True Love Brides 02 - The Highlander’s Curse by Claire Delacroix Read Free Book Online Page A

never experienced a recurring dream before, and she wondered at its meaning. She would have felt foolish asking Isabella, for her younger sister was both busy and pragmatic. If she had confided in any of her sisters, it would have been Elizabeth, for Elizabeth could see the Fae and was inclined to be less skeptical of matters not easily explained. But Elizabeth remained at Kinfairlie.
    Annelise thought that revisiting the glade might have been the next best choice, albeit in daylight and not alone. She wished to see if there was any trace either of the white wolf from her dream or the hunter whose kiss still heated her skin. But that was impossible. Once Murdoch had heard the tale of the wolf, he had forbidden either Annelise or Isabella to leave the enclosure of Seton Manor.
    After a fortnight of such close quarters, Annelise felt trapped.
    She lingered in the chapel after the others left the morning service and said an extra prayer for the hunter.
    She decided he must have a good reason for not keeping his pledge to her. Perhaps he had tracked a second wolf, and it was one not so readily defeated. Perhaps it had led him far from Seton Manor. He was the manner of man to willingly undertake a noble quest, she was certain of it, and one who would not be swayed from his objective by temptation.
    Was temptation all she had offered?
    Annelise wanted to be so much more. Had he already forgotten her? Annelise could not bear the thought, although she imagined a man of such handsome appearance would have known many fascinating women.
    She rose from her knees when her prayer was done, brushed off her skirts and made to return to the hall. She did not even reach the threshold of the chapel before Isabella flung open the door and peered around it. Her sister’s eyes were alight with some tidings and Annelise immediately feared that another suitor had come to dine.
    She could not bear it. She knew that Murdoch was disappointed in her shyness, but it was not within her to charm men at will.
    Isabella surprised her. “Your admirer has finally arrived!”
    Annelise’s feet seemed to become fixed to the floor. Her heart stopped then raced as she was filled with a mix of fear and anticipation.
    “I do not understand,” she said, as calmly as she could. She could not bear to be teased by her sister, not about this.
    “The hunter!”
    “How can you be certain?”
    Isabella stepped fully into the chapel and pulled her hands from behind her back. Annelise gasped when Isabella revealed that she held a wolf pelt.
    Annelise ran to her and seized the pelt, not caring if Isabella teased her for her enthusiasm. It was a beautiful pelt, the fur thick and wrought of a thousand shades of silver and pewter. It had been cured by someone who knew how to do such deeds, for there was no scent to it. She remembered that afternoon all too clearly, the spark of hunger in the creature’s eyes and her relief when it had fallen dead. There had been blood, but there was none on the pelt.
    Was it from the same wolf? Was it from him ? It was as large as the wolf she remembered, that much was certain. She turned the pelt in her excitement, her fingers sinking into its luxurious softness. Her heart stopped when she saw that the fur was darker at the head and the legs.
    The same wolf.
    “He is here!” she whispered and pushed past Isabella. She heard Isabella laughing at her, but did not care. Her footsteps flew as she raced out of the chapel and across the small courtyard in the core of Seton village. Seton Manor did not have a full bailey, but there was a yard near the stables and Annelise heard voices there. She ran toward the sound, the timbre of men’s voices becoming clearer as she approached.
    Murdoch glanced up when Annelise raced around the corner and came to a sudden halt. A smile touched his lips and Annelise knew she must look disheveled. Two men stood before him, both in chain mail, and an unfamiliar squire was leading a large bay destrier into the