Cearnach shouted, “Not here, either.”

“Gather men together to check all the grounds,” Ian said.

***

Logan kept cursing himself for his mistake. It wasn’t his job to guard the back gate, and he didn’t know whose job it was, but if he’d been wearing a sword, he would have stopped Baird from going after Calla. He didn’t know what else he could do once he saw Cearnach and Duncan headed for her back window and Oran returning to the keep with two axes. Logan was supposed to go back to the dogs, but he couldn’t until he knew Calla was all right.

What if Baird had already escaped?

Logan hid next to the tower that he was fairly certain Baird would hurry past if he managed to escape Calla’s room. Seeing no movement in the woods, Logan stripped out of his clothes, then shifted. His heart thundering, he stayed out of sight on the other side of the corner tower. His ears pricked in the direction of running footfalls headed out the back gate. He saw Baird bolt for the woods, but he waited. Once Baird disappeared into the trees, Logan took off after him. Baird continued racing through the woods so Logan followed, making sure Baird didn’t catch sight of him. Baird didn’t look like he was armed, but knowing him, some of his kin would be nearby, and they could be well armed or in their wolf coats.

Logan had stopped, hidden in the fir trees and watching, when he heard other men hurry to join Baird—one older brother, one younger, and one cousin. The cousin, Robert, said, “If we don’t get Calla back, we’re all dead men.”

“Tell me something I don’t know,” Baird said. “What the hell do you think I’ve been doing?”

His brother Vardon said, “We should have grabbed her when we were at her home. You had the perfect opportunity.”

Baird gave him a dirty look and stalked off, the men following.

“Trying to grab her when she had nearly reached Argent Castle was too late,” Robert said. “Hell, we nearly had a damned wolf fight over it.”

Logan heard the slightest movement behind him and jerked his head around. Guthrie, in his wolf coat. He’d nearly given Logan a heart attack.

Guthrie narrowed his eyes at Logan, telling him he shouldn’t be out here like this. But there were four men, and if they attacked Guthrie, he would need Logan to even up the sides.

Guthrie turned his head to listen to the conversation. He wanted Logan to return to the keep at once, but he didn’t want to alert the McKinleys that he and Logan were listening as the men stalked through the woods, heading for the road where they must have left their vehicle. They were moving fast, undoubtedly afraid the MacNeills would give chase, but they wouldn’t. They still had the fair visitors to watch out for, and they had to ensure that no more of Baird’s men had slipped inside the castle walls.

“Hell, he’s still sweet on her,” Vardon said. “Still trying to smooth things over with her. When are you going to figure out that’s not going to work?”

“I want her to be my mate, damn it! Someone who would love me like she did until the bunch of you screwed things up when you went after Cearnach,” Baird said.

“You gave us the go-ahead. No way in hell would we have gone against your orders. You were in agreement all along until Calla learned of what we’d done and dumped your arse,” Vardon said.

Guthrie didn’t hear either the other brother or the cousin agree. Seemed like Vardon was the only one who could say what he did to the pack leader and get away with it.

Guthrie wondered what they meant that they had been at her place. She wasn’t supposed to have been alone at any time. He thought she had dropped her parents off at the airport and gone straight to Argent Castle. She hadn’t said a thing about what had happened between Baird and her before Guthrie and his kin rescued her from the McKinleys in the blizzard.

And the business of them worrying that if they didn’t get Calla back they were dead men? What the hell was that all about? It explained why Baird was so eager to drag her back to the pack, beyond personal obsession, but why? Guthrie was afraid that the more desperate the men became, the worse it would be for Calla.

The men didn’t say anything more on the way back to their vehicle. When the car drove off, Guthrie and Logan loped back to the castle.

***

After shifting and dressing, Guthrie returned to Calla’s guest room.

Ian was standing guard over Calla, who was covered in a couple blankets and looking sleepy.

“Aunt Agatha came up to see to Calla, and the doctor will be here any minute,” Ian said and added, “Are you all right, lass?”

“Aye. He just knocked me out and escaped before I could turn into the wolf. He didn’t want me biting him, which under the circumstances, I would have done if I’d been able to shift.”

Ian’s cell rang, and he excused himself and stepped into the hallway.

“What did he say to you?” Guthrie asked, still puzzling over the conversation the men had in the woods. Though they’d heard some of the shouting going on in the room before this, some of it was so absurd that he wanted to hear her take on it. He stroked her soft hair, still furious with the way Baird had injured her.

“The usual. He wants me back. But it has me worried. This is how a desperate man would act. I swear he was actually pleading for me to go with him. I’ve never seen him act like he was truly afraid of what would happen if I didn’t agree.”

Guthrie shook his head.

She closed her eyes.

“Nay, stay awake, Calla. The doctor will check you over, but we have to be sure you’re all right.”