached the door to her house.
Because of the issues they’d had with EJ, Lachlan had never been here before. The manor house was beautifully maintained, freshly painted on the outside, and if this had been EJ’s doing and not Edeen’s, Lachlan respected EJ more for it.
Muddy paw prints covered the freshly painted blue door—definitely Hercules’s. He’d been caught in the act. She took Rogue from Lachlan and let both dogs into the house, then shut the door. At least she was still standing on the porch to speak to Lachlan, her arms folded, not appearing happy.
He was glad she hadn’t just slammed the door in his face. “To welcome you to the neighborhood and to apologize for Hercules’s trespassing, we’d love to extend an invitation to you for dinner tonight. You can even see Hercules’s brand-new pups.”
She raised a brow. “Now there will be more of them?”
Okay, so he probably shouldn’t have mentioned that part. “We usually find homes for them right away.” He’d figured everyone would love to see the puppies and maybe that would brighten her mood. He guessed he was wrong.
“Thanks. But no thanks. I know what you’re trying to do.”
That caught him off guard. “And what is that?” Lachlan was afraid he was going about this all wrong. He suspected she could see just what he was up to with regard to wanting her to sell the property to his pack.
“You come down here all sexy in your ancient kilt and the rest of your”—she motioned to his garments—“clothes and armed to the teeth as if you were ready to do battle.”
She thought he was sexy? He couldn’t help but smile a little. “Uh, I didn’t want to toss my sword and come after you—”
“And that’s another thing. You’re gallant, putting on the charm, friendly, apologizing—and, believe me, no Scotsman has ever apologized to me for anything—especially a wolfish one.”
He wanted to laugh. “I—”
“Didn’t do it on your own. I heard Grant speaking to you, telling you what to do—right? The laird told you to come after me, apologize, and invite me to dinner.”
She hadn’t been far enough away from the castle then when his brother had told him that. Which was the trouble with their enhanced wolf hearing.
“Aye. He’s the pack leader. He asked me to apologize to you and learn what had happened because we hadn’t seen Hercules return to the keep. And he did ask me to invite you to dinner.” Lachlan figured it was time to cut his losses and head back to the inner bailey to sword fight some more and give up on trying to make amends with their new neighbor for the moment. Not that he felt total defeat. “I’m sure you’re just getting settled and now with our dog upsetting you—”
“How many more of them are there now?”
“Irish wolfhounds?”
“Aye.”
He thought she didn’t sound too eager to send him on his way or she wouldn’t have talked to him further. That could be a good sign. “We have four adults—two males, two females—and the seven in the litter.”
Appearing not to be happy that there were several more gentle giants at the castle, she shook her head. “If you truly want to apologize, you can wash Hercules’s muddy paw prints off the front door.” She checked the bottom of her small boots, and he looked too, hoping she didn’t have any more of Hercules’s poop on them. Then appearing satisfied they were fine, she went inside the house and closed the door.
He was just staring at the freshly painted blue door, thinking about how he could successfully clean it off. His kilt came to mind. Or his shirt. But before he could use either to wipe off the paw prints, she opened the door and handed him a wet rag. “Thank you and good day.”
He took the rag, and she closed the door in his face. She was saucy. It was true love. He laughed at himself. He realized he should have asked if she had family staying here with her. Though he suspected she would have had someone helping chase after the dogs if she did.
After washing the door, he knocked on it to give her back her dirty rag and show her that he’d done a great job cleaning the door. When she opened it, she inspected the door, not surprising him. She nodded sagely, appearing to approve of his handiwork, but when he tried to hand her the rag, she shook her head. “You can take the dirty rag home and clean it and just leave it on the chair there when you have time.” She pointed to a blue rocking chair. “Thanks.” Then she flipped around and closed the door. The latch locked instantly.
He chuckled and headed back to the castle, climbing over the dike again. He was surprised she hadn’t asked him to clean her boots too, but the long walk and the snow appeared to have cleaned them off sufficiently. He would have done it if she’d needed him to. Anything to rectify their rocky start.
She had spirit. He’d give her that.
Grant was going to have a real time trying to convince her that she should sell her property to him. Lachlan suspected that was never going to happen.
***
EJ had warned Edeen that Grant would begin trying to get on her good side as soon as she moved in. That he might even try to foist off his youngest triplet, bachelor brother, Lachlan, on her as a mate prospect. Though that would be foolish for Grant to even consider. Lupus garous lived long lives and they mated for life, so mating someone just to gain land for his pack wasn’t going to happen, no matter how gallant Lachlan appeared to be. She had to admit if she was stuck with him for some catastrophic reason, she certainly wouldn’t toss him from her bed. He definitely was more than easy on the eyes.
While he climbed up the hill, she watched him out the kitchen window, glad he hadn’t seemed perturbed with her when she made him clean her door or take the rag home to wash. When she’d inspected her boots in case they needed to be cleaned off too, she’d wondered how he would have reacted if she’d removed her boots and handed them to him to wash up a bit.
But she reminded herself the MacQuarries would do anything to ingratiate themselves with her, just like EJ had said, so she wasn’t letting them off the hook that easily.
Just as Lachlan was climbing the rock wall, the wind caught his kilt and it went flying up, exposing his naked arse. Her jaw dropped. He had gone commando? It figured.
She wouldn’t get that image out of her mind for a while. If ever . Not that it was a bad thing; she was a wolf after all. He had one toned butt! She smiled but then frowned at herself. She had sworn off all men, and she was keeping up her guard when it came to the MacQuarries and their wolf pack. Then she sighed. She could still enjoy looking at one as hot as him, and according to EJ, Lachlan wasn’t mated, so no issue there as far as getting involved with a man who already had a significant other. Not that she was going there with Lachlan or anyone else in his pack.
She went inside her home to sort out more of her boxes. That was the downside to having the new place—unpacking and trying to figure out where everything would go. Then she’d spend weeks, months even, trying to figure out where she had put stuff!
She’d already piled up EJ’s clothes from the closets in the spare bedroom to be packed in the boxes she was now emptying.
Other than unpacking her clothes and kitchen items so she could cook and setting up her sewing room so she could get back to work on her Celtic garment orders, she planned to leave the rest of the items in boxes until she needed stuff. Oh, she needed to put up her Christmas lights too. She’d been so excited about doing that at the new place. She’d always hung up lights at her previous home. She could just imagine the lights reflecting off the loch at night and how beautiful that would be.
Tonight, she was running as a wolf—her first time here. It was refreshing to be away from the city where she couldn’t do that. Even the starry nights would be more brilliant out here in the darkness. After doing so much work, it would be fun to stretch her legs.
Both the front of the home and the back had wolf doors, so it was perfect for her coming and going as a wolf.
She thought about Hercules’s puppies and wished that she could have seen them. Truly. She loved animals. If the MacQuarries only wanted her property, she didn’t want to appear too eager to be friendly with them though. It would be nice to be on friendly terms, however. She’d always gotten along with her neighbors, and she hoped it would be like that here eventually—once they realized the land was hers and she wasn’t selling it to them or anyone else.
She finally finished unpacking her dishware and utensils and then ordered a steak, bacon, and ale pie from Ye Olde Highland Pie Shoppe. Shopping for groceries was next on her list.
She tried to buy from local businesses whenever she could, and she loved Scottish pies. She’d never eaten at this restaurant as it had been too far from where she’d lived before, so this was the perfect opportunity to see if their food was just as delicious as customers’ reviews had claimed.
She pulled her hair back into a chignon with a clip and then grabbed her coat. She’d been moving all her things into her new house all morning—except for when she’d chased after her dogs—and hadn’t eaten breakfast, so she was starving. She figured she’d just pick up the food, grab some groceries from the market, and return home to do more unpacking. Tomorrow, she’d start working on the McIntyre wedding gown again. She needed to complete it, though the bride’s wedding wasn’t until March. But she liked to finish projects and get her final payment for them before a bride got cold feet—or the groom did—and Edeen got stuck with a half-finished gown that didn’t have a buyer any longer.
She’d keep the down payment, which was half what was owed, in that case. That paid for the cost of the fabric at least, but not for all the work she’d put into the dress. Then she could have a hard time selling it unless she got lucky. Getting stuck with a dress didn’t happen very often, but if it started to, she’d begin requiring full payment up front.
“Okay, pups, I’ll be right back.” She left the house, got into her car, and headed for the pie shop.
When she arrived, she loved the quaintness of the place, the big glass windows and white sparkly lights decorating them giving a bit of Christmas cheer, and for nicer weather, dining was available on the covered patio where little round tables and chairs provided seating. Inside, she soaked up the aroma of the baked goods, steak cooking, sweet confections. Red cinnamon candles were burning on each of the tables , scenting the air. The ladies managing the shop were dressed in ancient Scottish dress, and she smelled they were wolves! Her spirit was instantly lifted even more. Making she-wolf friends in the area would be great. Maybe they’d even need some new tartan outfits while they worked at the shop. She would love to make them some.
Ancient weapons and various shields hung on the wall, and a small Christmas tree decorated with little plaid Highland cows and colorful Christmas bows sat in the corner. Mistletoe dangled over the doorway, and boughs of holly and red bows adorned the walls. Christmas instrumental music played in the background, making for a special little Christmas retreat that was just delightful.
One of these days she might eat here, but she had so much to do at home that she just planned to get her order and leave.
When she walked up to the counter, a woman greeted her with a smile, but her smile broadened when she realized Edeen was also a wolf. They instantly had a connection.
“I’m Edeen, and I placed an order for a steak, bacon, and ale pie.”
“Hi, I’m Heather, and I own the shop. I’m so glad to meet you. I’ll be right back with your order.”
Even though no one was at the counter picking up or placing orders, customers were seated at all ten tables inside, enjoying their lunches. The aroma of onions, steaks, and baking bread filled the air, and Edeen got a kick out of the old oven they were using for baking too.
All smiles, Heather set her steak pie order on the counter. “I hope you enjoy it.”
“I’m sure I’ll be back for more. Thanks so much. Oh, and if you ever need tartan clothing, I’ve got you covered. I do lots of historical, period, and fantasy Celtic pieces.” Edeen handed Heather one of her business cards, figuring it wouldn’t hurt to offer her services to a fellow businesswoman, especially since Heather was dressed in the kinds of clothes Edeen created, and maybe she’d even get a sale or two. It wouldn’t hurt if she made a few sales out here. This would be a totally new market for her.
“Oh, wow, thanks. Aye, we can always use new items to wear that are handcrafted by someone who knows what she’s doing regarding the authentic, period styles. We wear them both at the shop and at other activities we’re involved in.”
“Great! Well, I’ll be back for more pies soon, I’m sure. Thanks again, and it’s so good to meet you.” Then Edeen left with her pie, so glad to meet a she-wolf who she might be friends with who worked not too far from where Edeen lived. She hoped she really liked the pie after offering to get more! She loved that she might even get some more business. After she left, she realized she should have asked Heather what other functions she went to where she wore clothes like that. If they had a Celtic festival somewhere nearby where Edeen could set up a booth and take orders, that would be great.
Then she dropped by the market, picked up some groceries, and headed home. When she arrived at the manor house, she was shocked to see the kilted Highlander standing on her patio as if he’d become a permanent fixture there. Lachlan MacQuarrie gave her a sexy little smile and waved her rag at her—all clean. He was still wearing his kilt as if he wore it all the time, and he was still armed.
She had to admit he was a powerful sight to look at and totally appealing.
She got out of her vehicle, her purse in hand. “You’re still in your battle tartan.”
“We were still practicing sword fighting when I went to help you with your dogs.”
“You didn’t have to clean the rag and return it that quickly. Did Grant tell you to do it?” She opened her trunk to get her groceries.
“Nay. I didn’t know if you might need it, so I wanted to get it back to you as soon as possible.”
She was amused he was trying so hard to please her, though she suspected someone else actually washed and dried it. “I have others, thanks.” She grabbed two bags of groceries, and he quickly tucked the rag into one of the bags and went to carry the others inside for her. “You don’t have to help me.”
He glanced at the meat pie sitting on the passenger’s seat. “It’s no trouble.”
“Do you ever eat there?” The name of the shop and the logo of a kilted warrior were featured prominently on the package, and since it was a wolf-run restaurant, she suspected he might dine there.
“Aye, the pies are really good.” He brought her groceries into the house and said hi to the dogs. They greeted both of them as if they believed Lachlan was a long-lost friend and belonged there. Then he said, “If you need help with anything, just let us know.”
“Not you? Us?”
“Uh, yeah, well, me, just anytime. I should have asked if you have family coming to stay here with you or—”
“I have a twin brother, Robert, but he’s staying in Edinburgh. He’s a veterinary surgeon.”
“Ahh, okay. That’s wonderful.” Lachlan paused, looking as though he didn’t know what to say exactly, but he wasn’t ready to leave just yet. “Hey, if you plan to hang Christmas lights, I can help. I mean, I don’t know if you even had plans to do that, but if you did…” He was looking at her boxes labeled Christmas Lights near the front door.
“You’re just being neighborly, right?”
“Sure.”
“At Grant’s request.”
Lachlan sighed. “His mate, Colleen, did mention it, but I’m offering on my own, not because she commanded me to.”
“I’m fine, but thanks so much for the offer. And for carrying in the grocery bags.” She walked outside to get her lunch out of the car, and then he said goodbye. He inclined his head a bit, not appearing to be disappointed that she had turned him down, and headed up the hill.
Seeing him return in that direction made her chuckle. She didn’t know why she thought he would have come any other way when no other vehicle was sitting in her driveway. Since he was wearing his kilt, she just had to watch him, hoping he didn’t turn and catch her in the act. Just as he crested the top of the dike, a breeze swept his kilt up, and she got a repeat performance. That was something she’d never get tired of seeing.
Smiling, she headed back inside the house to enjoy her meat pie.