by S. E. Smith
“Now what?” He asked in a husky voice.
“Now, we hunt,” Tracy replied with a grin.
Chapter 4
Ella placed the bundle of firewood she had gathered into the small basket. It was the last of the wood she needed for the night. She winced when her ankle protested. While it was almost healed, it still reminded her when she overdid things. She needed to remember that the splint had come off just yesterday. The clan’s healer had instructed her to continue wearing the brace for another six weeks.
“Ella!”
Ella turned when she heard her name called. A smile lifted her lips when she saw Jayden walking toward her carrying a basket of fresh berries. That was one thing she was looking forward to doing again—hunt with the rest of the hunters.
“Jayden, what did you find?” She asked, reaching for the cane she had propped against the tree.
“Blackberries,” Jayden replied with a grimace as she held up her arm to show the long, angry looking scratches. “I swear those things live off of my blood.”
Ella laughed and looked in the full basket. “That’s pretty impressive. You must have sacrificed a lot to get that many,” she teased.
Jayden shrugged and set the basket down on the ground before sitting on a log. Ella sat beside her and sighed as she looked out over their new home. It had been a particularly difficult journey for her, along with the few elders and small children who lived in the village. But Mitchell, the leader of the clan, had felt it was the safest thing to do after Ella had told him about being found by a grizzly-shifter.
“Do you think we’ll be safe here?” Ella asked in a hushed voice.
Jayden looked at her in surprise and shrugged. “I don’t see why not,” she replied. “We didn’t leave any evidence behind and Mitchell made sure that we covered our tracks. If they find anything left of our old village, there is no way to tell when we were there, or where we might have gone. Mitchell was pretty thorough. He even ordered that all the trash be burned and buried deep beneath the ferns. By now, no one would even be able to tell anyone had been living there.”
Ella lowered her head and nodded. Her fingers touched the bare wrist of her right arm. She had lost one of the bracelets she made and she couldn’t remember when.
It could have been on the trip here for all she knew. She barely remembered the first week. She was in so much agony and on pain dulling herbs, that everything after her escape from the pit was a haze. It probably came off when they were crossing one of the many rivers that ran through the region. They had just crossed one of the larger rivers when she first realized it was gone. The currents were pretty strong, and trying to navigate over the rocks, even with help, had worn her out.
“Are you okay? You’ve been so quiet lately,” Jayden asked in a soft voice.
“Yes, I’m fine. It is just…,” Ella started to say before she ruefully shook her head. “I’ll be glad when I can hunt again. It seems like forever since I’ve been out of the village.”
Jayden laughed and wrapped her arm around Ella’s shoulders, giving her a tight hug. “You’ll be there before you know it. I like this place. We haven’t seen any signs of life in weeks. It is nice not to worry about being seen,” she replied with a sigh. “I’ve found a really cool place about six miles from here. Maybe I can show it to you later this week.”
“That would be nice,” Ella replied with a small smile. “It will be easier to move around now that I just have the brace on.”
“I’ve got to take the berries to my mom before she wonders what I’ve been doing. Come over later if you get a chance,” Jayden said, rising to her feet and reaching for the basket of blackberries.
“I will. See you later,” Ella said, while stiffly rising to her feet as well.
Ella watched as her friend hurried away. It seemed strange to be living on her own. After the move, she had decided she wanted her own space. She had lived with Jayden and Jayden’s mother and father since her own parents had died. Bending, she picked up the long stick that she used as a cane. By the end of the day, she would be tired and need the extra support.
She walked back to the basket where she placed the small pile of wood. She dropped her cane on the pile and began pulling the thick rope that hung from a branch high up in the tree she called home. It was almost to the top when the rope started to slip in her grasp. A soft gasp escaped her when a large hand reached out to grab the rope and take it from her.
“I’ve got this,” Mitchell said in a blunt tone. “You were supposed to call one of the men.”
Irritation flashed through Ella and she shook her head. “The men have enough to do without coddling me any more than they already have,” she snapped before wincing when Mitchell raised his eyebrow at her.
“We work together, Ella,” he reminded her with a grunt as he finished pulling the basket up the tree and tied it off. “It is the only way we can survive.”
“I know, Mitchell,” Ella replied with a sigh. “I just hate being a burden to the village.”
She glanced up when Mitchell placed a hand under her chin and lifted it so that she was forced to look at him. He was almost as tall as Ty, with thick broad shoulders much like the grizzly-shifter had. He was also just as good-looking. His light, mocha-colored skin and muscled body often drew the admiring looks of the other women in the village. He kept his hair cut close to his head, but Ella still remembered the soft bouncy curls of his black hair when he was just a boy.
“You are never a burden,” he replied in a gruff voice. “You are family.”
“I know. I know,” she grimaced and wiggled her nose up at him. “Just don’t you dare call me….”
“Little sister,” Mitchell chuckled, gently touching his knuckles to her chin. “Do you need help getting up to your loft?”
“Why not?” Ella muttered with an exaggerated sigh. “It’s better than pulling myself up.”
“Get in,” Mitchell instructed, nodding to the small lift system he had helped her construct.
Ella reached up and brushed a kiss against Mitchell’s jaw before she turned and slowly walked over to the lift and stepped up onto it. She raised her thumb to show him she was ready and held onto the wooden pole in the center. Her heart tightened as she gazed out over the village.
Twenty-eight humans – such a small number; twenty-eight and slowly shrinking. Their numbers would continue to shrink unless they reached out and searched for others. The difficulty was moving undetected in a world ruled by the Others. It wasn’t easy with their world getting smaller around them. Ella’s and Jayden’s adventure had proven that.
Her people lived high in the trees, making a home off the ground as much as possible. The thick branches of the old trees provided them shelter from below and above. They did what they could to keep the land around them unaltered. It was necessary to change their environment as little as possible, so they did not attract attention.
Ella looked up as the lift grew closer to the large fork in the tree where she had made her home. It wasn’t much. A rough platform made up the floor, and she had woven branches, vines and leaves to create the walls. It was primitive, but it would give her adequate shelter until she could build something better.
A smile curved her lips when she heard the laughter of the half dozen children that lived among them. Soon, there wouldn’t even be that many. She, Jayden, and several of the other women of childbearing aged had met late one night almost five years before and made a pact to never have children.
The pact was made during an emotional period during her own life, but nothing since had changed her mind about her decision. The night before the pact, Ella had lost her mom and stillborn sister. When the healer had stepped out and shook his head at Ella and her father, she had known deep down that the survival of the humans was a hopeless endeavor.
Her father’s death three months later from pneumonia had sealed her resolve to do everything she could for her village – except have children. That decision was another reason why
she had moved away from Jayden’s family. They had been pressuring her to pick one of the men, specifically Mitchell, for her husband. She knew they had been pressuring Jayden, as well. With the decreasing numbers, the elders had decided that for the clan's survival, it would be necessary for the males to have more than one partner. Ella was selfish and didn’t want to share a husband. Almost immediately, the image of a different man rose up in Ella’s mind.
She grunted and waved to Mitchell when he called out. She quickly slid the safety loop onto the hook she had built before she gingerly stepped off the lift and onto the platform. Bending down, she grabbed the small basket of wood and disappeared into the dim interior. She would work on building a fire and roast some of the nuts and fruit that Jayden had harvested for her.
“Stop it, Ella,” she whispered as she reached over and pulled some of the wood closer to where she was sitting. “You have to forget about him.”
A soft groan echoed in the narrow area as she sank down onto the thick pad that made up her bed. Who was she kidding? She had been telling herself to stop thinking about the beastman named Ty for weeks, to no avail. She dreamed of him at night and could swear she could still feel his lips pressed against hers.
“I wonder what he’s doing now,” she whispered between blowing soft breaths of air to build the flames of the fire in the round clay pot she used as a fire pit. “He’s probably forgotten all about you, Ella. You should do the same.”
Her eyes burned for a moment. She tried to blame it on the smoke rising from the moss she had dried out, but she knew the sudden tears had nothing to do with the fire and everything to do with her own internal struggle. Drawing in a deep breath, she sat back and stared at the glowing embers.
“I wish you peace, beast,” she murmured as she set aside the dinner she had prepared, no longer hungry. She twisted and laid down on her bed. She stared up at the growing darkness, waiting to catch the first glimpse of a star through the thick branches. A sad smile curved her lips. “If only things were different….”
Ella stared up into the night sky thinking of the grizzly-shifter and how her dad’s prediction that one day the humans and Others would meet again had come true. In the distance, she heard the muted sounds of the other clan members talking and laughing as they settled down for the night. She reached up and curled her fingers around a small spot of light high up in the sky, catching the first star of the evening in the center. Once again, she was the little girl who believed that wishes could come true. She squeezed her fist tight; as if afraid the star would escape and pressed her hand against her heart.
A light breeze swept through the trees, caressing her face and filling the air with a scent of autumn. She swore she could hear her father’s quiet voice on the wind, reminding her that dreams can come true. When she had asked him how he knew they could, his answer had been simple.
“It is how I found your mother,” he had replied in a quiet voice.
“Daddy, do you think we’ll ever find more humans?” Ella remembered asking. “I mean, like how you found mommy before the Others could get her?”
Her dad had been quiet for a long time before he replied. “One day humans and the Others will meet again, Ella. It is only a matter of time,” her father had told her.
“We will? Will they eat us?” She remembered asking, her voice full of fear and awe at the same time.
“No, I think one day we will all live in peace together,” her father had said, brushing her hair back and pressing a kiss to her forehead. “I hope you see that day.”
Tears burned her eyes. For a few seconds, she closed her eyes and made a wish. In her mind’s eye, she could almost imagine her father’s soft words and tender touch as he brushed her hair back from her face as he had so often when she was just a little girl. That night, he had hugged her close before he pointed up to the stars and urged her to capture one. Only when she had done what he’d instructed did he speak again.
“Now, make a wish,” her father had urged her as she held the star in her tiny fist. “What did you wish for?”
“I can’t tell you or it won’t come true!” She had retorted.
A smile curved her lips as she now thought of the scowl she had given her dad and how she had shaken her head in exasperation at him. Afterwards, she had opened her hand and released the star so it could watch over them. She and her dad had sat there for a long time before she finally snuggled close to him, tired.
“Daddy,” she had whispered.
“Yes, Ella bug,” her dad had murmured.
“If I tell you my wish, will it really not come true?” She had asked in a soft voice, turning to stare up at him.
Her dad had been silent for a moment before he had shaken his head. “No… No, I’ll hold it safe for you,” he promised.
She had turned to look back up at the stars, not sure which one she had released and wondered if she should tell him what she had wished for. He had waited for her to speak, not rushing her or impatient with her prolonged silence.
Releasing a breath, Ella whispered the words that had haunted her since she was a little girl.
“I wished that we could all learn to be friends and live together as one,” she whispered out loud, her adult voice mixing with the faint child’s voice of her childhood memory. “I don’t want to die and… and I think I could be a good friend if they would let me.”
Her father had hugged her tightly against his side. She knew now that the glitter in his eyes was caused by the shimmer of tears instead of the moonlight. Perhaps it was because of the sadness in his eyes that she remembered that night so well.
“I hope your wish comes true, Ella,” he had whispered. “I don’t want you to ever have to live in fear, and I hope you live a long, happy life.”
“I hope so too, daddy,” Ella whispered into the night, rolling onto her side and closing her eyes as exhaustion pulled at her. “Now that Ty knows we exist, I fear life will never be the same again for any of us.”
Chapter 5
“I’m sorry, Ty,” Tracy whispered, resting her hand on her brother’s shoulder. “We won’t give up. I promise.”
Ty leaned back against his truck and stared out at the mountains in the distance. His fingers played with the thick leather band around his wrist. It belonged to his mate – to Ella.
In the past two weeks, Ty, Van, and Peterson had covered hundreds of miles. It was his own fault. He should have asked for help sooner. Neither Tracy nor the other two men had said that, but he knew it. The vegetation in this area grew at a phenomenal rate during the wet season and it was definitely the wet season.
He closed his eyes and raised his face to the heavy mist surrounding them. Once again, he could feel his grizzly’s despair raking at his insides. He lowered his head when he felt Tracy touch his arm. He could see the worry and compassion in her gaze.
“Thanks for all your help, Tracy,” he finally said, releasing a heavy sigh. “I’ll keep searching. I have to. I know she is out there.”
“Oh, she’s out there,” Peterson said, walking up with a grim expression on his face. “She’s not alone either.”
Ty’s gaze sharpened on the tired but determined grin on Van’s dirty face. His gaze moved to the object Van was holding in his hand. It looked like a child’s toy.
“Where did you find that?” Ty demanded, reaching his hand out for the small doll.
“Twenty miles west of here,” Van replied. “I had to take a piss and stopped to water a tree. It was on the ground at the base of it.”
“Charming,” Tracy chuckled with a wiggle of her nose.
“Hey, it’s what wolves do,” Van retorted with a grin.
“Not to mention guys in general,” Peterson added dryly. “Van called me over and we found marks on the tree.”
“We’ve been so focused on the ground, that it never dawned on us to look up,” Van interjected.
“Up?” Tracy asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Up,” Peterson nodded.
&nb
sp; “We climbed the damn thing, which let me tell you isn’t easy for a wolf, and found traces of where they must have built homes in the trees,” Van explained.
Ty listened intently, putting together more pieces of the puzzle. He could feel his bear’s excitement and renewed hope. Just when he’d been about to give up, here was another sign that he wasn’t crazy. Clutching the doll in his hand, his gaze narrowed on the distant mountains.
“Mark the spot on the map,” Ty ordered, getting the map out of the front seat of his truck.
The four of them crowded around the waterproof chart. Ty studied all the spots marked where they knew Ella had been: the rancher’s shed, the pit, and now the tree. Once again, his gaze rose to the mountains in the distance. His natural instinct was leading him toward it.
“She probably knew I would come looking for her. If there are more humans, they would too,” he murmured. “They’ve remained hidden for centuries. They would know it was dangerous to remain in the same area and would move deeper into the mountains.”
“Yes, but you said the girl was hurt,” Tracy pointed out in concern. “How far would she be able to travel with a broken ankle? If there are others with her, it would be difficult to carry someone through the forest and mountain areas without leaving a trail behind.”
Ty’s fingers closed into a fist. He was well aware that Ella had been hurt. He couldn’t imagine how difficult it had been or how much pain she must have been in. Without proper medical care, she could have even died.
No die, his bear growled at him. I know if my mate die.
Well, I sure as hell wish you could sniff her out, Ty retorted.
She in mountains. I feel her, his grizzly responded with longing.
“I’m going after her,” Ty suddenly said, looking up at the others.
“Listen, if you give us a few days, we can join you. We have to complete the mission that we received last night first, but it shouldn’t take more than three or four days,” Peterson said, running a hand along his jaw.