Mountain Moonlight (9 page)

“That’s not what I said at all. Only that it bears…further investigation.”

She wanted to know why he’d had a change  of heart. Or was it even his change of  heart? He  looked irritated, that vein  near his temple pulsing rapidly. Whatever  happened wasn’t his doing.  Yet he was still here, and for some reason she wasn’t  unhappy about that. “We’re heading back to the castle today.”

“You’ll need escort. I have Peter locked up  in  my  room  and  I  assume  you’ll  want  to take him with you,”  Noah said. “Of course, if you’d rather leave him behind,  I’d be more than willing to …dispose of him.”

Peter. She’d conveniently obliterated thoughts of him from her mind. But he was a  Braslieu problem, not a Devlin one. She shuddered at the thought of  exactly what Noah

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would do to Peter. Not that  he didn’t deserve it, but some things were  best left to  Braslieu laws. “Yes, we’ll be taking him with us.”

“Then we’re going with you,” Conner said, his tone brooking no argument.

She started to object, then shrugged. She  and Elena couldn’t possibly escort Peter  up the mountain alone, and she didn’t trust  anyone outside the castle to come along as  security. So that left the only two people who knew what happened, who knew what  they were.

“We leave in an hour.”

Conner nodded and left, Noah following.

Katya exhaled and  slipped into the chair next to the desk to  calm her  raging heartbeat.

“You two are bonded. Destined,” Elena said. “I  can  feel  it  surrounding  both  of  you. Hell, cousin, I can smell it on both of you.  The mating frenzy is so  obvious I’m surprised  the two of you hadn’t realized it last night.”

That was the problem. She hadn’t  realized  much of anything last night. But Conner,  her destiny? Highly unlikely.

This was a mess.  How they were going to resolve it was an unknown, but somehow, someway they’d have to.

She was a princess compromised.  Something would have to be done about that. What that something was, she had no idea.

* * * * *

They had to take two vehicles. The small  rough terrain vehicles  couldn’t carry all five of them plus luggage.

Elena and Katya traveled in the lead vehicle with the luggage, while Conner and  Noah escorted Peter, who wasn’t very happy to have his wrists tied to the door handle.

“I resent this treatment,” he muttered.

Conner turned around to look at Peter, hanging onto the roll bar as they  hit a particularly large boulder in the road. “I’ll bet Katya resented your treatment of her last night, too.”

It was all he could do not to  beat the shit out of the bastard. From the faint bruises

on his face and the swelling that hadn’t quite gone down, Noah must have worked him  over after he’d dragged Peter from Katya’s bedroom last night.

“Katya is
 
my
 
woman.  She understands how things are between mates. You have no  right to interfere.”

Tension seethed, dangerous rage boiling just underneath his skin. Conner  turned  around, determined to ignore Peter until they  reached the castle. He swore that if they

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didn’t mete out some type of adequate justice,  he’d just have to take matters into his

own hands.  That bastard needed to pay for what he’d done to Katya.

“She is already mated to me. I will kill you if you come anywhere near her.”

Conner shook his head at Peter’s comment, not bothering to correct the man’s misassumption. Obviously he took  the two of them for fools.  And he  didn’t  know  that  Conner had mated with Katya.

“She likes it rough. That’s all you saw that night. You interfered needlessly. My  Katya prefers to be tied up and forced to  have sex. It’s the only way she can come.”

“You fucking prick.” That was it. Conner unbuckled his seat belt, intending to climb into the backseat and beat Peter into a lifeless pulp.

Noah stopped him by  laying a  hand on  his arm. “He’s digging  his own grave. Let him be. One way or another, he’ll be taken care of.”

Surprised Noah wasn’t encouraging him  to kill the bastard, Conner shrugged andrebuckled his belt, conjuring up ways to  torture Peter.  Painful, bloody ways. He’d bet he could get the  wimp to cry like  a little girl,  too. He’d love to  show  him what  it felt like to be helpless and at the mercy of  someone bigger, stronger and meaner.

The vehicle in front lurched to a stop at  the top of a rise, then inched forward slowly. When they pulled up alongside Katya’s vehicle, Conner pulled off his shades and climbed out of the vehicle to stare at the sight in front of them.

Like a beacon revealing a lush paradise, the sun had broken through the  denseclouds overhead, shooting spectacular rays of light over the valley floor. The valley was an emerald oasis of thick grass, filled with  wildflowers of every color that  seemed togrow in clumps like bouquets.

High above the clearing, forbidden and imposing, stood a tall castle of grey stone,so light it was almost white. Crumbling and in  disrepair, it had to be centuries old with two towers reaching toward the sunlight as  if beckoning the renewing warmth. Iron gates surrounded the area in front of them, with tall fencing as far as he could see.

Those fences would never hold in a wolf that didn’t  want to be  contained. He’dhave to think about how to fix that.

Woodland surrounded the castle, thick and  pungent with the smell of fresh earth and pine. Conner heard but couldn’t see  water flowing somewhere around them.  Mountain springs must flow throughout the castle grounds. The tops of the trees reached almost the to the highest point of the castle towers, sheltering it to the sides, yet the castle front stood unfettered by foliage or camouflage of any kind.

Katya turned to them, a glow of pride on her face. “Welcome to Braslieu Castle.”

Her words were spoken with all the dignity befitting royalty, her eyes sparkling with a glow of excitement. Katya hopped out of the vehicle and approached the gatedentrance, speaking in rapid Romanian to the guards stationed there.

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He really needed to learn their language,  since it would have been good to know what she said to the guard. The sentry nodded, eyed him and Noah suspiciously, then opened the  gates and let them through.

Noah shot Conner a look that  said “be on watch”. They really had no  idea what to

expect.

They drove up a long, narrow road toward  the front of the castle. Thick bushes  lined both sides, obscuring their view of the surroundings. They parked their vehicles at  the front entrance. Two men came out and Katya directed them toward Peter. The men  frowned, their faces red with anger as they hurried toward Peter.

Conner grinned, saluted a now very pale Peter a goodbye, and followed Katya and  Elena in.

They stepped into a foyer that had seen better days, yet still maintained an  old-world charm that Conner found pleasing.

Though the wood floors needed resurfacing, they were still beautiful, no doubt made from the trees surrounding the castle. The curving staircase off the foyer was carpeted with an old, threadbare pile. The  same kind of wear showed on the tapestriesdecorating the wall. Faded beauty surrounded him. This place needed a major overhaul, yet it still shined clean and with the  pride of the people who cared for it.

The two men dragged Peter inside. Before long, a crowd gathered, whispering to each other and eyeing both he and Noah,  along with Peter. Katya spoke to the guard who started to drag Peter away, but he dug in his heels and shouted something in  Romanian that made the crowd gasp and all heads turn toward the princess.

Katya shook her head, wide-eyed,  speaking in short, clipped sentences. Goddamit, what the  fuck was happening?  He couldn’t understand a word, but whatever Peter had said caused  quite a commotion.

Noah brought Elena over. “Translate,” he commanded.

She nodded and said,  “Peter just  announced that he and Katya were mated.”

Christ! He really should have killed that  prick. He started forward, but Elena said,  “Don’t. They don’t even know who you are. You won’t be welcome if you interfere.”

He goddamned would interfere. That sonofabitch was still trying to stake his claim on Katya.

“She denies it,” Elena explained. “But Peter insists they are mated and therefore must marry. He claims to have had sex with her in the cottage.”

“But she just denied it, right?”

Elena shot a worried glance toward Conner.  “It’s his word against hers. And if the doctors examine her, they will agree she is no  longer a virgin. It’s custom to do regular inspections  of the princess. Saves embarrassment  later should a mate be found, only to discover his bride is not the virgin she claimed to be.”

Conner glanced toward Katya, who refused to look in his direction. Instead, she held her chin up and didn’t say a word.  She wasn’t going to deny Peter’s claim!

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“Why isn’t she saying anything?”  he asked Elena.

Noah answered, instead. “She’s giving you your way out, you moron.”

Conner’s gaze shot to Peter, who stood smugly and triumphantly at Katya’s side. No way. No  fucking way! He couldn’t allow Katya to be mated to that bastard.

Whether he liked it or not, whether it  was planned or happened by circumstances,  Katya was his woman. The thought of another  man’s hands on her sent a painful shot to  his gut.

“Goddamit.” He strode through the crowd,  oblivious to the whispers in Romanian. Katya shot him a wide-eyed look  and shook her head as if to  warn him off. He ignored  her silent plea, stepped beside her and slid  his hand in  hers. “This is what  you wanted, babe. Like it or not, I’m all yours.”

Elena hurried beside him, obviously intending to translate.

He turned to the crowd and said, “Peter lies.  He tried to rape your princess. He beat her violently.” He waited for Elena to translate and until the gasps and murmurs died down. Then he looked  over at Peter, who’d paled significantly.

“She is mine!” Elena translated Peter’s  words, but Conner shot him a smirk and  said, “No, she is mine. Katya and I mated last night. The bloodstained evidence is on  the sheets of my cottage.”

A collective gasp went up, then shouts came from the crowd. They threw their  hands up in the air, confusion written on their faces. Conner looked at Katya who looked white as a ghost. “Corroborate.”

She looked up at him, shook  her head, then back at the crowd, speaking so quietly it was difficult to hear.

Elena leaned over and whispered in his ear. “Katya, Princess of Braslieu, has just

claimed Conner Devlin as her life mate. Congratulations, Conner. You’re engaged.”

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Chapter Six

All hell broke loose after Katya admitted that everything Conner had said was true. The crowd  cheered, so he obviously wasn’t  unwelcome. What followed was a blur ofcongratulations spoken in Romanian by hundreds of strangers. They shook his hand, kissed his cheeks, clapped him on the  back and toasted with champagne.

Peter, on the other hand, was furious. He  said Conner and Katya were lying, but by the time Noah corroborated the claim and Elena relayed what  she knew of the event, no one believed him. Katya still bore enough of the faint wounds of his attack that it waseasy to see she hadn’t made up the story.

After realizing that Peter had, in fact, attacked the princess, an emergency meeting of the council took place. It was behind closed doors  and Conner wasn’t invited, but  Elena filled  him in on the results.

Peter had been banished from the pack,  from the castle, and from the Braslieu lands. Since he had no surviving family, he  was cast out alone with  only his personal belongings. Furious, he screamed at them,  vowing revenge on Conner and Katya both.

Whatever. If they hadn’t gotten rid of him, Conner would have arranged for his disposal. Peter was a threat to Katya and that he’d never allow.

Some of this still didn’t make sense. If  Katya was after his money and had tried totrap him into marriage, why would she stand there silently while  Peter claimed her?

Of course. She knew after last night that  there was no way Conner would ever let  Peter lay a hand on her again. She’d counted on his honor and once again he’d playedright into her scheme. She was one sharp woman. He’d bet her people knew very little of Katya’s intent to use him and  his family’s  money to  pour money into  protecting thewolves.

Though she didn’t have to trap him into  marriage to get it. If their need had been valid, the Devlin Foundation would have  been more than happy to provide the funding. So  what was her scheme?

Judging from the poor condition of the  castle, it was obvious she wanted much more than just a refuge for the wolves. That  was her plan. She didn’t just want some of his money. She wanted it all.

Fuck it. He’d made the choice to stay on and it was too late to back out now. But this game wasn’t going to be played her way. Oh, no. Conner  had his own plan for running things. Mating with Katya  made him prime alpha of the pack.