Ella and the Beast

  *.*.*

  “Is she alright?” Tracy asked anxiously when the small group returned. “Oh, you poor thing.”

  “I’m not poor,” Ella mumbled. “My… my hands won’t… won’t work.”

  “I’ve got you,” Tracy murmured reassuringly.

  “Here, let me take her,” a man’s voice said. “We need to get her into the helicopter.”

  “No… bed…ding. So cold,” Ella forced out between her chattering teeth.

  “Carry her into the tent. I’ve got some thermal heaters I can activate and put around her. Her boots are soaking wet and frozen,” Tracy muttered. “Van, can you get the survival pack out of the helicopter while I get her undressed?”

  “Let me,” Ty said, shifting the moment Ella was off his back. “I’ll take her.”

  “I’ll get the fire going out here and get some soup warmed up,” Peterson said.

  “Ty,” Tracy said worriedly.

  “I’ve got her, Tracy,” Ty murmured, holding Ella close to his body.

  “I put your clothes at the end of the sleeping bag,” Tracy said, turning when Van came running back.

  Ty didn’t wait. He bent and disappeared into the tent. He’d worry about his own comfort after he took care of Ella. He laid her on the sleeping bag and quickly pulled off her wet boots. He tossed them out the door of the tent. One of the others would put them near the fire to dry out. Next, he worked her pants and long leggings off. He tossed those out the door next.

  “Here are the heat packs,” Tracy said, leaning in and placing a half dozen small chemical heat packs on the end of the bed. “Put several down by her feet. I’m worried because they are almost blue from frostbite.”

  “I know, Tracy,” Ty muttered, reaching for two of the bags and squeezing them to activate them. “Can you see that her clothes get dry?”

  “I will,” Tracy promised, pulling back out of the tent.

  Ty returned his attention to Ella. He slid the heat packs into the bottom of the sleeping bag before he pulled the top layer out from under Ella and covered the lower half of her body. Next, he slid his arm under to lift her up enough to remove her coat. It was damp from the melted snow, but not as soaked as her boots and pants were.

  He left her long tunic on since it was dry. Grabbing his pants off the end of the bed, he quickly slid them on before activating several more of the heat packs and tucking them around Ella. Once he was done, he slid into the sleeping bag with her and zipped it up. She immediately turned into him, groaning.

  “My feet hurt,” she whimpered. “It feels like hot embers are being pressed against them.”

  “Let the heat packs work,” he murmured, brushing her hair back from her face and pulling her into his arms so her head rested on his shoulder. “Your feet were almost frozen.”

  “They hurt,” she moaned, turning her face into him.

  “Why did you run, Ella?” Ty asked in a husky voice, wanting to take her mind off her pain.

  “I don’t belong in your world. The metal bird…,” she shivered and moaned.

  Ty’s arms tightened around her when she turned her face into his chest. He carefully touched her foot with his. She immediately pressed both of her feet against his warmer ones and shuddered.

  “It will be alright, Ella, you’ll see. Tracy is already really protective of you. When my sister goes into protective mode, nothing can stop her,” he teased before he grew somber. “I will help you and so will my family. We’ll take things slowly.”

  Ella released an inelegant snort and tilted her head back to stare up at him. His lips quirked when he saw her raised eyebrow and the skeptical look in her eyes. He chuckled softly and hugged her tightly against him.

  “I like these things that warm me,” she said with a sigh. “I guess not all of your strange things will be bad.”

  “My strange things, huh? How about this strange thing?” He murmured, rolling over until she was pinned under him. “You scared the shit out of me, you know that? I was terrified you’d fall in the river.”

  Ella chuckled and raised her hands to wrap them around his waist. “I was a little afraid myself. I have a question for you,” She whispered.

  “Anything,” he murmured.

  “I noticed the other beast was naked when he shifted, as were you the two times I’ve seen you. What happens to your clothes?” She asked curiously.

  Silent laughter shook his body. “We have to remove them or they are destroyed. It can also become very embarrassing if you try to shift with them on and get tangled up,” he explained.

  “Does that make it difficult if you are out in one of your cities?” She asked, puzzled as she tried to think of what it would be like to be in a place where everyone walked around without their clothes on. “I don’t think I would like to see Anna or Bert without their clothing on. Your friend was not bad to look at, but I didn’t like him holding me while he was naked.”

  Ty’s laughter echoed through the tent. He turned to glance over his shoulder when the door behind him opened. Peterson’s grinning face showed he had heard Ella’s comment.

  “Soup's on,” Peterson said, pausing when he saw the way Ty was laying on top of Ella. “Sorry, man. I guess she’s feeling better, huh? Hi, darlin’, the name’s Peterson.”

  “Get lost,” Ty growled.

  “Her boots and pants are still wet. I have a spare set of clothing in my emergency bag. I think we wear close to the same size shoes,” Tracy said, peering inside. “Really, Ty? The poor girl was half frozen less than an hour ago and you’re taking advantage of her?”

  Ty lowered his head and groaned. His lips twitched when he heard Ella giggling. Taking flak from his friend and sister was worth it if it made Ella happy.

  “Do you see how they treat me?” He moaned, pressing a kiss to her neck. “I think you should feel a little sorry for me.”

  “Never,” Ella whispered. “You probably deserve every bit of it.”

  “I don’t want to break up you two love birds, but the food I slaved over is getting cold because it’s freezing out here in case you’ve forgotten. We’d like to get your girlfriend up and going so we can get the bird up in the air and be home before the next storm decides to hit. Personally, I’m freezing my ass off,” Peterson added with a wink at Ella.

  “It is a very nice ass, too,” Ella called out as he started to pull back.

  Ty’s laughter echoed in her ear. “I bet you made him blush,” he chuckled.

  “How can you tell? He has the same color skin as Mitchell. Jayden and I were always trying to make him turn red when we were younger, but we could never tell if we succeeded,” she replied with a disappointed frown.

  “No worries, love. I’m enjoying the attention,” Peterson called out. “Ty, if you don’t take care of your woman, I’ll do it. She needs food, man, not loving. Feed her first.”

  “Shut up,” Ty snapped. “How are your feet now?”

  “Warm,” Ella replied with a smile. “It is amazing how something so small can put out so much heat.”

  “I hope she’s talking about the heat packs, dude, otherwise we just got more information than we needed to know,” Van called out, drawing more snickers from Tracy and Peterson.

  “You guys are so bad,” Tracy laughed.

  “We’d better get dressed. They won’t stop until we do,” Ty replied, unzipping the sleeping bag and rolling to the side so he could sit up. He reached over and grabbed the clothes Tracy had placed at the end of the sleeping bag. “Here you go.”

  Ty made sure that Ella was okay before he pulled the rest of his clothes on. She looked at him in confusion after she pulled on the wool lined boots. They had buckles that just needed to be pulled to tighten.

  “They work like this,” Ty said as he knelt down and pulled on the straps until they were tight and pushing down on the catch. “To take them off, you just have to pull them up and it will release the catch so that they loosen.”

  “Oh, this is much easier to get them on and off,
” Ella murmured, biting her lip. “The simple things you take for granted make me feel stupid.”

  Ty’s head jerked up and he scowled at her. “Don’t you ever feel stupid!” He ordered. “Half the shifter population would have died within a few weeks if they’d had to survive the way you have.”

  Ella’s lips twitched and her eyes danced with amusement. “The beasts at a loss in the wilds? I highly doubt that,” she reflected skeptically.

  “You shouldn’t,” he said, rising to his feet and straightening as much as he could in the tent. “Most of the shifters are only used to the concrete jungle now. Even then, they need a GPS to figure out where to go.”

  “I don’t know what a GPS is, but if the other beasts can’t find their way without them, then I believe this might give my people some small measure of hope of surviving for a while longer,” Ella murmured.

  Ty stared down at Ella. He wanted to say that he was now her people. He was still furious that her clan had banished her for helping him.

  “Let’s get something to eat,” he said, reaching for her hand. “I’ll properly introduce you to the others. Hopefully, they’ll be better behaved!” He added the last part just a touch louder as a warning.

  “Don’t believe a thing he says, darling, we are always well behaved,” Van retorted, wiggling his eyebrows.

  Ty groaned and his lips twitched when he heard Ella’s soft giggle. If dealing with a little ribbing was the cost of making Ella happy, he’d take it. Pulling the flap aside, he and Ella stepped out of the tent for the second time that day.

  “We’ll take everything down while you eat,” Van said, handing Ella a large cup of chicken noodle soup. “A Peterson original recipe.”

  “It came from a bag,” Ty muttered under his breath.

  *.*.*

  Ella nodded, gratefully taking the steaming cup. She sniffed it appreciatively before she took a sip. The hot liquid warmed her from the inside out. For a fleeting second, she wondered if they were trying to fatten her up to eat for later before she dismissed the idea.

  Ty, and now his sister and two friends, had done nothing to give her the impression that they wanted to harm her. In fact, in the short time that she had known them, they had been only kind and considerate. It was just so confusing for her because none of their behaviors fit the stories she had heard all her life.

  She moved to the side, watching as the two men quickly emptied the tent of its contents. Tracy and the two men paused to admire her lance. Worried that they might not give it back to her, she quickly retrieved it from Peterson’s hands and moved away again.

  “It’s a work of art,” Tracy replied with a sigh. “I’ve traveled the world looking for artifacts like you are holding in your hand.”

  Ella hugged the lance against her side. “The carvings tell the story of my life and the life of my people. It is said that it holds the essence of who we are inside of it, guiding it as we strike our prey,” she whispered.

  “Would you like more soup?” Ty asked, holding up the small aluminum pot.

  “No, thank you,” Ella replied.

  She held out her empty cup when Ty reached his hand out. Standing back, she was amazed at how quickly and efficiently the small lean-to folded away. Her gaze followed the men as they quickly packed everything away in the large metal bird. It took a moment for her to realize that they were planning on leaving in it.

  Panic hit her when she realized that Ty would expect her to travel in the large beast machine also. Her gaze moved to the thin blades attached to the top. She could feel her head shaking back and forth already in answer to Ty when he turned to look at her as the last item was stored.

  “I… I’ve changed my mind about going with you,” she said in a barely audible whisper. “If you tell me where your home is, I will find you.”

  *.*.*

  Ty’s face creased in confusion and shock before comprehension sank in as he saw her gaze moving from him to the helicopter. Her eyes were huge and very expressive at the moment. She was terrified.

  He remembered his first trip in one when he was a kid. While he at least knew what one was and had seen them up close when his parents had returned home, it didn’t mean he still hadn’t been terrified and excited that first time.

  Stepping closer, he paused when she stumbled backwards. A brief flash of pain swept across her face and she leaned on her lance. At least if she was leaning on it, she wasn’t as likely to use it on him. Lifting his hand out to her, he waited for her to look back at him.

  “Trust me,” he murmured, holding still. “I won’t let anything hurt you, Ella. I swear. It will be alright, I promise.”

  “I can come to you. It may take a few weeks depending on how far and the weather. Where…?” Her voice faded when he shook his head.

  “I’m not leaving you here. You’ve got no home, no food, no one. Either we go together now, or we go together on foot,” Ty replied.

  “It is big. How can it fly with such little wings? I’ve seen bugs with larger wings than that,” she finally replied.

  “Okay, we are definitely not going on foot if you have bugs out here with bigger wings than the helicopter,” Ty chuckled, glancing over his shoulder before looking back at her. “Those are some pretty big bugs.”

  Warmth flooded him when she scowled at him. She knew he was just teasing her from the way her lips twitched into a reluctant smile. Taking a chance, he took another step closer to her.

  “You know that I did not mean it in real life. It is just… How can it hold all of us and still fly through the air?” She asked in small, husky voice.

  “It has a very powerful motor. It can lift a lot more. Together, Ella. It’s your choice,” Ty said.

  He watched her look back and forth before she bit her lip and raised her chin. Once again, he was reminded of the strong woman who had stared him in the eye from the bottom of a dark, damp pit and challenged him while suffering a broken ankle. This was a woman with a brave heart. This was his mate.

  “If it drops out of the sky, I will land on you,” she stated with a sniff, reaching out to grab his hand. “I hope grizzly bears bounce.”

  Chapter 15

  Ty shot Van a glare and shook his head when the other man leaned forward and grinned at Ella. He rubbed his aching hand. Ella was much stronger than she looked. He had quickly discovered that when the helicopter had started to rise off the ground. The death grip she had used on his left hand had damned near broken his bones.

  Her fear had turned to awe once they were above the treetops. Her gaze had swung wildly around in amazement as she saw her home from a bird’s eye view. He had murmured to Tracy to take a loop over the area.

  “It’s so beautiful,” she breathed into the headset he had placed over her ears before they took off.

  “It is,” Ty agreed, leaning forward so he could look out the window.

  “I don’t know how your people survived so long without being discovered or dying off,” Van said.

  “We are dying off. There are very few of us left. We’ve had to move deeper and deeper into the mountains to avoid being found. Much of our original territory is now gone. It has become especially hard to survive the winters. The harsh winter five years ago killed almost half of my clan,” Ella replied in a soft voice.

  The smile on Van’s face faded. Ty could feel everyone’s gaze turn to the snow-covered trees. His stomach tightened to think of anyone being trapped in such an environment with no way to escape. He could feel his bear inside stir at the thought.

  Never again, my friend, Ty whispered, staring down at a wide river. She’ll never feel cold or hunger again.

  “How many people are left in your clan, Ella?” Tracy asked, turning to the northeast.

  “Twenty-eight, counting me,” Ella murmured, her gaze focused on the mountain that Mitchell had told her to find. “There are only six young children left. Two did not make it through last year's winter. The great fever took them.”

  “Oh, Ella,” Tracy whis
pered and shook her head. “If only we had known. They might have survived with proper medical treatment.”

  “It is futile to wish or to have regrets for things that you cannot change,” Ella replied in a husky voice. “There is no guarantee that if they had taken your medicine they would have lived. Even in your world, it does not always work, does it?”

  Tracy shook her head. “No, it doesn’t always work, even in our world,” she agreed.

  Ty studied Ella’s turned face. He could see her reflection in the window. A haunting sadness clung to her features. He knew that each of them was lost in their own thoughts as they thought about what Ella just shared with them. One thing was for certain, there was going to be a learning curve for all of them as they tried to figure things out.

  *.*.*

  Two hours later, they were circling the large estate where Ty and his family lived. Shifters tended to stick together within their family units, which was the reason their homes were large. It had never bothered him because Tracy, his parents, and he were seldom all there at the same time.

  “Welcome home,” Tracy said, smoothly landing the helicopter on the pad. “Please watch your heads and make sure you have all your belongings before you exit the aircraft. Anything of value left behind I will claim as mine.”

  “Always the comedian, Tracy,” Peterson chuckled.

  Tracy grinned as she flipped a series of switches. “You know you love it, Peterson, admit it,” she teased.

  Ella vaguely listened to the others joking. Her mind was spinning with everything she had seen on the flight to Ty’s house. The sinking feeling that had started when she’d realized that they would be traveling in the large bird was nothing compared to what happened the further they had moved away from her mountains.

  “Are you ready?” Ty asked in a quiet voice.