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her.
    “I’m sorry, Sonya. I never wanted her to know me. I feared Deirdre might someday learn what I had done and come to take both of you. The moment I took you from your village I sealed your doom.”
    “Because you saved us?”
    Broc fisted his hands as he felt his claws begin to lengthen. “Because I cared. Deirdre will use it against me. It’s what she has always done.”
    “You mean she would have.”
    “I mean she will. It’s inevitable. It’s why I’ve tried to keep you at MacLeod Castle. It’s why I worked so hard to get Anice and the Druids to the castle before it was too late. Deirdre cannot hurt Anice now, but she can get to you.”
    For the first time since he began his tale he saw Sonya’s anger waver. She now understood the precarious position he was in.
    What she didn’t know, and what he hoped to keep from her, was his attraction to her. He feared that if he gave in to the desire to touch her, to kiss her, to claim her that if Deirdre ever took Sonya, Broc would be torn apart.
    So Broc kept silent. Selfishly silent.
    “What aren’t you telling me, Broc?”
    He turned away and faced the wall. It wasn’t just his attraction he wanted kept from her. It was the curse. He was unable to look at her as his desire, his longing threatened to overwhelm him. “That is everything.”
    “So you watched me through the years?”
    “Aye.”
    “Had Anice not died, you wouldn’t have told me all of this, would you?”
    Broc shook his head.
    “You cared for her very much.”
    “Of course I did. I saved both of you. You were my responsibility. I vowed to do everything and anything to keep both of you out of Deirdre’s path.”
    Sonya moved to stand in front of him, the blanket wrapped tightly around her while her red hair curled about her face and shoulders. “I saw your face. I saw how devastated you were when you held Anice’s dead body. I heard the words you yelled at me.”
    “Words spoken out of grief. I know you cannot bring anyone back from the dead. I had no right to speak to you as I did, and I ask your forgiveness.”
    Some of the fire left her gaze. “You have it.”
    Broc gave a slight bow of his head. “As for the rest, as I’ve told you, I cared for Anice as if she had been my family. Though neither of you heard my vow to keep you safe, it was spoken. I neglected to protect her.”
    The words were truer than Broc had ever realized. He carried a heavy burden now. The soul of Anice. He just hoped Sonya could forgive him eventually.
    “Do not blame yourself,” Sonya said. “You didn’t kill my sister.”
    He saw the same guilt he carried in Sonya’s eyes. If she wouldn’t allow him to carry it, he wouldn’t allow her. “And neither did you.”
    The smile Sonya sent him didn’t reach her eyes. “Ah, but, Broc, I begged her to come to the castle. Had I heard the trees sooner, we would have been able to get them to the castle.”
    “Aye,” he said, and took her arm to guide her to the bed. The dark circles under her eyes and the way her body weaved where she stood told him she had used all of her strength. “But things didna go as they should have. We were attacked, and we all did the best we could.”
    Sonya sat on the bed and turned her face up to his. For the barest of moments he saw the trust she had once given him, trust that would never be his again.
    “Anice was a gentle soul,” Broc said. “Deirdre will no’ be able to harm her now.”
    “Aye, at least Anice is safe.”
    Broc gently pushed Sonya to the side and lifted her feet onto the bed. He ignored the bare flesh of her calf when her blanket fell open.
    He pushed aside the rush of desire that filled him from the swell of her breast as she snuggled into the bed. He ached for her touch, his soul empty and depleted.
    “You will make me return to MacLeod Castle, won’t you?”
    Broc adjusted the extra blanket around her and straightened. “Aye. Even if I hadna given you my vow, I would return you. For the sake of