The ancient House of Clan Matheson, led by Gilleoin, the Chief of Matheson, Scotland, 1210, twenty-four hours later.

 

Fear and frustration coiled deeply within every muscle of Annella’s body as she paced her chamber on the uppermost floor of the north tower of the castle, the midnight sky beyond her window holding not even one glittering star as a storm raged outside, a storm that raged with equal strength deep within her. An entire day had passed since Father and Ronan’s capture at Duncan’s hands, her search for them within the dream realm ending without sight of either of them. If she found them, then she could discover where they’d been taken and ensure their rescue. ’Twas imperative she did.

“Annella?” A knock sounded. “’Tis Cherub.”

“Coming.” She jerked the door open and grasped Cherub’s hands. “Tell me you bring good news.” Cherub and Kirk had promised her they’d travel to the Chief of MacKenzie’s keep in case Duncan had taken his captives there, although word was Duncan and his elder twin brother held strongholds of their own somewhere deep within MacKenzie land.

“There is no sign of them at the Chief of MacKenzie’s keep. Tell me again what Duncan said to you.”

“He was adamant that neither Father or Ronan would be able to escape Muirin’s fae magic, that both of them were about to embrace their destiny. He said even you would understand, that their coming capture was meant to be, their journey to come one that none of us can halt.”

“I understand only what I sensed that night. You, Niall, and Ronan have a journey ahead of you. The mated bond is a very sacred union, and one I’m no’ permitted to breach with its creation or completion.”

“What do you mean by mated bond? Neither my father, brother, or I are soul bound to another.”

“Already I’ve said too much, but you’ll come to understand my words soon enough. I take it you’ve caught no glimpse of your father or brother within the dream realm?” Cherub crossed to her window in her crimson gown with its scalloped neckline edged in white lace. She pushed the window open and the wind rushed in, her princess’s need to be surrounded by her air element clear to see.

“I’ve tried, but they dinnae rest and there’s no way for me to reach them until they are permitted some sleep.” All she’d done this past day was try and reach them, and lying abed while they were likely injured and hurt was driving her insane. Fear and worry coiled deeply inside her, had nowhere to go but turn her into a frustrated mess.

“You need to search for Niall and Ronan again as you rest, and dinnae cease doing so until you discover where they are. Return to me when you have done so and we’ll join together to see to their rescue. This is something you cannae do on your own, not with a fae sorceress involved. Do you understand?” Cherub’s impassioned plea touched her heart.

“Of course, and you are right. I willnae act alone, but wait for you and Kirk.” She laid down, the golden canopy above her bed sweeping down each of the four posts. She stroked one finger along the length of her belted sword, the weapon a priceless gift from her father five years past, a sword he’d had fashioned by the armorer to fit her smaller hand. She rolled the cuffs of her royal blue tunic to her elbows and traced over the jeweled hilt of the dirk strapped at her wrist, the weapon one Ronan had won after competing in the Highland Games last spring. He’d handed it to her and said ’twas hers, a gift she too treasured.

“I’ll be here watching over you while you’re gone.” Cherub perched on the bed beside her, patted her hand. “Close your eyes. Seek out the ones closest to your heart, no matter where they are.”

“I shall.” She breathed deep and turned her gaze on the window and the wind whistling in. The dark clouds in the night sky broke apart and the moon blazed through, although ’twas no golden as it usually shone, but instead a mystical red. A blood moon. A most unusual occurrence and one said to bring spirited souls together when separated. A good omen, or at least it better be.

Eyes squeezed shut, she continued to slow her breathing and all wispy-white, drifted toward the skies and the dream realm beyond. Upward, she soared, her very soul seeking her nearest and dearest. There, a single star twinkled more brightly than any other. Alec’s star, his very essence calling to her with the soul-deep strength it always did, although Father and Ronan’s essence remained without light, their stars not blazing. Damn it. When would they permitted some rest?

Longing for Alec flared through her and she breezed toward him, floated down and burrowed her head against his firm shoulder, his strength needed so very much. He moved underneath her, his arms wrapping around her as she solidified her ethereal form more fully, just as she’d done the night before. Head up, she soaked in the sight of him. “I’ve missed you, my mighty bear. Wake up. I need what only you can give me.”

“Annella?” His arms bunched tighter around her, his eyes blinking open. He jerked then frowned. “Well, it’s about damn time you returned. Where have you been this past day? You left so suddenly and all I’ve done is worry ever since.”

“I’ve missed you too.” She nuzzled his neck, her heart lifting a little from the dreary cold that had consumed her.

“I didn’t say I’d missed you.” His white bedsheets were all askew as if he’d tossed and turned for hours, his thick black fur bedcover over top having slithered onto the ground.

She rubbed her body against his, their full length touching from head to toe as she lay on top of him. Not a position a lass should likely take with a man who was not her husband, but she truly had missed him and—

“I can feel every single inch of you.” Wonder flickered in his golden shifter gaze as he swept his hands over her shoulders and down her sides then caught one of her long locks and twined the length around his finger. “It’s incredible. I didn’t imagine this last night, and for a moment I thought I might have.”

“Nay, I am real, will always be real.” She tingled wherever he touched her, his body gloriously firm as she pressed her hands against his broad chest. His skin, all golden and smooth, held a light smattering of dark hair the same midnight-black shade as his head, and enticed her beyond reason. He slept with little covering him and his abs rippled as she edged up a little more and traced each defined ridge, the magical blood moon beyond his window casting its shimmering red glow over them both. “There is a blood moon this night in my time too.”

“We shouldn’t be touching each other so familiarly.”

“Aye, you are right.” Never had she done so with a fellow warrior before. She scuttled off his bed, her feet sinking into a thick white fur spread across the entire length of his floor. “Oh my, this is incredible. What do you call this large rug?”

“It’s called carpet, and what’s incredible is you being here, although now that you are and I know you’re well, you need to leave.” He shoved his bare feet to the floor, hauled the bedsheet with him and hooked it around his waist.

“I can return the way I came, but I’m no’ ready to leave yet.” She stepped up to him, speared her fingers through his shoulder-length hair, her heart and soul exalting in the silky feel. “I dinnae mean to touch you so boldly, but I can still cannae quite believe I’m here.”

“Yours must be a coveted fae skill.”

“It can be, yet also not. My mother held the same skill as I do and unfortunately once we evolve and can solidify our spiritual form as I’ve now done, we can also become terribly reliant on doing so. There is no need for sleep, to eat or any other such thing in this form, which means if we arena careful, we can disregard what our true body needs and fully ascend.”

“Fully ascend?” He arched a brow. “As in…”

“Full ascension is when we pass from this Earth. My mother did so and now resides beyond the veil. I was only five at the time, far too young to lose her.” She lowered her hands, sighed and paced his chamber. “Now I’m about to lose my father and brother too if I cannae find them within the dream realm and discover exactly where Duncan MacKenzie has taken them. I wouldnae put it past Duncan to keep them awake. He knows of my skill and what I can do, which means he also knows I can reach them in the dream realm to ensure their rescue as such.”

“You’re saying you can find them the same way you found me?”

“Aye, their essence shines as brightly as yours does within the dream realm. I’ve been soaring through the skies this past day as often as I could.” She halted in front of him, leaned in and touched her nose to his neck, drew in a deep breath and relaxed as his heavenly fresh aroma surrounded her. “Mmm, you smell like the outdoors. I always imagined you would.”

“I’ve been outside chopping wood.”

“I’m only ever at home when I’m outside and as one with nature.” She plucked the sleeve of her blue tunic over top of her black breeches then tapped the sword belted at her side. “I am the daughter of a warrior, one who’s been raised at his hand, just as my brother has. I am likely far different to any lass you might have met.”

“Quite clearly.” Snorting, he frowned something fierce. “I wish you’d told me you knew Cherub and Kirk. Why didn’t you ever speak of them?”

“I told you Gilleoin was my chief, that I lived at the House of Clan Matheson farther across the Highlands along the mainland’s western shoreline. I certainly didnae mean to deceive you in any way.” He’d been resolute, that she was naught more than an apparition and couldn’t possibly be real. Which had made him almost impossible to reason with, let alone mention her fae princess to convince him she truly spoke the truth. It had been best just to let him think what he had. Being naught more than an apparition to him, had clearly brought him some form of calm. With a deep breath, she stepped away, wandered toward the wall opposite where his bed sat and stroked one finger across a large square of darkened glass with a silver edge framing it. “What is this?”

“It’s called a television.”

“And what does a tel-e-vis-ion do?” She stumbled over the foreign word. “Did I say that right?”

“You did, and one watches shows on them.” He crossed his arms and planted his feet wide. “And now that I’m well aware you’re real, that it’s possible for my aggressive other half to bring harm to you, you need to turn around and leave. My bear likes his space, gets a little antsy when others encroach upon it.”

“That I’ve learnt this past month while sharing your dreams with you.” She unsheathed her wrist dagger, touched the tip to his chest and arched a brow. “Spirit-walkers arena like others. When in our solidified spiritual form as I currently am, I am untouchable. Neither you or your bear could ever bring harm down upon me.”

“I still insist you leave.” He lifted the tip of her blade from his chest, leaned in and glared. “Also, don’t ever raise a weapon against me again, not unless you wish to fight. My beast loves a good battle and your current move is about to ensure it.”

“I dinnae mind a good battle myself.” She turned her dagger over and offered it to him hilt first. “And when I say I’m untouchable, I mean it. My solidified spiritual body can withstand any injury. I exist in this form, yet I also dinnae exist. Cut me. See if I bleed and you’ll find I speak the truth.”

“Don’t tempt me.”

“Cut me.” She thrust her dagger toward him. “Take it.”

“No.”

“You fear hurting me?”

He extended his hand, his claws slicing out. “I could kill you with one single swipe across your pretty little neck.”

“Your bear is close to the surface?”

“More than close.” He shoved her against the wall, pinned her hands together over her head against the paneled wood and gritted out, “I don’t fear anything, especially a mere slip of a woman like you.”

“Never mistake my size as a possible inability to hold strength.” She tried to move, but he held her firmly trapped in place, the bedsheet wrapped around his waist sliding dangerously low on one hip. “Hmm, I do believe you fear me, Alec. What if I am indeed untouchable to you in this form? What will that mean to you?”

“You mean nothing to me, other than that you’re a pest.” He slid her weapon from her fingers, ran the pointy tip gently over her wrist, so whisper soft. “Where do you wish to be cut?”

“Wherever you please.” Chin lifted, she met his unwavering gaze with one of her own. “Try to be inventive if you can.”

“You have a sassy mouth, whether in wispy form or not.” Growly words as he dipped his head to her neck and licked her throbbing pulse point. He sank his teeth into her flesh and heat flared through her body, flushed her cheeks and pooled in her belly, his bite both aggressive yet also delicious.

“How interesting.” She arched a challenging brow. “Gilleoin is a shifter, the first of your kind and I’m well aware shifters only bite their mates, the one they’re soul bound to. Kirk nibbles away on Cherub as if she were his own to devour. Now you’ve bitten me. Is it possible we’re mated?” That would explain why she’d sought him out time and time again within the dream realm.

“That’s true of my kind, but I’ll never take a mate. Biting you, means nothing.” He slammed her dagger right through her forearm and into the paneled wall behind her then hands on his hips, muttered, “See. You mean nothing to me.”

“I see, but so should you.” She heaved her dagger free, not a drop of blood gushing forth or even a mark gracing her flesh. With her dagger sheathed, she advanced on him, on the one man who believed himself to be far too aggressive for any woman. “Your chief would never allow you to remain here at Ivanson Castle if he believed you’re as harmful to another as you say you are.”

“You should take what I did as a warning. Next time I’ll harm you without any request to do so. I don’t trust my bear and neither should you.” He stormed across to his tall corner chest and opened a drawer, rummaged within and pulled out a loose white tunic. Over his head it went, the sheet at his waist loosening and slipping free as he lifted his arms. The sheet fluttered to the floor, his firm buttocks on full display for a mere breath of a moment before the hem of his white tunic slithered down and covered him to mid-thigh. He selected a pair of black leather pants from the next draw, drew them on and fastened the ties at his waist.

She should truly avert her gaze while he dressed, but she’d grown up amongst warriors and seen far too many of them changing right before her to ever worry overly much about it, although this warrior was far different to any of her fellow kinsmen. This man she couldn’t keep her gaze from, didn’t have a chance of doing so, had been seeking him out this past month for a very good reason. Aye, her very soul had led her directly to him, night after night. Cherub had said the mated bond was a sacred union that even she wasn’t permitted to breach with its creation or completion. Her princess must have known she and Alec were mated. Certainly very little ever escaped Cherub’s notice. “We need to speak.”

“No, what I need to do is shake off some of this frustration you’ve gone and lumped on me.” He strode past her, nabbed his boots from beside a blue suede settee and tugged them on. Sword belt and weapons strapped in place, he loomed over her. “Please leave. You need to go.”

“You too have lumped a great deal of frustration on me now I’ve found my mate and discovered he resides over eight-hundred years from my true time.” Frustration she would shake off the best way she knew how. By training. She opened his chamber door, marched down the passageway with its burgundy and blue runner and strange lighting coming from bright overhead orbs of glass recessed into the ceiling above. She halted at the top of the stairwell and motioned toward the lights. “What are those?”

“Lights.” He banged his door shut and thumped down the hallway after her. “And we are definitely not mated. How many times must I tell you that?”

“You are a stubborn one.” Surely he must feel the strength of their bond taking form. ’Twas impossible to miss now she’d acknowledged it. She trotted down the stairs and into an open foyer. Two large doors stood propped open with a wedge of wood underneath each and she swept one hand over the beautiful carving of the chief’s arms embossed on each door. The chief’s arms held two bears as supporters either side, those bears signifying all that their Matheson clan fought for—the survival of a loyal race of shifters—Gilleoin’s line. Alec’s line as well. Her mate was descended directly from Gilleoin’s second-born son, Ivan.

“You are not my mate.” Alec swept past her and into the great hall lit only by the odd light as the hallway had been. “Go away, pest.”

“My name is Annella, and aye, I am your mate.” She allowed her solidified form to dissolve into a swirl of wispy-white then breezed through the great hall and under the thickly paneled doors leading outside. The cool night air brushed over and through her then she reemerged and took her form once more in the inner courtyard.

“I would know if you were my chosen one. The men in my clan always sense who they’re soul bound to and I sense nothing with you. Thank heavens.” Alec banged the front door shut after himself.

“You bit me.” Unable to help herself, she tickled a finger under his chin and smiled. “Which means you know exactly who I am, even though you dinnae wish to acknowledge it.”

“Pest doesn’t even begin to describe you.”

“So says the grumpiest warrior I’ve ever met.”

“Damn it, woman, would you cease touching me.” He flicked her finger away, shoved forward and towered over her. “Inside me is a beast who would love nothing more than to tear you from limb to limb, then nibble on your bones until I’d picked them clean.”

“You’re just mad that you cannae see any mark upon my skin from your bite.” She tipped her head to one side and stroked over her neck, right across the spot where he’d bitten her. “You can bite me, thrust a blade into me, but never will you actually be able to harm a hair on my head.”

“I could kill you with absolute ease should you be in your true form.” He snapped his teeth together, his claws slicing out and in. “My bear is a beast you don’t want to tangle with.”

“You and your beast clearly need a mysteriously annoying sprite such as me to keep you in line.” She reached up on her toes and kissed his chin. “Come train with me. I could use a new opponent other than my brother to battle with. He is far too lenient when we train, yet I doubt you will be, mated bond included.”

“I can’t wait for you to be gone.”

“I must remain for now. We still have much to speak about.” She dissolved her form and wisped away across the inner courtyard, streamed up the stairs leading to the top of the battlements and solidified herself on the ramparts overlooking the width and breadth of the moonlit forest. Stunning. This parcel of land was so remote and called to her very heart, as did the man who held the other half of her soul.

* * * *

No one currently frustrated Alec more than the woman who’d had him worried for an entire twenty-four hours with her annoying absence, and then exclaimed she was his mate. Not over his dead body were they soul bound. The fact he’d bitten her was irrelevant. Aye, what he needed to do was send her on her way then ensure she never returned. His path was set, a solitary one that didn’t include her.

Up the stairs to the battlements, he bolted then stopped behind the woman who had every hair on his neck rising. He breathed deep, drew in her intriguing fragrance, one that held the golden and glittery enchantment of a night sky teeming with stars. Her scent evoked the dream realm she traveled within, and made his lower region harden with lust. She stared up at the blood moon as if it intrigued her, her long golden tresses fluttering in the breeze and whispering over his arms and chest. Hell, she was so small of stature, the sword belted at her side all that gave any indication she in fact knew how to battle.

Carefully, he spread his hands over her hips, then determined to prove his point, that she wasn’t his chosen one, he muttered, “Those who are soul bound can never harm the other, but all I want to do right now is sink my claws into you and rip you apart. You need to steer well clear of me, to leave and never return.”

“Since the night we met”—she turned in his embrace and he retracted his claws for fear he’d actually scratch her—“you’ve grumped and growled and snapped at me to be gone, but through it all I still sensed within you a deep need to have someone close. I am here if you wish to talk, can provide quite the listening ear if you were but prepared to accept me. We are meant to be together. A bond certainly wouldnae have formed between us otherwise.”

“I’m a warrior, born and bred. I fight, draw blood and have no issue doing so.” It would take only one wrong move on his part and he could so easily kill her. Why couldn’t she see that? “I fight within my clan’s specialist team who work high level government cases, and out of all my kin, I’m the one who gets called away from Ivanson Castle the most. My beast isn’t just aggressive, he’s bloodthirsty, which makes him the perfect assassin when needed to take down the vilest of criminals.”

“I’ve chased a few vile criminals myself.” She dissolved into a wisp and swirled around then reemerged behind him with her sword in hand. She tapped the tip of her blade against his belted sword. “Arm yourself and train with me for what remains of this night. I must be fully prepared to fight Duncan MacKenzie when I find him. I cannae lose my coming battle with him if I wish to free my father and brother.”

“You shouldn’t be fighting anyone on your own, and certainly not a warrior who managed to capture both of your closest kin.” He lunged, grasped her sword hand, his fingers sliding through nothing but air as she wisped back farther and reappeared.

“Nay, you willnae catch me out that easily, my mighty bear.”

“I’m not your damn mighty bear.”

“Please, that is no way to talk to a woman, and your chosen one at that.” With a wink, she wagged a finger at him, her royal blue tunic cinched in at her tiny waist with a golden tasseled belt that swayed to her knees as she moved. Her black breeches, of the softest rawhide, molded her legs and that pert backside of hers, which he really shouldn’t have noticed, wiggled as she moved.

“I don’t see you as a woman, but as a lethal opponent.”

“Then raise your blade.”

“Training with me is a very bad idea.” Still, he slid his sword free of his scabbard and rocked from foot to foot, his beast always prepared for any form of fighting. Perhaps if he trained with her then she’d realize how dangerous he was, leave then hopefully never come back. It was a plan at least. He’d grump and growl a whole lot more as he battled with her, make sure she understood just how fierce and grizzly he could get. That should scare her away.

“I am my father’s daughter, born with a warrior’s heart even though graced with my mother’s petite form. Never underestimate my ability.” Her blue eyes lightened with mischievous determination, the golden sparks blazing bright at the edges. “I will leave once we are done and your temper has calmed. You need me right now just as much as I need you.”

“I have a raging temper right now because of you.” He’d never be able to calm it.

“Then allow me to un-rage it.” She swung and their two blades crashed dead center, steel ringing loud against steel and her full lips lifting so wickedly. “’Tis time to fight, my mighty bear.”

“Don’t call me that again.”

“Aye, you are most definitely my chosen one, whether you wish to acknowledge it or no’. Certainly if I could have chosen who my mate would be, I would have asked for a man such as you. One strong of mind and will, yet a man who also held a heart filled with love for his clan.” She twirled and struck again, her second hit harder than he’d expected and he shoved one foot back to brace himself against her next strike. She didn’t disappoint. She came at him hard, moving swiftly and gracefully.

Ignoring her last comment, he trained with her, she attacking and him ensuring he defended and nothing more, until sweat glistened on her brow and made her tunic cling to her breasts. Those heavy and full mounds of hers were far too big for her slight form.

“Cease looking at my chest, Alec.”

“I wasn’t.” A lie, but he’d never admit he had been. “Have you ever desired what women desire? Wearing skirts and such?” He caught her next blow and pushed her blade back with his own.

“I have only the one gown hanging in my ambry, but I do enjoy wearing a belted kilt with naught underneath it, just as the men of my clan do.”

His hand shook and he scrambled to find a breath. “Your breasts are swaying everywhere, likely knocking you off balance. You should contain or bind them to give yourself better footing when you train.”

“I’ve found my breasts distract my opponent somewhat, which they’re clearly doing with you right now. I shall leave them loose beneath my tunic.”

“Why on earth would your father teach you how to battle?” She might fight well, but every inch of her was still a woman, a woman who needed to be protected, not tossed into the middle of the battlefield.

“Because he loves me, knows my heart and all I desire.” She swept her sword toward his knees and he jumped her low blow then whacked her sword from her hand. It flew over the battlements and landed with a clunk on the gravel beyond the curtain wall where the forest surrounded them. “I realize I’m no’ like most women, but I do know how to follow an order, of which my father loves to issue them.”

“Then follow this order. Leave this minute and don’t return.”

“Have you ever desired what other men desire?” She gripped the crenellation, leapt over the side and in a swirl of wispy-white breezed down and landed on the gravelly ground.

“I ordered you to leave.”

“Answer my question first.” She snatched her sword and smiled at him. “Have you ever wanted a woman to warm your bed?”

“Never.” He flung himself over the wall and from one hand-and-foot hold to the next, scaled down the craggy stone and dropped in beside her. “Our shifter kind always waits for our chosen one. Lying with any other woman would never do. I have no desire to lie with you either, in case I hadn’t made that clear.”

“You made it clear, but you are also currently frustrated by what has occurred and no’ thinking straight, so I willnae hold anything you say against you.” She pressed one finger to his chest and swirled it down over his abs to his waist, her heated touch warming him from within and making his bear roll around and preen under his skin as he demanded a closer touch.

Teeth snapped together, he tried to tamp down his fierce other half. “Cease touching me.”

“Those are tough words, although I can see your deep need for touch shining bright in your eyes.” She leaned closer. “What have you to say about that?”

“You’re mistaken. The only deep need both me and my bear have right now is to bite you and rip you into shreds.” He caught her hand, held it firm against his chest, his bear growling with pleasure and demand for more. Stupid other half.

“Is that really true?” She blew a soft breath across his neck. “Because I sense differently. I can hear both you and your bear and although you both growl quite fiercely, ’tis also a hungry growl. Mayhap if you allowed yourself to get closer to me, both you and your bear might be a little less aggressive.”

“Getting closer to you is dangerous.” He dropped her hand and stepped back, his back brushing the stone curtain wall behind him. Moving away from her hurt, even if only the few inches he had. What was wrong with him? He should just walk away from her. He should climb the wall he’d just descended, return to his chamber and leave her behind. “I want you to go, to return to your own home and time. You’re not welcome here anymore.”

“I believe you actually want me to stay.” She sheathed her blade, stepped forward and planted her feet right on top of his booted feet then slowly, she curled her arms around his neck, her warm hands brushing over his nape as she raised up onto the tips of her toes. “I’ve no wish to fully ascend as my mother did and joining with you is my greatest chance of ensuring that does no’ happen. For a spirit-walker, we thrive on remaining in our spiritual form as I currently am, which means our physical body deteriorates when we dinnae return within an adequate time.”

“If your mother ascended even though wed to your father, then how would joining with me ensure you remained on this Earth?”

“Although my parents shared a great love, they were no’ soul bound and unfortunately their love wasnae enough to keep my mother from ascending.” She licked his neck, grazed her teeth back and forth over his skin and his bear fairly roared to do the same with her. “Your shifter kind, when you find the one who holds the other half of your soul, mate with only one woman. You’ve been waiting for me. Admit it.”

“I would never lie with any woman, let alone my chosen one.”

“Yet your shifter line nears extinction.” She sank her teeth into him, as fiercely as any woman did with her chosen one and blood pounded to his cock, made him go fiercely hard.

All he wanted to do was shove her to the ground and take her, to rub his chest across those full breasts of hers, grip her lush backside in his hands then thrust his cock inside her. Hell. He really needed to cease these unhelpful thoughts. Teeth gritted, he slammed his hands against the wall behind him and tried to force his fierce need for her down. “A number of newly mated couples have found each other. Extinction is still a possibility, but it’s becoming less so by the day.”

Panting, she drew back an inch, the gold sparks in her gaze flaring even brighter. “A shifter’s bite excites sexual desire, which is why you only ever mark your chosen ones. That I’ve learnt from Cherub and Kirk. You marked me first. ’Twas only right I get to mark you in return.”

“I still want you to leave.” She was strong, feisty, able to stand up to him and state her demands. She was everything he could ever desire in a woman, as well as everything he could never have. “Please, you must go. I don’t need a mate, nor do I want one.”

“You dinnae wish for children?” She rubbed the pad of her thumb over the mark she’d made on his neck then looked deep into his eyes. “I do. I dream of my children one-day running after my brother and swinging from my father’s shoulders. I want to hear their laughter, joy and delight.”

“Today, I thrust a dagger through your arm. Tomorrow, I might thrust a dagger through your heart.”

“That shall never happen.” She lifted her arm and rubbed the spot where he’d speared her then slowly, she returned her hands to her sides and looked deep into his eyes. “Do you wish to claim me as your mate, to join with me in all ways?”

“No. Yes. No.” He thumped the back of his head against the wall. “No. Definitely no.” He thumped his head again for good measure, and primarily to make certain that last answer stuck. “I want you to go.”

“Are you certain?” She dipped her head, her brow furrowing deeply.

“Bedding you would only tie you intrinsically to my side, something I’d never do.” He grasped her around the waist, spun them and shoved her against the wall. “For the last time, leave, and don’t ever look back. Do it. For me.”