Mariota MacKay believes both her virtue and her life are in jeopardy from one of her clan's guards. Though she repels his advances, she knows one day he'll succeed, and because her father cannot accept that his heir is truly at risk, she sees no way to save herself but to run. Lost in the Highland forest, she crosses paths with a hunting party led by Stellan Sutherland. When the handsome stranger offers her the sanctuary she's denied at home, his kindness deepens her immediate attraction to him. Too late to keep her newfound feelings from gaining strength, she discovers he's a man she cannot have-the first-born twin and heir to his own clan. She is torn between choosing the man she falls in love with, and the heritage she has fought for years to earn. Stellan's desire for the brave beauty from a neighboring clan clashes with his honor and duty. Mariota is the woman he wants by his side, but she is also the heir who will one day rule MacKay. He cannot ask her to give up her destiny and do what he will not-renounce his birthright as Laird Sutherland. Does the answer lie with his twin? Or will the dangers mounting around them, including the vengeful clansman hunting her, destroy any hope of a future together-or any future at all? Both heirs to their clans, their love is doomed from the start, or is it?