Ty shook his head. “No. All of you have done enough. I’ll take it from here. If I need help, I’ll let you know,” he said, not looking away from the mountains.
“Ty…,” Tracy started to say before she pressed her lips together. She drew in a deep breath before she continued. “We’ll be free in a week. If you haven’t found her, we’ll start again and we won’t stop until we do.”
“Agreed,” Ty decided, forcing his gaze away to look at them.
“Can you at least give us a hint for which direction you are going before you disappear?” Van asked with a crooked grin. “You know, just in case you get lost.”
Ty chuckled and pointed to the far mountains. “The cut between mountains,” he said with a nod.
“Take it easy, man,” Peterson suggested. “If she is what you think she is and she isn’t alone, she might not be too thrilled to see you again. There is a reason humans are thought to be extinct, you know. If they’ve somehow managed to evade detection for this long, it’s because they still remember what happened when the shifters and humans met the last time.”
“Yeah, winter is coming and they might like a nice warm grizzly bear coat to help keep them warm,” Van added with a grimace of distaste. “They were barbarians.”
“We killed them to extinction, or so we thought. Don’t forget that important fact. The shifters were not completely blameless,” Tracy pointed out before she turned back to her brother. “They are both right, though. She isn’t going to be thrilled to see you again and neither will any of the others if they see you. You were lucky they didn’t kill you while you were defenseless. They may not hesitate if they should get a second chance.”
Ty picked up the map and folded it. He glanced at Tracy, noticing the worry in her dark brown eyes. He reached out and pulled her into his arms. They stood like that for several minutes, all of them lost in thought about what it would mean to the world if word got out that there were humans still living among them after all.
“When are you heading out?” Van finally asked, breaking the silence.
Ty released Tracy when she stepped back. He saw her hand lift to her face to wipe at the dampness on her cheeks. He highly suspected it wasn’t just the mist that had caused it.
“First thing tomorrow morning,” Ty replied. “I need to gather a few things and sort things out with the Center.”
“One week or less, Ty,” Peterson said, stepping back with a nod. “Keep your skin on, man.”
“I will,” Ty grimaced.
He watched the two men as they strode back to the truck parked behind his and got in. A moment later, he slid into the driver’s seat of his own truck, and while Tracy climbed into the passenger seat. He started the truck and turned on the windshield wipers so he could see the mountains again.
“What is it?” Tracy asked with a frown.
“I can feel her, Tracy,” he murmured, blinking several times before he put the truck in reverse.
“Then you’ll find her,” Tracy responded lightly. “This is going to be monumental, Ty. I’ll work on how to handle the news. You know she is going to be a curiosity. She’ll be in danger, too. There are still those out there that won’t handle this discovery very well. You know what those yahoo’s are like. They’ll see her as another trophy on their wall.”
Ty’s lips tightened and a savage expression crossed his face. He could feel his bear rising up and quickly calmed him. He had already thought of the danger to Ella when word of her discovery was released. He would keep her safe one way or another, because there was one thing for sure, he would kill anyone who tried to harm one hair on her delicate head.
“I’ll nail them to a tree before that happens,” Ty swore, turning onto the main road.
*.*.*
Later that night, Ty stared moodily at the cell phone in his hand. His assistant, Rhyanna Hawk, would oversee the Center for the next month. If he needed longer, he knew she would take care of it.
He dropped the phone on the backpack filled with items he thought he might need. Striding toward the bathroom, he quickly removed his clothes before tossing them into the hamper. He rolled his shoulders to ease the tension in them. With a cool efficiency, he reached for the shaving cream and razor. It didn’t take him long to shave. He knew it didn’t make much sense, but he did it anyway. His facial hair grew pretty quickly. He had learned that once he hit puberty. A week without shaving meant he’d have a full beard.
His fingers ran over the smooth skin of his face and he briefly touched the few scars that he had collected over the years. At thirty-four, he was in his prime. His black hair had a touch of silver along the sides that warned others to be cautious about picking a fight with him. His nose was a little crooked from having been broken a few times in his younger days, when he had been full of himself and had mistakenly thought he could take on a mature shifter in his prime.
Staring back at his reflection, he tried to see himself through Ella’s eyes. What must she have thought when she had first seen him? It had been all too obvious that she had expected him to kill her. A shudder ran through his lean body at the thought of harming her.
“Kill me….”
“Never,” he whispered to himself, still remembering the look of terror, pain, and resignation in her eyes. “I would sooner cut out my own heart than harm you.”
He pushed away from the sink and stepped into the glass shower enclosure. With a twist of the handle, a cold blast of water hit him before it warmed up. He stood under the spray for several long minutes before he reached for a bar of unscented soap. Running the bar of soap over his skin, he tried to piece together how the humans could have survived.
Their life had to have been difficult, almost impossible in fact. From the research over the centuries and the few artifacts that remained from before their supposed extinction, they had been weak and primitive. Yet they had managed to remain hidden for centuries in spite of that. They would have had to survive as a hunter-gatherer species, with little in the way of tools or medicine. Ty’s hands paused and he frowned.
“How in the hell did they survive for so long with no one knowing about them?” He whispered, replacing the soap and rinsing off.
Turning off the shower, he opened the door and pulled the towel off the towel bar. He quickly dried his body and stepped out. Wrapping the towel around his waist, he walked into his bedroom. The large, dark-wood, four-poster bed mocked him, as if knowing that he might lie in it but he wouldn’t sleep.
He cursed softly, pulled the towel off and tossed it onto the small seat at the end of the bed. He grabbed a pair of soft workout pants and pulled them on. Minutes later, he was back in his office and going over the map again. It was going to be a long night.
Chapter 6
Ella drew in a deep, refreshing breath. The healer had released her yesterday to return to light duty with a word of caution to be careful not to run or go too far from the village. She had taken his word of caution seriously, binding her still weak ankle before she picked up her lance. She wouldn’t go far, but she did want to explore the area to become more familiar with it.
Jayden and the other hunters had left earlier, so she was on her own. She waved to Anna, one of the elders of their clan who was watching the three youngest children.
“Where are you off to, Ella?” Anna called out.
“Exploring,” Ella replied with a grin of delight.
“Be careful. I can feel a nip in the air today. The temperatures will be dropping tonight,” Anna warned.
“I’ll be back before dark,” Ella promised.
Ella turned to the left and hurried down one of the narrow paths. She wanted to disappear into the woods before anyone else could stop her. Her ankle ached, reminding her that she wasn’t supposed to run. Slowing to a less brisk pace, she followed the narrow trail.
Once she thought she was far enough away from the village, Ella settled into an easy walk. Her eyes lit with pleasure at the beauty of the mountains and thick forest. It would b
e colder here. Jayden explained earlier that four of the men had scouted the area thoroughly before Mitchell had decided it was safe.
“There is nothing for miles and miles,” Jayden had exclaimed excitedly. “These trees are so old; I don’t think they have ever been cut.”
Ella could barely remember most of the conversation. Thomas, the healer, had given her some kind of liquid that had tasted terrible but had eased the pain. She wasn’t about to complain. By the time Jayden, LaTrisha, and Hope had gotten her back to the village, she would have drunk anything to stop the excruciating pain.
She spent the next several hours exploring, moving further and further away from the village. She guessed she had travelled close to ten miles from the village, when she heard the sound of water up ahead. She must be nearing the upper level of the river that twisted through the long valley. She pulled her handmade padded vest close and buttoned it when a stiff breeze cut through the trees. Anna was right. The wind was definitely getting colder.
All at once, Ella felt a shiver of apprehension run through her. The hair on the back of her neck was practically standing up and her internal warning bell was beginning to ring. Gripping the lance in her right hand, she silently moved toward the river.
She stopped on the edge of the tree line and gazed out over the rocky surface. A frown darkened her brow as she tried to understand what had triggered the feeling of danger inside her. She was about to turn back when a slight movement along the edge of the water caught her attention. Her breath caught when she saw the huge grizzly slowly lumbering out of the water, a large fish hanging from his mouth.
Fascinated, she watched as it emerged onto the rocks and shook. A cascade of droplets flew from the dark brown, almost black coat. An amused smile curved her lips when she saw him drop the fish and carefully shake each leg before he lifted up his head.
The smile faded and her eyes grew round when the bear’s body shimmered and changed. She blinked several times, her mouth hanging open when the figure of a huge man stood up – the figure of a very large and very naked man.
She swallowed when he lifted his hands to run them through his hair. Her gaze moved over his face, studying him. He had the beginnings of a beard covering his jaw, but it didn’t detract from the rugged handsomeness of his features.
With a clarity that shook her, she remembered his eyes. They were a rich, dark brown with flecks of gold in them. She knew because she dreamed about them every night.
Her lips curved when she noticed that his nose was a little crooked and there was a slight bump on it. For some reason, it just added to his good looks. Ella mentally shook her head and scowled at herself. He was a shifter, a beast, one of the Others who was to be avoided at all costs, not someone she should find attractive. He was a monster! He belonged to the race that had practically wiped her species off the face of the Earth.
Guilt rose up inside her for a moment before she pushed it back down. She wanted to turn away, run back to her village and warn the others that they hadn’t moved far enough into the mountains. Yet, there was something about him that held her frozen.
Once again, she stared at him, trying to decide what it was about him that fascinated her. If she was honest with herself, she would have admitted that it was hard to tell the difference between him and a human from where she was standing. She tilted her head and tried to think of the one thing that defined him as a shifter. If she had to name it, it would have to be the raw, primitive power that appeared to radiate from him.
His body was solid. There wasn’t an ounce of fat on him from what she could see. Ella couldn’t prevent her gaze from moving downward as curiosity overwhelmed her.
His chest had a covering of dark hair, as well, that which she found oddly attractive. She couldn’t prevent the grin as her gaze moved down over his flat stomach to the dark patch of hair between his legs.
It would appear shifter males were affected by the cold just like any human guy, she thought with a smothered snort of amusement.
She remembered several of the married women in the village laughing about how hard it was to find their husband’s cock on a cold night.
A fiery blush rose in her cheeks when she realized that she was staring at his genitals. She jerked her gaze back to his face. Fear held her immobile when his hands slowly lowered and he looked around with a frown.
She released the breath she was holding when he shrugged his shoulders and bent to pick up the fish. Her eyes widened again when he turned his back and gingerly navigated across the rocks. This time, she got an eyeful of his taut ass.
Wow! She mouthed, impressed.
Ella fought a battle between her curiosity and her need to run. She argued with herself before she finally released an exasperated breath. It couldn’t hurt to follow him and see what he was up to. After all, she would need to let Mitchell know that the beast was here and whether or not he was alone.
*.*.*
Good catch, Ty commended his grizzly as he bent to pick up the fish. This is going to taste good.
I told you I still know how to fish, his grizzly retorted. I feel someone watching.
I do, too, Ty silently responded.
It her. We go? His grizzly asked.
Not yet, Ty cautioned. We know she is here. The last thing we want to do is scare her off. It has taken us almost a week and this is our first break.
Ty carried the fish over to where he had set up camp. There was no guarantee that the person watching him was Ella, but he would bet his dinner that it was. A shiver ran through him as another gust of cold wind blew down from the mountains. In his bear form he was fine. In his two-legged form, he was freezing his ass off. He quickly washed his hands in the icy water pooled near his tent and grabbed his clothes from just inside the tent flap.
He quickly pulled on his jeans, a black cotton shirt, and a thick black sweater. Sitting down on a nearby rock, he slid his socks and hiking boots on. He straightened and casually glanced around the area, trying to pinpoint where Ella might be hiding.
“She is good. I can’t get a firm fix on her location,” Ty muttered to himself.
He drew in a deep breath and again nothing. The humans must have remembered that most shifters had an extremely good sense of smell. Out here, all he could smell was the fish, the chilly air, and the rich aroma of the trees.
Rising to his feet, he bent and picked up the fish. In a matter of minutes, he had it cleaned and roasting over the fire. He carefully stirred the coals so that the heat was evenly distributed before releasing a loud sigh and looking back toward the woods.
“I know you are there,” he called out. “I can feel you. I won’t hurt you, you know. I caught a pretty good sized fish if you’re hungry,” he added, waving his hand toward the large trout.
He waited, scanning the tree line. He was about to give up when he saw a slight movement out of the corner of his eye. He turned in surprise when Ella’s slender figure stepped out from behind a boulder not twenty feet from where he was standing.
“I thought you were still in the trees,” he said with an easy grin. “How the hell did you get so close without me seeing or hearing you?”
She shrugged, not answering him. Instead, she watched him with a mixture of fear, curiosity, and caution. She stepped gingerly over the rocks, keeping the long lance in her hand pointed toward him. He raised his hands to show he was unarmed and slowly stepped back to sit down on the rock again.
“Why are you here?” She demanded, stepping closer to the fire.
Ty’s gaze softened when he saw her glance at the fish and sniff. He ran his gaze over her. She was wearing a long green and tan tunic with a padded vest the color of the autumn leaves. Her long pants were tucked into dark leather boots. His gaze narrowed on her ankle.
“Your ankle?” He asked in a husky voice.
She stared back at him with a wary expression. “It is fine,” she said in a blunt tone. “Why are you here?” She asked again, this time in a slightly husky voice.
Ty’s gaze rose. “I was looking for you,” he admitted.
She frowned and shook her head. “Why? I don’t want you to look for me. I wanted you to forget that you ever saw me, not come looking,” she said in exasperation.
Ty chuckled and leaned forward to turn the fish. He froze when Ella quickly moved backwards. He didn’t miss the slight hiss of pain she emitted, nor the fact that she leaned against the lance for support when the rocks shifted under her feet. Rotating the fish, he leaned back and frowned at her.
“Your ankle still causes you pain,” he stated, glaring at her.
Her eyes narrowed and she moved again. This time, she widened her stance and raised the sharp point of the lance toward him. He grimaced and ran a hand over the back of his neck before releasing a sigh.
“Are you hungry?” He asked, looking at her again with a crooked smile.
She stared at him for several long minutes before she shrugged her shoulders and relaxed again. She carefully moved to another boulder and leaned against it. He noticed that she kept the lance firmly in her grasp and the fire pit between them.
“Yes,” she replied in a clipped tone.
He motioned with his hand that he was going to get something out of his tent. She nodded and watched him as he rose to his feet. He quickly grabbed two plates and returned. Picking up the end of the stick, he used a fork to pull the meat of the fish free from the skin and bones and onto the plate.
“Here you go,” he said, stepping around the fire and holding the plate out to her. “Go on, take it. I won’t bite – at least, not hard.” He winced when he saw her hand freeze in midair and she glanced at him with suspicion. “Yeah, bad joke, I know.”
He gave her a small grin and waited. Her hand slowly reached out, and she took the plate. Once she had, he turned around and moved back to his side of the fire.
“My name is Ty Bearclaw,” he said, placing some fish on his plate.