Wild About You

Chapter Thirteen

The next morning, bright and early, Howard parked his SUV behind Elsa’s rental car in front of the gatehouse. He’d gone into town to pick up a few dozen donuts, and he’d planned on surprising Elsa with them for breakfast. When he’d noticed her car was missing from the motel parking lot, he’d surmised that she and Alastair were at the gatehouse.

Shanna was doing her best to help with his courting. Last night, she’d left a detailed list with him to pass on to Elsa and Alastair so he’d have a good excuse to drop by this morning. He grabbed the donuts, along with a brown envelope containing Shanna’s list, then strode toward the house.

The front door was slightly ajar, so he nudged it open with his foot. “Hello?”

Alastair peered out an open doorway near the end of the foyer. His eyes narrowed. “Ah, Howard. Come on in.”

“I have breakfast.” He lifted the box as he crossed the foyer. “And a note from Shanna.”

“Excellent.”

Howard followed Alastair into what appeared to be the old kitchen. A quick glance around told him the room would need a massive amount of work. It was devoid of all modern appliances and, sadly, also devoid of Elsa.

He set the donut box and envelope on an old scarred table. “Shanna sent a list of things she wanted. She said you’d gone over most of it last night, but she wanted it in writing.”

“I understand.” Alastair pulled two water bottles from an ice chest on the floor and handed one to Howard. “I’ll take a look.”

Howard sat carefully in an old rickety chair by the table. It groaned under his weight. While he sipped some water, he strained his hearing to detect where in the house Elsa might be. If she was here, she was being very quiet.

He glanced at Alastair, who was studying the list, frowning. He wasn’t behaving in his usual cheerful, charming way.

Alastair nodded. “Yes, this all sounds familiar. They’re fairly common requests, except for wanting a second master bedroom suite in the basement. No windows. Sounds a bit gloomy to me.” He set the list down on the table. “She mentioned her mother would be living with them, so I assume they plan on stashing the ol’ gel in the cellar.”

Howard nodded, although he knew Shanna and Roman would be using the basement.

Alastair helped himself to a donut. “Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to inspect the cellar yet. The old wooden staircase is half rotted away, and the only other access point is outside, the old coal chute. Oskar will bring a ladder when he comes this afternoon, so we’ll have a look then.”

“Sounds good.” Howard drank more water. “So is Elsa around?”

Alastair shot him an annoyed look. “You’ll have to conduct all your business meetings with me or Oskar. Elsa has requested not to see you again.”

Howard’s mouth dropped open.

Alastair scowled at him. “I don’t know what you did last night, but I don’t appreciate you scaring the hell out of her. She’s a nice—”

“What?”

“She looked dreadful this morning. Black circles under her eyes. She wouldn’t say what had upset her, but it was obvious she hadn’t slept a wink.”

“She—she’s upset?”

Alastair gulped down some water. “So what happened? Did you make a pass at her?”

“I—”

“I’m not blind, you know. I could tell you two were attracted to each other, and quite frankly, I was delighted for Ellie. She’s a lovely woman and deserves to be happy—”

“I didn’t hurt her.” Howard gritted his teeth. “I would never hurt her.”

“Well.” Alastair eyed him suspiciously. “I’ll have to take your word on that. But for now, I expect you to honor her wishes and stay away from her.”

“Where is she? Is she all right?”

Alastair lifted a brow. “She’ll be here later with Oskar and the crew. In other words, she will be surrounded by a group of brawny construction workers who consider her their darling little sister.”

Howard’s inner bear growled at the implied threat. Did they really believe he was a danger to Elsa?

He rose to his feet. “I would never harm her. And I will honor her wishes. You have my word.”

Alastair nodded. “Good.” He extended a hand. “No hard feelings, ol’ chap. Let’s continue to work well together.”

Howard shook his hand, then strode from the house.

A few minutes later, he found himself parked in front of the motel in Cranville. He’d been in such a daze that he couldn’t remember driving there.

He gazed at her door. Room number five. Even here, he could detect a hint of her lovely scent. What had happened to make her suddenly reject him? Had he moved too fast the night before? Kissed her too hard?

He replayed the scene in his mind, trying to figure out where he’d gone wrong. Yes, he’d kissed her with passion, but she had kissed him back. She hadn’t seemed insulted or frightened by him.

Damn. He raked a hand through his hair. What the hell had upset her? Had she experienced a delayed reaction to being teleported? If that was freaking her out, then how would she ever handle the truth about him being a shifter?

He might never get the chance to tell her. She might insist on never seeing him again.

Despair slammed into him, nearly doubling him over. The bear inside him howled in pain. It rammed against his defenses, demanding release. It needed to run, needed to destroy a poor tree with a few ferocious swipes, needed to shred and devour a helpless animal.

“Later,” he whispered, sweat beading on his brow as he tightened his control on the beast. Charging around town as a grizzly bear would not help his cause. What he needed now was a new strategy.

He retrieved a pen and small legal pad from his glove compartment so he could write Elsa a note.

WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED? he scrawled, then realized all caps looked like he was yelling at her. He ripped that page off and tried again.

Elsa, I’m sorry I jumped your bones.

To hell with that. He wasn’t sorry at all. He tore that page off.

My dearest Elsa:

I heard you didn’t sleep well, and I was concerned. What could be upsetting you, sweetheart? Why are you so afraid? I never took you for a COWARD!

He ripped that page off. Dammit, he couldn’t let his anger creep in.

“Holy crap,” he muttered. There was only one page left on the pad.

He took a deep breath. Fourth down and ten. No pressure here.

Dear Elsa,

I was sorry to miss you this morning. Please call me whenever you get a chance.

He looked it over. Not too bad. He wrote down his cell phone number and signed it simply with his name. It would have to do. He folded it up and wrote her name on it, then took it inside the motel office and asked the sleepy manager to pass it on to her.

With one last glance at her door, he returned to his SUV, then drove back to the school. Instead of going inside, he jogged to the nearby woods, stripped, and let the bear free.

He roared his frustration, ripped his claws through a tree trunk, then ran through the forest. He made a circle around the school, clawing and marking his territory.

She will be mine, the bear growled. Elsa will be mine.

The note burned in Elsa’s pocket, but she ignored it and walked from the motel office to the local diner. Even though it was almost noon, she ordered breakfast. After a sleepless night, she’d dragged herself to the car at dawn, but thankfully, Alastair had taken mercy on her and given her the morning off. She’d climbed back into bed and dozed away most of the morning.

Now she tapped her fingers on the linoleum table, waiting for her bacon and eggs. She could pass the time by looking at the note the motel manager had given her.

No. She sipped some coffee instead.

She strongly suspected the note was from Howard. Her name was written on the outside with bold, strong strokes, nothing like the fluid handwriting that Alastair used.

Damn, she’d let Howard walk her to her room last night. He knew which room was hers. She shook her head. Howard had acted like a gentleman. He didn’t deserve all this suspicion. She was letting those weird berserker legends freak her out.

Howard wasn’t behaving like a wild animal. He’d simply left a note for her at the office.

Should she look at it?

She rubbed her brow, not knowing what to think. Her aunt had frightened her with all that berserker nonsense, and then her dream had terrified her. Was she really marked for murder? Was Howard some kind of modern-day berserker who went into an animal-like trance, killing everything in sight?

How had her life slipped so far into the bizarre?

She drank more coffee and looked around the diner. Everything seemed so normal. Small-town America. Down-to-earth people with friendly faces. They were delighted that the International Home Wreckers show had come to town. The motel was fully booked for the next four months. She’d booked a room for her aunts and seven more rooms to accommodate Oskar, Madge the camerawoman, her sound and light guys, and the main construction crew. Specialty crews would come and go over the next few months, filling up the rest of the motel.

Madge and her production crew were going to film the “before” footage today. They would return about once a week over the next four months, then film a lot of interviews and “after” footage when the project was finished.

The main construction crew was jokingly called The B Boys, since their names were Bennie, Bradley, Bartello, and Buff. Buff’s name was actually Mario, but he liked being called Buff as much as he liked showing off his buff body. All The B Boys had been selected for the show because they were experts on construction with the added bonus of looking fabulous without their shirts. Whenever Madge was around with her camera, she insisted they partially disrobe, claiming a shirtless man in a hard hat was good for ratings.

They were a nice-looking bunch, Elsa thought, but not nearly as huge and handsome as Howard. Read his note.

“No!” She realized the waitress was standing there with a coffee pot in hand and a surprised look on her face. “I mean, yes.” She slid her nearly empty cup across the table.

The waitress filled it and gave her a wary look. “Your food will be out soon.”

“Thank you.” Elsa smiled to let the waitress know she was okay.

Read the note, you coward. What could be so bad about a note? It wasn’t like Howard could strangle her with a few written words, not like the guy in her dream.

She retrieved the note from her jeans pocket and read it. His cell phone number glared back at her. “No.” She stuffed the note in her handbag.

Would it hurt to call him? It wasn’t like Howard could strangle her over the phone, not like the guy in her dream. She winced and shook her head. Stop thinking about that.

“Are you all right?” The waitress eyed her suspiciously as she set a platter of eggs, bacon, and toast on the table.

“I’m fine. Thank you.” I’m not going to think about Howard going berserk and killing a bunch of pigs in an animal-like frenzy. She picked up a slice of bacon and groaned.

Maybe she’d start with the eggs.

Shortly after Elsa’s late breakfast, Oskar, The B Boys, and Madge and her crew arrived in two trucks and a van. They quickly settled in their motel rooms while Elsa ordered a dozen hamburger combo meals at the diner. Then, loaded up with take-out food and supplies, they headed off to the gatehouse.

Everyone sat on the floor in the formal parlor to eat their lunch with leftover donuts for dessert while Alastair outlined the plans. Madge and her crew recorded some video, and The B Boys ate without their shirts, just to make her happy. Elsa suspected some of them were making Madge happy when the camera wasn’t rolling.

They would start with the basement and work their way up. The bad news: Alastair suspected the basement was only about seven feet high. They might have to dig down another two feet.

The B Boys groaned.

Their first job: set up temporary lighting in the cellar, clean the place up, and determine if it was structurally sound before they started digging.

It was a horrendous mess. After a few hours, they were all covered in dirt, cobwebs, and coal dust. Elsa had climbed up the ladder to get a bottle of water from the kitchen when her cell phone jangled. She wiped her dirty hands on her jeans, then answered it.

“Ellie!” Aunt Greta exclaimed. “We’ve just arrived at the motel. Where are you?”

“At work. I’ll be there soon.” Elsa yelled down at Alastair that she needed to return to town and heard his muffled agreement.

“I’ll take you back.” Madge climbed up the ladder. “We’re done for the day.”

Fifteen minutes later, Elsa arrived at the motel. Aunt Greta and Great-aunt Ula bounded from their room, all smiles and open arms.

“Goodness, girl, you’re a mess.” Greta gave her a quick hug, then stepped back.

Great-aunt Ula grinned at her, then spoke in broken English. “You look very well. We were very afraid for you.”

“I’m fine. And you look great, Aunt Ula. I swear you haven’t aged a day since I last saw you.” And it wasn’t flattery. Elsa hoped she would age as well her great-aunt. Ula’s hair was silver, but it was thick and shiny and plaited into a long braid. Her glowing complexion had only a few wrinkles, and her green eyes were as sharp as ever.

Ula nodded, smiling. “You grow up very pretty.” Her smile faded as she plucked a cobweb from Elsa’s hair. “But very dirty.”

“I’ll jump in the shower.” Elsa unlocked her motel room door and ushered the two women inside.

Ten minutes later, she emerged from the bathroom squeaky clean, dressed in new jeans and a T-shirt. While she towel-dried her hair, the aunts sat on her bed, speaking in Swedish.

“We must tell her everything,” Ula insisted. “What does she know so far?”

“I told her about the murders,” Greta whispered. “And the berserkers.”

Ula nodded. “Does she know she’s a—”

“A what?” Elsa asked in English. She hadn’t understood the last word Ula had said.

“It translates best as guardian,” Greta explained in English. “As you know, Aunt Ula can talk to seals, whales, dolphins, fish—all the creatures of the sea.”

Ula nodded. “Turtles, too.”

Elsa sighed. “Yes, I’ve heard that.” But she’d never believed it.

“I am Guardian of Sea,” Ula announced.

And I’m the queen of England. Elsa tossed her damp towel under the vanity.

“That’s why she has the fish birthmark,” Greta explained.

“Ja. Fish.” Ula tapped her shoulder.

“And I have the bird birthmark,” Greta continued, “so I’m Guardian of the Sky.”

“She talks to birds,” Ula added.

“What?” Elsa gave her aunt an incredulous look. “You never mentioned that before.”

Greta dragged a hand through her short blond hair. As pale as her hair was, the few strands of silver were barely noticeable. “I became your mother, and I was afraid you wouldn’t mind me if you thought I was crazy. But remember in junior high when you insisted on walking home from the bus stop on your own?”

Elsa swallowed hard. A hawk had always followed her home.

“And when you went off to college, there was an owl who lived in the rafters outside your room,” Greta continued.

“You kept an eye on me with birds?” Elsa asked.

Greta nodded. “You wouldn’t believe how handy they are. I’ve never gotten a speeding ticket ’cause they always tell me where the cops are.”

“Huh?” Elsa ran a hand through her damp hair.

“That’s why I wasn’t concerned about driving around with the rifles in the trunk.” Greta quickly translated what she’d said to Swedish, and Ula grinned.

“Ja. We need guns to keep Elsa safe,” Ula said, still smiling.

Elsa groaned. “You can’t just walk around shooting everyone who looks at me funny.”

Greta waved a dismissive hand. “Don’t worry. We’ll only shoot the berserker if he comes after you.”

Elsa winced. They wanted to shoot Howard?

“Has anything else happened to you recently?” Greta asked. “Other than your birthmark burning?”

“Well . . .” Elsa thought about it. She’d been teleported. She’d been thoroughly kissed by an alleged berserker who seemed much more interested in making love to her than murdering her. Not your usual run-of-the-mill stuff. “Oh, a bunch of animals keep following me around.”

“Ah.” Ula exchanged a knowing look with Greta.

“I thought that might happen,” Greta said. “That was the reason I always kept you away from the country. Of course, even in the suburbs, there were field mice and squirrels that sought you out, but my hawks and owls took care of them. And Peder’s hunting dogs took care of the rabbits.”

Elsa sat on the bed. “Are you saying I have always attracted animals?”

“Not all animals.” Greta waved a hand. “Just the woodland creatures.”

“You are Guardian of Forest,” Ula announced.

Elsa’s mouth dropped open.

Greta patted her on the arm. “I’m sure it comes as a bit of a shock.”

You think? Elsa jumped to her feet. “What . . . this is crazy! We’re not some sort of magical beings that talk to animals.”

Greta looked offended. “I have nothing to do with animals. I only talk to birds.”

Elsa groaned. “That’s not normal.”

“We’re special,” Ula said proudly.

Special? It reminded Elsa of how Tino had described himself. “What—what sort of weird things do we do?”

“Mainly, we communicate with different creatures. We’re no longer sure how that came to pass.” Greta gazed across the room, her eyes unfocused. “Many of the secrets have been lost over the centuries, but I suspect the original guardians were shamans of some kind. We do know that over a thousand years ago, there were three magical sisters: the Guardians of the Sea, Sky, and Forest, and they used their powers to protect a village.”

“Ja,” Ula agreed. “Always three guardians in our family. Always women.”

“If an enemy attacked by sea, the Guardian of the Sea called upon the sea creatures to overturn the boats,” Greta continued. “And the Guardian of the Sky asked the birds of prey to attack an enemy who came over the mountains.”

“But Guardian of Forest—” Aunt Ula shook her head and tsked.

“What?” Elsa crossed her arms. She felt like she’d been caught doing something wrong.

“It wasn’t really her fault,” Greta insisted. “A group of marauders kept attacking the village. They had too many ships for the sea creatures to stop them all. The villagers begged the Guardian of the Forest to protect them. So she took the twelve best warriors into the woods to live with the wolves and bears, and that’s when it happened.”

A shiver trickled down Elsa’s spine. “What happened?”

“The men became berserkers,” Greta said.

Ula shook her head again, making more tsking noises. “Bad. Very bad.”

“At first the berserkers were good at defeating the enemy and keeping the village safe,” Greta continued. “But then some of them lost control and started killing the villagers.”

“Very bad,” Ula repeated.

“And then the ultimate betrayal. They turned on their own creator, the Guardian of the Forest.” Greta regarded Elsa with a sad look. “One of the berserkers killed her.”

Elsa shuddered. “So you think a berserker will . . .” Her heart raced. Howard would fall into an animal-like frenzy and attack her? “I don’t believe it! H-he wouldn’t do that.”

Greta sighed. “I know it’s a lot to take in. But don’t worry. Ula and I will protect you. And you must do your best to never see the berserker again.”

Elsa sat on the bed. “If you could just meet him, you would know that he’s harmless.”

“No!” Greta stiffened. “We can never trust a berserker.”

“But he’s not going to behave like an animal!” Elsa cried.

Ula muttered something in Swedish.

Elsa gasped. “What did she say?”

Greta shuddered. “We have no proof, for no one in our family has seen it. Or if they did see it, they didn’t live to talk about it. But the family legend claims the berserkers don’t just act like animals.”

Elsa swallowed hard as Aunt Greta’s voice softened to a whisper.

“They become animals.”