Colleen chuckled. “Not on your life.”

“See you in a while, Ian.” Grant ended the call and said to Colleen, “So what do you do for ladies’ night out?

She smiled. “Whatever we feel inspired to do. Haven’t the women in your pack done such a thing?” She wasn’t about to tell him she’d stolen a pair of his boxers and Enrick’s also, and if she’d known he would actually be there, too, she wasn’t sure she would have snatched them. Well, yeah, she would have. She had no idea what Julia intended to do with them. She sure hoped Grant wouldn’t learn of it prematurely. Or afterward, either.

“Not that I know of,” Grant said.

“That should be changed.” And she intended to while she was here. “Where are the women in your pack?”

“On holiday.”

“Did you think having only braw men at Farraige Castle would scare me off?”

“Nay, lass. I was afraid the women would attempt to befriend you and agree to anything you wished to do. But it didn’t work out as well as I’d planned.” He gave her a small smile.

“Oh?”

“I’m afraid you won my men over, and me. And even without the woman being there, you won them over as well.” He sighed. “So…you’re not going to tell me about this ladies’ day and night out?”

“Just think of it like a guys’ day out, sword fighting and then feasting afterward, without the sword fighting.”

“Without the sword fighting it would lose all its appeal,” he said and smiled at her, and that wolfish smile made her heart leap.

She wondered how she’d managed to get away from him, only to be stuck with him once again, and her feelings for him were twisted into knots even worse now.

Her cell phone rang and Grant glanced at her. She hoped it was just one of her cousins, but she suspected it was Archibald since he said he’d call her today. She fished out her phone. It was. And she really didn’t want to talk to him right now.

“Hello?”

“Hi, it’s me, Archibald. I said I’d call and I wondered if you’d like for me to take you out for supper tonight.”

“I’ll be at my friend’s place tonight and tomorrow.”

Pause.

“You have friends here?” Archibald asked, sounding surprised.

“Yes. Julia MacNeill of Argent Castle.”

Another long silence. Did he not know Ian MacNeill, or was he on the outs with them, too?

“Okay, well, if I don’t get a chance to see you before you return home, I’ll call you tomorrow night.”

“Do you want me to tell him to get lost?” Grant asked loud enough that she was certain that Archibald had heard him with his wolf hearing.

“If Grant gives you any trouble at all, I’ll take him to task,” Archibald said in a very nice way.

But she didn’t think he would deal with Grant in a nice way if she asked Archibald to help her out.

“Did you know anything about Grant’s parents’ deaths?” she asked.

“I knew it. He’s been filling your head with stories of how the Borthwicks did terrible things. But John MacQuarrie was a lying bastard who stabbed my grandfather, Uilleam, in the back. I know that the MacQuarries have always claimed they had managed the estates for the Playfairs from the beginning. But it’s all a lie. Uilleam was their first manager—but John did everything in his power to turn Gideon and Neda Playfair against him. Ask Grant about that. I’m sorry that you’ve had to hear all the lies. I had hoped we could talk so you could learn the truth. I’ll call you tomorrow and we can talk.”

He ended the call and she looked at Grant. “Why would he say that Uilleam was the first manager of Farraige Castle?”

“Trying to get you to believe we’ve lied about everything? Spreading the seeds of doubt? You are already worried we’ve told you a lie, lass. Isn’t that so?”

***

When they arrived at Argent Castle, Grant was still disconcerted about Archibald’s claims and didn’t believe them, but what bothered him was that Colleen seemed to think he might be telling the truth.

Ian greeted them with a gaggle of women. Julia, Ian’s mate, was all decked out in a pirate-wench costume. Grant raised his brows to see the redhead with her curls tied back with a black-and-white bandana, and wearing a low-cut white blouse with voluminous sleeves and a gold corset that emphasized her breasts. A long, full skirt and boots finished the look.

Shelley, Duncan’s mate was similarly dressed, except all in blue and silver. Grant recalled that the lass had caught Duncan’s eye because of all the silver she wore, and other reasons, of course. As Ian’s youngest brother, he had made a fine catch. Werewolves were not fond of silver. The ancient tale that silver bullets could kill still pervaded their beliefs, so Grant knew she had to be a spitfire.

The real pirate of the bunch, or at least where her relations were concerned, was Cearnach’s mate, Elaine. Cearnach was second in charge of the MacNeill pack. Her uncles had stolen Cearnach’s sword when he was a strapping lad, and now she wore it fastened at her side.

Grant was surprised to see Ian’s mother and aunt arrive in full costume as they greeted Colleen as well. Their costumes were not as busty as the younger women’s were, but they were all decked out in long skirts, fancy three-corner hats topped with outrageous feathers, and Ian’s mother had a sgian dubh, the knife sheathed at her waist. Grant recognized the handle as one Cearnach had hand-carved.