Seduced by Her Highland Warrior by Michelle Willingham Page A

You’re going to run away to your wife’s family in Perth, hiding like a coward?’ He raised his voice almost to a shout. ‘They may have burned Glen Arrin to the ground, but I’ll not let them scatter our clan. They will not divide us.’
    His anger was barely contained, rising into a fury. ‘We’re going prove to them that we’re stronger. And if they dare to attack us again, their blood will fall upon our soil.’
    â€˜Alex,’ came the voice of his friend Ross, ‘perhaps it’s better to be practical than to dream of castles and a fortress we can’t afford.’
    He spun, confronting the older man. ‘You don’t believe our clan is worth fighting for?’
    â€˜We’ve been fighting the English for years now,’ Ross said. ‘And they keep coming back. We can’t get rid of them.’
    â€˜They want us to give up,’ Alex said quietly. ‘They want us to hang our heads and dwell upon our losses, believing we’re not strong enough.’ He stared into the eyes of each and every man, letting his words fall upon them. ‘But they’re wrong.’
    He pointed to the hills and mountains in the distance. ‘We have wood from our forests. Stone from themountains. And the labour of our hands. If we don’t stand together, more English garrisons will spread across Scotland. We’ve seen it with our allies and our enemies.’ He met Ross’s apprehensive look, adding, ‘If our clan splits apart, we’ll have nothing. Not our friends. Not our clan. Not our freedom.’
    An air of silence descended over the men. ‘If we rebuild our past mistakes, we’ll only repeat them.’ He turned to face the foundation of stone, pointing towards it. ‘It will take time, aye. It won’t be finished by the spring, or even next winter. But if we build it the way it should be created, out of the sweat of our backs and the best materials we can find, it will last.’ He turned back to them. ‘And it will remain standing when the English are gone from Scotland.’
    His words descended upon them and the mood among the men shifted. Alex strode away, having said all he could. He walked through the darkness, hoping he’d convinced them. Along the way, Nairna’s dog Caen trotted behind him. Though the animal likely only wanted food, it was good to have at least one supporter of his ideas.
    When he reached Ross’s house, he scratched Caen’s ears. The homely dog licked his fingers, arching with delight from the affection. ‘Go back to Nairna,’ he ordered.
    Caen expelled a whuff of air and went on his way. When Alex entered the hut, he saw Vanora tending the fire while his daughters slept upon a pallet. ‘Where is Laren?’
    Vanora shook her head. ‘She said she’d forgotten something that she left behind on her walk earlier.’ The matron lifted her shoulders in a shrug. ‘I would have gone after her, except I couldn’t leave the girls. I suppose she must have lost track of the time.’
    â€˜How long has she been gone?’
    â€˜An hour or so.’
    A dark fear clenched inside him, for he couldn’t understand why Laren would have left the girls alone for so long. It wasn’t like her at all. He had visions of her lying unconscious and bleeding from the wound she refused to take care of.
    Alex grabbed a torch and strode from the fortress, not bothering to notify his brothers of where he was going. He planned to scour the edges of the loch, praying he wouldn’t find her anywhere near the water.
    The night sky was clouded and moonless, and his torch cast a flickering reflection against the surface of the water. He ran through the sand, his eyes searching the ground in front of him. His blood pulsed with fear, and as he kept searching he smelled the scent of smoke. Though he knew Dougal had dumped a pile of ashes not far from here, the odour was