“Seems like since you are my enemy, I should not allow you to escort me,” she said, snuggling close to him in the chilly wind.

“I’m protecting my investment.” Then he kissed her, waiting for her to enter the garden room and having a devil of a time not regretting that she was sleeping with the women tonight instead of him. The thought of waking next to her in the morning was what he truly craved.

“’Night, lass. But remember, if I catch you beyond the garden room…”

“You have such a one-track mind, Highlander. Did you know?”

“Aye.” He smiled.

The door opened and Julia said, “Good, you brought more wine. Should we take him hostage?”

Colleen smiled and Grant grinned, then turned on his heel and returned to the keep before they truly decided to do so.

He found Ian and the others sitting about the fire talking about battles they’d fought over the years when they spied Grant joining them.

“So tell us,” Ian said, “how did the terms of the agreement come out?”

“The lass knew she couldn’t get a better deal.”

The men all laughed. It seemed strange yet right to be here with his lifelong friends when he mated Colleen, just as she was with her best friend, Julia. And he suspected Ian’s extended family would be her friends as well.

He rather liked this ladies’ day and night out, as long as he was included.

Hoots and hollers and a few feminine howls sounded beyond the wall to the keep in the direction of the gardens.

“Sounds to me that the terms of the lass’s surrender worked out well for the rest of the lassies,” Ian said, giving Grant a salute with his whisky.

“Aye, only next time they have one of these parties, I want my brothers to be here, too. They have missed out and that won’t do. What is planned for tomorrow?”

“You do realize that this is supposed to be for the women only, right, Grant?” Ian asked.

“Aye, so as I said, what will they be doing tomorrow?”

They heard a bark outside. But it wasn’t one of Ian’s Irish wolfhounds. It was the bark of a wolf.

The men started stripping out of the kilts. Forget what tomorrow would bring. Tonight, they would chase the she-wolves in their own wolf coats.

***

Colleen thought the idea of running as wolves would be fun. Though she believed they’d slip out without the men knowing. But one of the she-wolves barked. Julia. Was she giving her mate a heads-up so he knew what they were doing beyond the castle walls? Probably. Colleen would do the same with Grant.

The other time Colleen had been a wolf in the Highlands, she’d been drunk and maneuvering cliffs. This time she had a nice buzz from the wine and was running with a she-wolf pack in an ancient forest. How cool was that?

They weren’t running in the cool misty woods in a follow-the-leader pattern, but spread out, exploring the sights and scents and sounds, like wolves would.

They hadn’t gone very far when she heard growling, two female wolves to the left of her somewhere in the forest. Before she could turn and investigate, Julia raced past her. Colleen dove after her in wolf rescue mode.

Five male wolves approached. Colleen didn’t know any of the men in their wolf form and they were downwind of her. But the females growled in a highly dangerous way, not in play. The other she-wolves quickly joined them as a united front.

The females bared their teeth in warning, snapping and snarling, while Julia raised her snout and howled.

Colleen knew she was calling in male reinforcements. Definitely not good.

The males only took a moment to consider the situation, then turned tail and bolted. The females did not follow. A matter of minutes later, Grant and several male wolves appeared. They quickly assessed the females, ensuring they were uninjured, then Grant and Duncan—Colleen recognized him by scent—stayed with the females while the rest of the men took off after the fleeing wolves.

Who were those wolves? Julia and Ian had scent-marked this area of woods, so Colleen knew the encroaching wolves had to have known better. On the other hand, fewer females were born to a werewolf pack, and she wondered if their appearance had to do with attempting to find a mate among the she-wolves of Ian’s clan.

Seemed a dangerous way to go about it. And she suspected it wasn’t the case.

Grant nuzzled her face for a moment, then went back to standing guard with Duncan, who had greeted his mate, Shelley, in the same manner.

For a good twenty minutes, everyone continued to listen for any sounds other than the wind whipping through the trees. Then a wolf howled, and Julia howled back.

Ian was the one calling to say everyone was all right, and Julia let him know all was well here. They still waited for them in the woods until the other males returned and greeted the females. The jaunt through the woods was over for now.

After they ran through the back servants’ entry gate, Ian waited for Julia so she could let him know her plans. She was back to doing their all-girl thing and headed for the garden room.

They were going to watch Prince of Persia next. Forget a chick flick. The ladies wanted to watch a swashbuckling adventure with a touch of paranormal and romance. But before they watched the movie, in various forms of nightwear, warm robes, and slippers, the ladies all settled down on the sofas around the fire to discuss what had just happened in the woods.

Calla said, “Cearnach rescued me from a bad mating and marriage. The one wolf we faced out there still thinks he can get me to change my mind.”

Elaine said, “Some of the others were my cousins. The lot of them. True pirates. The bad kind.”