The Tempted Read Free Page A

the need to just wander the forest and see what she could find.
    With the oatcake finished, Morvan dusted off her hands and got to her feet. She turned to the right and began walking. As soon as she stepped back into the woods, a shiver ran down her spine. She halted instantly. The forest had been her home all her life, and not once had she ever felt such…foreboding. As if fate were warning her that something was coming.
    Or was already there.
    Morvan touched the nearest tree, a tall evergreen. The bark scraped her palm and pine needles crunched beneath her feet. The smell of pine permeated the air.
    “What is it?” she asked the tree.
    She didn’t expect an answer, but since she lived alone, she found it better to talk to the plants and animals rather than not talk at all.
    Morvan took a deep breath as the music of the forest assaulted her. The wind whistling through the leaves, the creak of the limbs, the sweet songs of birds. Every animal, every plant contributed to the beautiful music.
    When Morvan was just a child, she’d discovered that she was the only one who could hear the melody. She let her hand trail down the trunk of the tree as she lifted her foot and took a step. Then another, and another.
    There wasn’t another chill, but she still couldn’t shake the feeling that something was going to happen. It didn’t make her turn around though. Morvan didn’t turn away from anything or anyone. She slowly walked through the forest, stopping every now and again to admire a bird or flower.
    It didn’t take long for her to relax as the tranquility of the woods seeped into her. She lost herself in the forest. She was spellbound by the serenity, enthralled by the peacefulness.  
    Morvan suddenly stopped and looked around. She knew every inch of the woods – especially the boundary between the MacKay’s lands and those of clan Sinclair that she was never to cross.
    How then had she crossed the border?  
    With her heart pounding, Morvan hastily glanced around to make sure no one was hiding in the foliage. She took a tentative step back, appalled to realize she was much farther onto Sinclair land than she’d first thought.
    Morvan swallowed nervously. Tensions between the Sinclairs and her clan, the MacKays, were high, especially after a recent skirmish. The last time she was in the village near the keep, she’d heard that there was trouble within the castle. The new laird, Alistair, was bent on peace while his younger brother Donald, still upset over not becoming laird, wanted war.
    She didn’t want to be responsible for starting the war simply because she’d crossed the boundary by accident. It was so stupid of her. She knew better. No matter how many times she gave herself up to the woods, she had never ventured off her clan’s land. Ever.
    From the moment she’d woken that morning, she’d felt as if there were something particularly different about the day, something not quite normal. Morvan hadn’t questioned it further though, and that’s apparently where she went wrong. She should’ve remained in her cottage.
    Morvan spun around and walked back toward her clan’s land as fast and quietly as she could. She didn’t know this side of the forest like she did her own, and it complicated things. Twice, she had to retrace her steps and take a different route. Sweat beaded her forehead as she lifted her skirts to free her legs in an attempt to move faster.
    It was a distressed bleating that brought her to a halt a second time. Morvan closed her eyes and sighed. There was an injured animal calling to her for help. But the longer she remained on Sinclair land, the more she put herself and her clan in peril.
    Her shoulders slumped even as she turned toward the sound. No amount of danger could keep her from helping an animal in need.
    Morvan followed the cries, recognizing them as being from a red deer. A few moments later, she moved aside foliage and caught sight of the majestic buck that had his impressive