Page 10 of The Veiled Wish of a Highland Bride

Mia tried desperately to hold herself steady, clinging to her last shred of dignity in the face of this degrading request. She watched as the Laird’s eyes widened at first in shock and then narrowed in amusement.

“But yearea woman, aye… and a bonnie one at that. What reason could ye need me to teach ye to be what are already are?” Archie said, clearly enjoying her discomfort.

“Och, I ken what I am. More importantly, I ken also what I am nae. I need ye to teach me how to make… a man want me.” For God’s sake, she was stuttering. “Must I have a reason to want to learn how to be more desirable? Is it nae enough that I have asked?” Mia crossed her arms defensively.

The Laird laughed softly. “Ye dinnae think yerself desirable?” His eyes were shadowed by something she could not name. The way he had asked the question… it was almost as if could not believe a man could not want her. When Mia didn't reply, he added, “Well, if ye are nae going to answer my question, I am nae going to help ye.”

Mia's head snapped up. She had expected a lot of things from this man but never outright refusal. “Ye are an arrogant—themostarrogant man I’ve ever met.” She scoffed and kicked at the ground. “I cannae believe ye can carry that big head of yers around! Ye lock me in with ye in a closet and try to seduce me with yer wicked tongue… ye put me in that embarrassing situation, and now ye refuse me when I ask for help?”

Archibald merely stood there watching her with a smirk on his face. Oh, how that smirkinfuriatedher.

“Men are simply—Ach! Ye are all so frustrating. I cannae understand yer kind at all.”

“Oh nae, lassie. Dinnae ye start comparing me with other men ye ken. I am Laird Macnab, the finest warrior in all of Scotland. More than that, I am theHighland Wolf. I will nae be thought of akin to anyone else.”

Mia gaped at him, further infuriated by the dismissive tone with which he had spoken to her. “Ye are such a proud bastard, ye ken that? I am the Lady of Murray Castle and ye are on Murray land. Ye ought to speak to me with some level of–Och!” Mia cried out in frustration.

“Hm… Why dinnae ye go back to ye castle and ask yer fine husband to teach ye some manners. That sharp tongue of yers would nae be tolerated if I was yer man,” he rattled on as she seethed.

Mia realized that none of this was worth being disrespected by a man she barely knew. She cursed herself for ever thinking it was a good idea to ask him for help.

“Ye ken what? Never ye mind,” she spat. “Enjoy yer life of empty pleasure.” She stormed off, trying to put as much distance between her and Archie as possible.

“Oh, come now, my lady. Ye must learn to get as good as ye give,” he shouted, trying to catch up with her. “That will be my first lesson to ye.”

Mia only walked faster, desperate to get away, more from her embarrassment than from the man. She reached Buck quicker than he caught up with her. Truly, she reckoned, if he wanted to catch up with her he would have. He was a man after all. A man wounded in battle, she had noticed, but a man nonetheless.

As she held onto Buck's reigns, attempting to hop into her saddle, she glanced backwards wondering why she had stopped hearing Archie’s cries.

Then she saw it.

A group of hooded men had grabbed at him. They were four in number. She watched as they surrounded him, one of them waving a dirk in his face.

Archie was irate, trying to get the men off of him, but they seemed to be more than he could handle. At least at this stage of the night, when he was tipsy and still recovering from his battle wounds.

Mia was stupefied. Her fists tightened around Buck's reigns. She was certain Sassenach soldiers hardly ever ventured this far up into the Highlands. Who then were these men?

She watched as they danced around Archibald, who had fought off a few of them with his fists. Eventually one of them got a hit on him, and it sent him staggering. They forced him to his knees, two of them holding his arms extended while the other two took turns battering him. These men were so absorbed with fighting Archibald that they took no notice of Mia. Perhaps they didn’t care.

She wondered if she should do something, but fear seized her. She hardly knew the man. Was it worth risking her hide over him?

Turning away and making herself small, she prepared to mount Buck, but she stopped in her tracks when she heard the sound of hooves clattering against the ground. The men had bound Archibald and had carted him away, not before knocking him out cold. Mia caught a glimpse of him hanging limply from one of the men's horses.

She cursed under her breath, mounted Buck, and took pursuit of the men who had stolen the Highland Wolf in the dead of night.

* * *

The moon hung gallantly in the sky, illuminating Mia's path. This route was not familiar to her, and several times she fought the urge to turn back and make her way home. She knew that if she lost sight of the riders, she would die in the wilderness.

After a little while, trees were beginning to come into view, their leaves blocking out the light from the moon. There was no turning back now. She kept her eyes trained on the men who were laughing about how Laird Macnab was so easy to capture, despite being called a great warrior.

“The weakling”, they called him.

As they reached a babbling brook that wound over and around some rocks, Mia saw them stop their horses and tie them to nearby trees. Archie was still tied up and out cold, and they propped him against a tree. His mouth was bound with a thick swathe of cloth, as well as his arms and legs.

Mia saw his eyes flutter open and darken with anger as he realized he had been abducted. He attempted to rise to his feet, noticing the cuts and scrapes on his body as he struggled against the bindings, groaning. The men paid no heed to him. They merely sat around the fire they had made and teased one another like children in Gaelic. She decided that they must live nearby, perhaps in the Northern Highlands.

She considered making herself known to them, but she knew that she could not take on all the men at once. She was a fine enough sparring partner, but she had nevertrulyfought a man.

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