Ellie's Wolf (10 page)

“I know.” Quill’s voice was mild. “But we need to be careful. This is a man who might be responsible for two deaths. He sold you and kept your son. He could do anything. What if he shoots at us? I won’t risk you or the other ladies.”

Ellie’s mind slowed. She closed her eyes and let out a shaky breath. “You’re right.”

“Yeah.” He settled a warm hand over her knee. “We’ll wait here while Paint and Lance go down and check the place out. We will get your boy back. I promise. Okay?”

“Okay.” She looked down at him and was arrested by the beauty of his eyes, sun-lit in the burnished gold of his face. He was such a handsome man. The more she saw him, the more handsome he became.

He returned her gaze, his thumb rubbing circles on the outside of her knee. Embarrassed, she dropped her eyes, and his nakedness finally caught her full attention. For a moment, her mouth hung open as she looked down his wide chest to his narrow waist, to his…She snapped her eyes up and her mouth closed and stared blindly at the river below them. She knew her cheeks must be the violet-red of pickled beets. Good heavens, he was naked! He looked
good
naked.

More blood surged into her cheeks at that thought. But it was true, and every part of her knew it. Every part of her also knew that his wolf had claimed her. That beautiful body could be hers with a single word from her. She controlled her urge to shift in the saddle as blood rushed to other places.
Shame, Ellie
, she told herself severely.
This is no time to be thinking of that. Remember Connor.

Quill didn’t seem to notice her reaction. He gave her knee a quick squeeze and turned away to talk to the others a distance away. Ellie slumped in the saddle. Mel’s horse came up beside her.

“That is one handsome man,” Mel said dispassionately, as if commenting on the weather.

A small pin of jealousy pricked Ellie. She dared a glance at Quill. He looked just as good from behind. “Snake is very handsome too.”

Snake chose that moment to shake off his furry self and emerge as naked as Quill. The two men stood together with their backs to the women, about ten yards away, talking quietly with others. Their entire bodies, from heads to heels, were evenly brown. Neal had always had a farmer’s tan from working in the garden on the days he wasn’t shut up in the mill, and his nose and shoulders were forever peeling from sunburn. Ellie remembered rubbing lotion into his shoulders in the privacy of their room. Her hands gliding smoothly over his thick shoulders and back had often turned Neal’s thoughts away from his sunburn to lovemaking. Ellie missed that.

“He sure is,” Mel drawled.

It took Ellie a moment to pull her thoughts away from her marriage bed back to the present. Snake was a little shorter than Quill, his shoulders and chest brawnier, his hair confined in two braids that hung to the curve of his buttocks. He was built quite a bit like Neal, but his skin would never burn and peel, and his body was bare of the thick blond hair that had covered Neal. Grief rolled over Ellie. She missed Neal. Shame joined the grief. How could she look at Quill and wonder what it would feel like to smooth her hands over his shoulders and back?

Sara nudged her horse forward to join them. Her cheeks were flushed, and a smile played with her lips. “I wish all men looked that good naked,” she said with loud enthusiasm.

Ellie winced. Several of the men looked at her, and one wolf, who must have been Stone, raised his hackles and growled.

“Oh, please.” Sara rolled her eyes. “Like you don’t know you’re just as gorgeous as the rest of them.”

The wolf’s face wrinkled in an almost human frown before his tail went tick-tock once. Then he turned and trotted away.

Mel took off her cowboy hat and waved it in front of her face. “That is just plain weird.”

Stone, dressed now in only jeans, walked back to them. His face still held a frown as he stared up at Sara. “You think I’m handsome?” he demanded of her.

“Are you kidding?”

Stone blinked at the wealth of sarcasm drenching Sara’s voice. “Is that a ‘Yes, I think you’re handsome’ or a ‘No, I don’t think you’re handsome’ sort of are-you-kidding?”

Sara rolled her eyes again. “You are so male.”

After a moment of consideration, Stone puffed out his chest. “You think I’m handsome,” he announced and strutted away.

Sara turned long-suffering eyes to Mel and Ellie. “He is so…”

“Male?” Mel suggested when Sara seemed unable to find the right word.

“Young?” Ellie countered.

“Yes!” Sara snorted.

Mel wagged her head. “He’s a bit young for me, but he’s fine, fine, fine.”

“He’s mine, mine, mine,” Sara shot back.

Mel laughed. “So you’re keeping him, hmm?”

“It’s more like he’s keeping me,” the teenager muttered. “He says I have to go with him to this place up north. I want to go to Omaha!”

Ellie jumped six inches and had to grab the saddle horn to stay on her horse when Quill spoke right beside her. “Omaha is no place for a woman.”

He was wearing jeans and buttoning a shirt. Ellie tried not to be disappointed. Her appreciation for the beauty of his body wasn’t a bad thing. He was her husband now, and it was good that she found him attractive, wasn’t it? Of course, Ellie didn’t feel married. There had been no ceremony to mark their union. From their conversation last night, she didn’t think Quill would object to a wedding ceremony. Where was the nearest church?

“Why don’t you ladies dismount?” Quill suggested. “Paint and Lance are heading down, and it will be a few minutes before we get a signal from them. Time enough for a little supper.”

Ellie dismounted and stifled a groan. She would ride twice as far without complaint if it meant getting Connor. She accepted a slab of dried beef and gnawed off a hunk. She chewed methodically and set herself to patiently waiting for word from Paint and Lance. Connor was only a mile from her. It had been only ten days since she’d held him, but it seemed like longer. How much had he grown? What new words had he learned? Was he okay? Her attempt at patience was wearing thin.

Quill laid a warm hand on her shoulder. “It’s going to be all right, Ellie,” he murmured.

He said that a lot. Ellie was touched by his desire to reassure her. She nodded and bit off another hunk of dried meat. It was only a half hour before Ellie heard a wolf’s howl rise faintly in the distance. Instantly she went to her horse and tried to put her foot in the stirrup. She was too stiff to do it gracefully, but Quill was there to help her up to the saddle. He kept one hand on her knee and looked up at her with a serious face. Ellie could get used to feeling his hand on her. If she wasn’t so concerned about Connor, she would have leaned down and kissed him.

“I want you to keep behind me,” he told her. “Don’t move away from me until I’m sure you’re safe. Promise me.”

“All right, I promise.” Impatience danced on the edge of her voice. “Let’s hurry.”

Ellie didn’t even notice her saddle sores as she followed Quill and another mounted man down the slope to the yard of the mill. Sara and Mel were right beside her, and the rest of the men and wolves were clustered around them in guard mode. Ellie wondered if they looked threatening, half a dozen men on horses and half a dozen large wolves riding down the slope, none of them looking friendly. Yes, she was pretty sure they looked threatening.

Paint and Lance were standing there in front of the mill, one of them on either side of Mr. Moore, who was dressed in his usual jeans, flannel shirt, and canvas apron, with a bandana around his neck. Ellie gave him a quick glance, but she wanted to see Connor. Moore wouldn’t have brought the children to the mill. The house was only five hundred yards away, and Ellie wanted desperately to go there, but she had promised Quill to stay close behind him.

Mr. Moore didn’t look surprised to see her, but he’d probably watched them come down the hill and recognized her then. “Mrs. Overdahl,” he said with a smile. “You look well.”

His friendly tone made Ellie bristle. Beside her, Mel spat into the dirt.

Quill nudged his horse farther in front of her, blocking Mr. Moore’s view of her. “Her name is Wolfe now.” His voice was strong and cold. “We’ve come to collect my wife’s belongings, and her son.”

Mr. Moore smiled again. He wasn’t handsome like Quill, but he was a pleasant-looking man of thirty-five, with a good house and a prosperous business. Ellie had never understood why he was so set on having her for his wife. Even with few women in the area, he shouldn’t have any trouble finding another wife. Maybe that’s what he was thinking when he directed his smile at Mel.

“Ma’am, I sure admire the way you handle your horse. I like a woman who knows how to stay in the saddle no matter how rough the ride gets.”

Ellie recoiled. Was she only imagining the double meaning in Moore’s voice?

“You ladies should come up to the house and have a cool drink of water,” Mr. Moore suggested, still smiling at Mel.

Mel spat again. “I wouldn’t drink your water if yours was the only well in five hundred miles.”

Moore’s smile faded, leaving his face less pleasant-looking. “No need to be rude, miss.”

Mel glared back. “It’s Mrs., actually. Mrs. Wolfe. So don’t get any stupid ideas about marrying me.”

“Marry…” Mr. Moore’s mouth pinched tightly shut for a moment. “Why would I want to marry a rude woman like you? Your husband should teach you manners.”

A sharp bark of laughter erupted from Mel. “Him, teach
me
manners? I’m not sure he’s housebroken.” She glanced apologetically down at the four-footed Snake. “Sorry. I guess I shouldn’t have said that. He just really pisses me off.”

The gray wolf beside her raised a lip to reveal sharp white teeth in a snarl.

“No, Snake! Don’t bite him.”

Snake settled for growling, hackles raised.

Moore’s eyebrow lifted. “You named your pet Snake?”

“No.” Mel’s smile oozed blithe enjoyment. “That’s my husband.”

Sara giggled. Moore shot her a poisonous glare. Stone’s growl was even scarier than Snake’s.

“Quit fooling around,” Quill snapped at them. He turned back to Moore. “Now, where’s Ellie’s son?”

When Moore didn’t answer, Quill tapped his heel into his horse’s side to move him almost on top of the man. “Where is Connor?”

Moore backed up. “The kids are inside. Hold on, I’ll bring ’em out.”

Ellie frowned when he turned and went into the mill. Why would he have the boys in there? He couldn’t stand having children under foot.

The door slammed closed and locked with an audible click. A shotgun barrel slid through a peephole beside the door. “You want the brat?” Moore yelled from inside. “Fine. He’s up at the house.”

Quill placed himself squarely between Ellie and the gun. “Standing Bear, go check out the house.” In a much lower voice, too quiet for Mr. Moore to be able to hear, he added, “Snake, Stone, let’s back the ladies up out of range of that scattergun. Paint, Snow, keep watch here.”

Ellie clenched her teeth and watched one of the gray wolves race off toward the house, the fur on his back still raised. “I’m so tired of waiting,” she told Quill’s back. “Mr. Moore isn’t acting right.”

“He’s scared,” Quill said, backing his horse into hers so she had to move. He didn’t look at her, keeping his eyes on the gun barrel. “I don’t have the best nose, and even I could smell it.”

“What does he have to be scared of?” Ellie burst out. “If he’s hurt Connor…”

“He’ll pay for it,” Quill finished for her in even tones, still keeping his horse backing hers up and his eyes on the shotgun barrel. “But it might just be that he’s afraid of us.”

That might be it
, Ellie admitted to herself. The wolves could be intimidating. Actually, terrifying, to their enemies. She watched one of the wolves trot around the back of the mill. Once they were all a distance from the house and to one side where the shotgun wouldn’t have a clear shot at them, they stopped.

“I don’t like him,” Sara announced in a tone that surprised Ellie. She expected the younger woman to yell or sneer, but she sounded thoughtful. “He holes up with his gun and leaves his children to the mercy of strangers? For all he knows, we’ll steal the kids. What an idiot.”

That note of disgust sounded more like Sara. It made Ellie smile, but the smile died when the wolf who’d run to the house howled. “Is that bad?” she cried.

Quill was silent for a moment. “I don’t know. Let’s go find out.”

While Quill rode in the lead, Ellie kept her eyes fixed on the house and stared until her eyes watered, but she couldn’t see any sign of Connor. Sara and Mel were right beside her, along with Snake and Stone still in wolf form. Ellie jumped off her horse, and even tumbling to the ground when her knees gave out didn’t stop her from jumping up and making her way to front door. She could hear a voice crying inside and recognized it as Tommy, Moore’s five-year-old son. Quill was there first, holding her back.

“Tommy, are you all right?” she called. “Connor?”

Standing Bear, the wolf Quill had sent ahead, came out of the front door, naked except for a towel he had tied around his hips. “He’s not in here,” he said. “Only a boy named Matthew and a little ’un named Tommy are in the house. The bigger boy is nasty. He won’t tell me where Connor is, and when Tommy tried to tell me, he clobbered him.”

Quill snapped his head around. “Stone, we’ll need your nose to sniff the boy out.”

Ellie made an exasperated sound. “Matthew is a bully, but he knows better than to try that with me.” She pushed against Quill’s restraining arm. Reluctantly, he allowed her to enter the house but kept close beside her as she went through the hall and into the kitchen in the back of the house.

The kitchen she had kept pristine for three years was a shambles. Unwashed dishes were stacked in the sink and on the stove. The floor was sticky with spilled food. On the floor in the corner, Tommy was curled around himself, tears, blood, and snot marking his face while Matthew was kicking him methodically. Ellie stared at the brothers for one bare moment. She was horrified but not surprised. Unlike sweet Tommy, Matthew had a mean streak.