by S. E. Smith
Ella and the Beast:
More than Humans
Book 1
By S.E. Smith
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank my husband, Steve, for believing in me and being proud enough of me to give me the courage to follow my dream. I would also like to give a special thank you to my sister and best friend, Linda, who not only encouraged me to write, but who also read the manuscript. Also to my other friends who believe in me: Julie, Jackie, Lisa, Sally, Elizabeth (Beth) and Narelle. The girls that keep me going!
—S.E. Smith
Montana Publishing
Science Fiction Romance
Ella and the Beast: More than Human Book 1
Copyright © 2016 by Susan E. Smith
First E-Book Published September 2016
Cover Design by Melody Simmons
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission from the author.
All characters, places, and events in this book are fictitious or have been used fictitiously, and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, actual events, locales, or organizations are strictly coincidental.
Summary: A human woman falls in love with a shifter, a beast known as the Other to the few remaining humans, and must decide if she will accept his offer of a new life among the dangerous world of shifters.
ISBN: 978-1-942562-97-9 (eBook)
ISBN: 978-1-942562-98-6 (Paperback)
Published in the United States by Montana Publishing.
{1. Paranormal – Fiction. 4. Romance – Fiction.}
www.montanapublishinghouse.com
Synopsis
Ella is the last of a dying breed of humans that live hidden deep in the forests of Washington State. All of her life, she has heard horror stories about the Others, the beasts that live beyond the safety of the mountains. In ancient times, humans and the Others lived together in peace, but a great battle divided them and the shape-shifting species won the war.
Ty Bearclaw, a grizzly-shifter, is the curator at the Washington State Animal Sanctuary, Research, and Observation Center (WSASROC). A call from a rancher about an unusual animal causing havoc along the borders of the National Forest brings him to the Olympic Mountain National Park. Ty is furious when he discovers that the rancher has placed a trap to capture the creature on government-protected property. His shock soon turns to horror and confusion when he locates the wounded ‘animal.’
Ty finds more than he expects when a human, thought to be extinct, turns up in the trap. What is even more confusing is his bear’s reaction to the female. When word escapes about his discovery, Ty must fight to protect the unusual woman who is more than an oddity – she is his mate!
Can Ty keep Ella alive and safe from a shifter obsessed with adding her to his private collection? Not only that, can he protect her when his own government threatens to take her away from him?
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 6
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
About the Author
Chapter 1
Ella sucked in a deep breath as she ran through the forest. She bent forward to duck under a fallen log before straightening again. Her heart pounded with fear, making it difficult to catch her breath. The Others were in the forest. That meant danger. The sound of one of their metal machines could be heard in the distance. Jayden, her best friend and fellow hunter, ran beside her. Ella knew the other girl was just as frightened as she was, but she didn’t let it show.
They turned to the left and ran down a narrow animal trail. Ella moved ahead of Jayden when it became too difficult to run side by side. Bounding over another log, a harsh cry escaped them both when the ground suddenly gave way from under their feet and they fell into a deep pit. When Ella landed, pain exploded in her ankle after Jayden fell on top of it, twisting it at an odd angle.
Ella groaned, rolling onto her side until the pain receded enough for her to draw in a shaky breath. She pushed up from the soft ground and glanced at Jayden. The young girl had jumped to her feet and was glancing wildly around the pit.
“Ella, we’re trapped!” Jayden exclaimed in a horrified whisper. “The Others! They will catch us. We have to get out of here.”
Ella gritted her teeth and reached for her lance. Using it for support, she pulled herself up using the tree roots exposed by whoever had dug the hole. She paled when she tried to put pressure on her foot. Something was broken. She could actually feel the bone moving.
“I’ll help you get out,” Ella said in a strained voice filled with pain. “You can go for help.”
Jayden turned and looked at Ella with a frown. “If I can get out, I can pull you out,” she said.
Ella shook her head, fighting back the nausea threatening to overwhelm her. Her ankle was already beginning to swell and turn black and blue. She wouldn’t have much time before it would be too difficult to help Jayden escape.
“My ankle is broken,” Ella replied, fighting back tears. “You’ll have to go alone.”
“But… What if the Others come back?” Jayden whispered in horror.
“Then I will die,” Ella replied in a quiet voice filled with resignation. “Come, you must escape. Hopefully, they will not come to check the trap soon. There is a storm coming. Perhaps it will keep them from venturing out. I’ll brace myself against the side. You can get up onto my shoulders, and use the roots to make it the rest of the way up. It should be enough to get you out of here.”
Jayden bit her lip and nodded, glancing up at the edge of the pit. Ella carefully turned, using the lance to balance herself, and grabbed several of the roots. While Ella braced herself as stiffly as she could, Jayden placed one foot on the upper thigh of Ella’s good leg, then climbed up until she was standing on Ella’s shoulders.
Ella trembled, gritting her teeth until her jaw hurt in an effort not to cry out at the pain while she straightened up as much as she could. Panting with the exertion, she extended one arm so Jayden could use her hand as a step. Ella stared at the dark dirt until the pressure of Jayden’s weight was removed.
Ella blinked her eyes to clear them before looking up at Jayden. A soft, sad smile curved Ella’s lips at the look of sorrow in her friend’s eyes. She drew in a deep breath, before releasing it.
“Go, Jayden,” Ella whispered. “If I’m not here when you get back, know I’ve gone on to the next life and we will meet again one day.”
“I’ll hurry, Ella,” Jayden swore. “Don’t give up.”
“I won’t, little sister,” Ella said, hopping backwards.
Jayden gave her one last smile before she disappeared. Ella steadied the lance to slide down until she was sitting on the ground, crying out when she jarred her injured foot against the dirt floor. Thunder echoed through the thick forest and a soft, steady rain began to fall. Ella laid down and stared u
p at the canopy of trees that acted like an umbrella, protecting her from most of the rain. A shiver ran through her and she sniffed.
The hunters, beasts, the Others – there were many names for the ones that ruled the world outside of the forest that was her home. For centuries, her people had avoided them. As time passed, the survival of Ella’s people had become more myth than sure fact to the rest of the world. But remaining completely unseen had become more difficult with each generation as the Others continued to expand further into the forested areas.
Ella and Jayden were part of a small clan that lived in harmony with the forest. They were humans, beings with a single, constant form. The Others were the beast-people, beings who could shift into many different forms. A long, long time ago, humans and the Others had fought. The Others had won, almost wiping out the humans. Only a few humans had survived throughout the world.
Over time, the humans had disappeared altogether, or so the Others thought. In truth, the humans had created a haven for themselves deep in the forests, the mountains, and the frozen areas of the world, existing unnoticed by the Others.
Ella had never met any other humans besides those in her village like her father and the other elders had before her time. She wasn’t even sure that any survived outside her dying clan. Without fresh blood and a permanent living area, their chances of surviving another generation or more was growing slimmer. Closing her eyes, her hot tears mixed with the cold rain. She thought of what the Others would do if they found her before her people could rescue her. If she was lucky, they would kill her quickly. At worst, they would take their time, cutting her up and studying her before killing her. Either way, she was dead.
“Please, if Jayden does not return in time, please have mercy and let me die swiftly,” she whispered to the forest.
*.*.*
Ty Bearclaw slid out of his truck. Shaking his head, he grimaced as cold rain slipped inside the collar of his shirt. He reached over and grabbed the wide brimmed hat off the passenger seat. He 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 idiot. The wolverine-shifter and a few of his friends had decided they should try to trap the creature with a pit they dug. 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 dirt remote 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 its head. It didn’t care that it was raining. It 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 he 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 his collar up 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 didn’t do.
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 wasn’t 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 and beat the shit out of the wolverine-shifter 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.
What?! Ty frowned in confusion. It isn’t another shifter, is it?
No… It… different, his bear growled, pacing inside him.
Shit, Ty muttered, lowering the gun and stepping back from the edge.
He frowned down at the dark hole. 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 to just 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 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. “Please…. 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 while fighting 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, shit,” 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.”
Chapter 2
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.