Ember

by Ophelia Sexton

  Daniel was seized with an all-too-vivid image of driving his elongated canines down into the man pinned beneath his paws, and tasting the hot, salty blood of his prey.

  No. Sabertooth or not, Daniel had sworn to himself that he would never kill anyone again. And he especially didn't want to traumatize Amber any further than she'd already been traumatized. The little girl was alive and seemed unharmed, and Jeff was helpless now.

  Enough, he told his cat. We won. Be happy with that.

  What good is hunting without a kill? His cat sounded sulky, but it backed down.

  A strange ripple passed over the bear's body, and it shuddered violently. Then it began to fold in on itself and shrink as Mark shifted back to human.

  Daniel stayed in his cat shape, pinning Jeff to the floor as his prisoner cursed and struggled and tried to wriggle free. He tried not to breathe in the choking stench that filled the house.

  Back in his human shape, Mark dressed with blinding speed. He pulled out his radio, and notified Linda at dispatch that they'd found the girl, gave her their location, and requested the police.

  Then he stepped into the house.

  Daniel saw the instant that Mark spotted Amber. The big bear shifter's immediately demeanor underwent an amazing change from intimidating clan enforcer to a gentle and friendly Dad-figure.

  "Hi sweetie," he said in a soft, friendly voice. Ignoring the filth all around them, he approached her and went down on one knee in front of her. "Are you Amber?"

  She nodded shyly.

  "My name is Mark. I'm a fireman and your mom sent us to find you." He produced the dinosaur toy that Kelsey had given them. "She asked me to bring Rexie to keep you company while we wait for someone to give us a ride home."

  "Rexie!" Amber's shy reserved vanished as she grabbed her toy and hugged it.

  "Are you hurt anywhere?" Mark asked, his tone deliberately casual.

  She shook her head, and Daniel saw tension drain out of Mark's shoulders.

  "Jeff yelled at me a lot and used bad words," she informed him. "He called me stupid. You're not supposed to call people stupid."

  "That bitch—" Jeff began to say.

  Daniel growled, lifted one of his paws from Jeff's shoulders, and cuffed his head. He kept his claws sheathed, but Jeff got the message and shut up.

  "Is that your big kitty?" Amber asked, pointing at Daniel. "Is he friendly?"

  Mark nodded. "He helps me catch bad guys. I know he looks scary but he's really very nice." He smiled at Amber, and she returned the smile hesitantly, hugging her toy dinosaur to her chest.

  "Linda says that the police will be here in about twenty minutes," he told Daniel. He dug in his backpack and came up with a handful of zip ties. "These are useful for all kinds of things. Including cuffing bad guys."

  "Fuck you," Jeff said, weakly. "That bitch Kelsey was asking—"

  Daniel smacked him again, harder this time, then moved to make room for Mark to work.

  As soon as Daniel's weight left his back, Jeff tried to surge up in an escape attempt.

  Mark easily slammed him back down to the carpet, put his knee in the middle of Jeff's back, then quickly used the zip ties to fasten Jeff's wrists together. "I'll keep an eye on Jeff here, if you want to go, uh, change back."

  It was warmer in the house, but the back deck had fresh air even if it was freezing. Daniel couldn't escape the house's stench quickly enough, and he opted to shift back to human outside.

  He was shivering violently when he finally completed his shift, and he ached all over from having shifted twice in a fairly short period of time. But still, he was back in human shape and fully dressed before the first police vehicle pulled up, lights flashing, behind Jeff's towing rig.

  Despite the cold, Daniel was tempted to wait outside, but he felt bad leaving Mark to suffer alone inside. And they couldn't expect little Amber to stand out here in the near-freezing temperatures.

  The cop was tall, blond, and fairly young. His metal name badge said "Jacobsen," and Daniel smelled wolf shifter.

  "Thank God you're here!" Jeff said, as soon as the officer came through the doorway.

  Daniel saw the young cop recoil from the stench in the house.

  "Hey, Mark, this the kidnapper?" he asked Mark, after giving Daniel the once-over.

  "You would not believe what these guys did to me! They broke in here and just beat me up! But they weren't people when they did it! They were giant bears and lions!"

  "Yeah, right." Officer Jacobsen rolled his eyes. "I don't know what you've been smoking up here, but you have the right to remain silent, because you can bet your sorry ass that I'm going to use anything you say against you." He continued reciting the Miranda warning as he hustled Jeff out to his police SUV.

  Jacobsen returned a short time later. "Ms. Adams and Dr. Nika are on their way," he reported. He squatted to talk to Amber. "Your mommy will be here in about ten minutes," he told the little girl. "Then we'll need to ask you some questions, but don't worry. We'll make sure that bad man never bothers you again." He looked up at Mark and Daniel. "And good job tracking this creep," he said. "We've been looking for him because he violated a restraining order granted to Ms. Adams." Jacobsen looked around, his nose wrinkling. "I guess he's been squatting here. Figures...the owner of this ranch passed away a couple of years ago, and it's been standing vacant ever since."

  "I saw the 'For Sale' sign on the way in," Daniel said.

  He looked around at the interior of the awful house, trying to see past the piles of junk and the disgusting conditions.

  An idea was starting to take shape.

  Two more vehicles rolled up to the front of the house, parking in the weeds. The first was a second police SUV.

  It had barely stopped moving when the front passenger door opened, and Kelsey Adams scrambled out. "Amber!"

  "Mommy!" Amber came bolting out of the house, still clutching her precious toy dinosaur, and ran straight into her mother's arms.

  The second vehicle was one of the Grizzly Creek Ranch's white pickups, driven by Dr. Nika.

  "Good," said Mark, waving to his sister-in-law. "Once she's finished making sure that Amber is really okay, we can catch a lift with her down the hill to our cars."

  "Sounds like a plan," Daniel agreed. "As long as we don't have to go back inside that house."

  Mark shuddered. "I'd rather have frostbite than breathe in more of that stench." He hesitated, as if choosing his words, then stuck out his hand. "I'm sorry I got on your case about Aunt Margaret. It's just..."

  "You worry about her." Daniel finished as he shook Mark's hand. "There's nothing to apologize for. I'm glad that she has people who love her and who are looking out for her."

  "She does. We Swansons take care of our own...and I hope you know that you're included in that number."

  The big bear shifter appeared to have changed his mind about Daniel in the course of this evening's adventures. Does that mean he's okay with my relationship with Margaret? Daniel nodded. "Same here. I want you to know that I'll do everything I can to make her happy, Mark."

  He looked back at the house, filled with garbage and vile smells...but also potential.

  Find a solution that you can live with, Justin had told him.

  Daniel couldn't wait for morning, when he could start making phone calls.

  Chapter Thirty-One – Things Fall Apart

  Daniel came home later than usual that night.

  Margaret had fallen asleep about an hour earlier, but she woke up enough to hear him tiptoe into her bedroom, accompanied by a faint but unpleasant reek, as if he'd spent the evening rummaging around the local landfill.

  She heard him go into the bathroom and take a quick shower before he climbed into bed next to her. She rolled over and gave his damp cheek a sleepy kiss. His arms came around her, scooping her close to his hard chest. She nuzzled his throat and inhaled his comforting scent.

  "I heard you and Mark went on an adventure after work." she murmured. "He texte
d me that he's decided that you're okay, after all."

  He chuckled and kissed her forehead. "Glad to hear it," he said, dryly. "We had an interesting night. I'll tell you all about it in the morning."

  When Margaret's alarm went off at six a.m., Daniel was already up despite his late night. As she headed for her bathroom, she heard him moving around downstairs and smelled the enticing fragrance of brewing coffee.

  When she came downstairs, Daniel was sitting on one of the stools at her kitchen island, his laptop open in front of him. The kitchen smelled of bacon, vanilla, and warmed maple syrup. She caught a glimpse of what looked like a real estate listing on his screen as she came up behind him, put her arms around his waist and kissed the side of his neck before heading for the coffee pot.

  "Good morning. You're up early," she commented, pouring herself a mug of the deliciously dark brew.

  "I have a few things I need to take care of today. I made French toast and bacon for us," he said. "It's warming in the oven." He glanced up at the kitchen clock, closed the lid of his laptop, and rose. "Please help yourself while I go kick Chris out of bed. I heard his alarm go off a couple of minutes ago, but no signs of life yet upstairs." He paused, then added, "I have an idea I want to run by you. Let's talk once I've gotten Chris fed and off to school."

  "Sure," she told him, intrigued. Could it be that he had been looking at real estate listings because he was planning a future for them?

  But if that's true, then I'll need to make a decision about leaving this house. She glanced around at the familiar interior of the Queen Anne, which had been her home and her refuge since losing Ryan, and remembered Elle's advice to her.

  The prospect of starting a whole new chapter of her life with Daniel, away from the Grizzly Creek ranch, felt both exciting and terrifying. And somehow right.

  If he asks me to be his mate, I'll say yes.

  * * *

  Over breakfast, he told her and a fascinated Chris all about last night's events.

  Except for the part where Mark had showed up to the resort to "talk" to Daniel, Margaret already knew the essential details of Amber's abduction and rescue, thanks to a lengthy email that Mark had sent while Daniel had been trying to roust a sleepy Chris out of bed.

  She was amused to note that while Mark's version of the story had given the bulk of the credit for Amber's rescue to Daniel because, as he wrote, I couldn't even make it through the front door, Daniel's recitation cast Mark as the hero of the piece, risking a shotgun blast in the face so that Daniel could sneak in and "do the easy part—launch an attack from the rear."

  She also noted that both her nephew and her lover carefully avoided discussing exactly what burning issue had compelled Mark to drive all the way out to the resort to talk to Daniel in private...though she could guess, and it simultaneously frustrated and amused her.

  It was Daniel's turn to shuttle the ranch kids down to the school bus stop, so he departed with Chris as soon as they were finished with their breakfasts. Margaret found herself lingering over her second cup of coffee while her imagination ran wild with speculation about her impending talk with Daniel.

  I want to be his mate, she thought, her nerves fizzing with excitement.

  Her bear rumbled silently with approval. Finally! Why did it take this long?

  With an effort, she refocused herself, and rose to load the dishwasher before she began her round of daily work.

  When she returned to the house an hour later, the back of her station wagon filled with sacks of sheets and towels, Daniel emerged from the house to help her unload her car and carry the laundry down to her basement.

  As they passed through the kitchen to the basement door, she saw that the laptop was open and sitting on his counter, his phone sitting next to it.

  He saw her looking, and grinned. "So, I think I might have found a place I want to buy. You know the place where Jeff took little Amber last night? Well, it's called the Cougar Lake Ranch. It's a nice size, 160 acres, and it has water rights dating back to 1915 and a substantial creek running through the property. It's close to my job and it's listed at a great price. I could actually buy it for cash if I sell my house in Albuquerque because vintage adobe homes in my neighborhood are really in demand right now. I might even have some money left over to use for renovations." He grimaced. "And believe me, this place will need renovating—the bones of the house are good, but it's really been trashed and it's totally disgusting right now."

  The Cougar Lake Ranch...Margaret had visited that property several times when she was growing up.

  "Did you know that it used to belong to my great-uncle Johan?" she asked. "He used to host the Einarsson clan Fourth of July barbecues there when I was a girl. When he retired, he sold the place to Augie Spencer, the man who recently passed away."

  "So, it's a good place?" Daniel asked, sounding eager. "The listing made it sound like a diamond in the rough, but you never know..."

  "It's definitely a diamond in the rough," she assured him. "And best of all, it's surrounded by Bearpaw Springs National Park on three sides, so it'll remain wild."

  Daniel nodded. "That's what made this place feel like a winner to me, despite trashed condition of the house—I like knowing that it'll never be completely surrounded by subdivisions and strip malls, even if developers close in on the rest of the area."

  His excitement was contagious. Cougar Lake is close enough that I'll be able to visit Elle and everyone else whenever I like, she thought.

  "You could contact Tyler and hire him to do the renovations once you've bought it," she suggested. "He's always busy in the spring and fall, but I know his contractors and tradespeople would be happy to have some work over winter—seasonal layoffs are a hard fact of life for a lot of people in this area."

  Daniel grimaced. "I'd love to put a decent kitchen in that house, but I'll have to clean out the place first and see how much neglect and damage I'm dealing with. You would not believe how bad it is—I could swear I smelled mold when I was in there last night, but it was hard to tell whether that was coming from inside the walls or just from the piles of garbage all over the floors."

  "You can use that to justify a lower offer," she told him. "I happen to know that this property has been sitting vacant and listed for almost two years—I imagine that Augie's nieces and nephews are dying to get rid of it so that they can stop paying property taxes on a piece of land that none of them want."

  Daniel nodded. "That brings me to the other thing I wanted to talk to you about."

  "Yes?" Margaret felt butterflies of excitement ricocheting through her stomach and chest, making her feel short of breath. This is it. He's going to ask me.

  "My conversation with Justin the other night got me thinking. I've been doing a lot soul-searching, and I've come to the conclusion that I need to step up to the plate and take responsibility for the remaining members of my pride." He shrugged, his expression haunted. "Maybe it's too little, too late, but Albuquerque isn't safe for my pride anymore. I'm going to invite them to come to join me at the ranch. The listing said that there are cottages elsewhere on the property meant for the ranch hands. I don't know what kind of shape they're in, but maybe they could serve as temporary housing until folks have a chance to find jobs and establish themselves here."

  Margaret stared at him in shock. She had been so focused on she would gracefully accept his proposal that his actual words took a few seconds to sink in. "What?"

  "I can't shake the feeling that I'm partly responsible for the deaths of some of the people I knew and respected. If I hadn't resigned from the steering committee, or if I'd actually stepped into Pete's shoes and made sure that the pride was seen as having a strong leader..." Daniel let his voice trail off. He shook his head. "I can't go back and change what happened, but I can offer a place where my people will be safe from Messerzahn and his goons."

  What happens if Daniel invites more of his pride here? The memory of Mark's accusing voice rang loud in her head. He's going to fl
ip out when he hears what Daniel is planning...and so will everyone else.

  "But what if Messerzahn decides to follow the pride here, and take this territory away from you the same way he did Albuquerque?" she asked, trying to sound reasonable.

  "I won't let him do that," Daniel answered with a quiet, steely determination that terrified her.

  He's going to get himself killed because he feels guilty about something that wasn't his fault! She had just opened her heart to this man. She wasn't sure she could survive another devastating loss. "But he might kill you! What would happen to Chris, then?"

  What would happen to me?

  "I have to do this, Margaret."