AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“So you can kill him—or her?”
“That would be short-sighted and alert the Shadow League that we know they’re watching.”
“Then you’ll follow him or her?”
“I appreciate you trying to be inclusive, but I’m convinced it’s a man. I don’t believe the dunderheads in the League would trust a woman to act as an operative.”
Sean nodded. “You’re probably right. Will you try and follow him back to his handlers?”
“Eventually. But if we can figure out who it is without him knowing, we can use him to pass along cherry-picked information that we want them to have.”
“You and Reynolds are pretty Machiavellian.”
“Colby is, but I prefer Sun Tzu: ‘Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt.’”
“I think if you’d been at Culloden, the Jacobites would never have been defeated.”
She looked at him quizzically. “I thought Clan Campbell fought on the side of the English.”
“Aye, our human branch of the clan did, but the snow leopards and others fought and died there. Even with our strength, we were routed and then hunted into the Highlands. They tried to take Curaidh three times, and three times we were able to beat them back and save our people, but it drove the final wedge between the human and shifter Campbells. We have been erased from their history and I doubt any of those who remain even know there were ever shifters in their family tree if they know there are shifters at all. The black and gold colors of the family crest were originally designed to show the two sides of the clan—gold for the humans and black for the shifters.”
“Why do you think my father rose up against you?”
“I don’t really think he did. It’s the reason I could never bring myself to execute him and several of the others. They were dupes for the real conspirators, and by executing those truly responsible and sparing the others, my enemies could see my strength and brutality in dealing with those who murdered my father and sought to take what was ours.”
“And by sparing the others?”
“Our people are reminded that their alpha can be merciful when it is called for.”
“You Campbells are rather relentless when it comes to reclaiming what you believe to be yours.”
“Aye, lass. Never forget that there wasn’t a day that went by that I didn’t think of you. I never took another woman to my bed.”
Her face clouded over. “In the spirit of being honest with you, I haven’t lived a celibate life.”
“I didn’t think you had; nor do I hold it against you. I knew we were fated mates, but I had done nothing to convince you of the same except beat my chest with my fists and make you feel as though you were nothing more than the spoils of war. Nay, lass, you never believed we were bonded. You have nothing to feel badly about.”
“For what it’s worth, I have never taken another snow leopard or any feline-shifter to my bed. Yours will be the only barbs I ever experience.”
He nuzzled her, running his hand down her spine and squeezing her buttocks. Watching her nipples stiffen and pebble and scenting her increased arousal, he quirked his eyebrow at her. “Are you sure you want us to have dinner with the clowder?”
She chuckled. “Trust me. If we don’t go down now, they’ll only come here to roust us out of bed. Besides, I really do need to go into town. If you like, you can stay here.”
“No, but I think I’ll ask Hamish to join us. I’d like a chance to speak with him privately to appraise him of what’s going on and that the snow leopards of Curaidh will be throwing in with the lynxes of Windsong. I’m going to need to have him return to Scotland, which will not be a popular decision.”
“Why not?” she asked, finally extricating herself from his arms and rolling up onto the edge of the bed.
Sean followed suit. “He’s taken a shine to the fair innkeeper.”
“Trudy?” Sean nodded. “That could prove problematic. She’s a Tasmanian devil and is sworn to Colby and our cause.”
“Don’t fret about it. If she feels the same way, we’ll find a way to make it work for both of them.”
Winter picked up the remnants of her clothes. “You really have to stop doing that, but at least this time, you didn’t destroy my boots.”
“I must say lass, I’d fancy you in your boots, a corset, and nothing else.”
She laughed. “You are perverse, but maybe we can work something out.”
