Ella and the Beast (More Than Human Book 1) (2 page)

Ella pushed up and scooted back along the bottom of the pit when she heard a husky voice. Her ankle was throbbing too much for the relief of sleep, but she had fallen into a semi-conscious doze in the hope of gathering enough strength to try to escape. The more she had thought about it, the more afraid she had become that Jayden wouldn’t return with help in time. They had ventured further than they had in the last few weeks, searching for items they could take back to their village.

Jayden had been excited when she had seen a strange building on the outer edges of the forest. She had told Ella about it and described all the strange and wonderful things stored inside. They had broken into it and, sure enough, found quite a few items they could use. They had been returning to the building when Ella had heard the sound of a strange metal beast moving along the road. Fear of being caught had made her reckless. She should have known to avoid the animal trail.

Now, her foolish mistake would not only mean her own death, but with the discovery of her, it could endanger the lives of her whole village. If she couldn’t kill the Other and it didn’t try to immediately kill her, she would have no choice but to take her own life to keep the Others from finding her people.

Gritting her teeth, she ignored the agonizing pain in her foot and clenched her lance. Her gaze remained glued to the thick, sharp claws that were digging into the soil along the edge of the pit. Ella braced her good foot into the ground and slid until her back was against the side of the pit.

“Kill me,” she ordered, holding the lance menacingly in front of her.

“Why would I kill you?” The man asked in confusion, staring down at her with dark, liquid brown eyes.

“If you don’t, I will kill you,” she warned.

Irritation swept through her when the beast’s lips curved upward in amusement. Reaching up, she wrapped her hand around a root and pulled herself to her feet, using the lance to steady herself. She leaned back against the side of the pit, panting with pain for a few precious seconds as sweat beaded on her brow despite the cool rain. She swayed before she stiffened her good leg.

“You can barely stand. I doubt that you could kill me,” he observed. He frowned down at her lifted foot. “You’ve hurt your foot.”

Ella hissed when her foot touched the ground. She jerked it up, almost losing her balance again. Biting her lip, she stared up at the beast. He was nothing like the stories she had been told. He resembled none of the descriptions given by the elders in their many tales. The few elders who still lived in the village had told stories of the Others, beings with massive bodies, glowing red eyes, sharp claws, and fangs. While this man was very large, he still wasn’t as massive as Ella had imagined the Beasts from the stories would be.

Instead of red eyes, his were a dark brown which held a hint of curiosity and confusion. He was wearing clothing, unlike the pictures of fur coated and blood covered beasts in the tomes. His face was slightly broader than that of the men in her village and his canines looked a little longer, but she still wouldn’t classify them as being true fangs. Her eyes went to his long fingers. They were normal now, long and thick, but the nails did not look any longer than her own.

He did not look like any of the pictures of the snarling, blood-coated beasts. He also didn’t snarl and growl at her. He spoke in a warm, husky voice that confused her.

“Are you real?” He asked, surprising her again.

Ella frowned and tilted her head. “Of course I’m real!” She snapped. “You are a beast. What kind?”

“A beast?” He asked, his eyes narrowing in confusion. “You mean, am I a Shifter? Yeah, of course. I’m a grizzly.”

Ella paled and felt the tenuous grasp of her hand slip on the root and she slid back down to the ground, staring up at him in numb horror. The flashes of mental images overwhelmed her. A grizzly-shifter! One of the most feared Others. They were known for their speed, their ferociousness, and their strength. She was truly dead.

“Why do you play with me?” She asked in a hoarse voice. “I am no match for you. One swipe of your paw and you could gut me.”

“Gut you? Why would I want to do that? Gutting is so… barbaric,” Ty muttered with a shake of his head. “Listen, my name is Ty. What is yours?”

Ella lowered her lance to the ground. It would be ineffective. Her hand slid along her side and down to her hip. No, her knife was the only way. She would drive it through her heart before he could rip it out and eat it. She only hoped that he would choke on it when he tried to eat it.

“I am called Ella,” she whispered, lifting her head to stare at him as she pulled the blade from its sheath. “I want you to remember my name, Beast. For I shall haunt your dreams while you sleep.”

“Haunt…. Shit a bloody mosquito,” Ty cursed, landing down in front of her and wrapping his hand around her wrist when she pulled the knife out and turned the sharp tip toward her chest. “What the hell do you think you are doing?”

Ella stared up into his furious eyes. Surprise and shock surged through her at his incredible speed in which he had moved. One second he had been on the edge, staring down at her and the next he was wrapping his massive hand around her wrist. Swallowing, she began to shake.

“Taking my own life, so that you can’t,” she whispered, licking her lips.

He reached out and cupped her cheek with a gentleness that belied his superior strength. A strange warmth flooded her at the feel of his calloused fingertips against her skin. She drew in a breath when he leaned forward.

“You aren’t going to escape me that easily, sweetheart,” Ty muttered, bending forward until his lips were just a breath away from hers.

“Why not?” Ella asked in a husky voice.

“Because, Ella, when a Silverback grizzly finds his mate, he will do everything in his power to make sure she stays safe,” Ty muttered, pressing a warm kiss to Ella’s slightly parted lips.

Ella felt his hand slide down to her hand. With a flick of his wrist, he removed the blade from her grasp. He held her head still while he softly explored her mouth. Unexpected warmth flooded her, numbing the throbbing pain in her ankle and stunning her with its unexpected intensity.

Ella didn’t understand what was happening. This wasn’t in any of the story books. He was supposed to be snarling, growling, and disemboweling her, not… not kissing her!

Ella’s hand curled around her lance and she leaned back a little. The move drew the huge Beast slightly off-balance. Swinging with all her might, she hit him with the lance. He fell sideways, gripping his head and staring at her with shocked surprise.

“Why did you do that?” He demanded, starting to rise to his feet before he jerked and suddenly staggered backwards, looking down at his thigh in surprise. His back hit the side of the pit. He slid down until he was sitting on the ground. “What the…?” His gaze moved up to the edge of the pit.

Even from the bottom of the pit, Ella could see Jayden standing near the edge, a strange weapon in her hands. The startled look in Jayden’s eyes told Ella that her friend hadn’t realized that she had triggered the weapon. Ella’s gaze moved back to the Beast. He had wrapped his hand around the red tranquilizer dart fired from his rifle and was pulling it out of his thigh. His eyes were glazed and he blinked several times.

“Will it kill you?” She whispered, unsure why she cared.

“No… Just sleep,” he muttered. “Ella… Don’t leave.”

“I have to, Beast,” Ella whispered. “You must forget you ever saw me.”

His breathing began to slow and he slumped to his side. “I can’t,” he forced out as his eyelids slowly closed. “You… belong to… me.”

Ella shook her head. “I can never belong to you,” she murmured. “Forget me.”

Ella watched as several ropes were lowered into the pit. Jayden had found another of their hunting parties. The two slightly older women nodded to Ella after they slid down into the pit to help her. Ella glanced at the slumbering beast.

“Should we kill him?” One of the women asked, staring at Ty.

“No,” Ella said with a shake of her head. “Perhaps he will think this is a dream. Take the dart with us so he does not remember it.”

With the help of the other three women, Ella was able to climb out of the pit. Once at the top, Jayden quickly wrapped Ella’s foot and ankle. It would be a difficult journey back to the village, but at least she was still alive to make it. Ella glanced one last time over her shoulder at the pit. Somewhere deep inside her, she felt a pang of sorrow. It was as if a part of her was still trapped with the beast.

“Come, Ella,” Jayden murmured. “We need to put as much distance as we can between us and the beast before nightfall.”

Ella nodded and held onto the shoulders of the two women following Jayden. Soon, the forest swallowed them like fairies returning to the hidden corners of a magical world – a world where humans lived, not unusual shape-shifting beasts who kissed instead of killed.

Ty groaned and dropped his head into his hands. The blurry images in the book lying open on his desk seemed to mock him. Had he just imagined her?

No! My mate out there! Hurt!
His grizzly growled.

“I know,” Ty muttered with a weary sigh. “But where? We’ve searched that area and then some for the last five weeks now and found nothing!”

“What are you looking for?”

Ty leaned back in his seat and closed the book in front of him. He had to blink several times before he could bring the figure standing at the door into focus. He grimaced when he saw his twin sister, Tracy, leaning against the door frame.

“What are you doing here?” He growled, pushing his seat back and standing up to stretch.

“I love you, too, little bear,” Tracy chuckled as she straightened and stepped into the elegant room. “I see you are still keeping your nose in the books. You’ll never find a mate that way.”

Ty scowled at his sister, who was older by all of two minutes. “I don’t see a mate sniffing up your ass either, Tracy,” he retorted with a frown.

Tracy shook her head, sending a dark mane of thick brown hair dancing around her head. Ty’s gaze softened when he saw a fleeting look of sadness sweep across his sister’s face. Like her brother, she much preferred to have her nose in a book or to be studying some strange rock somewhere instead of hanging out in a bar or on the social network established for shifters who were searching for their one and only.

“I felt your unease,” she murmured, stepping closer to the desk.

Ty bit back a curse when he saw her gaze swept over the cover of the old textbook. Her eyebrow lifted and she shifted her gaze back to him in confusion. Once again he cursed the connection between twin cubs.

“It’s nothing,” he muttered as he picked up the book and stepped around the desk. “Please tell me that you didn’t travel halfway around the world because you felt something.”

Tracy shook her head and looked down. “No, it isn’t the only reason,” she admitted in a soft tone before she looked up again and gave him a wry smile. “But, it was the primary one. So – I thought you were done with school.”

“I am,” Ty retorted, pushing past her to replace the book on the bookshelf next to the door.

“Did someone discover some old bones?” She asked.

“No,” Ty snapped tiredly before he released a groan and ran his hand through his hair. He stared at the spine of the book ‘
Ancient Humans and What We Know About Them
’.

Obviously not nearly as much as the scientists had thought, he reflected silently before shaking his head and turning to look at his sister.

“What’s wrong?” Tracy asked in a soft, concerned voice.

“I found my mate,” Ty reluctantly admitted.

Tracy drew in a surprised breath. Her eyes widened and her lips parted in stunned disbelief. A reluctant smile curved his lips. It wasn’t often that he could shock Tracy into silence.

“You…,” she paused and shook her head. “You found your mate? Where? When can we meet her? Do mom and dad know?”

“Goddess, no!” Ty replied with a shudder.

“Why not?” Tracy demanded, placing her hands on her hips before her eyes narrowed. “It isn’t a fox-shifter, is it? You know how dad is about foxes.”

Ty scowled and vehemently shook his head. He would have almost preferred dealing with their dad’s dislike of fox-shifters to what he was going through at the moment. His gut twisted at the thought of never finding Ella. The pain and fear swelled inside him. To know he had a mate somewhere out there in the woods and to never see her again was almost more than he could physically or mentally stand.

“Ty!” Tracy whispered, reaching out to grip his arm. “What is it?”

Pain shadowed his eyes. “I have to find her, Tracy,” he muttered in a thick voice. “She’s out there. She was hurt. I have to find her, but it’s as if she just vanished.”

“Your mate?” Tracy asked.

Ty nodded and swallowed past the lump in his throat. “Ella,” he whispered. “Her name is Ella.”

Tracy’s eyes sharpened with determination. Ty recognized the look in his twin’s eyes. She was like a bear on the hunt when she got that look.

“What is her last name? What type of shifter is she? There will be a record of her in the database. I can get Peterson to do a search. He can hack into any computer system. Once we find her marker, we can trace her,” Tracy said with a contemplating expression. “I’ll also need a description of her. That will help. Van can do a sketch.”

“They won’t find her,” Ty replied with a weary sigh.

“Of course they will!” Tracy exclaimed. “Peterson and Van are wolves. They can find anything!”

“Not this time,” Ty insisted, shaking his head and walking over to the window of his office.

He could feel Tracy’s puzzled gaze on his back. He drew in a deep breath and thought about how much he should tell her. Every second of every day for the last five weeks he had thought of nothing else but Ella… and what it would mean to the world should she be discovered before he could find and protect her. There were some shifters that would capture and keep her as an exotic pet. He had dealt with those types numerous times over the years when ancient human artifacts were discovered.

He also thought of what it would mean to him and his bear if he never found her. He felt like he was going crazy after just five weeks. If he spent years, even a lifetime, knowing he had a mate and never saw her again… Ty didn’t know what would happen to him. Would he truly go insane?

He released a long breath. If he was going to find her, he needed help. Tracy was right. Van and Peterson were two of the best men to have at your side when you needed to find something – or in this case someone.

Ty turned back around and looked at his sister. The connection between them was strong, even for twins, and he could tell from the faint lines of strain at the corner of her mouth that she was feeling his anxiety. A reluctant smile curved the corner of Ty’s lips. Tracy always did take the big sister's responsibility to the max.

“I need your help, Tracy. Call your team together. This is important,” Ty finally instructed.

Tracy’s eyebrow rose. “Of course it is! Now, tell me about this fabulous woman who has captured your heart,” she requested before a frowned creased her brow. “I’m assuming it is a woman.”

“Yes, it is a woman! I told you her name was Ella,” Ty retorted with a grimace before he ran his hands down over his face in resignation. “She’s about your height, with light brown hair and blue eyes the color of the sky.”

“Blue eyes?” Tracy repeated. “Is she a wolf?”

Ty shook his head. “No,” he replied in a quiet voice. “She’s a human.”

Tracy’s eyes widened with disbelief and her mouth dropped open before she snapped it shut and scowled at him. The scowl slowly changed to uncertainty before the disbelief returned when he just continued to stare at her in silence. He knew she could see that he was totally serious.

“You… You’re serious, aren’t you? Are you telling me that you found a human? A real, honest to Goddess, non-dead human?” Tracy whispered in a slightly husky voice filled with awe.

“Yes, and her name is Ella,” Ty repeated with a calm, serious look. “I need your help in finding her, Tracy.”

Ty watched as Tracy swallowed and nodded her head. It wouldn’t take long before she regained her composure and began bombarding him with questions. The thought no sooner swept through his mind when she started peppering him with questions. A grim smile curved his lips as he repeated everything he knew to date about Ella. There was nothing like having his sister on his side when it came to tracking down an unusual, precious artifact. As far as he was concerned, there was nothing in the world more unusual or more precious than finding Ella.

*.*.*

Seven days later, Ty was in the Olympic National Forest again. This time, though, he wasn’t alone. He and Tracy watched from above as Peterson knelt at the bottom of the pit he had marked off with orange tape. Peterson stood up and frowned.

“You know, this would have been a hell of a lot easier if you had contacted us eight weeks ago,” Van complained when he came to stand next to them. “Peterson, you find anything?”

Peterson looked up and shook his head. “Nothing,” he replied. “I wasn’t expecting any scents, but it would have been nice if your mate would have left something behind, Ty. Are you sure she is real?”

Ty scowled. “Yes, I’m sure,” he retorted in a blunt tone. “I wouldn’t have wasted your time if she wasn’t.”

“They’ve just started, Ty, give them time,” Tracy said, laying her hand on his arm.

“She’s right,” Van replied with an easy grin. “Peterson and I always did love a challenge.”

Ty shoved his hands into the front pockets of his jeans and nodded. He watched as Peterson started climbing back up the ladder placed in the pit. His eyes narrowed when Peterson suddenly released a soft exclamation.

“Well, well, well, maybe the Goddess is looking down on you after all, Ty,” Peterson crowed with a grin.

“What is it?” Tracy asked, watching as Peterson reached into a twisted bundle of roots along the side.

“Just the first piece of evidence that your baby brother isn’t as crazy as we thought he was,” Peterson replied. He held up an unusual object in his hand before he moved it under his nose. “Protected from the rain and weather, oh, you sweet little jewel. I have a very, very faint scent!”

“Let me see it,” Van demanded, leaning over the ladder for the piece of jewelry made from thick leather bracelet. Fine threads of woven hair, colorful stones and wooden beads decorated the unusual piece. “Oh, yeah,” he said, holding it to his nose and drawing in a deep breath. “Slight, but there.”

“Let me have it,” Ty said, reaching for the bracelet. He held it to his nose. While his sense of smell wasn’t quite as good as a wolf, it was still pretty damn good. He drew in a deep breath and held it, allowing the very faint scent to wash through him. “It’s her.”

Ty lowered the wide bracelet and stared at the strands of thick, golden brown hair woven into it. It was the same color that Ella’s hair. His fingers closed around the evidence proving that he wasn’t dreaming. He looked up when Van, Peterson, and Tracy came to stand around him.

“Now what?” He asked in a husky voice.

“Now, we hunt,” Tracy replied with a grin.