Ella and the Beast

  “Who are you? How are you in this box?” Ella demanded, shaking the box.

  “What the…! Who is this?” The woman asked in surprise.

  “I am Ella. Who are you?” Ella responded, turning the box over and over in her hand. “How do you talk out of the box?”

  “How do I talk…? Oh, boy, he found you,” the woman said quietly. “I’m Tracy. Ty is my brother. Is he there?”

  “Yes, but he is asleep,” Ella replied, glancing at Ty’s peaceful face. “You must come for him. He is hurt.”

  “Hurt! What happened to him? How bad is it? I have a lock on the location of his camp. Is that where he is?” Tracy asked anxiously.

  Ella bit her lip and nodded before she realized the woman could only hear her, not see her. She swallowed. Now another knew she really existed. Torn, she tried to think of how to respond.

  “He was hit on the head. There was a lot of blood. He may have a brain bruise, but I am not sure. It is too dark to see his eyes. He told me he would be better by morning, that beasts – shifters – have harder bones than we do. He took two white pebbles that he called medicine to stop the pain. He is breathing evenly.”

  “Are you at his camp?” Tracy asked.

  “Yes, near the river,” Ella responded. “The storm is getting worse.”

  “I know, that is one reason I was calling. The weather service is expecting it to last for two, maybe three, days. They are predicting up to twelve inches of snow in the lower elevations and twenty-four in your location,” Tracy explained.

  “Anna said it would be a bad one,” Ella murmured.

  “Anna? There are more of you?” Tracy asked.

  Ella groaned and closed her eyes. She shouldn’t have said anything. All she was doing was endangering the rest of her people. Bert was right. She was just making things worse.

  “I will stay until he is well,” Ella said in a thick voice. “Please… I am asking – begging – that you and Ty please forget about us. There are not many of us left. Please, just leave us alone.”

  “Ella…,”

  Tracy was talking, but Ella couldn’t understand what she was saying. The sound was going on and off and there was a noise that sounded like the storm coming from the box. Ella tried shaking it to see if that would help but it didn’t.

  “Talk later….”

  “Yes, later,” Ella repeated as the light went out on the box.

  Bowing her head, she clutched the box to her chest. For the first time since her father died, she cried. The silent tears turned harsh as fear swept through her at what she had done.

  “Come here,” Ty’s sleepy voice called out in the darkness. “Let me hold you, Ella.”

  Ella laid the box down beside the thick bedding and slid into it close to Ty. She turned her back to him and pulled the metal piece up until they were cocooned inside. Warmth immediately surrounded her as Ty rolled onto his side, wrapped his arm around her, pulling her closer to his body.

  For a moment, Ella worried about his head until she realized that he wasn’t lying on the side with the wound. She tried to tell herself that she shouldn’t be lying here with him, but it was useless. Her body shook with her grief and the hot tears soaked the cloth.

  “It will be alright, Ella,” Ty murmured. “Just give me a chance, that’s all I ask. Everything will be alright.”

  “How do you know?” She whispered, staring at the heaving sides of the lean-to. “How can you know that everything will be alright?”

  “Because I found you,” he replied, pressing a kiss to her shoulder.

  Ella sniffed, unsure of how to respond to his simple statement. He sounded so sure that everything would work out. Fatigue tugged at her. Surrounded by the warmth of his body and the soft padding of the sleeping bed, she released a deep sigh and relaxed. She would face life tomorrow.

  Tomorrow will be better, she thought drowsily. At least I know he will be alright.

  Chapter 12

  Ty blinked sleepily and stared at the walls of the tent. Something had woken him up, but he wasn’t sure what it was at first. He shivered when the zipper was opened and a blast of Arctic air rushed in. Ella hastily crawled into the tent and sealed the door to the tent.

  “Where did you go?” He asked, sitting up. He lifted his hand to his head and winced. “What the hell happened to me?

  “I had to relieve myself,” she replied. “I also wanted to see how bad the storm is. Connell and Jace saw you standing in the woods on the edge of the village. Jace struck you with a rock from his sling. You are lucky you weren’t killed.”

  “Yeah, real lucky,” he muttered, gingerly touching the side of his head. “How did we get back here?”

  He saw Ella glance at him before she moved to sit on the end of the sleeping bag. He drew his knees up and watched as she pulled a large, leather bag closer to her. She was trying to avoid looking at him.

  “The elders wanted to kill you, but I wouldn’t let them. Mitchell and Jayden also stood up to them. Connell, Jace, and Mitchell carried you back here,” she explained, pulling a small package out of the bag.

  “And you stayed,” he added in a quiet voice.

  Ella glanced at him and shrugged. She was back in her defensive mode. He reached out and touched her arm. She glanced at him and shrugged again.

  “I couldn’t leave you defenseless. It wouldn’t have mattered anyway,” she muttered.

  “Why wouldn’t it have mattered?” He asked, sensing she wasn’t telling him everything.

  She glanced at him and shook her head. “I have food,” she said, unwrapping the package of dried meat and berries.

  “Ella, why wouldn’t it have mattered?” Ty insisted, pushing the sleeping bag off of his legs and scooting closer to her.

  “I was banished from the village,” she mumbled, staring at the food in her hands. “I endangered all of them by bringing you there.”

  A violent curse escaped him before he could smother it. Reaching out, he took the meager offering of food and set it aside before he pulled her onto his lap. He held her tight, ignoring the icy dampness still clinging to her outer clothing.

  “I’m sorry, Ella,” he murmured, stroking her back.

  Ella turned her face into his neck and buried her cold nose against his skin. He could feel the shudder that ran through her. All he could do was hold her and offer her a small amount of comfort. While bears were used to being alone, he knew what devastating effects it could have on the more social shifters when they lost their pack.

  “It’s not your fault,” she whispered with a shake of her head. Pulling out of his arms, she slid back onto the sleeping bag. “Eat. The storm is growing worse. There is already more than a foot of snow. I can feel the temperature dropping again.”

  Ty grimaced. “I’d better take care of my own needs before it does, then,” he muttered, reaching for his boots. “I have some heat packs if we need them and at least another week of food packets.”

  “We should ration what we have until your sister can come for you,” Ella replied, scooting to the side so he could grab his jacket and stand up.

  “Tracy? You talked to her?” He asked in surprise.

  Ella nodded. “The box in your pocket made a noise. When I pressed the green button, I heard her voice. She said she is locked on to your location and will come once the storm has passed,” she explained.

  Ty shrugged on his jacket and pulled up the hood. His mind was reeled from the fact that Ella was banished by the others of her kind because of him and it shook him to his core. He bent and unzipped the tent. His lips tightened as he stepped out into the fresh snow that had accumulated against the front of the tent.

  “I’ll be back in a minute,” he muttered.

  She nodded. He zipped the tent closed and turned toward the woods. The wind pushed against him and the snow made it difficult to walk. Deep inside, he could feel his bear claw at him.

  You can’t kill them, he said.

  They leave her to die, his bear snarled.
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  I know, Ty silently muttered.

  He quickly relieved himself and turned back toward the tent. The boulders helped protect the tent on the north side, but the snow that was still falling had piled up around it. It would help insulate the tent. Raising his head, he sniffed the frigid air. His bear could sense the increasing storm. Over the mountains, he could see the heavy, dark gray clouds building.

  His lips tightened. Reaching down, he searched his pocket for the satellite phone. He cursed sharply and then remembered that Ella told him that she talked to Tracy. It must still be in the tent.

  Striding back across the frozen ground, he quickly unzipped the tent and crawled back inside, zipping it back up behind him. Almost immediately, he could feel the difference in temperature. It might be cold inside the tent, but it was freezing outside.

  His gaze locked with Ella’s and he grinned. “It’s cold outside,” he joked.

  Her lips twitched and she nodded. “It is cold in here, but not as bad as my lodgings,” she reflected, tilting her head to look at him. “I can’t believe such thin material can withstand the elements.”

  Ty motioned for Ella to scoot back. He wanted to tuck her up inside the sleeping bag. She gave him a funny look when he grabbed her foot and pulled her boot off before doing the same to the other.

  “Get inside the sleeping bag,” he said in a husky voice. “I’ll prepare something hot for us to eat.”

  Ella did as he instructed, but frowned at him in confusion. “But, where will you build a fire? It’s too cold outside and there’s not enough room in here,” she said, looking around.

  “The power of modern technology,” he replied with a wink.

  She curiously observed as he reached into his pack and pulled out a small metal bucket and two black packages. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see her stroking the material of the sleeping bag. A silent groan escaped him when he thought of what it would be like to have her stroking him like that. He felt his body heat up and harden at the thought.

  With a quick smile, he shrugged out of his thick jacket and laid it across her legs. She blinked at him, but didn’t say anything. This was another first, being around a woman that didn’t feel like every second had to be filled with inane chatter.

  He ripped open both ready-made meal packets and retrieved the chemical packs from each one. Next, he pulled out a bottle of water and poured it, along with both chemical packets, into the special, insulated pail. Within seconds, the water began to boil. He quickly dropped both meal pouches into it.

  “How does the water boil without fire?” Ella breathed, sitting forward and wiggling her fingers over the steam coming up from the bucket. “It is like magic.”

  Ty chuckled. “It’s actually a chemical reaction,” he said, pulling one of the pouches out of the water and ripping off the top. He handed it and a plastic fork to her. “It isn’t super hot, but it is better than nothing.”

  She sniffed it and frowned. “What is it?” She asked, lifting her fork to her mouth. Her eyes widened in surprise. “It is good.”

  Ty laughed as he sat back and opened his. “They’re okay. This is the breakfast one. Oatmeal, chocolate biscuit, and dried fruit,” he said, stirring a little packet of dried fruit into the plastic pouch.

  He tore open the package of dried strawberries that came with Ella’s and held it up. She held her breakfast out and he poured it in. He smiled and nodded when she stirred it before tasting it again. They continued to eat in silence. He broke the silence when he started to hand her the chocolate biscuit, and she shook her head.

  “I’m sorry, Ella. I didn’t mean to cause you trouble with your people,” he said, with a sigh.

  “It is not your fault. I could have warned Mitchell and the others of your presence instead of talking to you,” she said, pulling her knees up and wrapping her arms around them.

  “Why didn’t you?” He asked in curiosity while packing up the remains of their meal and returning them to his backpack.

  She shrugged and rested her chin on her knees. “My father once said that humans and beasts would meet again. The world was not big enough to hide us forever. He said when that day came, he hoped that we could reach out to each other and live in peace instead of fear,” she whispered, lost in her memories.

  “Your father was a wise man,” Ty murmured, wishing he could wipe away the sadness in her eyes.

  “He was,” she replied in a quiet voice. “Why did you come looking for me?”

  Ty gave a strained laugh and ran his hand across the back of his neck. He grimaced when he noticed the small puddle of water made by the melting snow on the floor of the tent. He reached over and grabbed one of his dirty shirts and mopped it up before he removed his boots and set them down near the tent opening. He finally released his breath and turned to crawl over next to Ella. Motioning with his hand, he slipped into the sleeping bag beside her.

  “How much do you know about us?” He asked in a husky voice, sliding down to lie on his back.

  *.*.*

  Ella thought about his question as she pulled off her jacket and rolled it up before sliding down to lie beside him. She turned so that she was facing him, one hand under her cheek and the other curled under her chin. The warmth of the sleeping bag and her full belly combined with the sound of the wind and his presence was surprisingly relaxing.

  “Just the stories handed down to us by the elders and my parents. The stories were frightening and emphasized why it was necessary for us to remain hidden. We knew the world was changing. It was impossible not to see the evidence of the advances your people were making during our travels. We’ve had to move deeper and deeper into the forests and further up the mountains as your people have expanded their territories,” she said.

  Ty rolled onto his side and bent his arm to use it as a pillow. He stared into her eyes before he reached out and tugged the sleeping bag higher over her shoulder to make sure she wasn’t cold. His fingers rose to skim along her cheek.

  “Shifters are a funny race,” he murmured. “We are governed by our two-legged, humanoid form, yet our primitive side is never far from the surface. It is one soul locked within two forms; forms that we can alternate between at will. There are times when one or the other dominates, but the essences of who we are remain the same. I’m a grizzly bear-shifter. My bear is always with me, as aware of what is going around me as I am of how he feels while inside me. One of the benefits – or drawbacks, depending on how you want to look at it – is that our primitive side immediately recognizes who our mate is, often before our humanoid form wants to admit it.”

  “What if the other person doesn’t want to be your mate?” Ella asked.

  Ty grinned. “That’s where the wooing begins. It sometimes happens that two of our kind probably should ignore their basic urges, but it isn’t often,” he explained.

  “That still doesn’t explain why you came looking for me. I’m not a beast. I don’t have a beast inside my body telling me who is my mate,” she said in frustration.

  “No, you don’t. That’s why you were able to leave me in the pit, but that doesn’t mean you are not attracted to me,” he pointed out.

  A faint flush heated her cheeks when he hit on a sensitive point with her. She lowered her eyelids to hide her eyes. A soft moan slipped from her when he traced the delicate curve of her cheek before he threaded his fingers through her hair. Her eyes snapped up to his again, and they widened when she saw the dark smoldering desire in them.

  “Ty,” she whispered, unsure when he slowly rose up over her. She rolled onto her back and stared up at him. “I… You….”

  “You?” He asked in a husky voice.

  “You make me feel things inside I do not understand,” she replied, sliding her hands down his chest to his hips. A shudder went through her when he slid first one leg, then the other between hers in the tight confines of the sleeping bag. The movement spread her legs and sent wild bursts of need through her. “Ty,” she moaned, pressing upward. br />
  “Oh, Ella,” Ty responded in a hoarse voice.

  Ella pulled on his hips. He settled his large frame over her. Her hands slid up and under the thick sweater he was wearing. The moment her hands touch his heated skin, she was lost.

  Her fingers desperately kneaded his flesh, trying to touch more of it as they met in a powerful kiss that shook her. Her lips opened for him, now familiar with what he wanted. This time she’d had enough of being an untutored recipient of his kiss and she let herself go. Her tongue tangled with his, sweeping into his mouth and searching just as much as he did with her. She ran her tongue along his, teasing and stroking him with an innocence that she had no idea was driving him crazy.

  She gasped, ripping her lips from his when she felt him press his hips down and rub against her. Her hips rose to meet his and her legs locked around his calves, holding him to her.

  “Ty, I… This feels… I want something,” she cried out, burying her face into his neck and nipping at him.

  “Ella, this… If we start… I want you,” he said, pulling back far enough to cup her cheek and turn her head to look him in the eye. “I want you, Ella.”

  Ella knew what he meant. It was impossible to live in as small of a village as she did and not know what happened between a man and a woman. While she never had the urge to be with one of the men from her clan, it did not mean that she hadn’t craved the close relationship her parents had enjoyed. She had never thought it would be possible, simply because she never desired one of the men the way she desired Ty at this moment.

  Her eyes burned at the thought of how fleeting their time together would be. If she were to spend the rest of her days alone, she would do so with her memory of being with Ty to give her comfort. She ran her hands over his smooth skin, trying to memorize him.

  “I want you, too,” she said with a conviction that shook her. “I want to be with you as a woman is with a man.”

  She watched as Ty closed his eyes and drew in a long, hissing breath. It was not the only reaction he had to her statement. His hips pushed into her and she could feel the hard outline of his manhood even through their clothing. When his eyes opened, she stared back at him with the same intense fire of need.