“Patience, man.” Gray clapped a hand onto his shoulder. “A Sinclair woman takes a great deal of patience.”
Without taking his gaze from the lone figure silhouetted against the ever-lightening gray of the sky, Ronan barely shook his head. “I fear I have no time for patience. She has to be mine. I canna imagine life without her at my side.”
“Leave it to the gods and the Fates, man.” Gray shrugged the pelt tighter around his shoulders and squinted up at the sunless sky. “Ye might as well. Both do what they damn well please.”
Truer words were never spoken. Ronan turned back to the wagon just as three men, clothed for the severest of weather, led three heavily packed horses to the center of the bailey. One of the men tossed the reins of his mount to the man closest to him then hurried over to Ronan and Gray.
“We be ready, my chieftain.”
Gray settled his hand on the man’s shoulder and turned him toward Ronan. “Daegan MacKenna and his brothers . . .” Gray paused and looked toward the other two waiting across the courtyard. “Dirk and Doughal will travel with ye.” Gray clapped his hand harder on Daegan’s shoulder and gave him a meaningful shake. “These three can be a worrisome lot but they’re strong and fearless and willna shame the MacKenna name when it comes to battle.”
“It is my hope there will be no need for battle.” Ronan studied the three young men closer. He appreciated Gray’s concern, but he didn’t need any help when it came to crossing the Highlands. All he need do was trust his wolf to find the quickest route. If not for the fact it would stir Mairi’s suspicions even further, he would leave all the supplies at MacKenna Keep and when all had retired for the evening, shift into his wolf and lope across the Highlands. But no—he couldn’t risk it. Mairi had grown too watchful and the look of distrust in her eyes made his heart ache. He nodded at the men. “Ye realize what they will witness once they reach Draegonmare?”
“Aye.” Gray released Daegan and motioned for him to return to his waiting brothers. As the broad-shouldered lad trotted back to his horse, Gray huffed out a strained sigh. “And that too is for the best. Those lads need tempering by such sights and it will also give several nearby clans time to cool down. My hope is also that a few wandering wives will rekindle a bit of interest in their own husbands rather than the MacKenna rogues who have been visiting their beds.”
Ronan understood completely now. Apparently, Daegan and his brothers had dallied a wee too much with wives of high-ranking clansmen. What better way to cool a young man’s wandering ways than to send him across the Highlands in the middle of winter to a strange keep most never knew existed?
Two lads scurried forward, bending low under the weight of shoulder yokes bearing baskets filled with cloth-wrapped bundles. They settled the baskets on the ground and backed out from under the poles. Working together, they hefted the baskets up into the wagon and lashed them securely to the sides with rope.
“That be the last of it.” Gray squeezed Ronan’s shoulder then turned toward the entrance to the keep. “I’ll not watch ye go. Sinclair women say if ye watch a kinsman’s departure, ye risk never seeing them again. Those women are too wise when it comes to what the future holds. I’ll not challenge their superstitions and risk angering the Fates.”
“I owe ye a great debt.” Ronan lifted his black wooly cloak from the side of the wagon and shrugged it around his body.
“Ye owe me nothing.” Gray walked away; his right hand lifted in farewell. “May the gods be with ye, brother. I fear ye will need them.”
“Aye,” Ronan whispered. “I fear the same.”
CHAPTER23
Mairi turned away from the blowing snow and snuggled tighter against Ronan’s side. Damnation, it was cold. She pulled her fur-lined hood lower over her face and bit her tongue to keep from complaining out loud. The weather wasn’t Ronan’s fault. In fact, he’d been determined that she stay at the keep and wait for his return. A sense of satisfaction flickered through her. He had quickly lost that battle. Ronan Sutherland didn’t realize the stubbornness of a Sinclair woman. When he caught her following him on foot, he had finally admitted defeat. She sniffed and shifted on the hard seat of the wagon, wishing her stubbornness could do something about warming her frozen ass.
Her irritation bristled as the wagon lurched into a dip in the frozen road, then jerked forward so hard she bounced hard on the cold plank. Damn him. The weather might not be his fault, but the fact they were traveling across the Highlands at the worst possible time of the year most certainly was. If he had been honest with her, maybe they could’ve avoided this uncomfortable wallow through the winter wonderland.
“We’ll bed down here and wait out the worst of the storm,” Ronan shouted over the gusting wind.
Mairi didn’t bother answering. He wouldn’t be able to hear her anyway.
The wagon shuddered to a stop. She peeped out from beneath her hood. All she could make out in the world of white were dark hulking figures stomping slowly through the storm. Clutching her cloak tighter against her throat, she scooted to the side of the wagon where Ronan waited.
The wooly black fur of his cloak was dusted white, his face red with the wind. Snowflakes caught hold of his lashes and the beginnings of his silvery beard as though determined to bury him alive. He squinted against the freezing wind and held up his hands to her.
Her heart lurched, but she steeled herself against any kind thoughts toward him. None of that. Never. Again.She bent and placed her hands on his shoulders as he took hold of her waist and set her on the ground. Damn him straight to hell. Why hadn’t he been the one to tell her about his supposedly short marriage to Kenna? Why hadn’t he told her that to break the curse, she would have to marry him? Omitting the truth had gotten him in hot water before. Hadn’t he learned anything? Why was it so hard for him to be honest? What else had he failed to tell her?
A nagging thought jabbed her heart with an icy claw. Was he lying about his feelings too? Was he just saying he loved her to get her to break the curse? She clenched her teeth and bowed her head, avoiding his troubled gaze. Now was not the time. All she needed to concentrate on was surviving this trip, breaking the damn curse, and then jumping back home.
“Are ye unwell?” He bent low, peering up into her hood.
Her heart thumped at the caring and concern in his eyes. She shook it away. If he lost her, he would be stuck with the curse.“I’m fine,” she shouted against the storm. She hugged herself against the wind and added, “Just cold.” She was cold, all right, but not entirely because of the weather.
He wrapped an arm around her and supported her as they trudged through the ever-deepening snow. She was grateful Trulie had insisted she take her knee-high boots lined with fur. If the drifting snow got much deeper, she’d need thigh-high boots.
Ronan swept the snow off a fallen log and motioned for her to sit. “Ye’ll be out of the wind here. I must go help the lads with the horses.”
She bobbed her head in response; attempting to shout over the storm was too draining. She watched him stomp away until the snow closed a curtain of white around him, then struggled to look around, her multiple layers of clothing hindering much movement.
The air was heavy with the eerie muffled sounds of the storm and the men struggling to set up camp. The thicket of pines clustered around the clearing bowed over with snow, their trunks black and glistening with a coating of ice. The mountain rose sharply to the left, creating a pristine landscape of blinding white dotted with huddled mounds of rocks and shrubs overtaken by the snow.
Grumbling nickers and snorts echoed behind her. Mairi struggled to her feet and shuffled around. Ronan and the three MacKenna brothers appeared out of the swirling whiteness, leading the horses to the edge of the clearing just behind the fallen log.
