“Aye, it is. What shall you name him?” Mother wrapped her crying babe in Gilleoin’s Matheson plaid and with him swaddled in her arms, carried him to her.
She held her son and cupped his precious cheek as he gazed at her with striking golden eyes. His aura shimmered so profoundly, the most glorious pure white threaded with heavenly strands of gold. “I shall name him Kenneth, for he carries the divine skills of our fae people in his blood, just as his descendants will do.” Each strand of gold in his aura gave proof his progeny would be strongly fae-skilled shifters, just as Mother had said.
“A most worthy name.” Nessa took Kenneth from her, kissed his forehead and whispered to him, “You’ve also been given your late grandfather’s name, and he would be honored if he knew.” A soft expression crossed Mother’s face as she glanced at her. “My dear, ’tis time to push again. Your second son desires to join his brother. The two dinnae care to be parted.”
More pain. Her belly tightened and she thrust her elbows into the mattress, bore down and pushed. Her second son wailed with a hearty cry as he emerged and the midwife lifted him up for her to see. Fair hair, just like his elder brother had. So too he had the most stunning golden eyes—shifter eyes. His aura, so pure and white held a tinge of sizzling red around the edges, just as Gilleoin’s did. Aye, he was shifter alone and so too his descendants would be. “I shall call him Ivan, for he shall be gifted with strength and wisdom. He shall become a man of great honor when he is called to lead his own clan.”
Mother returned Kenneth to the crook of Sorcha’s right arm then took Ivan from the midwife and bathed him.
“I shall mark your youngest son as well, but only with the bear’s claw to symbolize his shifter blood alone. This mark will grace his line.” Gently, she marked the side of her second-born son’s neck and wiped the blood away. The singular bear’s claw was perfect. Nessa wrapped him in a plaid and rocked him in her arms then carefully settled Ivan within Sorcha’s other arm.
Sorcha cradled her sons to her chest, right next to her heart, where they would forever remain. “I’ve longed for this day, when I would hold you both in my arms. I love ye, as greatly as I love your father.”
Mother’s eyes filled with tears and one trickled free. “My dear, I must impart to you all I’ve seen, and you must ensure your sons never forget the prophecy I’m about to speak of.” Nessa’s aura shimmered like that of sparkling stars, reflecting her divine honesty and her great seer ability.
“Speak of what you’ve seen. I will hear it all.” Her mother’s prophecies, so strong and true, were never to be taken lightly. She would hold whatever words were spoken close to her.
Hands lifted high, Nessa’s wise eyes clouded over. “Gilleoin’s sons will separate when they come of age and rule their own clans, yet there will come a time far in the future when a mated bond forms between the two clans. Only then must Gilleoin’s descendants once again merge, and the ‘power of three’ be unveiled.” She opened her eyes and blinked the haze away.
“Why must their descendants once again merge?” Sorcha brushed a kiss over Kenneth and Ivan’s brows.
“If they dinnae, then both Kenneth and Ivan’s lines shall be like the leaves that fall from the trees. They will scatter too far and wide then turn to dust, and in doing so, their shifter race will be no more.”
“Sorcha!” Gilleoin rushed into her chamber, shirttails fluttering over his kilt and his claymore bobbing within the baldric holstered across his broadly muscled back. He stumbled to her bedside, his golden eyes wide. “My love, you’ve birthed our bairns?”
“Aye, ye missed their arrival. Meet Kenneth and Ivan.”
“Are ye well? Are they well?” He wrapped his arms around her and their sons. “They are such wee things.”
“We’re very well, and Mother had a vision. Both our sons shall hold your ability to shift, and the eldest, Kenneth, also holds my people’s fae skills.”
“Such a blessing.” He kissed her then grinned at his sons. “This day our clan shall celebrate a new beginning.”
Aye, a new beginning she would treasure to the depths of her soul, for Gilleoin was now no longer alone. His sons would lead with strength and determination, just as their father led their clan. The heart of the bear would beat strongly within them both.
Chapter 1
Matheson Castle, Scotland, current day.