Ingrid drifted deep into the estate, remembering a specific part of the estate that Nadya had refused to let her enter. A spook entered her system when she found herself looking into the direction that the blonde maid had sternly blocked off.
Ingrid set her jaw, knowing that if she didn’t do anything soon, she was as good as stuck. She moved determinedly, following this unknown part of the estate until she realized the floor was beginning to decline.
She walked, drifting deeper into the dark and keeping her breathing slow and steady. Small sconces lit dimly against the edges of the walls, providing some light to the darker corridors. She found a turn and followed it, her heart ramming in her chest.
The air became colder down here, making the stone beneath her feet nearly icy and send almost painful shivers up her legs. She was almost tempted to head back until she heard something loud up ahead.
It sounded like a crash.
Before Ingrid could even think, she was jogging in the direction of the noise, ignoring the alarm bells in her head urging her to head back to safety. She made another turn and saw light burn through a door that was slightly ajar.
Another crash and the sound met her ears without restraint and Ingrid pushed forward.
“…relax…speak…alone…” she heard and another crash burned through the air.
Pressing herself against the wall, Ingrid approached the door until she as within earshot.
“How many more were taken?” Gerard’s voice questioned.
“Like hell would I know,” she heard and nearly gasped. Leo?
“That piece of shit wolfing barely said anything when I took his life.”
There was a moment of silence before she heard a sigh.
“No, I didn’t see her, Nadya. There was no way I could.”
Another stretch of silence.
“Because… I could smell it. It was unmistakable. Misala is dead.”
“And you are certain?” Gerard spoke again, sounding grave.
“Yes…” Leo spoke again and there was something painful in his voice, like he was struggling to speak.
“I was able to hunt the last of that scum’s pack. Clearly he wasn’t alone in this…”
Silence.
“No… we should be safe for now. I made sure that there wouldn’t be any more wolves near here. Still, Gerard, I want you to ensure our perimeter is secure. I don’t like the sound of this ‘reckoning’ one bit. Nadya… You’ll need to reach my father.”
“Master Leo, we probably should gather more people before—”
“I already said no, Gerard.”
Silence.
Ingrid scowled as she inched closer, trying to peek through the crack in the door.
“Your sister’s life has been avenged, Master Leo, and nearly at the price of your own. Is that not enough?”
“I would rather die than to allow this to go on any further, Gerard. I’m putting an end to this, with or without my father’s permission.”
What?
Another moment of silence.
“I still want you to travel, Nadya. You’re the only one fast enough to reach his territory before anything happens. The least I can do is warn him of what’s coming.”
“What about the girl?”
“Ingrid?” Leo spoke and Ingrid froze against the wall.
“Should we dispose of her?” Something cold fell through her stomach.
“No… I gave her my word.” Another silence passed, until there was a chorus of sighs and irritated grunts.
“I don’t care if you think so, Nadya. She’s innocent. I’ve spilled enough blood, do you get that? The last thing I want is to hurt her.”
“Even so, Master Leo,” Gerard sighed.
“She is a burden. Her curiosity will get the better of her eventually. It’s what humans do. You cannot ignore that part of her.”
“I already told you she’s… she’s different. Can’t you smell it? Like there’s… I don’t know, something in her that doesn’t quite convince me.”
Ingrid frowned, feeling her head feel tight under all this strange information.
What was going on? Ingrid dared to peek in a bit more, seeing only Nadya’s and Gerard’s figures standing in her line of sight, facing toward Leo.
She couldn’t see him, but she could see Nadya’s rapid signing, saw the look on her face as one of extreme distaste even as she moved her hands swiftly.
Gerard watched her before nodding, whatever she said was lost on Ingrid but made Leo let out a sputter of disbelief.
“…Nadya’s concerns are also mine, Master Leo. We are concerned you may be getting too…involved with her.”
“That’s ridiculous!” Nadya began to sign again, her expression flat.
“Simple,” Leo replied. “She saw too much. That’s why she’s here.”
“Yes, but you fail to understand that her presence here could mean her discovering what you are. What we all are. Do understand what would happen to her if she did find out about you?”
“She won’t.”
Nadya signed again and Ingrid vaguely wondered if she had said something like, you can’t possibly know that.
“The girl is dangerous here, Leo.” Gerard said finally.
“Let her return to her home. Lucy can keep an eye on her, make sure she remains true to her word to stay silent of our whereabouts, but she’s overstayed her welcome.”
Finally, Leo appeared but the sight made Ingrid gasp aloud. His body was not the body of a man, yet it was.
His body was covered in fur, and where his hands should be were large clawed fingers, like paws. He looked like a beast…
The sound had been more than enough to announce her appearance and instantly two sets of eyes jumped toward her, followed by Nadya’s whose gaze met her instantly.
The woman’s blue eyes narrowed into slits and when Ingrid glanced away it was to see animalistic eyes staring at her where Leo’s should’ve been.
What is this?
Frightened and discovered, Ingrid ducked away before breaking into a sprint. She ran as hard as she could, no longer caring about finding anything else but disappearing into the night.
She heard another crash behind her and Ingrid let out a shout, nearly stumbling as she ran.
“Ingrid!” She heard Leo call, but she dared not look over her shoulder. She needed to get out of here. Now.
She barely managed to reach the main floor when she was suddenly tackled to the ground. Ingrid let out a scream, but felt something slap over her mouth.
Through the darkness, she saw Nadya’s grey eyes piercing into her own fiercely. Ingrid tried to kick the woman off of her but found herself being thrown over to her knees and grabbed around her arms.
Something sharp pressed against her throat and made Ingrid freeze from struggling, breathing hard and frightened.
Carefully, she felt Nadya pull her to her feet before both Gerard and Leo appeared.
Leo’s body was back to normal, save the fact he was shirtless and draped in a long blanket. He was staring at her, shocked.
“Nadya,” Gerard spoke before signing something Ingrid didn’t catch.
Suddenly they were moving and Ingrid recognized the direction. They were heading towards one of Leo’s studies.
She had been forbidden to enter it but now they ushered her in before shutting the door behind her.
After given a nod by Gerard, Nadya released Ingrid and the woman nearly toppled to her knees.
“What the hell is going on?” Ingrid exclaimed.
“Ingrid,” Leo began.
“What are you?!” She was shaking but she pushed herself to her feet anyway, scrambling to get as much distance as possible.
Gerard busied himself with turning on the fire in the fireplace, casting the room into a warm, orange glow that did nothing to aid Ingrid’s nerves.
“Just let me explain,” Leo said, and he rose his hands in a peaceful gesture even though his face looked so defeated.
“Well then do so!”
He glanced at Gerard who gave him a meaningful glance.
Finally, the butler turned and began to head towards the door, touching Nadya’s shoulder. The woman sent Ingrid a sturdy glower before she turned and disappeared after Gerard, the door sliding shut after them.
For a moment, Ingrid could do nothing but glance back and forth from the door to Leo, debating whether or not to try to make another break for it.
Finally, Leo let out a long sigh before turning away to face the fire. Ingrid watched him, but dared not to get close.
“I’m a shifter.”
“A what?” Ingrid asked, not believing.
“A shape-shifter. Specifically, a lion shifter.” Leo explained.
“The form you saw me in… it isn’t what I could be. Which is bigger, stronger.” He trailed off before finally turning around to face her and quietly urged her to take a seat in one of the cushioned seats in the room.
Ingrid felt her shoulders hitch, her nerves beyond rattled, but she knew that if she wanted answers she needed to show she could handle it.
Taking in a slow breath, she approached Leo, but stayed as far away as possible. She sat as soon as he did, watching him warily.
“That day, when you saw me kill that man, I had been hunting for a specific clan. There are more of us, you see. Your kind calls them werewolves, my kind calls them Lycans, or wolves. We do not trust them, and in fact have had issues with them in the past. For several generations, my father and my father’s father have worked to build a relative peace between us and the wolves. We’ve set up boundaries and made sure to stay clear from each other, even when we travel into your realms.”
“Things were meant to be steady… until two years ago when we heard that women in your world were disappearing. At first, the disappearances were ignored by my family. Your people often go missing and hardly anything of that mattered. Until some of our own started going missing too. It had been two of our clanswomen that disappeared, but it wasn’t enough to get us to move. Until my sister disappeared.”
“Her name was Misala.” Leo said softly, and Ingrid watched as his face caved to a look of profound agony.
“She was my baby sister… and the next to take charge after my mother. My family is important in our clans, and when Misala disappeared, we began to search. We searched everywhere, scoured as much of the Appalachians as we could because we knew this was the area that had been targeted for the missing people. I searched for a year, nearly on my own, and I found him.”
He looked at her and Ingrid swallowed.
“That man you saw me kill?” He questioned, gaze burning hot with ire.
“He was no man, at all. He was a wolf and he had driven himself mad with hunting down women, torturing them in horrible ways before eating them alive. I found him torturing one woman, and I was too late to stop him from killing her. He was responsible for Misala’s death…because even though I couldn’t find her body, I recognize the scent of her blood as easily as I do mine.”
Ingrid stayed still, frozen in shock as she listened.
“I managed to drag him into my territory,” Leo continued, “See, it had to be done right. I am not allowed to kill a Lycan outside of my land, but here? It is fair game, and he needed to be stopped. You wanted to know my side of the story, Ingrid. That’s what it was. I killed the animal that took my baby sister away from me and made sure he would never be able to do the same to anyone ever again.”
The fire let out a sharp pop, making Ingrid jump a bit in her skin before she managed to tear her gaze away from him to stare into the flames.
Her mind spun, her brain tried to make sense of all of this, but she hardly could…
Could she believe him?
“Why are you telling me this?” Ingrid asked softly.
“Because…” He sighed ruefully.
“You saw too much… and I should’ve never let you stay here.”
Ingrid looked back at him, eyes wide.
“What are you saying?”
Leo shook his head, “You can’t ever leave this place, Ingrid. If there ever was a chance you could, it’s gone now.” He gave her honest to god broken hearted expression and it killed her.
“If I let you go, you wouldn’t last a day.”
--
She remained in her room for the following week, refusing to eat, refusing to move. Ingrid felt so betrayed, felt so wounded that it was almost laughably ironic. She had been planning all this time to betray their trust that she ended up being forced to accept it now with the price that she could never leave this place every again.
Ingrid had everything taken from her in one single revelation… and she didn’t know whether to hate Leo… or herself for the fact.
--
Nadya continued to bring her meals even if she hardly touched them. Silence became a constant companion now that Ingrid refused to leave her room aside from using the bathroom. Twice, Leo had come knocking, asking if she wanted to talk but Ingrid ignored him and eventually, he left her alone.
Ingrid remained in her room, staring out her window her hours and laying in her bed as she waited for the sun to rise and to fall again.
For nights, her mind replayed Leo’s words over and over, tried to weed out a single moment of deceit throughout his story.
Yet, Ingrid felt it the second his story was done, she felt that same little twinge in her heart that made her convinced that man she had saved from death row was innocent.
Leo was telling the truth. All of it.
And she just didn’t know what to do with it.
Chapter 12
Three months to the day of her capture and Ingrid woke to find Nadya waiting over her bed, watching her disinterested eyes. Ingrid rose, meeting the woman’s gaze easily before looking away.
To her immense surprise, Nadya took a step closer and grabbed Ingrid’s wrist before urging her to stand.
Ingrid could do nothing but let the woman guide her out of her the room, confused and even a little wary until she recognized the road to the library.
Once there, Nadya disappeared into the large archive before reappearing again moments later. In her hands she held a single book.
The Fundamentals of Sign Language.
Ingrid blinked up at the woman, surprised. Nadya gave her a small nod before placing the book in Ingrid’s lap.
The brunette stared down at the book, baffled but did not refuse when the maid opened the tome and began to point out letters and show them to the bigger woman with her own hands.
“Why are you doing this?” Ingrid asked after a long while.
Nadya read her lips and then turned the page toward a specific page and pointed.
I’m sorry.
Tears welled up in Ingrid’s eyes then before she ducked her head and let the young blonde maid teach her how to sign.
--
Two weeks and Ingrid could understand more of Nadya’s sign language than she had ever hoped to.
She tried to sign back just as fluidly, but soon she could actually share in conversation with her.
“I still don’t know why you’re suddenly helping me.”
Gerard insisted that you get a chance to speak to someone. I didn’t want to.
“So why?”
He can be persuasive.
This made Ingrid smile before her smile faltered. “And… Leo?”
Nadya’s signing was tentative. He’s truly sorry for this.
“Why didn’t you just kill me back then?” There was no malice in Ingrid’s voice, just a lack of understanding.
I had orders. Even if I wanted to get rid of you, Leo would never allow it. He’s fond of you.
“That’s ridiculous.”
And then Nadya did something Ingrid did not expect. She gave her a soft smile.
He said that too.
--
Ingrid learned that their clan had been around for hundreds of years, and that wolves weren’t exactly the creatures spelled out i
n supernatural novels. They hunted in packs and often stayed clear from humans, preferring to stay close to their more beastlike relative.
Lions, or in this case, mountain lions, as Nadya had explained, rarely met together even though they upheld family values like any other mammal. They held their own, kept to their territories and tried to make their way in the world.
Misala, Leo’s sister, had been a beautiful young woman who wanted nothing more than to spread peace between the shifter clans.
She had expressed her desire to help others, not just in her clan, but among the human realms as well.
You remind him of her. Nadya signed one evening.
Ingrid felt a jolt in her heart that shouldn’t have been.
“How?”
You care a lot for others as well. Even if it is a bit stupid.
Ingrid was surprised to find that Nadya had become incredibly talkative, which was amusing to admit.
She spoke often of Leo, explaining the customs, explaining that on the days he wasn’t around he was ensuring that his territory wasn’t disturbed. He had taken Nadya in when she was young.
Being a shifter and deaf was unacceptable in the clan and those who were born with disabilities were killed or left to die of exposure. Leo had protected her and trained Nadya, allowing the girl to live and become a skilled shifter.
I may not hear or speak, but I still have a voice. I can feel my enemies through the earth. He gave me that.
The more Ingrid learned about Leo, the more it was easier to see him less like a monster… and more like someone she could trust.
But even after all this, she wasn’t sure if she could trust him. Regardless of what happened.
Chapter 13
Five months to the day that Ingrid had disappeared. She wondered if people were searching for her, if they knew. And the desire to at least get a message out had become overwhelming and made Ingrid try to make an effort.
She showed up one day to breakfast, unannounced when she saw him there.
Leo sitting there, slouched uncharacteristically against his chair and staring vacantly at the ceiling.
Romance: Stranded With The Lion: BBW Paranormal Shapeshifter Romance (BBW Shifter Romance, Werebear Romance, Paranormal Shapeshifter Romance) Page 6