Ella felt her stomach drop. Blinking rapidly when tears burned her eyes, she dropped her gaze to the steaming mug of tea. She had been so selfish! She had realized there were dangers for her people, but it had never dawned on her that her single act could cause a reaction on such a grand scale or have the potential for such devastating ramifications. This was much, much larger than just herself or her small clan. If other humans existed around the world, then she had unwittingly endangered them as well.
“I couldn’t let them kill him, though,” she whispered, staring at her reflection in the liquid.
“Who couldn’t you let them kill?” Art asked, staring at her across the counter.
Ella slowly lifted her head. Her troubled gaze locked with his. She swallowed and bit her lip before she finally replied.
“Ty,” she admitted. “My friends asked if they should kill him when he was unconscious in the pit. I told them no. I hoped that he would not remember me. One of the elders later ordered that he be killed as well. Several of my people and I objected. I could not let him die, Art. I… I love him,” she admitted, glancing down again at her mug of tea. “I love him, but in exchange, I have doomed the rest of the human race. What does that say about me?”
Ella slowly looked back up when Art leaned forward and gently placed his fingers under her chin. He was giving her such a stern look that Ella couldn’t help but return it with a watery smile. He raised his hand and caught the tear on her cheek.
“This tear tells me all I need to know about you,” Art replied in a voice heavy with compassion. “You are a remarkable young woman who opened her heart to a young man completely different from herself and risked everything to spare his life. That means a great deal, especially to me, as that young man is my son. Things will work out, Ella. You and the other humans in the world will have some very powerful supporters, including my sister. Times are not as they used to be centuries ago. What the shifters did to the humans was inexcusable. We are being given a second chance to make amends for the atrocities that our ancestors committed. It is not often that we are given such an opportunity.”
“Thank you, Art,” Ella whispered, giving him a tender smile.
“For what?” Art asked, sitting back in surprise.
“For being you, for having such a wonderful son, and for opening your own heart to me,” Ella replied.
Art chuckled. “The first and last were the easy parts,” he replied with a wink. “Now, let me tell you some of the magnificent stories of my wonderful son when he was a teenager. You’ll be wishing Ty was back in that pit you left him in.”
Ella sniffed and wiped her hand against her cheek. Soon, the tears turned to laughter when Art told her about some of the mischief Ty got into as a teenager. It was the things that he had done in college, though, that made Ella decide that Art was correct – Ty would definitely find himself back in a pit if he tried any of those things now.
Chapter 19
Several hours later, Ella wriggled out from under the bed in one of the unused guest rooms. She grinned when she saw a dust bunny clinging to her hair. She lifted the vacuum hose up to suck in the long strand of hair that came loose and the dust bunny it held.
“You have some on the back of your shirt, too,” a voice commented behind her.
Ella released a startled squeak and quickly spun around on the polished wooden floor. She stared up at the stranger standing in the doorway. A young man about her age was standing in the doorway. She eyed him warily, reaching out she shut off the vacuum. Rising to her feet, she held the wand of the vacuum out in front of her.
“Who are you?” She asked in a cautious voice, staring uneasily back at the man.
“Lorne Timberwolf,” the man replied, leaning against the door frame.
“What are you doing here?” She asked, eyeing the strange belt he wore around his hips with a suspicious look.
Ella’s gaze followed the man as he straightened up and sniffed the air. He frowned, studying her. She tightened her grip on the handle of the vacuum cleaner wand.
“What are you? You smell… funny,” he said, gazing at her in curiosity.
“I do not smell funny. I took a bath this morning,” Ella retorted, threateningly waving the metal end of the wand with a brush attached at him. “Go away.”
Lorne gave her an amused, sharp-toothed grin and shook his head. Ella carefully pushed the release on the wand part of the vacuum, detaching it from the flexible hose. Holding it in front of her, she kicked the hose away from her feet.
“I don’t think so. At least not until you tell me who you are. There’s something different about you. What shifter group do you come from?” Lorne asked, hooking his thumbs in the belt loops of his jeans. “You don’t smell like a bear. Are you a herbivore or a carnivore?”
“Both,” Ella snapped.
Ella gritted her teeth and held the long tube of metal firmly between her hands. She wished she had her lance which she left back in Ty’s and her room.
“Both? Okay, that really doesn’t help much. Can you give me a clue? Maybe narrow it down a touch more, like I belong to the wolverine group or I’m part of the coyote’s? Though, I have to say I’ve met both and neither smelled as good as you do,” Lorne admitted with an easy grin. “Perhaps a little taste test might help me figure it out,” he suggested.
“A little…,” Ella’s voice faded in alarm when he started to reach out toward her.
All Ella could think of when he said “taste test” was that he wanted to take a bite out of her. Fear and adrenaline poured through her. Twirling the vacuum cleaner wand in her hands, she brought it up between the man’s legs with enough force to bend the metal piping. Lorne’s eyes grew huge with shock before they glazed with pain. A loud, terrifying howl escaped him.
The sound ripped through Ella and her survival instinct kicked in. Raising the wand again, she struck out a second time. This time, the man raised his arm and deflected the blow even while he slowly sank to his knees, gasping for breath. The blow, combined with being off-balance, was enough to knock him sideways.
Ella didn’t wait. She jumped out of his reach and took off through the open door. All she could think of was reaching Ty’s and her room on the other side of the house.
The new shoes that Lena had ordered for her squeaked on the polished floor as she ran down the long corridor. Her breath caught when she saw another man suddenly appear at the end of the corridor near the staircase. In her panic, all she saw was the rounded hat that he was wearing and the same strange belt around his waist as well. His surprised gaze locked onto heron hers a moment before she swerved. There was another staircase in small side corridor that led down to the kitchen. In the background, she heard the second man yell at the same time as the man from the bedroom released another pain-filled howl.
Ella hit the door at the end of the short hallway hard before she remembered she had to turn the handle on the door to open it. Grabbing the doorknob, she twisted it and pushed the door open. She almost tumbled down the stairs when her foot slipped on the first step. It was only her grip on the doorknob that saved her from a nasty fall down the narrow stairwell.
She slammed the door shut when she heard the sound of footsteps and muttered voices from the other side of the door. Not waiting to find out who the men were, she raced down the steps to the kitchen. Her breath caught in her throat when she saw Martha turn afteras she skidded to a stop.
“What is it, Ella?” Martha asked in a worried tone. She quickly wiped her hands on a dish towel. “What happened to the vacuum cleaner?”
Ella glanced down at the bent wand she still held, then over her shoulder when she heard the sound of footsteps rusinghurrying down the stairs. Her lips parted and anger flared. She wouldn’t let whoever was coming hurt Martha.
“Men,” Ella replied in a breathless voice. “They are coming!”
Martha’s lips parted in surprise and she grabbed a long knife out of the wooden block on the counter. She hurried over to Ella’s
side as the first man came into view. Ella’s eyes widened in surprise when she saw Van.
“Van, what in the hell is going on?” Martha demanded, waving the knife at him. “You scared poor Ella half to death!”
“It wasn’t me!” Van said, raising his hands in the air. “It was Lorne.”
Martha turned her accusing eyes to the young man standing behind Van. Lorne was leaning against the wall, staring at Ella with a wary look of fascination. Ella glared back at him in warning to keep his distance.
“I scared her?” Lorne retorted with a strained laugh. “She nearly put my balls in my throat. What the hell is she? A bobcat?”
“No,” Van replied with a grin. “A human. Ella, meet my younger brother Lorne. Lorne, I would like to introduce you to Ella.”
“A human?! I thought they were extinct. Is that why she smells funny?” Lorne asked, studying her.
“I do not smell funny!” Ella hissed, shaking the vacuum cleaner wand at him.
“In a good way,” Lorne hastily added, taking a step back up the stairs and raising one hand. He placed the other over the front of his jeans. “I meant you smell funny in a good way.”
“Shut up, Lorne,” Van chuckled. “Forgive him, Ella. Mother let us pick on him when he was a pup. She didn’t know we were dropping him on his head.”
Ella scowled at Van. “You did not!” She exclaimed in disbelief.
This time it was Lorne who laughed. “Naw, they didn’t. Mom would have skinned them alive. Sorry for scaring you, Ella. How about I make up for it by taking you out to dinner?” Lorne asked with a wolfish grin. "I know this great little restaurant on the outskirts of town.”
“Shut up, Lorne, she’s Ty’s mate. Unless you want to deal with a pissed off grizzly, I think you’d better go finish what you were doing,” Van muttered, turning and pushing his brother back up the stairs. “And just a reminder, no one is supposed to know about her, so make sure you keep your mouth shut.”
Lorne’s expression changed to disappointment. He shot Ella another easy grin and turned to climb back up the stairs. Ella’s lips twitched when she noticed he was moving a little more gingerly than before. She returned her attention back to Van.
“What are you doing?” She asked in curiosity.
“Ty wanted to add more security to the house and property. That is Peterson’s and my specialty. You’ll have to forgive Lorne. He just finished serving his time with the service and is in transition. Ty wanted this done as soon as possible, so I asked Lorne to help out. He was a security specialist with the military. I should have warned you both about each other.”
“Well, now that I know Ella is safe, I need to finish preparing dinner,” Martha replied with a sigh.
“I need to go finish the vacuuming,” Ella murmured.
Van stepped to the side and gestured for her to go ahead of him. Ella gave him a shy smile before she squeezed past him. Climbing the stairs, she retraced her frantic path from earlier, back to the room where she had left the other part of the vacuum. She paused in the doorway when she saw Lorne at the window. He gave her a wry grin, his gaze roaming over her before stopping on the bent wand.
“You have a pretty powerful swing. Just so you know, the war between humans and shifters ended several centuries ago,” he quipped, returning his attention back to the wire he was running.
“Yes, I know,” Ella replied in a clipped tone.
“I thought your species was extinct. Where did Ty find you?” Lorne asked casually as he worked.
Ella didn’t reply. While she liked Van, there was something about Lorne that raised the hair on the back of her neck. Granted, she didn’t know him, but she had always trusted her instincts – and they were telling her to keep her distance from the young man.
“Far away from here,” Ella said, grabbing the end of the vacuum cleaner hose off the floor. “I have more work to do.”
Ella didn’t wait for Lorne to reply. She pulled the cord from the wall and quickly scooped up the vacuum. She would work in a different part of the house until the men were finished. She breathed a sigh of relief when she stepped out of the room and headed down the hallway. Maybe she was just imagining things, but there was something different in Lorne’s eyes when he had stared at her than when Van and Peterson did. She would definitely keep her distance from him.
*.*.*
Lorne watched as the unusual woman walked out of the room. He set the tape measure down that he was holding and adjusted the front of his jeans. His balls were still throbbing from that hit of hers. Pulling out his cell phone, he quickly unlocked it and slid his finger across the screen. Within seconds, a husky voice on the other end answered.
“It’s true,” Lorne said quietly.
“Security?” The voice asked.
“I’ll take care of it. I should warn you, she’s a fighter,” Lorne murmured.
“What happened?” The voice on the other end demanded. “You were not to engage.”
“She about busted my nuts. She won’t go peacefully,” Lorne cautioned.
“I will handle her. You just take care of the security,” the voice ordered.
“I will,” Lorne stated, ending the call.
He turned off his phone and replaced it in his back pocket. It would take a little creativity to make it appear that the system was still working even though it was shut down, but he could do it. He hated to deceive his brother, but sometimes a man didn’t have a choice. Van would understand eventually if he ever found out, at least Lorne hoped he would. Swallowing the bitterness rising up to choke him, he picked up the tape measure and began working again.
Chapter 20
Later that evening, Ella sat on the small window seat in their bedroom and stared outside at the swirling snow. She had taken off her shoes and was sitting with her knees drawn up, waiting for Ty to get home.
He had called her between meetings twice during the day on the phone he had given her. She glanced at it for the hundredth time. A small smile curved her lips when she saw the text message on it.
Love you. Be home soon. Ty.
A wave of warmth swept through her. She sat forward when she saw a set of twin headlights piercing the darkness. She followed the lights, waiting. An excited smile lit her face when she saw that it was Ty’s truck. Swiveling around, she stood up and headed for the bedroom door.
She was almost to the bottom of the staircase when the front door opened and Ty stepped inside. Her footsteps faltered when she saw that he wasn’t alone. The smile on her lips died. She saw an attractive brunette slowly unbuttoning her thick coat.
“I think the meeting went very well. Badger doesn’t have majority support from the board members. The Observatory has shown remarkable…,” the woman’s voice faded when she saw Ella staring back at them. “Ty?”
Ella heard the slightly confused question in the husky voice. She stared back at the woman, fighting a feeling of jealousy when the woman placed her hand on Ty’s arm. The action appeared all too familiar, as did the way the woman moved even closer to Ty. Art’s laughing voice when he had told her about Ty’s college days flashed through her mind.
“Rhyanna, could you give us a moment? You know where my office is. I’ll meet you there in fifteen minutes,” Ty murmured, his gaze locked on Ella’s mutinous expression. “Maybe twenty.”
“Of course,” Rhyanna replied, pulling her hand away before she glanced curiously at Ella. “That will give me a chance to check my email.”
Ella relaxed when the woman gave her a friendly smile before she turned and walked through the foyer and down the hallway. It wasn’t until the woman had disappeared from sight that Ella returned her attention to Ty. She blinked when she saw that he had moved and was now standing near the foot of the staircase.
“How was your day?” Ty asked in a husky, smooth voice that sent a wave of longing through her.
“I bent the vacuum cleaner wand when I struck Lorne Timberwolf in the balls, but it still worked so I was able to finish catching
all the dust bunnies. Who is the woman?” Ella stated, folding her arms and waiting.
“You bent the…,” Ty cursed softly and stepped closer to cup her face. “Why didn’t you tell me this earlier when I called? I would have come home. What did he do? I swear I’ll gut the bastard if he tried anything!”
Ella’s lips twitched and her eyes danced with amusement. “I could tell you were very busy and I had already taken care of the situation. He had trouble walking after I hit him. I don’t think it will be necessary for you to gut him. He startled me. I didn’t recognize him and he wanted to know what type of shifter I was. I don’t think he will come near me again,” Ella replied. “Who is the woman? Is she one of your old flames?”
“One of my…? I’m going to strangle Tracy,” Ty groaned, leaning forward until his forehead rested against hers and closed his eyes. “She’s been exaggerating about my college days again, hasn’t she?”
Ella giggled and ran her hands up his chest. “It wasn’t Tracy, it was your father. Were you really that bad?” She asked, stroking his cheeks with her thumbs.
Ty opened his eyes and gave her a boyish grin. “Maybe just a little,” he replied before he looked at her with a solemn expression. “Rhyanna is my executive assistant and second in command at the Observatory. Badger called a meeting today with the Board of Directors, concerned about some artifacts that have recently gone missing. Rhyanna and I are researching the disappearance of the items, as well as a few other things that happened while I was gone. I keep a duplicate copy of the inventory here. She came by to get it. I won’t be long.”