by Leela Ash
“Seriously, what’s not a big deal? You can tell me. Maybe I can help.”
Luke was persistent about it, more so than he was with other people when they were upset. He couldn’t make himself feign interest. Their problems were their own. But for some reason, he was invested in this woman. Her ups and downs felt close to home to him. He wanted to make her happy. Keep her happy. But how was he supposed to do that? Especially when she wouldn’t even tell him what was wrong.
“I doubt that you can help with it. It’s all just part of being an adult, I guess. The loan I took out on the house…well, let’s just say that the bankers are kind of jerks about it. I intend to pay it just as we agreed upon. But they started talking about hidden fees and… I really don’t know why I’m troubling you with all of this. It just has me a little bit concerned is all. I’m sure everything will work out fine.”
Luke gritted his teeth. “Hidden fees? That sounds sketchy,” he said. “Where did you get your loan from?”
“That’s kind of personal,” Ella said, sighing and looking into Luke’s eyes. He was startled into silence by the expression on her face. She was being serious. She meant it when she said she didn’t want to talk to him about it. It was her business. Her private affair. Her mortgage. And she would handle it. She had her family to consider. And she wasn’t about to air their dirty laundry to some random stranger who was there to help her make the house a better place to live in.
“Right, I’m sorry. You don’t have to tell me anything,” Luke said, casting his eyes away. Did she just dominate him? He furrowed his brow then dared to look back into her eyes. He looked away again. Yep. That she did. What the fuck.
Ella’s energy lightened a little, almost as if she were amused by his reaction to her asserting herself, and she let out a soft laugh. “No, it’s all right. Thank you for being concerned. Everything will be fine though. I’m taking care of it. It’s my problem.”
“I understand,” Luke said, relieved when he could finally meet her eyes again. “So, where do you want to begin today?”
“I thought maybe you could give me the quotes.”
“Right,” Luke said, looking down at his clipboard. “Is there somewhere we can sit down and discuss this? How’s Michael?”
“Oh, he’s great. Had a long day though. I put him to bed a little earlier than normal. He should be sleeping right now. The baby monitor is quiet anyway.”
Luke smiled, imagining what their life must be like. He imagined it would be nice having a little one in the house to look after. They were a unit. Sweet and connected. A family. It had been a long time since he had felt like part of a family, and he couldn’t help but wonder what it might be like to have a wife like Ella and a son like Mikey. A home like this, modest but adequate. How would he feel having two people who loved him dearly to wake up to every morning? Two people he was willing and able to put his life on the line for. To show love and protection to?
His mother had died early in his life, and it had mostly just been himself and his father from that point on. Every once in a while, the other elders would step in and help to raise him in some ways, but his father had done the brunt of the work. They had been close. Close enough that it felt like a personal attack to hear anyone say anything even slightly unfavorable about his father. He would do anything to protect that man’s honor. He was the most intelligent and down to earth wolf shifter Luke had ever known. There was no way he deserved to have his name drug through the mud the way it was sometimes.
Luke’s dad had been a great father. He hadn’t wanted for anything. And although the man was powerful and successful within the pack, Luke had been raised in a modest and down to earth way. One that upheld the more traditional shifter values of community and service to the pack. He had always cared deeply about the way things were going. The politics had been so close to his heart all his life that realizing the others didn’t care about the council being infiltrated by outsiders had been devastating. His father had been disappointed in a similar way, but there had been a respectful negligence of his theories rather than the outright denial that Luke had received once his father was no longer in the picture.
But his father had taught him much about grace and patience as a boy. He had been a great father, and Luke had done his best to keep his seething anger to himself. Until the pack had gone too far. He wished he could be more like his dad.
Would he ever be a good parent the way his own father had been? Luke wasn’t sure he had it in him. But he had a secret desire to find out. One that seemed to be sparked whenever he was near this woman. The wolf was a pesky little shit. Why wouldn’t it just leave him be, so they could get on with their lives and not have to worry about his irritating attraction to Ella anymore?
They both knew it would be wrong to put her in harm’s way by claiming her, even if she was interested. And who was to say that she would be? She had her own affairs. A life and a family…. Just because she was attracted to him didn’t mean that a relationship with him was something she might want. The whole thing would just get them both into a lot of trouble.
He shoved the thoughts aside as Ella led him to the couch, and they sat down reluctantly together. Luke cleared his throat and looked down at his clipboard, forcing himself to recite the figures he had found for her.
When he was done, he dared to glance up to gauge her expression.
“Gosh, that’s a lot of money,” she murmured.
Luke felt instantly horrible. Of course, it was a lot of money. House repairs weren’t cheap. And she was looking to turn a profit on the place. It was going to be a hell of an investment. And if she was already having issues with her loan….
As if she could read his mind, Ella looked up at him sharply and forced a bright smile to her face. “But it will be worth it, don’t you think? As an investment into our future?”
Luke liked the way “our future” sounded coming from her lips. But that was absurd. He hardly knew the woman. And, of course, she was speaking about herself and her son. Not some random guy off the street who was just hanging around to make a buck doing house repairs for her. He was getting far too ahead of himself.
“Well, if it’s worth it to you, then it’s worth it,” Luke replied, smiling warmly at Ella. He tried to ignore the instantaneous effect his smile had on her, the warmth creeping across her cheeks, the gentle flush that indicated something the wolf was all too aware of….
She looked away slightly and let out a soft laugh before returning her gaze to his. “It’s a good house. It will be a good place for my son to grow. He will have people who care about him here. He can’t have the rest of his family; his father is a drunk, a womanizer. And neither of us have much family living anymore, so it’s not like he’s missing out on any crucial relationships with his grandparents. I have a sister out east, but she rarely visits anyway. He needs a place like this. A community.”
A pack, Luke finished silently for her in his own mind. A boy needed a pack. People to help him grow and look out for him. Friends. People close enough that they felt like family. He felt a pang of sudden longing for his pack. But they had driven him away and he was never going to subject himself to that nonsense again. Not unless everything changed. Not unless he was respected and taken seriously.
“Well, if you play your cards right, then maybe that’s exactly what he will have,” Luke said, glancing down at his hands nervously. He didn’t want to tell her about the wolf shifter politics. She was probably a non-believer. It was common, these days, to be wary of humans. There were many seeds of animosity being sown in that regard, and Luke couldn’t help but be both sad and angry about the development. He had always enjoyed the humans that came to Stonybrooke. They seemed kind and open-minded. They never acted cruelly or poorly or anything like that.
But somehow, lately, the rumors of the power-hungry humans had arisen and made most shifters feel safer not letting them in on the truth of their identities. It seemed a necessary evil, but one that Luke didn’t lik
e at all. He and his father had always tried to embrace the human population. And yes, while many may have proven untrustworthy, it left a distinct rift within him to isolate them from shifter life. He didn’t want them to be treated as enemies. And if it got to be too extreme, sweet women like Ella would ultimately find it difficult to make the kinds of ties she was hoping for and have a community that would support her and her son in times of need.
Everybody deserved a community. He just wished that all communities were good. Worthy of its members. He would rather die than go back to his pack. And he hoped more than anything that Ella wouldn’t face any of the types of obstacles he’d felt right on his own turf.
“So, I guess what I need to do next is figure out what the next step will be,” Ella said, sighing softly. “I want to be able to make this place amazing, but I don’t want to go overboard. The bank people don’t seem very understanding. It hasn’t even come time to make a payment yet and they’re already calling the house about it. I don’t want to seem ungracious but that’s kind of ridiculous. And it puts a lot of pressure on me.”
“Well, sure it does,” Luke said, frowning. What kind of bank was that, anyway? He hadn’t trusted bankers with his money since the outsiders had begun infiltrating Stonybrooke. He’d always used his own personal accountant, a young guy named Miles who was very fiscally responsible. He took care of most of his finances without Luke having to get involved with any of the banks, which came in handy once he was on bad terms with his pack.
“I’m sorry,” Ella said, sighing and leaning back against the couch. “I just want everything to go as smoothly as possible. This was supposed to be our fresh start. I’m not going to settle for anything less. Mikey deserves a good future, and I want to be the one to be able to give that to him. This was my chance.”
“It is your chance,” Luke corrected, turning to Ella and putting his hands comfortingly on her shoulders. She had no choice but to look him in the eye, and he could tell that she was afraid to believe him. “And you are doing an excellent job of it. I can tell he has one of the greatest mothers in the world. He will grow up being so incredibly lucky. You’ll see.”
Ella let out a soft sigh and gazed into Luke’s eyes. “I hope so. I try so hard.”
“I know you do. Some mothers will do anything for their children. Others shouldn’t have them at all.” Luke shrugged. “You’re the best type of mom a kid could have, and you will do right by him. You already are. Look at all the progress you’ve made already! Don’t let some potential setbacks get you down. Everything will work out.”
Ella nodded. “What kind of mother was yours?” She seemed surprised that she had allowed herself to speak the question aloud, but Luke found her candid nature refreshing. “I’m sorry. I know it’s not any of my business. You don’t have to answer that.”
Luke smiled reassuringly. “From what I can remember, she was the former. She would have done her best with me if she had lived long enough. As it is, she didn’t make it that long.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry,” Ella said, reaching out impulsively to grip Luke’s shoulder. “I really know how to put my foot in my mouth sometimes. You can tell me to shut up at any time, I swear I wouldn’t be offended by it. I know I can overstep−”
“It’s really no problem,” Luke said, his eyes steady as he gazed into Ella’s. Their bodies were still touching and the spark between them seemed suddenly obvious to them both. Ella dropped her hand quickly and looked down to her lap.
“Well, I suppose we should get to work,” she said, clearing her throat. She hesitated a moment, then looked shyly up at Luke. “You know, for what it’s worth, I think that your mother would be very proud of the man you’ve become. Just from what I know of you so far, you’re generous, talented, and self-made. That’s really all a mother could ever ask for. You’re doing well.”
Luke found himself dumbstruck by the compliment. He hadn’t ever imagined that his mother would feel any pride in his life situation. He couldn’t help but feel like a failure at times, knowing he had abandoned the pack that she had laid her loyalties to. Maybe if she had lived long enough to see the outsider scourge come in and corrupt the place, she would have had something to say about it. But he hadn’t and there was a part of him that would always long to make things right, for her sake. It had been almost like losing a piece of his mother. Her values had been strong. She had always loved being part of a pack. But he couldn’t. Not this pack. Not anymore. And the subtle guilt he felt about that had often made him second-guess himself.
But Ella’s unexpected statement had given him pause. Perhaps she was right. Perhaps despite cutting ties to the pack she had so loved, she would be proud of the man he had become.
“Yes,” Luke said, “I suppose she should.”
He inhaled deeply. No time to be sentimental now. They had a lot to get done. If nothing else, it would help Ella get her mind off the dreary banking situation.
He narrowed his eyes at the thought. There was something fishy there. He could sense it. Once they were done in the house for the day, he was just going to have to do some sleuthing.
9.
Ella sighed as Mikey squirmed. He wasn’t in the mood to get dressed for daycare, but he didn’t have a whole lot of options. It was time for her to go out and job hunt, and that wasn’t something he could do with her.
Finally, she managed to get his chubby little arm through his jacket and smiled in relief. “I’m sorry buddy, but today, mommy, has some important things to get done. Don’t you want to go to college one day?”
Michael clearly didn’t care at the moment whether he did or not. He mostly just wanted to strip his little clothes off and run around in his diaper. But that was not an option, and she quickly lifted her son to her hip and carried him to the car.
The boy was greeted warmly by the people in the daycare and Ella found herself glad that if nothing else, she had found a place where her son was well looked after and cared for. It seemed like a good place to grow up, and even though he might not remember the kids he played with as he grew, at least he was being given the chance to socialize and enjoy the company of other children his own age.
Ella left the daycare feeling optimistic. She had a degree in business science and was hoping that maybe she would be able to put it to good use here. There seemed to be ample opportunities for people who were just starting up and hoping to grow their businesses. Stonybrooke had proven to be quite a successful little town, and the economy there was perfect for startups of all kinds. And with all of the silly news about shapeshifters and the novelty and tourism the rumors had encouraged, there was always a good flow of traffic coming through with people willing to spend their money here. It was an ideal location, especially for somebody with her expertise.
Shapeshifters. Elle couldn’t help but smile slightly as she drove toward the town square in hopes of finding a place where she would be able to find good work. She would take whatever she could at this point to hold her over until the perfect opportunity came along, but she was going to start big and only dream bigger. What had compelled the people of this town to begin claiming that the area was full of shapeshifters? It was such a funny little idea.
She, herself, had never thought much either way about the existence of anything besides humans populating areas like this. Sure, the town had something of a rugged feel. Maybe the citizens had qualities that seemed mysterious and intriguing to people from the outside. A good gene pool. For example, there was something very different about the men here, she had noticed. Men like Luke, for example, who had that harshness to his gaze. Something almost primal. It was exciting, really. She could almost smell the wild winds on him whenever he came into the house. There was something there, something raw and untamed. But he still managed to come across as a dignified, civilized man. Still, it didn’t fool her. She knew there was way more to it than he could ever possibly let on. And she wasn’t afraid to say so either.
Well, maybe not to him directly, but in
the privacy of her own thoughts. How odd would it have been for her to say such a thing to his face? That would be too embarrassing for words, truly. She could only imagine how he might respond to that.
For some reason, the thought made her heart flutter and Ella gripped her steering wheel a little bit more tightly. She didn’t want to get herself hurt. She shouldn’t be thinking about anybody this way. Not now. It was still so soon after having left Michael’s father. She couldn’t just forget that. And besides, any man she had in her life would have to be willing to put her son first. And he would have to be able to understand that her son came before anything else in her life, including her relationships with men. While it was true that, in a relationship, it was important to do relationship maintenance and have time together, right now, she just couldn’t fathom doing that. Any spare moment she had she dedicated to her son. He was still so young. He still needed her more than anything else and she was going to be there for him. She would be both a mother and a father to the boy as best she could. At least it would give him a chance.
Ella slowed her car to a crawl when she entered the town square. There was a lot of foot traffic in the area. Pedestrians and people on bicycles. There was also an odd number of motorcycles in comparison to the other types of vehicles prowling the area. She found herself wondering if there was some sort of gang around. Maybe a motorcycle club. But that wouldn’t matter. Even if there was, it was still such a tightly knit community that any potential for violence seemed unrealistic.
She decided to park her car and follow the lead of the many pedestrians walking the streets by foot. It would be easier to hit up a bunch of places at once for applications rather than simply driving from place to place. Besides, it was a nice day. The air was warm and there was a gentle breeze that made walking feel really pleasant. Maybe once she picked Michael up from the daycare, she would get his stroller unpacked and they would head to the park for a walk. That would be nice. He loved being outside. At least, he had out near the coast.
