She has to marry a monster. Rumors have followed the chieftains of Clan Kilborn for centuries. Said to be descended from the Viking berserkers, they are ferocious in battle, known for tearing off the heads of their enemies and drinking their blood. But English noblewoman Lydia Swann-Williston will marry Kieran, Laird Kilborn, to bring peace to the Kilborn lands after the horror of Culloden and the brutal pacification. A widow, she also brings needed wealth to the clan. For her part, eighteen-year-old Lydia wants children. With her husband killed at Culloden, she will make a new life in the Highlands. The old chieftain of Clan Kilborn also died in battle, and Lydia hopes the new young Laird will lack his ancestors' ferocity. That hope will go unfulfilled...