Hero of a Highland Wolf

“I’m coming. Don’t leave,” Grant said to her, his voice a pack leader’s command. Not that he had any business ordering her around, but he wasn’t going to let Archibald have his way in this. He hung up on her before she could tell him no again and headed for his car.

“Do you want me to come with you?” Enrick asked, brow furrowed.

“I want you to take care of things here. Lachlan, you come with me. Archibald’s with her at Kelton’s Pub.”

“The same place he used to take her father,” Enrick said. “Bloody hell. That bastard will stop at nothing to win her over.”

“My thoughts exactly.” Grant just hoped she wasn’t drinking to take away the sting of what she’d learned about her grandmother. He could see the man trying to take advantage of her vulnerability.

And he could see Archibald hugging her, consoling her, trying to kiss her. That had Grant growling again.

He and Lachlan climbed into his car and took off. Grant took several deep, calming breaths in an attempt to curb his temper. He was ready to pummel Archibald, because he was certain the man played to Colleen’s sympathies. She needed someone like Grant to talk to her, someone who would be honest with her and not weave a fairy tale to win her over.

“What are we going to do?” Lachlan asked. “She’s a grown woman and American, and doesn’t have to listen to anything you have to say. She’s not one of our clan members, not of our pack. She can do whatever she wants.”

“I’ll bring the lass home. I want you to drive her car back to the castle. She doesn’t know the roads and most likely isn’t used to driving on the correct side of the road, so it would be better if she didn’t drive at night. Tomorrow, I want her rental car returned to the airport. She shouldn’t be paying for the cost of it when she can use my car anytime she wants.”

Lachlan chuckled.

“What?” Grant said, annoyed.

“If you don’t want her here, why are you making her depend on you for transportation? When have you ever let anyone borrow your car willingly?” Before Grant could comment, his brother added, “Oh, I see. You don’t intend to let her drive it whenever she is of a mind to leave. Or you’ll insist you or one of us goes with her. Which brings me back to my original question. Why do you now want the lass confined to the castle? Or is it that you think that will make her feel restricted, and she’ll want to leave?”

“I would think the answer obvious. If she stays, and it appears she is, we don’t want her roaming the countryside when Archibald has set his sights on her.”

“So he invited her to stay the night with him,” Lachlan said.

“Aye. At least, she had the good sense to say no. But if he pressures her…”

“Like if she starts drinking at the pub…”

Grant glanced at his brother.

Lachlan shrugged. “He can be persuasive, like he was with her father.”

“Who was prone to drinking.” Grant rubbed his chin. “The lass couldn’t hold her liquor the other night. I don’t believe she’s anything like her father.”

“It doesn’t mean she won’t drink to make herself feel better if we’ve upset her.”

“Which is another reason we have to rescue the lass,” Grant said.

Lachlan chuckled again. “I don’t know, but somehow it seems the scenario has turned upside down, from your wanting her gone to wanting her back. Didn’t Ian warn us about this? What exactly did happen between the two of you that upset her?”

The issue with her grandmother. But he didn’t want to discuss it with his brother.

“Enrick said one of our dogs got loose from the kennel last night. He suspected he entered through the wolf door in the kitchen. Although he wondered if Colleen had encouraged Hercules to come to her room. He smelled beef on the dog’s breath,” Lachlan said when Grant didn’t answer his other question.

Grant frowned. “Besides encouraging the dog to want to stay with her, nothing bad happened, I take it, or I would have heard of it.”

“You were preoccupied with the lass’s whereabouts. But no, he is fine.”

“Where was he?”

“Sleeping beside the lady’s chamber door as if he was guarding it or wanted in. I had a real time convincing him to come with me.”

Had the lass taken steak treats to bed with her? Grant shook his head.

“So you didn’t say before, but how were the sleeping arrangements last night?” Lachlan asked.

Grant had no intention of telling his brother about the noisy pipes scaring the lass. “Just fine.”

“Which is why you slept so late this morning when you never sleep until noon. The lass looked exhausted, dark circles under her eyes, and I suspect she didn’t get a whole lot of sleep either. What were the two of you doing last night?”

“Sleeping,” Grant said in a much too aggressive manner. His brother would know the truth of the matter—Grant only slept that late if he had been up half the night or he was ill.

He would have been sleeping if the lass and then Maynard hadn’t woken him.

“Tell me the truth. Do you think she’ll return to Farraige Castle with us? Or do you think she’ll stay the night in the village?” Lachlan asked.

The truth was, as much as Grant wanted to return her to the castle, he had no idea what he would do if she wouldn’t go along with the idea. Especially if she took Archibald up on his offer and agreed to stay with him.

***

Colleen wasn’t sure what to do. Archibald was still trying to convince her to go with him, even more so now that Grant was on his way.

She finished a lovely meal and sipped on her water, still trying to decide. She did like the idea that she could follow Grant home and not worry about losing her way in the dark. She also had the notion that he might be changing his tune about her residing at the castle. But maybe—just maybe—he would even be better behaved if she stayed the night here. She certainly didn’t want him or his people to believe that he could growl and snarl and dictate what she would or would not do. And that she’d go along with it. Even if he asked very nicely and she agreed to return with him, the situation would appear as though he was in charge and she would meekly acquiesce.

That decided it. She was staying. She reached for her purse to settle her bill, but Archibald quickly paid for it.