Hero of a Highland Wolf

“What happened between you and Archibald that would give you reason for not liking the man?” she asked. She swore everyone around them stopped eating to hear what he had to say.

“I would think you would know best.”

She waited while he finished eating his eggs. “Well, I don’t. If you wouldn’t mind enlightening me, I would appreciate it.”

He put his fork down. “My family has managed the Playfair estates since the keep was built. Archibald’s grandfather, Uilleam Borthwick, murdered my grandfather, John MacQuarrie, while he was serving in the capacity I do now. My father, Robert MacQuarrie, took over the management and my mother, Eleanor, mysteriously died in a fall from these very cliffs when my brothers and I were three. Your father was living at Farraige Castle at the time.”

Her mouth gaped. She was shocked to the core to learn that Archibald’s grandfather had murdered Grant’s. How could Grant insinuate her father was responsible for Grant’s mother’s death, though? Her father was despicable, but she couldn’t imagine he would do anything so horrible.

“You’re not saying my father had anything to do with it,” she said, wanting to clear up any misconception she might have.

“Your father felt he should manage the castle. After John died, my father took over the role as my family has done for centuries. But Theodore was furious. He swore he’d get back at his mother—your grandmother—by marrying a young American she-wolf and left for the States. He shunned your grandmother, refused to answer her letters, and didn’t care what she did with the castle.”

She noted Grant had avoided saying he believed her father had anything to do with Eleanor’s death, but he hadn’t denied it, either. Had her father been capable of murder? She couldn’t believe she’d been so clueless about all of this.

“But my grandmother willed it to him anyway,” Colleen said softly.

“Aye. Theodore was still her son. She had another, but he, too, left. And that one was the younger of the two.”

“My cousins’ dad. He died young also.”

“Aye. Theodore did return home on occasion, maybe to ensure she didn’t give the estates to his younger brother, or maybe so that she didn’t will them to my father. Your father was visiting Farraige Castle when my brothers and I were twenty and away at college. One dark and stormy night, Robert MacQuarrie fell to his death from the same cliffs.”

Colleen couldn’t help the tears that filled her eyes. She looked away. Grant didn’t say it—just like he didn’t come out and tell her that her father was responsible for Grant’s mother’s death—but the implication was clear.

“Did my father still want to…manage Farraige Castle?” she asked, not wanting to hear the answer.

“Aye. Theodore and Neda had a big row. Instead of her installing him in the position, she called me home right away.”

“And you were only twenty.” She took in a deep breath. She could imagine her father wanting to kill Grant for the slight.

“Theodore returned to America, and years later, Neda left the castle to your father. Like you, he came here for a year and a day to observe and then he returned to Maryland to be with his mate, leaving the castle in my care. In the will, knowing the bitterness between your father and my people, your grandmother ensured the MacQuarries would continue to live here. Theodore could have replaced me as manager, but he would still have been stuck with us living here and so he left it in our hands, though he made every change possible while he was here. I think he realized at that point, he really couldn’t have managed the properties himself or found a replacement for me who would have done as well. Then you inherited the castle when your parents died.”

“I’m so sorry about your grandfather’s and your parents’ deaths. But I really don’t see what Archibald has to do with his grandfather killing your grandfather.”

If her father had been at the heart of it, she hated him for it. How could Grant or his pack feel anything but animosity toward her? She wasn’t like him, but she hadn’t lived here like Neda had. She didn’t know them. And she hadn’t wanted to come in to displace Grant. Yet she’d pushed him out of his bedchamber, which could make it appear she was doing just that.

“From what I understand, Uilleam wanted to manage the estates,” Grant continued. “Not that many wolf packs have the honor of such a task. Often, the owner of a keep would have his own pack to run it. But your grandfather, Gideon Playfair, was a lone wolf and earned the right to build the castle after fighting in battles for the king. He also had his own barony. What he didn’t have was his own pack. Gideon mated Neda, and they had the castle built and needed a wolf pack to manage the estates.

“Uilleam Borthwick, Archibald’s grandfather, had his own family, but not a pack to run the place. John MacQuarrie, my grandfather, had a title and his own pack, but no land to call his own. Your grandfather gave the job to John, and Uilleam couldn’t accept it. When my pack learned he had killed John, they hunted him down like the dog he was.”

She couldn’t believe all that she was hearing. She was glad that Grant’s family had resolution in the case with his grandfather, sad as it was that he had to lose him in such a way. But what about his parents? She felt sick thinking her own father could have been involved.

“I take it you never learned who killed your parents.”

“My mother had no reason to be on the cliffs in the dark of night. Neither had my father. Your grandmother adored me and my brothers, and Theodore hated us for it. Your grandmother was like a mother to us, doting on us. Theodore felt she loved us more than she had him when he was that age. According to my father, it wasn’t so. Theodore had been a moody and perverse child and teen. Without her mate to help control Theodore, Neda dealt with him the best she could. He showed her no love or respect like my brothers and I did. I apologize for speaking the truth to you, lass, when he was your father, but I feel the words need to be said.”

“I’d rather know the truth of the matter,” she said, not wanting to divulge that she had never gotten along with her father. She knew all about the moodiness. She had experienced it firsthand.

Taking the news in, Colleen poked at her egg. She’d never known the details of why her father hadn’t gotten along with her grandmother. Her father had only said he and his mother had never seen eye to eye and when he mated Colleen’s mother, they had left and he had never gone back. Until he inherited the castle and was forced to. Just like Colleen was. Only she had thought she would enjoy the experience if she could get past Grant’s defenses.