Read Taken By The Highland Wolf (The Clan MacGregor Book 2) for Free Online Page B

to me for a split second and then back to Alastair.
    "We can thank Miss Gordon for the speed of my recovery. She was very good to me," he told Alastair.
    "Aye, she's a soft heart. It was good of ye to stay here with her."
    "I wouldn't dream of letting her out of my sight," said Camden.
    Alastair didn't respond, but he shifted slightly in front of me, partially blocking me from Camden's view. I looked back and forth between them as they eyed each other silently. Alastair had a slight frown on his face, and I wondered if he had a sense of Camden's interest in me. I had not told him about what had transpired on our ride the day before. I had not been able to see any good coming from the revelation.
    "Do you have to go to Iona's house now?" I asked Alastair, trying to break the tension that was growing palpable in the room.
    "Yes," he said with a nod, "but I wanted to look in on ye first.  Though now that I'm here, I don't want to leave ye," he said softly, reaching out to take my hand.
    "No, you have to go take care of this. I have to have justice for Iona. We cannot let whoever is committing these crimes get away with it. It's Iona, Alastair," I pleaded with him. "You must find this person."
    He cupped my cheek in his hand and I closed my eyes, leaning into the comfort of his touch. It no longer mattered to me what Camden thought. I loved Alastair and I needed him near me.
    "I will find them, Glenna, I promise ye that."
    "I will take her back," said Camden. "There is no need for her to stay here now. I will escort her back to the keep."
    Alastair clenched his jaw before nodding. "Aye, that would probably be best."
    "I don't want to leave you," I said.
    "I know, love, but ye must. I will be back with ye as soon as I can."
    "All right," I agreed with a sigh.
    "Mr. Holme," said Alastair to Cameron, "I would be very much obliged to ye if you were to keep an eye on Miss Gordon this afternoon. See that no harm comes to her."
    "Aye, I'll guard her with my life."
    Alastair jerked his head in a nod, and with a last look to me he strode out the door.
    Once he had gone I sat back down heavily in the chair I had formerly occupied. While I was ready to be out of the magistrate's sitting room, I was not yet ready for the long ride back to the castle, as it was sure to either be full of questions from Camden or worse, none at all.
    "So, that is the MacGregor," he said mildly, his eyes still on the doorway that Alastair had just walked through.
    "Yes."
    "He's quite... tall," he continued.
    "Yes, I suppose he is, at that."
    "He seems very fond of ye...."
    I looked at my lap as my fingers moved idly, pleating the fabric of my gown. "Yes."
    "But you're not engaged to be wed?" he asked.
    "Not officially, no." This evasive line of questioning was even worse than I had thought it would be.
    "And unofficially?" he pressed.
    "Unofficially? Well, that's a bit more complicated."
    He nodded and stood up, extending his hand to me. "It's been a hard day. We should be getting back."
    I nodded and accepted his hand. He helped me out of the chair and we left the magistrate's offices.
    The ride back to the keep was a silent one, each of us lost in our own thoughts. I wanted to say something to keep a distance from growing between us. Something that could make him understand why I had such affection for a man Camden must consider to be the devil himself. But I could not think of the words. So I stayed silent and tried to accept the inevitable loss of two friends on the same day.
    ***
    The sun had long gone down on the day when there was a soft knock on the door of my bedchamber. Alastair had stayed in the village for the rest of the day, and had not been back in time for the evening meal. I had gathered my courage and went to find Camden to see if he would join me for dinner in the great hall. Thankfully he had greeted me with a smile, with no sense of distance between us.
    I walked to the door and opened it to find a very tired-looking Alastair standing on the