Page 1 of Hunted By the Hard Highlander

Chapter One

“Only one more,” Hendry grunted; the celebratory energy in Castle MacGregor was managing to penetrate his defenses despite his best efforts.

Though perhaps it is Sebastian’s whisky that is affectin’ me.

“Good man,” Fergus MacKenzie said as Sebastian, the Laird of these lands, tipped more amber liquid into Hendry’s glass.

“We are surprised that ye left yer lands to join us,” Laird MacRae said, leaning forward on his elbows and fixing Hendry with an unnerving stare, the kind he had seen the other Laird use to dismantle armies.

“I daenae think it is surprisin’ that I would come to attend Laird MacGregor’s weddin’, Alasdair,” Hendry said, narrowing his eyes at the other man.

“Ach, but it is,” Sebastian replied as he put a glass stopper in the top of the decanter. “Everyone has been whisperin’ about ye. Some of them thought ye were a myth we made up to scare naughty lads and lasses.”

“The hermit does sound like a villain in folklore,” Fergus said, laughing at his own joke.

“Enough,” Hendry barked, his fingers tightening around his glass. He wondered, not for the first time, if he would have been better off staying on his lands. He cleared his throat before sipping his liquor. “O’Kingsley isnae here.”

“Nay,” Sebastian confirmed, his expression growing somber. “The O’Kingsley lands were attacked. His father was killed, and he will be assumin’ the Lairdship. From what I hear, the entire situation has hit him quite hard. I imagine it will be a while before we see him once more.”

“Shame,” Hendry muttered, watching the way the liquid sloshed in his glass. “I should make time to visit him once I get me own situation sorted.”

“Ye’ve somethin’ goin’ on in yer fortress?” Alasdair asked, cocking his head to the side. The liquor had reached his cheeks, and Hendry did not think it would be long until the man retired to his chambers.

“Aye,” Hendry sighed, already regretting mentioning it even in passing. Though, as much as he was loath to admit it, this was an issue that he might not be able to solve on his own. “The Elders have issued an edict. To prevent succession disputes, they have ordered that every ruling Laird without a lawful wife and heir must marry before the month’s end.”

“The month’s end!?” Sebastian exclaimed, putting his glass down harshly.

At the same time, Fergus asked, “And what happens if ye daenae marry?”

“I assume he would risk forfeitin’ his lands to the Scottish Managers, aye?” Alasdair said when Hendry did not immediately answer.

Hendry nodded, finishing his whisky. It felt as though someone had seized his lungs. Each breath he took required an unnatural amount of labor. Perhaps, he told himself, it would have been better to deflect.

I daenae enjoy bein’ under such scrutiny, even if it is friendly.

Sebastian clicked his tongue. “Controllin’, if ye ask me. We have always settled our disputes amongst one another, even if it did mean a wee bit of fightin’.”

Another grumble resonated in Hendry’s chest. He wished that he had not downed his drink so quickly. It would give him something to focus on other than the other men.

“I’ve sacrificed far too much for it to be thrown away due to somethin’ so trivial,” he said finally, his jaw clicking closed as he met the eyes of each of the men gathered.

He was too furious at the simple possibility of the near-isolation his clan had been forced to live in could be stripped away by men who had not known hardship the same way he did. If he let his mind wander to the courtships and feasts that had been abandoned, the years he held his tongue about the Elders’ governance in favor of tending to the herbs that saved his people, he only got more upset.

I should burn it all down. Allow them to rebuild from near nothin’.

“So ye must find a wife,” Fergus said, refilling Hendry’s glass. “It is nae a question of whether or nae ye want one.”

“Aye.”

The word escaped through gritted teeth as Hendry stood. As he looked out over the garden, the crystal bit into his hand. It was thick, like whoever had made them knew that they would end up in the hands of men like him.

“I could help ye, ye ken,” Sebastian offered as Hendry positioned himself in front of the window, his voice softening. His tone sounded almost like pity, and it grated on Hendry.

“I will figure it out on me own,” Hendry grunted, not turning around to face the others. His own response was reflexive, out of his mouth before he could stop it.

He was not the kind of man who accepted help, even if part of sharing his conundrum was because he desperately needed it. There was something about the way the men were looking at him that made him feel as if his skin were crawling. The last thing Hendry needed was his allies looking at him like he was a man they should feel sorry for.

“I’m sure ye will,” Sebastian said, seeming to take the helm of the discussion, quieting the other two men. He waited for Hendry to take a bitter gulp from his glass before continuing. “But ye worked harder than any other man in the Highlands to get to where ye are now. I think I speak for all of us when we say that we daenae want to see the Anderson lands fall into the laps of another family.”