Ellis: Emerson Wolves ― Paranormal Wolf Shifter Romance (15 page)

“Kill me. Kill me. You should have done it a long time ago. Kill me now. Kill me, please just kill me so I can be with my Neva.” He continued to repeat it over and over, begging her to kill him.

“I’ve called the police. That should be them now.” She heard them then, the sirens screaming toward them. “You’re going to have to let him go, baby. And go into the barn to shift. If you don’t, then we’re going to have a lot of explaining to do.”

He hated me. And my mother.
Ellis told her he knew and that it was his loss.
He really didn’t want me. Then why didn’t he just let me go into foster care? Was there that much money in keeping me?

Ellis told her to go again, and she let go of Basil’s throat. For as long as she lived, she would never call him uncle again. Nor his wife her aunt. Just as she went into the barn, she heard Ellis tell the men to keep him there as he led the police to him. She was dressed and coming out of the barn when Basil turned to her.

“You keep her away from me. She tried to kill me. I asked her for some money, and she just went and turned on me. I need to bury my Neva near the creek. Ask her how she changed into a wolf and tried to bite my head off. She was gonna murder me, she was. Just ask her.” He tried to get away from the officer holding him back, but he was a good deal stronger as a shifter, too. The officer asked her if she was pressing charges.

“Yes. We’ll be doing it later today. My wife is shook up right now, and I think I’d like to take care of her now.” Basil was still screaming at her, but she moved to Ellis as he continued talking to the officer. “He’s the man that burned our home down. I think he’s been trying to find a way to get to Dawn for years.”

“We’ve been looking for him as well. The man who called the police when Miss Rothschild died gave us a good description.”

Dawn stopped him when he started to turn. “Rothschild? I thought her name was Combs, like his.” He shook his head and told her they were never married so far as he knew. “That’s not possible. They were married. I saw their marriage license in their bedroom.”

“No, ma’am, there is no record of him getting married. Might be that they married in another state, but we don’t think so. We didn’t even know there was a woman out here with him until we started doing some research. Miss Rothschild was…well, we found out a great deal about her when her body was found. After doing some DNA testing, we found out that she was a little girl who had been kidnapped about forty some years ago. There wasn’t much in the way of testing like there is now, but her name and information had been added to the data base recently and she popped up when we put the results in the system.”

“She was mine, and my momma wouldn’t let me have her. So I took’d her.” They stared at Basil as he started spewing information. “I needed her. She was the nicest person in my school, and when momma said I couldn’t go to school no more, I missed her. I brought her here when my momma finally died, and we lived happily ever after, just like them stories she used to read to me.”

“Why weren’t you allowed to go to school anymore?”

Basil screamed at her. Not a word, just a loud scream that had her backing away from him. “I did not hurt her. I never hurted her. She was just in my way. I never hurted her.” Basil struggled more and then looked at her. “You look just like her now that I see you. Ugly like her. She had an ugly mouth and an ugly way about her. Momma liked her best. Always gave her whatever she wanted. But I fixed her, didn’t I? I fixed her right up, and then she had to go and get herself in trouble all on her own. All on her own. All on her own.”

He was singing then, laughing at the grand joke that only he understood. She looked at Ellis when Basil was being put in the back of the cruiser, and cried when she realized how horrible of a person he’d really been.

Later they discovered the stash of food he’d taken from them. She’d thought, even then, that he was near them, but never that he’d actually steal from her. But then, he’d been a thief all his life. Why should now have been any different? Basil had eaten nearly half a loaf of bread and all the lunch meat she’d been meaning to feed the workers with. As they made their way to Addie’s house, she thought of all the things that were clearer to her now that she’d never noticed as a child.

“They never went anywhere. He would call up someone and have things brought out to the house. I never left either, kept a prisoner much like Neva had been, I suppose.” Ellis held her while he drove into the garage. She sat there for several minutes while he said nothing. “I wonder now what my mother was going to tell me in her letters. You think she was going to tell me more than what he did today?”

“I don’t know. But I’ll have Shawn bring them to you when he comes here again. I think it might be more enlightening than what Basil’s been saying to you.” He looked at her then. “You think he murdered his mother so that he could have Neva there with him? I mean, you said they loved each other. Do you suppose it was because she’d had no choice?”

“I don’t know. But I think I want to find out.” Opening the door, she got out before he could come around the truck to open the door for her. “Ellis, I love you. I’m so sorry about all this. I had no idea.”

“Don’t worry about it, babe. I’m just glad that he’s being taken care of and out of our lives.” She nodded. “We will make sure that he gets the best care. Because as much as he hated you, or professed that he did, had he not taken you, I might never have met you.”

She nodded and walked into the house with her hand in his. Tomorrow was going to start a new beginning for her, and she was going to do it, too. Her business was going to be a good success and they were going to help out children that might otherwise be shoved under the rug. Tomorrow, she told herself again. Tomorrow was going to be a new beginning.

Chapter 15

Mike walked up to the house and knocked. He was trying to convince himself this was the right thing to do, but he was a little scared. Ellis was a good man, but things could go badly when an alpha stepped down because there was someone much stronger to lead them.

Addie was the first person he saw when the butler asked him to wait. She brought him into the living room and asked him to have a seat. He said he’d rather stand, and she sat on the long couch.

“Jarrett and Ellis are out in the back. There was this problem with one of the doors to the pool house, and they’re out there being manly and fixing it. Dawn had to go into town, but she’s on her way back.” Mike nodded. He knew she was trying to relax him. He was tense, but not really into small talk. “That would be her now.”

When she came into the room, Mike had to do a double take. She’d changed since he’d seen her last. Her entire demeanor was different, healthier even. When she asked him to sit down, he did so more because it had been a command than because he wanted to get off his feet.

“Ellis said that you wanted to talk to us both.” He nodded at Dawn. “I wanted to thank you for letting us use some of the pack to help with the house. It’s been all right living here, but I want to go home. To my home.”

“They wanted to come here. To meet him…and you.” She nodded, and he felt stupid. “You do know why I’m here, don’t you?”

“Yes. I guess you don’t want to be alpha anymore, and you think that Ellis will do a better job.” He nodded, feeling the tension roll off him a little. “Why is that? I mean, what makes you think he’d do a better job than you are? You’ve more experience than he does. You’re older; not old, but older by a few years. And you’re already the alpha here. Why Ellis? Why now?”

“He’s stronger than me no matter the age. His…he’s an alpha, and you’re his bitch mate.” Mike flushed when she grinned at him. “I’m sorry. That didn’t come out right. My wife is forever telling me to think before I open my mouth.”

“I think that’s good advice, but I also think you’re wrong. I’m no more an alpha than…well, than Addie is. Or even Jack.” Mike said that Jack was scary and that most would do as she said to avoid arguing with her. “Yes, she can be a bit opinionated. I think that’s why I love her so much. But you didn’t answer my question. Why Ellis, and why now?”

Mike felt like he was walking into a trap and looked to Addie to help him out of it when he realized she’d left him. Mike was trying to figure out what to say to Dawn, who, for all intents and purposes, was his alpha, when Jarrett and Ellis came in. Jarrett left much like his wife had, quietly and without comment.

“I’d like to talk to you both.” Dawn laughed, and he felt his temper rise a bit. But he knew to hurt her, to even make the wrong comment to her, would be his certain death. Ellis was that strong over him. “I would like to have you take over the pack. All of it. There’s a little money to be had. No house unless you want mine, and a lot of the younger ones have been leaving for a few months now.”

“This is not the way this is done, is it, Mike?” He shook his head at Ellis. “I heard Dawn ask you why us and why now. Tell me.”

There was no compulsion there. None. Only a man asking a question that he wanted answers to. Mike almost wished that he had used his power over him. He might have felt a little better about what he had to tell him.

“I’m not cut out for it. I don’t even…I didn’t want it when I took it. But there was no one else to do it. The alpha that had been the leader before had robbed the pack of all its resources and then left town. They were going to turn on the humans if order wasn’t brought to them.” He got up to pace. As a man who thought better on his feet, he never thought to ask them if he could until he was standing. Ellis told him to go ahead. “I like being sheriff. I mean, a great deal. The pay is better and I get to spend more time with my family. I never got to do that before because I never became the alpha so much as I babysat them. And when they didn’t do what needed to be done or just ignored what I needed from them, I had to do it myself. Everything became my responsibility because it was easier than fighting with them to get things done. It was all my fault how things turned out.”

“It was.” Mike looked at Dawn. “I know how it happens. The floor doesn’t get swept right the first time, so you show them how to do it. The next time you ask them, it’s worse until you just would rather do it yourself than have to deal with them whining and complaining about how hard it was, or how much work it was. But you should have made them do it over and over until it was done by them and not you.”

“I was a horrible leader.” Ellis stood up then and told him he wasn’t a horrible leader, but one that was in over his head. “I need you to take the pack. I can’t do it anymore.”

“You know that it’s not that easy, don’t you? I can’t just take it from you because you didn’t want it. There will be hell to pay for both of us and your family.” Mike nodded. He’d figured this would happen. He’d have to leave the pack and move away. His family would be targeted if he didn’t. “There has to be first blood.”

“What?” He looked at Dawn, then at Ellis again. “I don’t want to fight you. I know for a fact that you’ll kill me, and even if you don’t, I won’t be able to support my family any longer if I do something this stupid. Just let me leave the area. I’ll leave now, take my family and go.”

“First blood or you stay and work this out on your own. Dawn and I are just as happy to live on our land, pay our dues to you, and watch things fall apart. You either do this the way I want, the way we want, or it’s all on you.”

He was going to die was all Mike could think of, and that he would never see his next child take his first breath. Nodding to Ellis, Mike felt his head snap back as pain shot through his entire body. Falling back, he landed on the couch he’d been standing near and looked up at the man.

“First blood,” Ellis stated.

Blood poured from his mouth and nose. Mike reached up and wiped the blood from his face and stared at it on his hand. He’d drawn first blood; Ellis had just drawn first blood. It was just too much to comprehend, and he looked at Ellis, who was nursing his hand.

“You drew my blood. You’re…you’re not going to kill me.”

Ellis shook his head and put out his hand. It was open, not a bit of violence in the gesture or the look on his face. When he took it, Mike felt the weight of the past several days roll off him, and he returned the hug that the bigger man gave him. Sobbing now, he was so relieved, he pulled Dawn to him for a hug too. Ellis’s low growl had him backing away.

“I’m sorry. So sorry. I was caught in the moment.” Ellis nodded and wrapped his arms around Dawn. “You didn’t…you have no idea how…I didn’t die.”

“No. And you won’t either, not so long as I’m here.” Mike nodded again, trying in vain to control his emotions. “Mike, we’re going to have to get this right. I’ve been looking around with the help of my brother, and things are bad here. I need to take a strong stand.”

“You mean with me?” Ellis nodded. “I understand. I’m going to hurt a lot more than just the punch to the face. I’m prepared to take it.”

“Good.” Ellis sat down with him as he and Dawn started to outline what they had seen and how they were going to try and fix it.

There was the discipline that had to be taken care of. Most of the younger wolves had no jobs and, therefore, didn’t pay dues. And it wasn’t like they were high or even taxing, but they spent their money on drugs, booze, and women. There was nothing left for the pack.

The drugs were another issue. Most of them, nearly three quarters of the pack, were selling them, doing them, or making them. Mike told them how he’d tried to put down the hammer since becoming sheriff, but there simply was just too much of it. Ellis told him the next time he made an arrest, he wanted to be there, too. Just him, Ellis, and the dealer. Mike almost felt sorry for the dealer.

They talked about meetings, and Mike was ashamed to admit that those, too, had stopped. No one had shown up, and there was no one there to help with food either. Dawn told him that she had that covered and that it would be a pack event from now on or else. Mike had a feeling that even though she looked like she’d blow over in a hard wind, Dawn was just as hard and vicious as her husband.

The butler came in an hour or so later. They had moved to the dining room, papers were spread out all over the large table, and there was even a huge wipe-off board that had been unearthed from somewhere, and Mike was helping Dawn add names to it. It was a pitiful sight to see so few names on the side of being compliant.

“Mistress, there is a delivery for you.”

Dawn looked at Ellis. There was fear there and a little bit of sadness. But when she got up to follow the older man, Ellis told Mike it was a package from her mother.

“I thought her mom was deceased.” Ellis told him she was, but there was a package to be delivered to her after her death. “That would be hard. I knew her mom. She was dealt a hard life, I think. There are some files at the station about her, too. And the family. If she ever wants to see them, just tell her to come by. I’ll make them available to her.”

For another three hours, they talked and planned. Mostly Ellis did the planning, but he did ask for his input on a great deal. Dawn came back to help them, but he could tell she was slightly upset. Mike was glad now that this couple had shown up to live here. Otherwise, something else might have happened to him and his family.

~~~

The box sat on the table for three days. Dawn would walk by it, sometimes even touch it, but she’d yet to open it. She wasn’t ready. And she was thankful that Ellis never pressured her in any way. Addie and Jarrett had left the day before, and now it was just the two of them in the house, if you didn’t count the endless supply of household help. Dawn was sitting on the deck enjoying the warm day when Ellis came out to see her.

“I’ve got to go over to the house, then on into town. The pack house is being cleaned out today, and I need to be there.” She looked at him, dressed in a simple pair of jeans and a tee-shirt. “You should come with me. You’ve not seen the house in a couple of days.”

“Addie just called.” She looked at the cordless phone; she hated the thing, but it had become a necessity this past week. “She said to tell you that today you should be on your best guard. Do you know what that means?”

“I think so.” He sat down. “She told me that I’d be challenged. I had no idea it would be this soon, but I’m guessing that’s what she means.”

“Will you win?” He shrugged. “I see. And as soon as I marry you, I might become a widow. I don’t think I want to know what’s in store for us from now on.”

“Me neither. But knowing that I need to be paying more attention today makes it a good deal nicer, don’t you think?” She nodded and looked out over the pool. “What’s wrong, Dawn? You’ve been in a funk for the last couple of days. Is it the box? I can have it destroyed if you want. Or Luke or Shawn both said that they’d go through it for you to see if you might need anything from it.”

“I don’t think her life was all that much different than mine.” He asked her how. “She was a prisoner of Basil’s, I think. Some of the things he said, some of the things that she even said. Not really saying he hurt her, but she was afraid of him.”

“You think he treated her the same way he did you?” She nodded. “Do you know why she went to prison? Why she left you alone for so long?”

“I think the reason she never told anyone about me was because she knew that Basil would get me. I guess she thought—and she was more than likely right—that I’d stand a better chance of surviving on my own than I would have with him. I don’t think she ever knew about Neva. Maybe she did, but she never mentioned her.”

“They’d been together for a long time, I guess.” She nodded. “Mike said that there were reports he’d make available so you could see if you wanted. I’m not sure what they’d be other than arrest records. Or maybe complaints.”

“Complaints, I think.” Dawn didn’t look at Ellis, but she knew that he’d stretched out his legs. His arms were lying across his lap, and his head was tilted back to have the sun settle on it. “She went to prison because she had robbed a bank. Alone. I remember thinking at the time when I’d heard it that it would have been more money for us. Something to eat on a regular basis. It never happened, of course. It should have been a simple case of her getting arrested and put in jail for a time. I know that the gun she carried wasn’t loaded. Basil told me often enough how stupid she was to have done it without bullets. But the guard at the bank tried to subdue her and pulled his gun. It went off and he was dead.”

She knew all this. Had known it all her life, but the pieces were falling in a different order now that she had more information. The fact was that Basil had never shut up and that the papers were spewing his words there for everyone to read.

“Cancer took her.” Dawn nodded. “So, she wasn’t what made you a shifter. It must have been your father. You said she never mentioned him. I don’t know a lot about shifters, but can only a mate father a child with his mate?”

“Yes. In that part we’re the same. Once you find your mate, you can only have a child with them.” Dawn looked at him and wasn’t surprised to see that she’d been right about how he was sitting. “I don’t know how she survived all those years without him. I cannot even imagine being without you for more than a few hours, so I’m thinking he is more than likely dead. Love between us for me is all consuming; I would think it would have been for him as well.”