Chapter 19 #2
“Dae ye understand why ye cannae dae this alone?” His grip on her chin tightened, not painful but unyielding. “Dae ye understand what would have happened if I hadn’t been following ye? If me archers hadn’t been positioned tae see those bastards moving through the trees?”
Horror crashed through her as understanding followed. “Ye kenned. Ye kenned I was going tae run.”
“I suspected.” His jaw clenched. “Catriona came tae me the moment ye left yer chamber. Said ye looked like someone about tae dae something monumentally stupid.”
“So ye followed me.” Betrayal mixed with relief in her chest, warring for dominance. “Ye let me think I’d escaped.”
“I let ye see how quickly ye’d be captured without protection.” His voice softened slightly, some of the anger draining away. “How vulnerable ye are out here, nay matter how brave or clever ye think ye can be.”
The truth of it settled over her like a shroud. She’d barely made it beyond the castle walls before MacKenzie scouts had found her. She would have been dragged back to her father within the hour if not for Euan’s intervention.
She would have been used as leverage in whatever scheme Keith had planned next.
“I’m sorry.” The words came out hoarse. “I just wanted tae stop being a burden. Tae stop causing death everywhere I go.”
“Ye’re nae a burden.” Euan’s hands moved from her chin to cup her face, his touch impossibly gentle despite the violence still staining his blade.
“Ye’re a woman caught in circumstances beyond yer control, trying tae survive as best ye can.
That’s not shameful. That’s nae something tae apologize fer. ”
“Then what dae I dae?” Her vision blurred with tears she refused to let fall. “How dae I live with kenning people keep dying because I exist?”
“Ye live by trusting that I’ll protect what’s mine.” His thumb brushed away a tear that had escaped despite her best efforts. “Ye live by accepting that sometimes the bravest thing ye can dae is let someone else carry the burden fer a while.”
“I’m nae yers tae protect.” But the protest came out weak, lacking conviction.
“Aren’t ye?” Something fierce and possessive flashed in his grey eyes. “Because from where I’m standing, holding ye after nearly losing ye tae men who would have dragged ye back tae the faither who abandoned ye, it feels like ye’re exactly mine. Have been since the moment I found ye in that cell.”
Moyra stared up at him, at the barely leashed intensity in his expression, and felt something shift in her chest.
He’d called her his.
Not as property. Not as leverage or political advantage.
But as something precious. Something worth protecting even it put his own people at risk.
“Ye’re mad,” she whispered.
“Aye.” His mouth quirked despite everything. “Completely. Niall tells me so daily.”
“Yer clan will hate me. Fer the danger I bring.”
“Me clan will accept what I tell them tae accept.” His voice hardened with authority. “And what I’m telling them is that ye’re under me protection. That anyone who touches ye answers tae me personally.”
“Even when me faither keeps sending threats?”
“Even then.” No hesitation. Just absolute certainty that made her chest ache. “Now come. We need tae return before Niall sends out a full search party.”
Euan kept one hand on Moyra’s elbow as they walked back toward the castle, his other hand still gripping his sword despite the immediate threat being past. Adrenaline still coursed through his veins, making every sound sharper, every shadow a potential ambush.
He’d been prepared to find her surrounded. Had positioned archers in the trees the moment Catriona had come running with news that Moyra had left her chamber with that look people got when they’d decided to do something sacrificially stupid.
What he hadn’t been prepared for was the raw terror that had lanced through him when he’d seen that bastard’s hands on her. The primal rage that had consumed him as he’d watched her struggle, heard her scream.
The absolute certainty that he would’ve killed every MacKenzie scout in those woods with his bare hands if necessary to get to her.
“Ye’re still shaking,” Moyra observed quietly.
“Aye.” No point in denying it. “Ye terrified me, lass. Watching ye run intae danger like that.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Dinnae apologize fer trying tae protect me clan. Just...” He stopped, turning to face her fully.
They stood perhaps fifty yards from the side gate, close enough to hear the castle waking but far enough for privacy.
“Just trust that I ken what I’m daeing. That I wouldn’t keep ye here if I thought the cost was too high. ”
“How can ye be certain?” Her green eyes searched his face. “How dae ye ken the cost willnae keep rising until it’s more than ye can bear?”
“I ken me limits,” he said simply. “And I havenae reached them.”
Her expression flickered with something he couldn’t quite read—doubt mixing with hope, fear tangling with want. Then she looked past him toward the castle, and her face went carefully neutral.
“Someone’s coming.”
Euan turned to see Niall jogging toward them, his weathered face creased with concern that melted into relief when he spotted them both standing upright and relatively intact.
“Found her then.” Niall’s gaze swept over Moyra, checking for injuries with a warrior’s efficiency before landing on the blood staining Euan’s sword. “Trouble?”
“MacKenzie scouts. Three of them.” Euan kept his voice level, professional. “Two dead. One fled back toward their camp.”
“Good.” Niall’s expression turned grim. “Give Keith something tae think about besides sending more men tae die on our soil.” His attention shifted to Moyra, and his tone softened slightly. “Ye all right, lass?”
“Aye.” Her voice came out steadier than Euan had expected. “Thanks tae yer laird’s timing.”
“His timing and the fact that Catriona has more sense than tae let ye wander off without telling someone.” Niall jerked his chin toward the castle. “Speaking of which, she’s been pacing the courtyard like a caged wolf. Might want tae let her see ye’re alive before she convinces herself otherwise.”
Moyra nodded, then glanced at Euan with an expression that held too many emotions to name. “Thank ye. Fer coming after me. Fer nae letting them—”
“Always.” The word came out rougher than he intended, weighted with promises he had no business making. “I’ll always come fer ye.”
Something flickered in her eyes—understanding, maybe, or recognition of what he wasn’t quite saying. Then she turned and headed toward the gate, her stride steadier than it had been moments ago but still carrying the remnants of shock.
Euan watched her go, every instinct screaming at him to follow, to not let her out of his sight until he was certain she wouldn’t try something like that again.
“Ye’re in deep trouble there.” Niall’s observation came quiet, lacking his usual teasing edge.
“I ken that.”
“Dae ye?” His friend moved closer, voice dropping. “Because from where I was standing, watching ye tear through those trees like a man possessed, it looked like more than just protecting a political asset.”
“She’s nae an asset.”
“Nay.” Niall’s hand gripped his shoulder. “She’s nae. Which is why ye need tae be very careful about what comes next. Keith’s nae going tae stop. If anything, he’ll escalate now that he knows she tried tae run and ye brought her back.”
“Let him.” Euan’s jaw set. “I’m done playing his games. Done pretending his threats dictate me choices.”
“And the Council? They’ll want answers. Want tae ken why ye’re protecting a woman whose very presence keeps making us a target.”
“Then I’ll give them answers.” He turned toward the castle, exhaustion and determination warring in his chest. “Starting with the truth—that Moyra MacKenzie stays because I say she stays. And anyone who has a problem with that can take it up with me personally.”
Niall was quiet for a long moment. Then: “This is going tae get complicated.”
“It already is.” Euan started walking, his friend falling into step beside him. “But I’d rather face complicated with her here than simple with her gone.”
They crossed the threshold back into Dunvegan’s walls. Through the courtyard, Euan could see Moyra embracing Catriona, the maid’s relief palpable even from this distance.
Some things were worth fighting for.
And Moyra MacKenzie, with her copper hair and stubborn courage and ability to make him forget every reason he should maintain distance, had somehow become the thing he couldn’t afford to lose.
Even if keeping her cost him everything else.