Her Kilted Wolf (3 page)

She allowed herself a small, self-satisfied smile. Her years of training and scores of bruises were totally worth it if it kept Colin from walking all over her.

He pulled her into his arms, nuzzling her neck. “We’re really going to dinner, aren’t we?”

“We are.” She allowed herself only a few seconds in his arms before pulling away. If she didn’t keep in control of her libido, she’d never leave this room again. “Put your shirt on.”

***

Five minutes later, Colin led his mate through the stone hallways of the Stronghold to the banquet hall. His legs still felt wobbly from the most amazing orgasm he’d ever had in his life. He couldn’t wait for another, but Mattie had a point about getting food. They’d need their strength.

“I hear you live in a castle, too.” He took her hand in his, threading their fingers together.

“Yes. The Holding is about as big as the Stronghold. It looks a little out of place, though. Our nearest neighbors are billionaires in an uber-modern mansion, while the Holding looks like it belongs in Europe somewhere.”

“I’ll enjoy visiting it someday.”

Mattie’s hand jerked in his. “What do you mean someday? You’ll see it very soon, when you move there.”

Move there? Colin stopped walking. “We’ll be living here, darlin’. You don’t really think I’d move to America?”

Mattie put her free hand on her hip. “Yet you think I’ll just up and move to Scotland.”

“Of course. A woman goes where her husband is.”

Jerking her hand away from his, Mattie took a step back. “Oh, my Gods. You can’t be serious.”

“I have a life here.”

“Did you miss the part where I’m sixth in my pack?”

“But you don’t need that anymore. I’ll take care of you from now on.”

Her mouth opened, then closed. Her hand waved for a second as though about to punctuate an important point, then she shook her head and started walking away from him in the direction they’d been going.

What did that mean? Colin hurried after her. “You’ll get used to Scotland.”

She growled.

Shit. He’d pissed her off. Great way to start off his life with his new mate. “Fine. We’ll talk about it later.”

They reached the banquet hall after a minute of stiff silence. No way in hell would Colin go inside looking like he and his mate had just had a falling out. He slipped his arm around her waist. “Truce for now?” he said softly. “Everyone’s going to want to see a happy couple.”

The tightness around her mouth softened then she nodded, relaxing into his embrace. Just touching her, he wanted to haul her back to his rooms and pick up where they left off.

As soon as they walked into the large hall full of tables laden with food and benches full of people, a hulking brute of an Alpha approached them. “Mattie? Where’ve you been?”

“Darius.” She touched his arm.

Colin bit back a snarl. He didn’t want his woman touching some other man. At the same time, he recognized the name. This was Mattie’s Alpha. She’d skin Colin alive if he were rude to him.

“Meet my mate,” she said. The look she turned on Colin was soft and loving.

If he could see that look every day of his life, he’d die a happy man. He stuck out his hand to the Alpha. “Colin MacPherson.”

Darius grabbed his hand and shook it heartily. “Congratulations!” He elbowed Mattie in the ribs. “You’ll finally get those bigger quarters at the Holding that you’ve been wanting.”

Colin just barely kept himself from growling. “She’ll be moving here.”

After a second’s pause, Darius said, “You can’t take Mattie.”

His hand curling into a fist, Colin said, “She’s my mate.”

Lachlan appeared behind Darius, only a shade shorter than the North American Alpha. “What’s going on?”

Colin quickly filled his Alpha in. “We’re having a small dispute about where we’ll live.”

“I need my sixth,” Darius said.

“And I don’t want to leave the States,” Mattie added.

Before Colin could do more than grit his teeth, Lachlan clapped his hands on Darius and Mattie’s shoulders. “The answer’s obvious. We share.”

“How so?” Darius’ voice had gotten lower as he’d gotten angrier.

“They become the official liaisons between our two nations. They have a residence in both countries, and travel back and forth as needed.”

Before anyone could answer, angry voices pierced the din then a loud crash came from the other side of the hall. All four of them started toward it without a word.

A table lay on its side, food scattered across the floor. Where the table had once stood, two men squared off, both of them in mid-shift. Others stood behind each of the men, their upper bodies leaning forward as though about to jump into the fight.

One of the two wolves was Iain MacPherson, Lachlan’s brother and second in command. The other man Colin only knew by sight–the envoy from the English pack, Benedict Cross. It wasn’t hard to guess what this was about. By a complex set of marriages and births, Lachlan had ended up being not just the Scottish Alpha, but the Alpha over the entire UK. Before that, the UK Alpha had always been the English Alpha, and the English weren’t taking the change very well. They thought Lachlan should step down as UK Alpha and let the English Alpha be the UK Alpha.

Not bloody likely. It was about time the Scottish got a little power, and they’d be damned if they’d give it up.

“Stand down,” Lachlan said, his voice ringing out in the hushed silence. He strode toward them.

As Alpha over them all, his command should have been enough, but the English envoy leapt toward Iain, his hands sprouting claws. Iain snarled and stood his ground, but didn’t engage, following Lachlan’s order. Just as Benedict was about to tackle Iain to the ground, Lachlan struck Benedict from the side with his fist, sending him skidding several feet across the floor.

Lachlan followed then leaned over the prone man. “I said stand down.”

“You’re not my Alpha,” Benedict said, voice garbled because of his half-shift.

“I bloody well am.” Lachlan grabbed Benedict around the neck, lifting him to his feet. “You’ll spend the night in the dungeon to help you remember that. Then you and your men will head home in the morning.”

Benedict’s eyes widened. “You can’t kick the English pack out of the meeting!”

“I just did.” Lachlan pushed Benedict into Iain’s arms. “Take him to the dungeon–him and those of his people who give any trouble. The rest of them are confined to their rooms for the rest of the night.”

As he turned away, the Scottish wolves hauled the English wolves off then servants hurried forward to clean up the spilt food. Lachlan returned to Darius, Colin and Mattie.

“Think that’s the end of it?” Darius said.

“Not likely. The English are spoiling for a fight. We might have to give them one before they’ll accept my rule.” Lachlan’s jaw tightened. “But I’ll deal with that when it happens. In the meantime, what do you think? Shall we make these two our liaisons? Settle their fight?”

Gods, Colin loved his Alpha. If he could smooth things over between Colin and Mattie, Lachlan would have his undying gratitude.

“It works for me,” Darius said. “Half of Mattie’s time is better than none.”

“I feel the same way,” Lachlan said. “Then it’s a deal.” He and Darius shook on it.

Colin squeezed Mattie to his side and leaned down to whisper in her ear. “This work for you? It seems like a great idea to me.”

When she turned her head toward him, her lips came dangerously close to his. “Sounds like a great idea to me, too. Solves all of our problems.”

“Not all of them.”

Her eyebrows rose. “No?”

“We still have several problems. One, we’re in public. Two, we have too many clothes on. Three—”

She laughed. “I get the picture. Let’s get some food and get back upstairs.”

“It’s a plan.”

After thanking Lachlan and Darius again, they headed for some empty seats at one of the tables. As they passed by some of Colin’s friends, they had to stop and do introductions. Colin made it fast–he wanted to get back to bed as quickly as possible. But his friends couldn’t help but throw out a couple of parting ribs.

“Never thought you’d settle down,” one said.

“At least all the fucking you’ve done will come to good use,” said another.

Mattie’s face tightened. As they walked away, she said, “Is there something you want to tell me?”

How much should he say? He didn’t want to keep things from her, but doubted she’d want to hear all the details. “I sowed my share of wild oats, but all that changed the second I scented you. I wouldn’t go back if I could,” he said. “You mean everything to me now. Besides, you’ve some secrets of your own,
Mattie
.”

After a short pause, she said, “Mathilde. Mathilde means “mighty in battle.” My parents said I kicked and punched so much in the womb, they figured I’d be a great fighter. So they named me Mathilde. In their defense, they knew it was often shortened to Mattie.”

Colin kissed her temple. “Thank you. I promise to only call you Mathilde when we’re having a horrible fight that tickling won’t solve.”

She punched him lightly. “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll take my real name to your grave. And mentioning it when we’re fighting would be a bad move.”

“I’ll do whatever’s necessary to throw my opponent off her game.”

Mattie gazed at him. “Hopefully we’ll be allies, not opponents.”

Brushing the backs of his fingers down her cheek, Colin said, “That’s what I hope, too, lass. It’s you and me, from now on.”

“A team.”

“A couple.” He couldn’t help but kiss her. Behind them, his friends whooped and hollered at them, banging their hands on the tables.

Happiness welled up inside him, threatening to burst. He’d never imagined love could be like this. If he had, he’d have scoured the earth to find her. But now, he’d never let her go. Mattie was his.

Forever.

Author's Note

When I came up with the idea for the Colliding Worlds series, I felt so excited! And so far, each book that I've written in the series has been awesome to write. Mattie and Colin had it easy compared to what's coming for Darius in Her Forbidden Alpha or Lachlan in Her Scottish Alpha. And never fear. We'll see Mattie and Colin again.

If you liked this short story, it would be a huge help to me if you would please consider leaving a review.

Thank you!

Tabitha Conall

Coming Soon

Coming in September 2014 as part of a
Scottish shifter boxed set
...

Her Scottish Alpha
Tabitha Conall

The Colliding Worlds Series #3

A dragon slayer, an alpha werewolf and a war.

Dragon slayer Keira Harlow is on a job when everything goes wrong. Her twin sister and partner disappears and worse, Keira herself gets nabbed by a werewolf who turns her on in a most disturbing way.

Deep in negotiations with a dragon shifter, Scottish and UK Alpha Lachlan MacPherson doesn't expect his mate to barge into his home uninvited but when she does, there's no way he'll let her go.

While searching for Keira's sister, a bigger problem arises--the English Alpha wants the position of UK Alpha which Lachlan holds by right of birth and he's not above going to war to get it. If that weren't enough, Keira has to find a way to get herself out of the situation with Lachlan. He might think they're mates but she knows it can never be.

This 35,000+ word long book is the third in the Colliding Worlds series. HEA included.

Also from Tabitha Conall

Her Forbidden Alpha
Tabitha Conall

The Colliding Worlds Series #2

Can fated love triumph over the threat of war?

Aislinn Cavett lives a sheltered life, raised in a human supremacist compound and kept separate from the wild variety of non-humans teeming outside the compound’s fence.

North American Pack Alpha Darius Bishop believes peace with the Humans First group is the only way to protect his wolves from ongoing, senseless violence.

When Darius arrives at the Humans First compound for peace negotiations, he finds something he didn’t expect—his mate. Fate couldn’t have chosen a more inconvenient mate for him in the General’s daughter, but Darius doesn’t care. Aislinn is perfect.

War could be the result of their mating. But when her father advances and his own wolves turn against him, Darius is asked to make an impossible choice—his love and his sanity, or the lives of his pack.

This 40,000+ word short novel is the second in the Colliding Worlds series. HEA included.

Excerpt

Aislinn carried a platter full of meat into the meeting hall, following after several of the older women. She wanted to get her first look at werewolves—real werewolves—but was afraid she’d drop the platter if she didn’t look where she was going. How horrible would it be if she dropped it and everyone stared at her?

After she put the platter down, she turned to take a careful look, only to find one of the wolves staring at her. He wasn’t even trying to hide it. He was standing out in the middle of the floor looking straight at her and another one of them held his arm as though holding him back.

Had she done something wrong?

He stood taller and broader than the others. His hair looked black but it was hard to tell with it so short. His dark gaze was so intense she could almost feel it on her skin.

She headed for the kitchen, eager to hide away from his eyes.

Her father came through the hall door. “Aislinn!” He motioned her to him.

She was supposed to play hostess. The dark wolf had almost made her forget. She wiped her damp palms on her skirt and went to stand by her father.

“Welcome,” her father said. “I’m General Cavett. We’ll get started shortly. In the meantime, I’m sure you’ve had a long journey. My daughter and some of the women from the compound will serve you lunch.”