Kennan: McClains, #4

By Kirsten Osbourne

Gillian Campbell has known since she was a small child that she wanted to marry Kennan McClain. Knowing he feels the same, she does all she can do to get them married immediately. But is she really ready for marriage? Does she know Kennan as well as she thinks she does?
Kennan McClain approaches his childhood sweetheart's father with the idea of marriage, and is told he must get to know her first. When Gillian convinces her father to allow them to marry later that day, he quickly realizes that they don't know each other as well as he thought. Will they be able to get to know one another quickly enough for a marriage to work? Or will his responsibilities as laird keep them apart?
 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Unlimited Dreams
• Release date: Oct 29, 2019
• ISBN: 9781393147091

Book preview

Chapter One

Scotland 1193

Eight-year-old Kennan McClain loved being a Highlander. He loved his clan, he loved the hills, but most especially, he loved Gillian Campbell. As the youngest of the Laird McClain’s seven boys, he felt picked on by his big brothers at times, and Gillian understood. She was the youngest of Laird Campbell’s ten children, and with the two clans being so close in everything they did, they just seemed to gravitate toward one another as playmates.

The best thing about Gillian was she helped him keep his secret. His whole family knew that he had an odd power, because he was the seventh son, but her family did not. Only Gillian knew, and she would even lie to her older brother and sisters to help him keep his secret.

Summer was the best time of year because Kennan was often allowed to play for hours and hours with Gillian, and though she sometimes wanted to play silly girl things, she always listened to him. When she wanted to play laird and lady, Kennan was able to swing his wooden sword around and slay beasts who were after his family.

I need you to come home at a decent hour tonight, Kennan McClain, Gillian scolded, her fists on her hips. The Stewarts are coming for supper, and you know how difficult Lady Stewart is. I swear if she asks me why I wear me hair down one more time, I might just stab her in the eye with your hunting dagger!

Kennan laughed. I will come home when I am ready to come home, and that is that. I am the laird of this clan, not you. I get to decide what I want to do.

Gillian stepped closer to him, her hands on her hips. "Do you really want to talk to me that way, Laird? I dinna want to have to lock you out of the keep and let you sleep with your soldiers."

He shook his head. You would not dare. Who would protect you if a bear got into the keep, and you had locked me out?

She laughed. I have never seen a bear in this keep. Have you? Now kiss me goodbye and be on your way!

Kennan wrinkled his nose as he leaned down and kissed her cheek. He was able to do it without yelling ew, so he was getting better at this game, though he wished they could play ball instead. I will return when I return, he called, ducking under the branches that served as the front door of their keep.

Watching him leave, Gillian had a smile on her face. The boy still had a lot to learn about being a laird and having a lady for a wife, but he had years in which to learn it. By the time they were old enough to be married, she was sure he would be trained as he needed to be.

She did not even mind that he could stick his hand through rocks when he wanted to. To Gillian, that was just part of him being Kennan. Kennan McClain. The boy she would someday marry.

She went about her day, using leaves as small plates and acorns as cups. She would serve a meal fit for a laird when Kennan returned. She wondered what he was doing while he was off at work. He said he was training his men, but none of his brothers would ever pretend to be his men. They were not very accommodating of their play. His oldest brother, James, was too busy courting her sister, Kirsty. The two just seemed to fit together well, and she knew their parents were thrilled by the match.

When she heard a strange sound, she turned and screamed. A wolf was staring at her. Kennan! Help me, Kennan! There is a wolf!

Kennan ran back to her, immediately shifting into his ghost form, as his brothers called it. He had the ability to make himself into vapor. His father called it becoming intangible, but that sounded strange to him. He liked thinking of his power as a ghost power.

He turned intangible and ran at the wolf, hoping he would frighten it. When that did not work well enough, he did something he had been practicing for a while without anyone knowing. He moved his hand into the wolf’s chest and turned only his hand back to his normal form, keeping the rest of him ghost. He grabbed onto something inside the wolf and pulled it out.

Immediately the wolf fell to the ground, lifeless, its eyes still open and staring unseeingly. Looking at his hand, he realized he had pulled the heart from the wolf. He stood and shuddered for a moment, wanting to throw up. He had hunted before, aye, but he had never killed an animal with his bare hand.

He looked over at Gillian, who was looking at him in half-horror, half-hero worship. You saved me!

Kennan dropped the heart and made himself fully tangible, still shaking. Gillian threw herself at him and hugged him close. She was shaking as badly as he was. He wrapped one arm around her, stroking her back, trying to make her feel better. He kept the hand that was dripping blood straight out to the side. She did not need to have that touch her.

Finally, she pulled away from him, tears coursing down her cheeks. We are going to have to get your hand washed up. And I think we are going to have to tell our parents.

The way she said our frightened him. He had always hidden his powers from everyone. Everyone but family and Gillian. Mayhap her parents would not understand that he could make himself into a ghost. What if she was no longer allowed to play with him? Let us go to the loch.

She nodded, and she held onto his non-bloody hand as they walked to the lake. She watched as he washed himself, and then they headed to the keep. She knew her parents would not be pleased she had kept such a big secret from them, but she hoped they would understand.

When they reached the keep, they found only their mothers there, in the sitting room laughing about a story Lady Campbell was telling about one of her children. Both mothers immediately looked at them, and Kennan could tell that his mother had spotted the blood on his shirt. What happened?

Kennan sat down on a chair that was usually reserved for his father, and he was not surprised when Gillian hurried to her mother and buried her face in her mother’s shoulder. We were playing in the woods. We have a place where we play almost every time the Campbell children come to visit, he said softly, taking a deep breath. I had left Gillian at our pretend keep, and I went off to train me soldiers, and then I heard her scream.

Lady Campbell pulled Gillian onto her lap, stroking her back softly. Kennan wished he could sit on his mother’s lap, but Gillian was a full year younger than him, and she was a girl. He would someday be laird over the McClain clan. He needed to be strong.

His mother gave him a comforting smile. Go on, Kennan.

He tried to keep his voice steady as he calmly told them what had happened. When he mentioned pulling out the wolf’s heart, his mother’s face paled. She looked at Lady Campbell, who looked even more shocked than she did. I need to explain something about our family, she said softly. It is a secret we dinna share with anyone, so it has never been mentioned to you. Just like Kennan, Braden is the seventh son of a seventh son. They go back as far as their line can be traced. Every seventh son is born with some sort of power. Braden has the ability to grow crops on his command.

Lady Campbell nodded. We have surmised as much. Every time our crops are bad, Braden comes over and then next day, they are better than they should be for the time of year. We knew there was something odd about Braden.

Kennan’s mother nodded. I am glad you realized. It should make this a bit easier. Braden’s father, Robert, can move things with his mind.

That we have not observed, but your entire clan knows you are odd. They mention it often. Lady Campbell smiled at Kennan. What is your power, Kennan?

I can turn meself ghost-like and move through things. Today was the first time I made just part of me solid, and that is how I took out the wolf’s heart. Kennan felt bad for killing the animal because he had been taught long before that if you killed an animal, you ate it.

You saved Gillian’s life, Lady Campbell said, holding her daughter as close as she could. Thank you.

Those words were more than he could take. Kennan could no longer act like a man. He jumped up and ran to his mother, silent tears shaking his entire body. I did not want to kill the wolf, but I could not let him hurt me Gilly.

Gillian, from the comfort of her mother’s arms, reached for Kennan’s hand and squeezed it tightly. The mothers noticed the gesture, but neither said anything. Their children were connected and always had been. It was hard to explain, but they both knew the two of them were destined for one another.

1205

Kennan stood between his parents, watching for the Campbells. He had stood in just this place, waiting for them more times than he could count. His heart fluttered just a little as the three of them rode into sight, Laird, Lady, and their youngest daughter.

It was all he could dinna to run to the horses as he had as a child, yelling for Gillian. Today was special, though. He planned to ask her to marry him. They had grown apart in the past few years, each of them interested in different things. Instead of running around the land with him, Gillian had instead had tea with their mothers. There had been no more stolen kisses . . . no more times alone together, since he had killed the wolf.

It was not that