A Highlander For Christmas

SheepRunning Amok

I was having a wonderful dream of the boys from The Untamed and there was also a cameo by the three highlanders that are now front and center in my life. It was an amazing dream, and it all came crashing down on me when my bedroom door was slammed open, and Gregor Mackenzie was hauling me out of bed.

I screamed and punched and kicked at Mack and he put me down after I kicked him in the family jewels. He glared at me, and I stood there panting and he was holding his groin and muttering curses at me.

“The hell Mackenzie! You don’t just come into my room and manhandle me while I’m sleeping!”

“I tried calling ye but ye either did not charge ye phone or ye snored so loud ye couldna hear it.” I felt my jaw drop open and felt like kicking him in the jewels again.

“OUT MACKENZIE! GET OUT BEFORE I KICK YOU AGAIN!” He started moving around my room and threw some pants and a hoodie at me. Was he deaf? Did kicking him in the balls affect his hearing?

“DID YOU NOT HEAR ME MACKENZIE!” He came back towards me and pinned me up against the wall. Oh, this was kind of hot. If I wasn’t so angry at him, I would totally be on board with where this sordid fantasy could go.

“Ye need to get dressed, yer sheep are running amok in the village. Someone let them escape and Magnus is being a right menace.” Blinking at him, I pushed him away and started putting on my clothes. I fell into bed in just a T-shirt and my panties last night. I blushed and touched my lips, that was some kiss from Alexei.

“How the heck did my sheep get loose? Who let them out?” Gregor was leaning against my door, and he was watching me with amusement and lust in his eyes. I flipped him off as I bent down to tie up my boots.

“Alexei is going through the security footage now, Daniel and a few of his co-workers are trying to round them up now. He has someone with dogs coming to help herd them back to the property.” I grabbed his hand and dragged him down the stairs and out the front door.

“Do we hoof it on foot, car, or go by horse?” Mack was panting and staring at me as if I had grown another head.

“We can take the horses or the car. Our main concern is trying to reign in Magnus right now because he is protecting yer delinquent sheep.” I did not like his tone; it was like he blamed me for Magnus doing his job.

“Listen here, Mackenzie, he is just doing his job. Protecting his sheep wherever they seem to be.” He looked like he wanted to say something more, but I continued to glare at him. How dare he treat my dog like he was some rabid animal.

“I am just saying that ye wee doggy is a menace when he thinks his sheep are under attack and if we do not hurry things will be worse off for him.” I stuck my tongue out at him and he rolled his eyes.

“Fine to your batmobile and step on it Robin, Batman needs to go save Alfred and his minions.” I hopped in Mack’s truck, and he continued to stare at me as if I lost my mind. Maybe I have lost a little bit of my sanity since I moved here. Honestly, I have been bailing my animals out of trouble a lot. I also seem to be getting into more trouble since I moved here as well.

My phone started ringing and I felt my heart pitter-patter when Alexei’s number popped up. I blushed again, and Mack rolled his eyes at me. I felt a tiny bit guilty, but then again, I did read a lot of reverse harem books; a girl can dream.

“Hello love, just wanted to tell you that I am at the station with the individual who let your sheep out. I want to know if you want me to press charges or not.” My insides danced a little at him calling me love, but I needed to focus.

“Did they do it intentionally?” If it was just an accident, I was willing to let it go, but if it was done with ill intent, then I wanted to drag them through the wringer.

“Yes, it was your lovely neighbor’s older son who did it. He said his mother told him to do it and, well, I can bring her in as well.” I let out a string of curses and caused Mack to almost run off the road.

“Bring that wench in and press whatever charges you can on her and her damn crotch goblin, and make sure I do not get my hands on her or her kid because I can’t promise that I’m not going to hurt them.” I heard Alexei laugh but then clear his throat.

“I will pretend I just did not hear you threaten bodily harm to someone. As your lawyer, I advise you against that train of thought.” I rolled my eyes.

“Yes, fine, whatever is necessary, do what you need to, I want charges pressed on them. OK, we are heading into town now. Our first order of business is to try and get Magnus and then the sheep.” Alexei said goodbye and hung up.

We pulled up in front of Fiora’s café and I saw Magnus guarding three sheep and a few lambs in front of Felix’s store. I jumped out of the truck and stomped over toward Magnus who was snarling and growling at a bunch of people.

“MAGNUS! YOU BETTER GET YOUR BUTT IN THAT TRUCK RIGHT NOW MISTER OR I AM MAKING YOU INTO A RUG. COME HERE NOW!” Magnus stopped snarling and looked at me. I pointed at my feet and gave him the look my mom used to give me when I was younger. He looked at the people and growled. I cleared my throat and snapped my fingers. He came slinking over to me and wagged his tail, squinting his eyes at me, he sat and gave me his paw.

I opened the door to Mack’s truck, and he hopped in. The men that had him cornered by the store picked up the sheep and then put them in the back of the truck. Mack looked at me like he was worried about leaving me without adult supervision.

“Go stick them in the barn with Hennessy. I will go find Daniel and see where he is in getting the rest of the flock back to the house.” Mack chewed his lip and shook his head; he stalked into the bookstore and came out with Felix.

“Take the sheep and the mutt home and put them in the barn, I will stay with the lass and get the rest of the flock.” He shoved his keys into Felix’s hands and dragged me toward the middle of the town.

“That was kind of rude how you treated poor Felix. I am capable of rounding up sheep on my own. Besides, Daniel is here somewhere.” He continued dragging me towards some loud noises and dogs barking.

Two people with three Border Collies were herding up my runaway sheep, but the mess the sheep made was catastrophic. Windows were broken, there was sheep poo all over, plants were overturned, and it was just horrible.

“Don’t worry lass, ye won’t be held accountable for any of this. Ye have footage showing that they were released.” I shook my head and tears stung my eyes. Daniel saw me and waved, then saw the look on my face, he came running over and hugged me.

“Everyone knows you had nothing to do with this, Annabelle. Don’t cry, please don’t cry. Come on Mackenzie, do something.” Mack cleared his throat and looked over at the people herding up my sheep.

“Ye take care of the lass I will help get the sheep back to the house. Take her to Fiora and don’t let her go anywhere until I get back.” Tears started streaming down my face as I looked at the chaos my animals caused.

Were they going to take them away from me? Was I going to get fined because Magnus is a menace? Were they going to euthanize my dog? I was sobbing uncontrollably and Fiora came over and hustled us to a back room. She handed me a handkerchief and was giving Daniel an evil look, thinking he was the reason I was crying.

“Put your battleax away Fiora, she is probably just worried about all the damage her sheep did. I am not the reason she is crying.” Fiora hustled off and Daniel held me close and was rubbing circles on my back. He was speaking in Korean and trying to distract me from my shame spiral.

“You know, I don’t know what you are saying in Korean, but it is hot.” I sniffed loudly and we both laughed.

“No one blames you for what happened. Alexei and I put out any fires that we could. Besides, this is nothing new. At least once a month someone’s animals run amok in town.” I stared at him, and he smiled at me.

Snorting unladylike, I wiped my eyes and squeezed his hand. He was such a good guy, and he was easy on the eyes as well. He leaned in and wiped the tears off my face, and he cradled my face in his hands, he started moving in and I thought he was going to kiss me, snotface and all. Instead, he kissed my forehead and smiled again.

“Come on killer, Alexei told me I should keep you away from the jail, so let us go round up the rest of your sheep and maybe talk to the shepherds about getting you a dog for the farm to herd them.” I chewed my lip and wondered if Magnus would be OK with another dog that viewed his charges as prey.

“Magnus will be alright; you keep the border collie with you and Magnus stays with his sheep. It will be fine.”

“Did you just read my mind, Danny Boy, because that was exactly what I was thinking,” He laughed and hauled me to my feet,

“Nope, you just show it all over your face.” Scowling, he laughed again, I gave Fiora a hug and she was still glaring at Daniel as if he was the one who made me cry. I guess I was going to have to write some apology letters and I suppose I was getting a new dog too.

Hello insanity my old friend, it is me again. Looks like I’m adding a new addition to our family. I also need to address this issue with the fence and my sheep getting out.

“Daniel, do you know where Melinda got Magnus? I was thinking that maybe I needed another livestock guard as well.” He pulled out his phone and flipped through his contacts.

“We will go visit Harold later today, he should have some dogs available for you.” I stopped short and looked at a broken window. My bank account and the amount of money in it was going to be a problem.

“Maybe I should have thought about this more. I can’t afford to buy a herding dog and another guard dog.” Daniel followed my gaze toward the chaos.

“Again, don’t worry, we work on barter, and we don’t even charge our own here. Come on Annabelle, you are one of us now.” I felt the tears start up again, I always wanted to belong someplace and I was now actually a part of something. I was only here for about a month, and yet these people have welcomed me into their lives.

“Thank you, Daniel.” My heart was full, and I felt a bit lighter in my decision on how I was going to add more animals and dogs to my farm. Now, if I can only figure out which guy to choose, then again, why should I have to choose? Again, a girl could wish.