A month earlier.

Alina Cameron entered the drawing room to see her mother and father waiting upon her. They had sent a servant with a message for her to go see them, but for the life of her, she could not imagine why. She was certain she wasn’t in trouble, for a change.

Being the wildest of their three daughters, and not caring a wit what other people thought of her, she often found herself caught up in situations her younger sister, Moira, had to help defend her from. Her mother blamed her wildness on the color of her hair, for while Alina was slender, she was strong, with striking, thick, auburn hair that hung down her back.

“Please, come in, Alina. Sit down,” her father said.

He was a tall, athletic man, for he often trained with his war chief and the soldiers of the clan and thus was in fine shape for a man of his age. He was also a serious man, and so, as he stood at the mantle, gazing across the room at her, Alina wasn’t surprised to see his usual contained expression.

Her mother remained seated on the sofa. She was a quiet woman, subservient to her husband, always following his lead. Hugh and Eleonor Cameron were laird and lady of clan Cameron. They were both respected and loved by all the clan members, even if her father could, at times, be a little harsh.

Alina lowered herself down beside her mother with an expectant expression.

“Ye wished tae see me.”

“Indeed, we did,” her father replied. “We have something o’ importance that we need tae discuss with ye.”

“Am I in trouble?” Alina pressed.

“Nae at all, dear,” Eleonor said, reaching out a hand and taking Alina’s with a smile.

“As ye ken, Lilly has been married some time now, and thus, ye are the next young lady o’ the household.”

Alina’s older sister, Lilly, had been married off to a man nearly twenty years her senior. Not only was she miserable, but on each occasion she had come home to visit, Alina had noticed her older sister’s spirit slowly breaking under the weight of a loveless marriage. It had cemented Alina’s fear of being forced into the same fate. And yet, growing up as a noblewoman, she had always known her future was never truly her own.

She worried where the conversation was going.

“I willnae bore ye with the details, but clan Mackintosh is under threat from clan Campbell, and thus, Laird Mackintosh has reached out tae us fer help.”

Dread began in Alina’s stomach, for she now had a good idea why she had been beckoned.

“And what has that got tae dae with me?” Alina asked, knowing the answer before she even asked the question.

“It has everything tae dae with ye, child.”

She hated it when he called her ‘child’. She was a grown woman of twenty years. She had not been a child for a long time.

“Meself and Laird Mackintosh have already been in correspondence for several weeks, and have agreed tae engage in talks about an alliance…”

Nay. God. Nay!

“… and thus, it has tae dae with ye, Alina, fer it will be yer marriage tae Laird Mackintosh’s son that binds it.”

Her greatest fear washed over her like the wave of a stormy sea, and for a second, she found herself breathless. She was to suffer, just like Lilly. Her life, her freedom, her wild carefree ways were over, just like that. She would be bound to a man for the rest of her life, and there was not a single thing she could do about it.

But from somewhere deep within her, the desire to fight emerged. She could not give in just like that. It simply wasn’t in her nature to do so. As her fear morphed into anger, she glared at her father with a near uncontrollable rage.

“And that is it? I have nay say in the matter?”

Her father gave her one of his stern glares, while at the same time, her mother squeezed her hand.

“Sometimes, we have tae make sacrifices fer the greater good, my dear,” she said softly.

Yanking her hand away, Alina jumped up from the sofa and glared at the two of them.

“I dinnae want tae make sacrifices. Lilly made sacrifices, and look at how her life has turned out. Why is it always the women who have tae make these sacrifices?”

“Alina!” her father barked.

“Nae!” she retorted. “I willnae dae it.”

And then, without waiting for her father’s reply, she spun on her heels and ran from the room. Dashing through the corridors, she ran up the wide stair case and bolted into her bedchamber, slamming the door behind her.

Her throat had already begun to tighten, and then, seconds later, sobs burst from her chest as she threw herself onto her bed. Her whole life had come crashing down around her in a matter of mere moments, and so overwhelmed by her fate was she, she could not hold back the utter grief that racked through her body.

She had no idea how long she cried for, but it felt like hours. At some point, Moira came into the room, and wrapping her arms around her sister, she had offered her words of comfort. Clearly, she had been sent by their mother, for Moira already knew why she was upset.

“I’m so sorry, Alina. Truly, I am.”

But all her sisters’ words of kindness, as soft and caring as they were, brought Alina no relief. This was the thing she had feared since she was old enough to know how those things worked. No matter what she said, or how much she didn’t want it to happen, she would have to go through with it.

Her outburst earlier would be ignored, and she would be forced to do as her father demanded.

“We will run away,” Moira whispered, while Alina’s face remained buried into her soft pillow, soaking the linen with her sobs. “We will run so far that nay one will ever find us.”

But they both knew Moira’s words were empty. They could no more run away from their family, than Alina could choose her own suitor. Neither sister desired marriage. Lilly’s misery was clear to see. In fact, the change they had witnessed in their older sister had scared Alina and Moira to death. Lilly had not been wild, like Alina, but she had been confident in herself. A woman who knew what she wanted. Since her marriage though, she had become a shell of her former self, and hardly recognizable to her sisters.

So terrified of facing a similar fate had Alina and Moira been, that soon after Lilly’s wedding, the two had made a pact.

Sitting together on Alina’s bed, they had entwined their little fingers together. Looking intently into each other’s eyes, Alina had said, “We will avoid marriage, Whatever it takes.”

“Whatever it takes,” Moira had repeated, nodding her head vigorously.

Neither had thought they needed to worry for a few years, but clearly, fate had other ideas. Alina would now be torn from her home, her family, her sister. She would be forced to move into a new home with people she did not know. Forced to marry a stranger, she would be expected to be happy with her lot.

But she was not happy. How could she be when her heart was now broken into a million pieces?

“What am I tae dae?” she sniffled, when the tears finally abated.

Moira could only hold her tightly, for she no more had the answer to that question than Alina.

Three weeks later, Alina and Moira were readying themselves to travel to Moy Hall, the home of Laird and Lady Mackintosh. But before they bid farewell to their mother and father to make the journey, Alina found a quiet moment to spend with Moira and repeated the pact.

“I dinnae care that I am tae be sent tae Moy Hall, or that I am tae be forced tae wed. I am going tae dae everything possible tae ruin this union, Moira. Remember. Whatever it takes.”

“Whatever it takes,” Moira repeated once more.

Alina was not going to be like her sister. She was not going to be a pawn to be used in a game where her father decided her fate. She had been wild and free all this time, and she was determined she would remain so.

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