The guys crowded into the kitchen and attacked the donuts. They were so busy eating that Elsa slipped unnoticed into the formal dining room. She peered out one of the front windows. Greta and Ula had opened the trunk of their car.
“Oh no,” she breathed. Were they checking on the weapons, or did they intend to take them out and go hunting?
What if Howard was nearby?
She should warn him. She had his phone number in her handbag. But if she called or texted him, he would have her number. With a wince, she leaned against the wall next to the window.
She didn’t want to talk to him. He’d want to know why she was avoiding him, and she didn’t know what to say. He’d probably ask her out to dinner, and how could she respond?
She peeked out the window. Greta was loading shells into her shotgun.
“Oh God, no.” She had to warn Howard. He’d behaved like a perfect gentleman. He didn’t deserve to be shot down in the driveway.
With trembling fingers, she retrieved her cell phone and his note from her handbag. Call or text?
Text. Hearing his voice would make her all quivery inside. She started a message three times and erased it. Finally, she wrote,
She hesitated with her finger above the Send button. Once she pushed it, she couldn’t take it back. He would contact her. With a grimace, she pushed Send.
Seconds ticked by with her heart pounding. She glanced out the window. Greta was loading the hunting rifle.
Her phone jangled, and she jumped.
She glanced around the room. It was empty. The guys were still in the kitchen. The phone rang again.
Biting her lip, she took the call. “Hello?”
“Elsa?”
She groaned inwardly when his deep, sexy voice shuddered through her. “Yes.”
“We need to talk.”
“No. My aunts are with me constantly. They’re armed.”
“I should meet them.”
“No! They want to shoot you! They think you’re a berserker.”
There was a pause, then he replied, “I would never hurt you.”
She winced. He hadn’t denied being a berserker. “Just stay away from me. Okay?”
“Wait. Why are you refusing to see me?”
“Good-bye, Howard.”
“Is it because of the curse?”
“Don’t call me.” She hung up.
She rested her head against the wall and took deep breaths, waiting for her heart to stop racing.
Her phone dinged, signaling a text.
It dinged again. With a groan, she opened his message.
Her heart lurched. He knew about the guardians?
He sent another text.
Tears gathered in her eyes. Why couldn’t she just be Elsa? The same Elsa she was a week ago? Amazon Ellie who built beautiful cabinets. Why was she suddenly floundering in a supernatural world where nothing was what it should be? Children could secretly teleport. She and her aunts were secretly guardians. Handsome men were secretly beasts.
She sent him a message.
A message came back.
He admitted it. Her heart sank, and she wiped a tear from her cheek. Her hand shook as she typed out the next message.
He sent a new text.
She gasped. Was he admitting his ancestors had murdered hers? She texted back.
The phone rang.
Her heart jumped up her throat, and she turned the phone off. A message appeared in her voice mail.
She dropped the phone into her handbag and pulled out a small pack of tissue to blow her nose. “I won’t listen. I don’t care what he says.”
She stuffed the tissue back into her handbag.
“Dammit.” She couldn’t stand not knowing. She grabbed the phone and hit voice mail.
“Elsa, I would never hurt you!” Howard’s voice sounded strained. “We don’t have to live our lives according to some damned curse! It’s making us live in fear. All we have to do is reject the fear. We can break the curse. If we love each other.”
She dropped the phone into her handbag. Was Ula right? Did he actually become an animal?
She glanced out the window. Her aunts were marching up and down the driveway, carrying their weapons, ready to shoot the berserker. Howard.
Wolf or bear?
Chapter Fifteen
Howard checked his phone for missed calls or texts. Nothing. A week had passed since his last conversation with Elsa. An agonizingly slow week where each day had dragged by, crushing his hopes that she would contact him.
Had she simply dismissed him from her thoughts? Was he that easy to forget? Or was she keeping a distance in order to protect him from her aunts? She had texted him that warning. Did that mean she cared?
What had the aunts told her? That as a berserker, he was a murderous beast? Since they wanted to shoot him, they had to believe he wanted to attack her. Had they convinced Elsa to be afraid of him?
Dammit, he wanted her to trust him. But how could he prove himself to her if he never saw her? Right now, his strategy was to prove his worthiness by honoring her wishes and staying away from her. But that was frustrating the hell out of him. It seemed lame, even cowardly. The bear in him wanted to barge into her motel room and demand respect. Unfortunately, a move like that would probably terrify Elsa. And it might earn him a few bullets in his stubborn hide.
He continued to deliver two dozen donuts to the gatehouse at dawn each day. And he did a quick inspection of the house so he could report to Shanna. In the past week, the construction crew had dug out the basement floor, lowering it by two feet. Then they’d laid a vapor barrier and a concrete floor. They’d reinforced the walls and rebuilt the staircase to the cellar.
He’d gone to the house for two meetings with Alastair and Oskar, and one interview with the camerawoman, Madge. All three times, Elsa and her aunts were nowhere in sight. Apparently, she was given a warning to vacate the premises before he arrived.
Angus, Emma, and all the guys on the mission in Mexico had returned after successfully rescuing the American hostages. Ian and Robby were delighted to be back at the school with their pregnant wives. Connor had
