Claimed by the Wolf Prince Read Online Free

gazed around, dizzied by the sheer scale of the cliffs that surrounded the harbour like a natural amphitheatre, confused by the unnatural calm of the azure water, which lapped harmlessly onto the dazzling white beach, so at odds with the choppy sea beyond the Beast.
    A scrabbling of claws on stone and a blood-curdling howl made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. Peering into the gloom she saw two wolves, teeth bared, heads low and tails straight out, bounding towards her, slavering and snarling. She screamed, instinctively huddling into Struan’s side.
    â€œ Graifgh! Thalon Kree!” Struan called, the alien words sounding both guttural and vicious. The wolves stopped in their tracks and dropped down onto their haunches before, to Iona’s astonishment, crawling forward on their bellies, whimpering and letting out little ingratiating yelps.
    â€œYou need not fear,” Struan said, putting an arm around her. “They’ll not harm you.”
    â€œI thought they were going to tear my throat out.”
    â€œThey have come to welcome me home, that is all.”
    â€œOh! Are they…”
    â€œFaol?” Struan laughed. “No, they are wolves but they are our little cousins and like to be around us.”
    â€œThey obey your commands?”
    â€œI was born to be obeyed,” Struan said haughtily.
    Halfway up the cliff, a snake of light suddenly appeared. As the dusk fell, the light grew stronger, revealing a procession of shadowy figures carrying burning torches, zigzagging down the narrow path to the harbour.
    â€œYour welcoming committee,” Struan said, his face a grim mask. “Prepare to meet the Faol.”
    Iona’s mouth was completely dry. She swallowed repeatedly. “You are a laird’s daughter,” she whispered to herself, “behave like one.”
    Struan sensed her fear. He could taste it, acrid in his mouth. The first time she had wavered. Her eyes were huge in her heart-shaped face. He had to force himself to take his fur cloak from her, to pin it back around his own shoulders. Her own sweet scent had permeated it. The urge to cast caution to the winds and break all the rules grew stronger. What was wrong with him?
    â€œWhat will happen to me?”
    Struan’s hackles rose. “At the full moon, all being well, there will be a Binding,” he said tersely.
    â€œI—I have heard tell of this ceremony.” Iona’s voice shook.
    â€œThen you will know it is our way of accepting you, making you one of us,” Struan said, his eyes fixed firmly on the rapidly approaching procession. She would become Faol, if she agreed. Which, he was beginning to think, was highly unlikely. He turned to her, catching her chin in his hand. “Iona, it is best if you try to see the Binding as the privilege it is.”
    â€œAnd if I do not?”
    If she rejected the Binding then she would undergo Marking, the ritual that Struan loathed above all. The ritual that he knew, deep in his bones, dishonoured his people. He could not bear to contemplate it happening to Iona. If it came down to it— He clenched his fists. It would not.
    â€œStruan? If I refuse to be accepted?”
    â€œYou will not refuse,” he said through gritted teeth. His guts twisted. Part of him didn’t want her to comply, for it would inevitably affect what made her uniquely herself—the part that deeply attracted him even though he had known her only briefly. He knew that the transformation would enhance her but somehow that didn’t seem to matter.
    Duty and desire. Normally they were intertwined. Struan cursed under his breath. What right had he to challenge the ancient ways? And for the sake of a mere woman, too! “Come,” he said, holding out his hand imperiously, “your escort has arrived.”
    He would have to leave her. The next time he saw her— No, he wouldn’t think about that. “Iona, you know that this is