Second Chance with the Shifter

by Leela Ash

  “Yeah. I just wanted to see how it’s going. I know you have a difficult relationship with your family.”

  Estelle was stunned. He hardly seemed like the kind of man who would go out of his way to check on somebody’s emotional well-being. And not only that, but she wasn’t at all used to anybody having any idea what she was going through with her family. But he seemed completely serious, as if it were one of the most important things in the world how she felt. It was bizarre, really. Nobody had ever cared how she felt before, except maybe Helen. But even then, it was never anything like this.

  “I…”

  Estelle’s eyes filled with tears, and she cringed. She could kick herself for letting her emotions shine through like this. It was completely ridiculous. But a small sob slipped from deep in her throat and the energy between them grew tense.

  “I’m on my way.”

  Estelle furrowed her brow, not sure if she had heard him properly. But before she could compose herself well enough to ask, the call had been dropped. She stared at the phone, stunned, and lowered it slowly to the bed beside her. What did he mean he was on his way? He had no idea where she was!

  She tried to shake off the feeling of confusion and bewilderment. She had to think clearly right now. Especially if her family was angry enough to come after her.

  Estelle closed her eyes and tried to relax into her pillow. She had to accept that she had no control over what other people said or did, even when it came to her own personal safety. Her family wouldn’t do anything stupid enough to get them arrested, so she was probably physically safe.

  And yet, she was afraid. Afraid enough that Blaine had seemed to sense exactly what she was feeling without her even having to say a word. Perhaps what had happened during the night they had spent together truly had connected them in a way that she wouldn’t ever be able to fully understand. She had been so sure in that moment that Blaine had cared endlessly about her in a way she had never experienced before.

  But now that they had made it clear that their relationship would never go anywhere beyond what it already had, she had done everything in her power to forget the comfort and safety she had felt in his arms; the deep and intimate connection she had shared with him in the moment. There was no good in letting herself believe she would ever have any business being comforted by a man like Blaine. It just wasn’t meant to be.

  Estelle groaned, shoving all thoughts of the mysterious, obnoxious man out of her head, and headed to the shower. Even if things felt like they were never going to get any better, she had to focus and take care of herself. That was all she would ever be able to do.

  ***

  “Estelle!”

  Her heart leapt into her throat and she was whipped around by the shoulder, forced to face her brother Lance.

  “What are you doing here?” Estelle asked, doing her best to keep her voice from wavering.

  Lance scowled at her. “You owe our father an apology.”

  “He’s not my father, remember?” Estelle growled. “He said I don’t have to be his daughter anymore. Best news I’ve ever heard in my life.”

  “I don’t think you understand the issue here,” Lance said, his silver eyes narrowing. “You ain’t going to get away with disrespecting the man of the house. You get what I’m trying to say? It’s kind of important.”

  “Only to someone with a tiny flea brain,” Estelle growled, shoving Lance’s hand off her shoulder and trying to turn back toward the door of the hotel. But Lance was strong, and gripped both of her shoulders almost as quickly as she had been able to shake him off.

  “You think you’re so much better than us, don’t you? But you’ll never be anything more than a fat, worthless bitch!”

  “Lance, let go!”

  Estelle fought against her brother, the same feeling of powerlessness that had haunted her all throughout her childhood crashing down upon her. Fury consumed her and she tried to fight free from his grip once again.

  “Let her go.”

  Estelle froze, and Lance’s lips curled into a sadistic smile at the sound of Blaine’s voice. Estelle struggled against Lance, who dug his fingers hard into the soft flesh of her shoulders in direct defiance of Blaine’s orders.

  “Who the hell do you think you are, boy?”

  Estelle could see Blaine now. he was standing directly behind them, glaring down at Lance. She had never noticed just how tall and burly Blaine was compared to most humans. He wore the look so well on the mountain that she had never thought twice about his impressive size. It was just natural. But here in the human world, it was apparent just how hard it was for Blaine and people like him to belong. And really, why would they want to? In Estelle’s experience, humans were terrible, to each other and to everyone else.

  “Just butt out of it!” Lance said, turning to face Blaine and trying to drag Estelle along with him. “This is family business.”

  “You’re not my family,” Estelle growled. “Families know how to love each other. You guys only know how to care for yourselves.”

  “I think you are both missing the point here,” Blaine said, crossing his arms and tapping his foot impatiently. “This little asshole here is supposed to let go of you, because if he doesn’t, it’s going to make me very, very angry.”

  “Like I give a shit,” Lance said, sneering at Blaine. “She has a lot to apologize about and if she doesn’t, she’s in for a world of trouble.”

  “Right,” Blaine said, taking a step forward and nodding as if Lance were saying the most reasonable thing in the world. “I know just how difficult that can be for you. Thinking you’re the only thing in the universe that matters.”

  Before Lance had a chance to open his mouth and respond, he cried out in agony and a sickening thud filled the air. Estelle blinked hard, unable to believe what she had just seen. Blaine had lunged forward, his fists clenched tightly, and knocked her brother out with one powerful thrust of his arm. Neither of them had seen the punch coming, but Lance was on the ground, his eyes lolling back toward his skull, and Estelle found herself falling forward toward his limp body.

  “Easy there,” Blaine said, catching her before she landed. “Don’t want to mess up that nice dress of yours.”

  Estelle blushed; the truth was that the dress was one of her favorites. She had packed it hoping that having it with her would boost her confidence when her family was being the same as they always were. But it hadn’t helped.

  “I…thank you,” Estelle mumbled, steadying herself against Blaine’s broad body. “But what are you doing here? Don’t you have things to take care of at BBT?”

  “I thought I’d take care of you first,” Blaine said simply, flashing her a grin that nearly made her heart stop. “You mean a lot to me.”

  “Right…”

  She couldn’t dare to believe what she was hearing, but the sight of her brother knocked out on the ground was pretty convincing.

  “Look, I have to catch my bus. I can’t stay here another second longer. You were right, I never should have come here. It was a huge mistake. I’m sorry you felt like you had to come out here to rescue me or something, but I’m not some damsel in distress…I just…”

  “Shhh,” Blaine said, surprising her by embracing her tightly. All her defenses melted and she just let herself be held for a few moments, fighting the urge that had been haunting her ever since she had arrived out east. She lost the fight this time, and broke down, dissolving into tears.

  “It’s going to be fine now,” Blaine said, kissing the top of her head tenderly. “You’re not taking any stinking bus back to the mountain either. I’m a wealthy man. We’re going back in style. I need my intern back at BBT as soon as you can get there.”

  “What…”

  Estelle looked up at Blaine, who smiled down at her, his dark, mystical eyes sparkling in a way that made the heat rise in her cheeks. He was something special, that was for sure. How had she ever been able to deny that to herself?

  “Come on,” Blaine s
aid, leading her away from the motel. “Let’s get out of here.”

  Estelle was shocked when he walked with her to a long black limousine, parked on the other side of the motel. He took the small bag from her hands and the driver quickly grabbed it from Blaine and tucked it safely in the trunk.

  “After you,” Blaine said, opening the door for Estelle while the driver was tending to her luggage.

  She shook her head in disbelief and climbed inside. Soon, Blaine was beside her, filling the new-car-scent of the limousine with his rugged outdoorsy musk. She had to admit that she preferred it over the scent of leather seats.

  “You look like you could use a drink,” Blaine said with a soft chuckle, grabbing a bottle of champagne from the bucket beside him and pouring her a glass.

  Estelle took it in a daze and sipped it quietly. Soon, they were on the road, Blaine sitting beside her, a pillar of strength and comfort. Estelle leaned back in her seat, dazed by the rapidity with which they traveled from the motel to the landing strip with Blaine’s private jet in waiting.

  The next thing she knew, they were up in the air, leaving her family as small as ants on the ground behind them.

  13.

  “You didn’t need to do any of this,” Estelle said quietly.

  She had barely even looked at him since they’d gotten in the jet, and Blaine sighed in agitation. He hadn’t gone all chivalrous on her only to be told he hadn’t had to do it. Of course, he didn’t have to do it! That’s why it was called being chivalrous and not being a typical asshole.

  “Well no shit,” Blaine said, pursing his lips at her.

  Somehow, that made her smile, and Blaine relaxed. The poor girl had been through a lot. She couldn’t hide that from him. He had known from the moment she’d brought it up that it had been a mistake to go back there, but it didn’t seem to make much of a difference to her. She was going to do whatever she wanted to do, and that was the end of the story.

  “I’m just so embarrassed,” Estelle admitted, looking suddenly at him with those sensual baby blues of hers. “You would never understand what it feels like to be completely hopeless like this. I bet nothing has ever made you feel weak in your life.”

  “I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Blaine said with a soft laugh. “I’ve had my downfall.”

  Estelle quirked her brow at him, her full lips drawn into a skeptical frown. “What, did you lose a fight once or something?”

  Blaine laughed a little louder than he meant to and shook his head. It was weird being around someone who could make him smile so easily. He hadn’t done that in a long time.

  “Kind of?”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  Estelle’s eyes were boring into his, and Blaine shifted uncomfortably. He wasn’t used to telling the story, but he supposed it would come up one way or another. And besides. It was just Estelle. Somehow, he didn’t feel like she would laugh at him for being a weak, pathetic asshole like other people would have. Especially the other miners.

  “Jack, you know the repairman, right?”

  “Yeah?”

  “He’s always talking about how I’ve changed, you know. Like I didn’t used to be such a hard ass. And I think he’s right. Something changed.”

  “Why did you change?” Estelle asked, her frown deepening.

  “Sometimes, love changes you.”

  “Love?”

  Blaine sighed. He wasn’t liking this sharing thing too much. But it was a little bit too late to go back now. The girl was already listening, damn it.

  “I fell for a girl once,” he began, kicking himself even as the words began to spill from his lips. “Right out of school, I knew that she was the one for me. Well, as much as a stupid kid knows anything anyway.”

  Estelle smiled sadly and nodded.

  “Anyway, I bent over backwards for that girl. Spent every second of my life trying to make her happy; trying to do whatever it was that I could do for her. But somehow it was never enough. She kept on wanting more and more from me. Finally, we got married, but that was just the beginning of my problems. I couldn’t do a fuckin’ thing right for her. I became a shadow of my former self; a person who just couldn’t do anything except focus on this woman who just wasn’t worth it.”

  He was ashamed of himself for it, and found it difficult to look at Estelle as he spoke. She reached across the table and stroked his hand, and finally he took a deep breath. He might as well continue. Finish the damned story and get her off his back about it.

  “So, one day, she goes off on me out of the blue. I had been working all day and came home, forgot to bring the laundry detergent or some shit like that, and she explodes. Tells me what a good for nothing I am. Tells me how she’s been sick of me since day one and started cheating on me with the neighbor. She wants a divorce.”

  “What the hell is wrong with her?” Estelle asked, her brow contorted in anger. “Why do people think they can get away with treating others like shit?”

  Blaine shrugged. “Some people will never be happy, so they just want to make everyone else feel the same way they do, I guess.”

  “That’s so wrong,” Estelle growled. “So, what did you do? I hope you kicked her ass.”

  Blaine raised his brow at her. “I’d never lay a hand on a woman.”

  Estelle’s cheeks reddened and she looked away quickly, but not quickly enough that Blaine was oblivious to the surge of heat that coursed through her body. It perked the bear inside of him right up, demanded he stake his claim on her once again. For real this time. For good. But he couldn’t do that. Not yet. Maybe not ever. She was just too damned young for him. It wasn’t truly what she wanted. And even if it was, he knew they would never work. They were from two different worlds.

  “Well what I did was shut down. I watched her carry on for another few minutes and then leave the house I had built for us to live in. I moved to the cabin and she took off with the neighbor guy; at least she tried to. I beat him close to death. I couldn’t feel anything anymore. And ever since then, the only feeling I’ve really had was anger…”

  “You poor man,” Estelle whispered, coming close to her.

  The words agitated him – there was nothing poor about him – but before he could tell her off about it, Estelle’s arms were around him and he found himself being embraced for the first time since his wife had left him. Nothing had managed to feel good since then, and the only thing that had given him any comfort, his anger, began to melt away.

  Finally, Estelle broke the embrace and they stared at each other, unsure of what to do next. They knew they couldn’t be together. It just wasn’t practical. She was a young woman with everything ahead of her, and he was working overtime to discover the portals before the bear shifter’s ancient calendar pointed toward the equinox. They just weren’t compatible. They just had too much going against them for his claim to go anywhere.

  But the bear wasn’t happy with that, and it took everything he had to keep from reaching out to Estelle and making her his own, right then and there.

  “You deserve so much more…” Estelle said, studying him, her beautiful blue eyes shimmering as she touched Blaine’s cheek. “I can’t imagine what that stupid woman was thinking.”

  “She only ever thought of herself, and it was my mistake to deal with it for that long.”

  Blaine stood abruptly, knowing that if he looked at Estelle for even just one more moment, he wouldn’t be able to tame the bear within. He would make his claim and neither of them would know what had hit them. He just couldn’t be responsible for that. Not right now. Especially not when they were so close to finding the portal on Oak Mountain.

  “I don’t think that’s the only mistake you’ve made,” Estelle said.

  Blaine cringed, the scent of her arousal filling the small cabin of his jet. She wanted him just as badly as he wanted her. How could he refuse that? The bear was awake, aware, and grabbing for control. But he just couldn’t let it happen. Not this time. He had to be
stronger than that.

  “Maybe not,” Blaine said, turning a sharp eye on her. “But I know better than to make the same mistake twice.”

  He immediately knew that facing her was a mistake. There was righteous anger on her face; she knew he was being a coward; hiding from his claim. Not only because it just wasn’t realistic, but because he was afraid of being vulnerable to a woman. The way it had ended the last time had been scarring, and he refused to make himself a slave to love. Not even if that meant finally being able to take what had so consumed his thoughts for all this time. He just wasn’t going to do it. And that made her angry. He could tell just from the way she stared him down.

  “Whatever you say, sir,” Estelle said pointedly. She stood from her seat and marched to the back bedroom, where Blaine had told her she could retire if she felt the need.

  Blaine sighed heavily and sank down into an armchair, taking a long swig from the bottle of whisky on the table beside him. He hadn’t had a choice, had he? He just couldn’t bring himself to jeopardize everything he had been working for just so he could gratify himself with the way too young intern. He needed to be in work mode right now, not stupid lovesick mode. And that was all there was to it.

  Whether they liked it or not, the BBT Mining Company had work to do. And without Estelle in the office, safe and sound, and Blaine’s mind focused on the job, they just weren’t going to reach the portal by the equinox, and everything they had been working for would go to shit.

  Blaine would never let himself be ruled by a woman again. Especially not when it counted so much to have his head screwed on straight. And nothing would ever change his mind.

  14.

  “What the hell are you sitting around for? The boss wants you on the field today.”

  Estelle glared up at Ken, who smirked at her.

  “Hey, don’t shoot the messenger,” he said. “It wasn’t my idea. I don’t get a say in most things.”

  “Where on the field, exactly, did the boss want me?”