Ella and the Beast

Chapter 1-2

Ty Bearclaw slid out of his truck, shaking his head and grimacing as cold rain slipped inside the collar of his shirt. He reached over the seat, grabbed the wide brimmed hat off the passenger seat, and placed it on his head for protection from the rain.

“I just needed one more hour,” he growled to himself. “Just one more hour of no rain, but no, the clouds had to start pissing the moment I turned onto the road.”

Ty reached behind the seat and pulled out his rifle. He probably wouldn’t need it, but he had learned that it was better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it. His job as curator at the Washington State Animal Sanctuary, Research, and Observation Center—WSASROC—took him to all kinds of places. This time, it was a four hour drive from home. A local resident had complained that some type of animal had been getting into his storage shed.

Ty had stopped and talked to the idjit earlier this morning. The bastard was too stupid to warrant being called an actual i***t. The wolverine-shifter and a few of his friends had decided they should try to trap the creature by digging a pit. It hadn’t mattered to them that the pit was more than ten miles from the man’s property. The shifter had discovered an animal trail and figured the creature was using it to get back and forth between the National Forest and his own property. Unfortunately, the pit was on a National Wildlife preserve, in direct violation of the park rules.

After getting directions from the shifter, Ty had driven nearly thirty miles before reaching the remote dirt logging track. Of course, that was when it had started raining.

Ty slammed the door, locked it, and started down the path. The bear inside of him rolled over and woke up. Ty could feel the beast lifting his head. He didn’t care that it was raining. He would have been perfectly happy roaming the woods in the blasted freezing liquid. Unfortunately, wet bear fur was a pain in the ass to clean up and Ty didn’t want his truck all muddy. It would be bad enough as it was with him in his two-legged form.

The tall, black rubber boots cut through the muddy trail with no problem. Ty adjusted his grip on the rifle and pulled up his collar to keep the raindrops from getting under his dark green raincoat. The shifter had told him where they had dug the pit. It should be several hundred feet up the trail. Ty just hoped that no unsuspecting hiker had fallen into it. The last thing he needed was a pissed off cougar-shifter giving him grief for something he hadn’t done.

I smell something, his bear suddenly whispered to him.

What? Ty asked warily. Cougar?

No. Different, his bear responded. Never smell this before.

It could be the rain playing with your nose, Ty muttered.

No. This strange… animal, his bear insisted.

Ty slowed and drew to a stop, glancing warily around. If there was one thing he had learned, it was to trust his bear. He turned in a slow, tight circle, scanning the area. His head tilted when he heard a soft sound. It sounded like the whimper of a wounded animal.

He focused, his senses narrowing in on the sound. It was further up the path if he wasn’t mistaken. Moving as silently as possible, he held the rifle up to his shoulder. He paused when he heard the sound again. It was very, very faint. If he hadn’t already heard it and been focused on it, he would have missed the barely audible noise.

Stepping over a low branch, he saw the ragged edges of the hole up ahead. He cursed. That stupid bastard had caught an unsuspecting animal after all.

Ty shook his head in disgust. Maybe he would stay the night in town after he put the poor creature out of its misery, beat the s**t out of the wolverine-shifter, and then give him a hefty fine for violating Federal Laws.

Flipping the safety off the rifle with his thumb, Ty carefully moved closer to the edge of the pit. He glanced down into it, not seeing anything at first. Walking along the edge, he aimed the rifle after he saw a slight movement at the bottom. The hushed whimper reached his sensitive ears again.

No shoot, his bear growled.

It isn’t another shifter, is it? Ty asked warily.

No… It… different, his bear growled, pacing inside him.

Well…Shit, Ty muttered grouchily, lowering the gun and stepping back from the edge.

He debated whether he should shift or not, then decided against it. He needed to get a better view of what was down there before he decided whether to kindly shoot the damn thing, shift into his bear to scare the hell out of it, or rescue the creature. Whichever decision he made, it looked like he was going to get muddy.

“So much for cleaning my truck yesterday,” Ty muttered under his breath.

He turned and leaned the rifle up against the dead tree lying across the path. Walking closer to the edge, he pushed his hat back on his head far enough to get it out of his eyes and knelt on the soft, muddy ground. Leaning as far forward as he could without falling in, Ty glared down into the hole.

“Sweet, holy bear cub!” he hissed when he saw the shivering woman lying below with her eyes tightly closed. “Hey! Are you okay?”

The woman winced and curled into an even smaller ball, as if trying to disappear beneath the dirt. He frowned when the woman didn’t answer. Gripping the edge, Ty studied the unusual female. She was wearing strange clothing: leather boots that appeared to be handmade, dark trousers, a long tunic with a leather vest, and a leather pouch around her waist. He had never seen clothing like she was wearing except in…. Dread and fascination warred inside him.

“Woman, do you understand me?” Ty demanded.

The figure finally moved, but only the woman’s head turned. Bright blue eyes – eyes like he had only seen in books – stared up at him filled with fear, pain, and resignation. He knew what she was at that moment. He had completed his dissertation on her species – a species that was supposedly extinct.

“Please…,” her soft voice washed over him, pulling an immediate reaction out of both his bear and him. “…Kill me… swiftly.”

Shock hit Ty hard. He could feel his head shaking back and forth in denial. Swallowing, his gaze locked onto her pain-filled eyes. His fingers curled into the soil along the edge of the pit, his nails lengthening as his bear fought to emerge.

What are you doing? Ty hissed to his other self.

I go to her, his bear snarled, trying to break free.

I won’t let you kill her, Ty warned, pushing back.

I no kill, his bear snapped. I protect our mate.

That statement hit Ty hard. Our mate?! he thought in horror. He had just discovered a previously considered extinct species and his bear thought the – the human – was their mate?!

“Ah, s**t,” Ty muttered, forgetting about the dirt on his hands. He ran them down over his face in resignation. “This day has just gone from bad to worse.”