Page 33 of Her Scot of Bygones
“But what?” I frowned from her to the castle, somehow not surprised when wee Flame melted out of the woodland to join us. He had a way of showing up when he was needed. “What is it, Hazel?”
“I’m not sure.” She crouched and greeted the wolf, narrowing her eyes at the castle. “Something feels off.”
I was about to ask what before I sensed it too and reached out to Broderick telepathically, only to be met with a sternwarning from my chieftain in a tone that made my blood run cold.
“Comebacknow,Lucas,” he said. “Bothofyou.”
Although tempted to do the opposite because I didn’t like the sound of Broderick's voice and feared for Hazel, she gave me no choice when she continued walking.
“They’re threatening to hurt Willow,” she said, her voice a little shaky as Flame fell in beside her as if he’d been traveling with us the whole time. “Something bad happened, and she’s in danger.”
I strode after her, and while tempted to take her hand as we approached the castle, I knew better. Our romance was a secret for now. Or at least I thought so, yet Broderick was ordering us to walk into the courtyard together rather than enter more discreetly.
Soon enough, we learned why, and it wasn’t good.
In fact, it was as bad as it could possibly get.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
–Hazel–
MY HEART WAS in my throat as I made my way over the MacLeod’s drawbridge with Lucas and wee Flame because I felt in my heart Willow’s life was in danger, and it seemed I might be right. Several men had just ridden into the courtyard who were not MacLeod’s because their cloaks bore different colors, and they remained on horseback, scowling.
“Where is she, MacLeod?” the biggest of them growled at Broderick, who stood at the bottom of the front steps with his arms crossed over his chest, wearing a grim expression.
“Not here,” I said firmly, assuming he was looking for Willow. I strode over before Lucas could stop me, determined to make it clear she wasn’t around, but I was, so leave her be. Pushing aside my fear when the man’s stormy grey eyes narrowed on me with a lustful ferociousness that undoubtedly terrified most women, I stopped in front of him, squared my shoulders, and met him dead in the eyes. “She’s not here, but I am.” I pushed up my sleeve, revealing my tattoo. “See? I wear the mark.”
Although Aspen was nowhere to be seen, I heard her curse into my mind that now wasn’t the time because I spoke to none other than Dugal, the Sutherland chieftain, but she was too late because he swung down and approached me.
Or at least he tried to before Lucas stepped between us.
“Take one step closer to my mate and ‘twill be the last step ye take, Sutherland,” Lucas growled, his dragon eyes flaring.
“And ye,” Dugal drawled. His dragon eyes sent a chill down my spine. “It might be too late for ye since ye dared to keep Hazel from us when ye knew she bore the mark that binds her to a Sutherland.” His dark gaze flickered from Broderick back to Lucas. “Sheshouldhave been sent to us straight away, yet instead, ye ran off with her.” He narrowed his eyes, his words seething. “If that wasnae damning enough, ye had a traitor among ye,aSutherland, who’s suffering for it now.”
“Oh God,”I gasped into Lucas’s mind, terrified in a whole new way. I wasn’t sure why I had feared for Willow when someone else was in more imminent danger.“It’s Evan.”
“Don’t hurt him,” I blurted out before I could stop myself, but he was nearly as important to me as my sisters and Lucas, so there was no hope for it. “I’ll do anything you want.”
“Ye will or all deals are off.” Dugal’s narrowed eyes focused on Broderick’s mother, Chara, who stood nearby. “Ye promised my mother ye would send any lass with the mark our way in exchange for us not pursuing the others, yet already ye break yer word and dinnae deny it.” His damning gaze swung to Broderick. “As did ye, MacLeod.”
“Nobody broke their word because they didn’t know,” I said firmly, sounding authentic even to my own ears, finding great courage if it meant protecting the people I cared about, and the MacLeods certainly fell into that category. “I hid it from them and fled with Lucas because my dragon was drawn to him.” Unsure what Evan might have said when things went wrong because they clearly had, I shook my head. “The last thing I expected was for Evan to show up out of nowhere and for things to get complicated.”
Not a lie. They had.
“I dinnae care what happened betwixt the three of ye,” Dugal spat. “All I know is ye should have returned with Evan because ye belong to the Sutherlands until the pact says otherwise. Nowfor his trespasses, Evan can only pray ye’re dragon wears the gem because if she doesnae, ‘twill cost him dearly.”
Another chill raced down my spine at the hateful look in his eyes, making me wonder if there was more to his hatred. If I didn’t know better, I would guess it was personal and had to do with Lilias, because whether Dugal had married her out of love or not, he was clearly a possessive, jealous, insecure man.
“What does he mean by that exactly?”I asked Lucas telepathically, trying to keep the distress I was almost drowning in off my face because something told me Dugal would enjoy it.“Please tell me he doesn’t intend to kill Evan.”
“’Tis nothing you need worry about right now,”Lucas replied, his voice soothing and comforting despite his growing angst.
“We leave now,” Dugal groused, evidently done with our conversation. He gestured at me. “Ye will ride with me until ye’re safely on Sutherland land and delivered to our traitor.”
“Nay,” Lucas denied, blocking my way only for Broderick to step between him and Dugal, clasp Lucas’s shoulder firmly, and lock dragon eyes with him.
“Ye’ll let her pass, and ye’ll do it now, cousin,” Broderick warned, yet I saw the sympathetic softening in his gaze because he understood what Lucas was going through. “We will be there for her once things are seen through, just as we were for my mate.” He squeezed his shoulder in reassurance. “I promise ye that, Lucas.” He looked from me back to Lucas. “I promise ye both.”
