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hidden as he watched the men follow tracks to the stream. They waded across and began looking for another trail.
    “The tracks stop, Donald,” one of the men said to the leader.
    Donald’s gaze looked up and down the stream, pausing for a moment near where Stefan hid. “We tracked him this far, we can find his trail again. The bastard will pay for killing our clansmen.”
    Stefan might have holes in his memory, but his wounds combined with the fact that he woke at the stream made it a safe bet that he was who the men were looking for. The longer he remained, the sooner they would find him. Stefan waited until the group – minus the leader - were out of sight up stream before he decided to go in the opposite direction. He kept bent over and had only taken one step when voices reached him.
    “Look who we found,” came a man’s voice full of laughter.
    Stefan paused, though he wasn’t sure why.
    “Were you here?” Donald demanded.
    A feminine voice said, “I’m always here. The forest is my home.”
    Stefan looked over his shoulders and saw the woman, her black hair in a neat braid as she held Donald’s gaze with her chin high.
    She was brave and fearless despite one man towering over her, and another behind her holding both of her arms. It was the perfect time for Stefan to get away. Why then did he remain?
    “I hear the whispers of you,” Donald said in a hard voice, his lip lifted in a sneer. “You and your magic.”
    “I don’t have magic,” the woman protested.  
    Donald gave a snort. “I could have you burned. Tell me what I want to know, and I’ll leave you alone.”
    “I have no magic,” she said again through clenched teeth.
    A third man walked around the group and stopped at the water’s edge. He looked back and said, “Donald, Morvan is known as a healer of sorts. Perhaps she was…unaware…that she was helping a man who is an enemy to us.”
    Donald regarded Morvan for a moment. “Did you find a stranger and heal him?”
    Stefan’s gaze was glued to Morvan. It was an unusual name for a particularly unusual woman. He used the group’s diverted attention to steadily move away from his hiding spot and into the forest, careful that he didn’t encounter any more men.
    Stefan didn’t stop until he was on the other side of the group, and then he crouched down behind a pine. It brought him closer to Morvan, and to his dismay, he was drawn to her in a way he couldn’t explain.
    No matter how he tried, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was meant to be there to help her.  
    “Tell me true, Morvan,” Donald said. “He killed your clansman. He needs to be caught and punished.”
    For long moments, Morvan held Donald’s gaze. Then she finally said, “Aye, I came upon a man and tended him.”
    “Where?” Donald asked tightly.
    Morvan pointed to where Stefan had been. While the leader and one of his men went to look, Morvan was held in place by the guard.  
    Stefan waited until Donald and his man were nearly to where Morvan had left him before he came out from behind the tree. He kicked Morvan’s guard in the back of the knee, dropping him down while snapping the man’s neck.
    Morvan twisted away and turned to gape at him. “You should be gone,” she whispered urgently.
    There wasn’t time for Stefan to respond as a shout from across the stream brought the leader’s attention to them. Stefan grabbed Morvan’s hand - feeling the same calming sensation he recognized from before – and jerked her behind him.
    Her brown eyes were wide with fear, but she didn’t argue. Stefan took a deep breath and faced his attackers.

    ~ ~ ~

    For the second time that day, Morvan watched the stranger battle. As injured as he was, he moved as if he didn’t feel anything, as if he hadn’t lost all that blood.
    The man she faced a moment ago wasn’t the same one who had chased her earlier. The clarity was still there, but for how long? As MacKay men came at him, she saw the bloodlust take him