Even though I was tempted to roam the castle on my own and reminisce, we were told dinner would be served soon in the family’s private dining chamber, so I headed downstairs with my sisters. When we entered, I bit back more tears because memories flooded me once again of just how often I had eaten here. And just like it had been in my last life, Tavish trailed off, stopped chatting with his kin, and looked my way as if he couldn’t help himself.
It didn’t matter that I no longer looked like Elowyn because he was looking at me in this life. Desiring me inthislife. And it took me aback at how different it felt. Separated. While I liked it a great deal, it alarmed me because it spoke to our dreams.
Spoke to a newfound connection I feared was stronger than the last.
Stronger because I was half dragon this time, just like him.
“Yet it doesnae quite work like that,”Adlin said into my mind, seeming to enjoy himself as he sipped his whisky, without a doubt because he was back in his beloved homeland.“The first modern-day women who traveled back and fell in love with my MacLomain’s half dragon Viking ancestors, possessed no dragon blood, and the love they found with their mates was profound and lasting.”
I wasn’t sure what to make of that, except it seemed to suggest everything was happening for a reason. Of Fate, finding a way to make me a part of something that would bring me back to my love, however brief it may be. Despite how wrong it was, all things considered, there was no stopping the way mybreath caught at the sight of Tavish looking so handsome in his MacLeod tartan.
No matter how hard I tried to look away, our gazes lingered on each other, and just as it had always been, everything else seemed to fade away. I was utterly helpless to free myself from the spell he seemed to cast over me, and truth be told, I wasn’t sure I wanted to.
Nonetheless, I would soon have no choice.
Nor would he if he loved his king, country, and kin as much as I knew he did. Yet as the night wore on, I realized things would only get more complicated. So complicated, in fact, I feared for the fate of not just everyone I loved, but Scotland itself, and I had every right to do so.
Chapter Twelve
–Tavish–
SINCE THE MOMENT I removed my bandage in Elowyn’s old cottage and saw Ellie’s poultice had completely healed my wound in a matter of minutes, I knew just how much our dragons meant to each other.
More specifically, I knew we were fated mates.
I’m not sure how I knew it with such vivid clarity, only that it was true, and I would never hand her over to Dugal Sutherland, no matter what. My dragon wouldn't allow it, even if in the end it led to its death. While my human half still grappled with the possibility she was Elowyn, I knew when she joined us in the MacLeod’s private dining chamber, it didn’t matter whether she truly was or not.
I wanted her.
And this time, there was no sense of guilt or betrayal attached to the sensation. Rather, my breath caught at her almost otherworldly beauty. Her shimmering blonde locks poured over her shoulders, her flawless skin was luminescent, and her thickly lashed dark golden eyes were magnificent when they locked with mine, punctuating our poignant, ever-intensifying connection.
A connection that seemed to reel us closer without us ever taking a step. And it only grew stronger and more palpable aswe were seated beside each other for dinner, and I became more aware of her than ever. Even though we chatted with kin and ate delicious food prepared by Hazel, I was always, every second of every minute, drawing Ellie in, from her sweet scent to her every movement.
Where she had silently urged me to look for Elowyn in her actions earlier, now there was none of that. While yes, there was some familiarity in the way she moved her hands when she spoke or the kind, encompassing way she made people feel when they talked to her, there was also much more.
Things that made her uniquely the woman who sat beside me now.
Things I was familiar with and already adored when I should not, because she wasnotElowyn, but someone else, caught in my scattered memories. Flickers in time that had begun coming back to me after I removed Ellie’s bandage and found myself completely healed.
Things I suspected I’d dreamt about but had forgotten.
“It’s incredibly delicious, isn’t it?” Ellie said, drawing me back into the conversation when she smiled at me and gestured at the sweet on my plate. She turned her smile Hazel's way. “Hazel excels at cooking, but somehow her desserts are always the best.”
“Aye,” Evan Sutherland agreed, just now joining us for dinner.
Disowned by his clan for his friendships with Lucas and, as it turned out, Hazel, despite the centuries between them, Evan had always loved Lilias Sutherland, Dugal Sutherland’s wife and another one of Ellie’s sisters, though none of them knew she existed until the pact ignited.
“Hazel is anamazingbaker,” Lucas echoed, gazing at his bride with adoration. “Which I found out on our journey back toeach other.” He smiled from Evan to her. “’Twas a magical flavor in her cauldron that eve.”
“‘Twas indeed,” Evan said, grinning.
“’Tisdelicious,” I agreed, yet again managing a rare smile when I looked at Hazel. “Thank you, lass. For all the food you so graciously helped our cooks with, if not cooked yourself. Yours is a rare talent.”
“Thank you, Tavish.” Hazel smiled from Ellie to me. “I’m so glad you’re enjoying it. Plenty more to come if the MacLeods continue to let me haunt their kitchens.”
“I’m sure to your heart’s content,” I assured, to many nods of agreement.
Yet as we finished our dessert and everyone continued talking, I knew the moment Hazel implied she would cook for the MacLeods for years to come was a turning point for Ellie, because her demeanor shifted after that. While she still smiled and chatted, I felt the change inside her and how she subtly pulled away from me, even though she still sat beside me. Even though our bodies were so close and very much our inner beasts, she pushed me away as though loosening a tether that had reeled us together.
