Duncan seemed to consider what Shelley was saying, then replied, “Aye, could be. But since it doesn’t bother him to cheat on his mate, he may believe you wouldn’t be bothered, either. And his true mate may not care if he takes up with you, as long as she continues to live extravagantly off his ill-gotten gains.”

“Is she my age? Older? Younger?”

“His age.”

“Hmm, then she might not like him being interested in a younger wolf. Money may be her only care in the world, but women don’t often give up their mates easily. Especially she-wolves. She might not care about his human conquests, knowing there’s nothing permanent in the relationship and the connection isn’t like between wolves. But his wanting another wolf? That’s a different story.”

She pondered an uglier alternative. “What if Sal thinks the best option would be to get rid of her? Permanently. Before she even learned about me. Or… before I might learn of her. If she found out about me, all she’d have to do is—”

“Put a hit out on you,” Duncan growled. “Hell, Shelley, you could be a prime target for her wrath. Both because you might be the cause of her losing her mate and because he might consider getting rid of her for good so he can have you instead. She’s got the money to hire anyone to do the job, too.”

Shelley considered that for a moment. “I hadn’t thought of that. You’re right. What if we clued her in on the fact that Silverman stole from a wolf pack? She’d know that he was a dead man. A werewolf can’t go to prison. She’d realize he’s only living on borrowed time.”

“She’d still have her money. Our money.”

“Right. But what if she thought the wolf pack would go after her next? It’s your money, after all. You’re not going to play nice by the Fed’s rules, allowing her to pretend that it was her money and not the funds that Sal stole. You’ll want them back, or else. She might even be worried enough about her own life to agree to give up your money. If we let her know that Sal is trying to take a new wolf mate—if that’s his intention with me—she won’t care what happens to him. Wolves can be protective of their mates. But she won’t be if she believes he’s planning to eliminate her first.”

Duncan pulled into the driveway of the villa. “That brings us back to her wanting to get rid of you. She might figure that we’d take care of Silverman, and considering what he’s pulling with you, that might be fine with her as long as she’s got the stolen funds stashed under her own name. But she might be so angry about you that she’d want to get rid of you for even thinking of taking her mate away from her.”

Shelley smiled brightly and patted his hard, muscled thigh, thinking of Duncan wearing his kilt and readying his sword. “That’s why I have you, a brave Highland warrior, to protect me.”

He gave her a look that said he didn’t care for the idea. “I don’t like it.”

“I can’t think of a better way to go about this. I truly believe that if she thinks she could lose her life, she’ll be willing to give up your money. She wouldn’t bother trying to protect her mate if she thought he was having an affair with another wolf behind her back.”

“I’ll discuss it with Ian first.”

She wasn’t sure why that bothered her. She and Duncan were the ones involved in this fiasco, not his brother, Ian. Maybe she was annoyed because Ian was the laird of Argent Castle and very much like the one who’d thrown her people off the land in Scotland long ago. She didn’t like it that this laird was still calling all the shots. Well, she wouldn’t wait to see what he had to say. She kicked off her shoes, sat at the kitchen table, opened her laptop, and began looking for anything she could about Sal Silverman’s mate.

Meanwhile, Duncan pulled out his cell phone and called his brother. He didn’t know what she planned on doing, but he was certain that letting Sal’s mate know he was wooing another wolf could prove deadly for Shelley. Duncan wasn’t going to allow it. He noted that she’d kicked off her shoes, and he couldn’t help wanting to see her naked and in his arms again. But then his brother answered the phone, breaking into Duncan’s lustful thoughts.

“Ian,” Duncan said without preamble. “Shelley has an idea I’m not entirely satisfied with.”

She cast him an annoyed look, but he only raised his brows. Then he explained to Ian what she thought would work and why he thought it was too dangerous for Shelley to risk it. Afterward, he waited for Ian to consider the plan while he watched Shelley search for something on the Internet.

When he drew closer, he saw her looking at news releases concerning Sal Silverman.

Ian finally said, “It might work, Duncan.”

“But—”

“Hear me out. We’ll need someone from outside our pack to call Sal’s mate, Carlotta Silverman, and let her know the situation with Shelley. Otherwise, Sal will assume the Highlander who’s on the island—which is you—is associated with the pack and may decide to come after you. Maybe my mate can have her father call Carlotta, since Julia’s father is American—or at least has lived there long enough to sound mostly American. If Carlotta confronts Julia’s father about the wolf Sal’s trying to seduce, Carlotta might decide to plan a hit on Shelley for mucking everything up.”

“Aye, so that means the plan won’t work. If his mate confronts him about a wolf pack coming after him, he will try to flee. At that point, he might not care anything about what happens to Shelley or his mate, just about his own wolf skin, and go into hiding again.”

Ian didn’t say anything for several minutes. “Wait until Cearnach arrives tomorrow night. The two of you can make sure Sal doesn’t leave the island.”

“Aye,” Duncan said, but he was determined to develop a different plan. One that didn’t make Shelley the focus of a hit.

When Duncan ended the call with his brother, he considered the news stories Shelley was reading on her laptop at the kitchen table.

“What’s Sal Silverman’s mate’s name and… wait, I found it,” Shelley said.

Here she was, willing to risk her life when the leaders of his clan had sacrificed her people to improve the quality of their own lives. He wouldn’t let her be the clan’s pawn to make their lives better again.

He wanted to tell her that this wasn’t his clan’s way—making one of their women bait an angered wolf. He wasn’t having it. That’s when he realized just how he saw her. As his. His woman. His mate. Even if they weren’t mated yet. It was only a matter of time. He knew then he would never let her go. That he had to somehow forge the link between them that could never be broken.

He wasn’t used to waiting for what he wanted, either. He hadn’t planned to let Silverman get away with the theft, and he wasn’t planning for defeat as he waited for Shelley to acquiesce and say she wanted him like he wanted her.

His thoughts were in turmoil, like a man about to propose to a woman, except that wolves didn’t marry. There was no time to back out of the deal, no wedding preparations, no concern of either not showing up at the altar. All they needed was to agree to consummating sex, and the mating was a done deal.

A wolf’s way of saying “I do, forevermore.” A wolf’s way of keeping the promise to have and to hold from this day forward—for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness or in health, to love and to cherish till death do us part. And to pledge their faithfulness.

Well, normally. The MacNeill brothers were potentially titled, so each of them would be required to have a wedding in their kirk on the castle grounds or in the gardens, if the lass so preferred. A wedding was a necessity in the event that Ian didn’t have a son, nor Cearnach or Guthrie, leaving Duncan to have an heir to the title.

He glanced over her shoulder to see what Shelley had found.

Normally, werewolves kept their names out of the press. But with Silverman’s worldwide theft, his name was easy to Google. When his name came up, so did his mate’s in a few instances.

“Hmm,” Shelley said, reading the news. “It says here that Carlotta Silverman had substantial savings in her name only and that the Feds aren’t considering her as suspect in the thievery.”

Duncan’s gaze hardened as he read all the news stories, refreshing the memory of how he and his clan had read through the breaking news releases, concerned that the bastard would get caught and thrown in jail—and create a whole new scandal. One that werewolves couldn’t live with.

“Nay. She just deposited all that stolen wealth into accounts in her name, not to mention showing ownership of all the properties they have. Of course, none of that has anything to do with her mate’s dirty dealings,” he said sarcastically.

“I doubt she’d stand up to you or any of your clan if you took her to task about the money, Duncan. Certainly not once she realizes he stole from a wolf pack. He must never have associated with any other packs, or surely someone would have tried to take him down. I really believe this will work. What did your brother say?” She looked up at him with such expressive, large green eyes, willing him to allow her to help him with this, willing him to trust her.

He pulled her from the chair and studied her parted lips, which she immediately licked. Whether that was in response to what she knew he wanted or because his reaction was making her nervous, he didn’t know. And didn’t care.

He held her shoulders with a desperate grip as if he was afraid she might say no, that she might back away, that she might slip free, and he pressed his mouth against hers.

She melted beneath his touch, which propelled him forth, drawing him deeper, dangerously so. Her hands clutched his waist, not pushing him away but holding herself up, holding him close. Her mouth fused with his, heating his lips and begging for more. His erection jerked to attention, hard and ready to follow his orders. He wanted to lift her and carry her to the master bedroom and ravish her first on the soft mattress and later that evening in the ocean, bringing her fantasies and his to fruition.