Page 83 of Tempted By a Highland Beast
A man rose from his seat, his weathered face grim. “What if they’ve been convinced she’s dead? What if they fight fer Alpin thinking they’re defending their clan?”
“Then we show them the truth,” Constantine replied. “We let them see her with their own eyes.”
“And if this provokes full-scale war between our clans?” Another man asked.
Constantine’s smile was sharp as a blade. “Then we’ll win it.” The words carried the weight of absolute certainty, backed by years of mercenary experience and the unshakeable confidence of a man who’d never lost a battle that mattered.
Around the table, doubts began to dissolve as the assembled men felt the pull of his conviction.
“We ride at dawn,” Constantine continued. “Light cavalry, fast and mobile. We hit three settlements simultaneously—here, here, and here.“ He pointed to positions on the map. “By the time Alpin realizes what’s happening, word will already be spreading that his lies have been exposed.”
Finlay nodded. “I’ve got men positioned tae carry messages tae the clan chiefs. Once they hear Rowena’s alive, they’ll start asking questions Alpin cannae answer.”
“Good.” Constantine straightened, his gaze sweeping across every face in the room and the meeting quickly dissolved into planning and preparation, voices rising as strategies were debated and logistics arranged.
The pre-dawn quiet of their chamber felt fragile, as if the weight of the coming conflict might shatter it like glass. Rowena noticed how Constantine sat on the edge of their bed, running a whetstone along the edge of a blade with steady, methodical strokes.
She stood by the window, already dressed in the riding clothes they’d chosen for her disguise; leather breeches, a plain tunic, and a cloak that would hide her distinctive hair. In the growing light, she looked like any other warrior preparing for battle.
She could feel the tension in her shoulders, her fingers worrying at the fabric of her cloak.
“I’m nae afraid tae fight,” she said quietly. “Ye ken that, aye?”
He nodded, setting aside the whetstone. “Aye. I ken.”
“But I am afraid of losing ye.” The words came out in a rush, as if she’d been holding them back all morning. “What we’ve built here, what we’ve become, I cannae bear the thought of it ending before we’ve had a chance tae truly live it.”
Constantine rose and crossed over to her. When he reached her, he took her hands, thumbs brushing across them.
“This battle feels different fer me too lass,” he admitted, and Rowena could read the rough honesty in his voice. “Nae because the odds might be against us, but because the cost is higher now.”
Rowena’s eyes searched his. “What dae ye mean?”
“I’ve fought fer coin, fer survival, fer revenge. But this is the first time I’m fighting fer someone I’d die fer. Someone I…”
“Someone ye love?” she whispered.
The simple question broke something open between them. “Aye,” he said, the word barely audible. “Someone I love.”
Rowena’s breath caught, and for a moment, the fierce warrior disappeared, leaving only a woman who’d found something she’d never dared hope for. Before she could reply, Constantine kissed her, fierce and desperate and full of everything he couldn’t put into words.
When they finally broke apart, both breathing hard, Constantine rested his forehead against hers.
“We’ll come back,” he promised, the words a vow spoken against her lips. “Both of us. Taegether.”
“Aye,” she whispered back. “We will.”
Together, they would face Alpin’s lies with the truth as their weapon.
And together we shall hopefully win…
CHAPTER THIRTY
The column moved like a blade through the Highland morning, horses breathing mist into the cold air as they followed the winding path toward MacKenzie territory. Constantine rode at the head, his dark cloak streaming behind him, every line of his body radiating the controlled tension of a predator approaching its prey.
Behind him, hidden among the ranks of warriors, Rowena kept her head down and her hood pulled low. The borrowed armor sat strangely on her frame. To any observer, she was just another MacLean warrior riding to battle. Only the guards Constantine had positioned nearby knew the truth.
Constantine seemed to sense the terrain’s shift even before they reached the border. His hand moved to his sword hilt with practiced ease, and Theo and Finlay closed ranks beside him, their own weapons loose in their sheaths.
