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“Not unless you’re willing to do me serious damage, and that you won’t do.” Hamish crossed his arms, clearly finished with the discussion.
“Tell no one where we’ve gone.”
Sean and Hamish made their way to the plane, which was ready and waiting as they boarded.
“Best time to Kodiak Island off the coast of Alaska,” he said to the pilot.
“Aye, Alpha.”
Sean and Hamish settled back in their seats as the plane taxied down the runway. It had been a long time coming, but at last Sean’s prize was in sight. Only once had someone questioned whether or not she still lived, but Sean had known she did. He’d known if her spirit had departed this world that he would have felt it, but he never had and now it soared at the prospect of claiming her and having her at his side.
Two years ago, he'd watched her being dragged down the aisle and had smiled as Curaidh Clan had a long and storied history of she-cats who had to be brought to heel by their fated mates. Winter would be no different. He would teach her who was dominant and who was not, and then he would woo her with sweet words and intoxicating caresses.
Sean stared down the aisle of the holy place that had seen the bonding ceremonies and funerals of their kind for thousands of years. The stone citadel pre-dated both Christianity and paganism. It was said to be older than time itself.
Winter MacKinnon’s father had a death grip on his daughter’s arm and hand. Sean almost felt sorry for him. He no more wanted to bind his daughter to the Campbell heir than she wanted to be bound. Their feelings on the matter were of no importance, though. MacKinnon had incurred a blood debt. The only way to settle it was with his life. Sean didn’t want his life; he wanted his daughter—the fiercely independent and strong-willed Winter.
From the moment Sean laid eyes on her, he’d known she was his fated mate. Her scent had intoxicated him, and all he had known was the primitive and feral desire to mount her, claim her, and possess her. She had offered herself to him—her maidenhead for her father’s life. But Sean would not be so easily satisfied with a mere maidenhead. He agreed to pardon her father for her hand in marriage only.
Craig MacKinnon dragged his daughter down the aisle. She struggled to free herself, but MacKinnon had few qualms about sacrificing his daughter to save his own miserable hide.
At long last, they were standing in front of him.
“Father, do not do this to me. I won’t be wed to a Campbell. I won’t,” she snarled.
“You will, lass,” said Sean, “and not just any Campbell, but to me.” He took her hand from her father’s, encompassing it in his own.
The ceremony droned on with Sean speaking the ancient words of an alpha claiming his fated mate. The fact that she denied him and refused to recite her own vows was ignored by all. Before the officiant could declare them bonded, Sean hauled her against him. He hoped she’d fight tonight after the festivities. It would give him the excuse he needed to prove he was her mate, her alpha and that she would submit to him.
He lowered his head, his lips fusing with hers as his tongue pressed along the seam, forcing her to give him access to her mouth and tongue. He inhaled her, tasting her and devouring her mouth like a starving man would attack a banquet. He felt her will to fight him evaporate under his onslaught as his tongue danced and tangled with hers. The instant she sagged into him, he lifted his head, breaking the kiss and leaving her breathless.
“Take her to my chambers. See that she is given whatever food and drink she desires and allow her thoughts to dwell on the night and what will come.”
Only Winter had fooled them all and when he’d gone to claim her as his mate… she was gone.
CHAPTER2
WINTER
Mystic River, Alaska
Present Day
Winter MacKinnon felt a shiver creep over her body as if the icy fingers of death were curling around her. She looked around surreptitiously as she sipped the fifty-year-old single malt Dash kept behind the bar at The Workshop, Mystic River’s one and only pub. Nothing but regulars, but still, she couldn’t shake the feeling.
She’d come into town to pick up a few supplies, which had been nothing more than a ruse to come hang out at the bar, keep a watchful eye on some of the younger members of the clowder, meet with some smuggler for Colby, and just generally keep her ear to the ground. She flirted outrageously with the locals. None of them took her seriously.
Oh, there were rumors that she was Colby Reynolds’ second-in-command, but since it was unheard of for a woman to be a beta in shifter society, it worked beautifully as a cover. Colby was an interesting character. Most people thought he was a criminal of sorts. He wasn’t—well, that wasn’t strictly true. Many of the things he did were highly illegal, but behind most of them, there was a good and altruistic reason. The one exception was the smuggling of illegal booze on and off the island, which he did because it was lucrative and amused him. She had to admit, outfoxing the sheriff had a way of making life look just a little bit brighter.
Some knew she was a snow leopard-shifter—that kind of thing was hard to keep quiet in a town full of shifters where no snow leopard clan existed, but she was fairly sure the information had drifted no further than Mystic River and Otter Cove.
Many thought Colby kept her around to amuse him sexually. Nothing could be further from the truth. Colby had become a close and trusted friend, but even he didn’t know everything about her. Granted, he knew more than most. He knew enough to know the utterly feminine, haughty, curvy blonde was more than just some sexual plaything.
The truth was she was, in fact, Colby’s unofficial beta and served him in that capacity and that capacity alone. She was also his spymaster, who was responsible for gathering and disseminating intelligence as was needed. Right now, their most pressing need was to find an informant who Colby and others believed was working with or for the Shadow League. There were those who didn’t believe the League existed, but Winter knew better.
Curaidh Castle
The Highlands, Scotland
