She spotted two other doors, one leading to an office and the other a building exit. Shelves ran down the length of the room, stocked with different needs for the bar. The walk-in was closed up tight, but likely held whatever wasn’t on the shelves.
Or bodies. Bodies always wound up in the freezer in movies. And the man who’d rescued her looked mean enough to put them there.
At odds with the murder mystery she built in her head were the people tucked around a card table. A woman, a teenager, and a small child all looked up at her with curious eyes.
Noelle bustled forward. “This is Alanna, Atticus, and my little pup, Sienna.” Noelle smoothed down the little girl’s wild hair and met Alanna’s eyes. “We had some trouble up front. This is...”
Maylee stepped closer. “Maylee. And Esme. No trouble, really. I should get out of your hair and let you get back to eating.”
Alanna arched a brow at Noelle, then turned to Atticus. “Hey, buddy, why don’t you take Sienna into the office and get started on dinner?”
He frowned. “But Dad—”
“Is going to be tied up for a bit, I think. Don’t worry, we’ll see him before we leave.”
The boy huffed and dragged himself out of his chair with great reluctance.
“And no snooping through the drawers. We talked about that. You don’t want Ellis going all enforcer on you, do you?”
“I’d like to see him try.” His mouth ticked up in a smirk.
Alanna waited until the younger ones were closed behind the office door before she pressed her fingers between her eyebrows and gave an exasperated shake of her head. “I swear, that boy is going to be the death of me,” she said with love clear in her voice and scent.
“You know, he probably feels the same way about you,” Noelle said lightly.
“Then I’m doing my job right,” Alanna laughed.
Guilt blew through Maylee. Doing right by Esme was her job. But dragging her through a packed bar, tussling with Greg, and coming closer to losing her the longer she sat where they could find her again felt like failure. She put the child in danger. But when the other options were letting Dustin get his paws on them or abandoning the little cub, Maylee didn’t know what else to do.
“Sit with us,” Noelle insisted with a pat at an open seat. “I promise we don’t bite. Alanna keeps her fangs to herself.”
Maylee glanced to the human. She shouldn’t have been surprised Noelle knew what she was, all things considered. Human in the middle of a shifter bar, and somewhere she clearly held some level of authority?
“Not used to talking to humans?” Alanna asked.
Maylee apologized with a wince and took the offered seat. “Not really. It’s only been a few years now since we were outed. It’s still a pretty personal thing to share with someone.”
“It’s even more recent history in places like Redwater,” Noelle murmured. “The people here weren’t exactly on board with the revelation. Humans were supposed to turn a blind eye to anything strange or peculiar until recently.”
“What changed?”
“My mate.” Noelle flashed a proud smile. “He cleared out the old guard and opened Dark Horse to everyone who needs a drink.”
Mate. Unease churned in Maylee’s stomach. She had to tread carefully. Attached females might not see her side of things. Family and clan were big deals to nurturing instincts, and she’d run from both.
The door burst open and the big man crowded his way through the frame. He hunched his shoulders like he wanted to make himself smaller, but there was no hiding the size of him. He was bigger than any of the bears in her old clan.
His eyes latched onto hers. Heat spread over her cheeks and down her neck. Her lungs worked overtime, right along with her heart.
Maylee frowned at the involuntary response.
She didn’t notice the other man until he cleared his throat and stepped around the roadblock.
“Maylee, I believe you already met Ellis, but I don’t think you two exchanged names back there. Right behind him is my mate, Jensen.” Noelle slid a look to Maylee and added, “We were just getting to what happened.”
Ellis. A good, strong name.
“That,” Ellis paused and darted a look toward the office door, pursed his lips, then continued, “a-hole is gone. He got picked up by the effers we kicked out earlier.”
Crap. There went any hope that Greg had been mistaken or Vinnie took off without him. They would run right back to Dustin with word on her location.
Silence tickled the back of her neck and wrapped uncomfortable fingers around her throat. Eyes watched her, filled with questions she didn’t want to give.
They’d offered her shelter. She owed them something.
Maylee jerked her eyes away from the giant—Ellis—and planted a small kiss on the top of Esme’s head for courage. “That was Greg, a member of my old clan. I’ve been avoiding them for the last six months. Apparently, they still haven’t gotten the message that I want nothing to do with them, but they won’t let me move on.”
Alanna nodded knowingly. Noelle remained collected. A muscle ticked along Ellis’s jaw while Jensen looked like a thundercloud.
Maybe it was lack of a proper meal or sheer desperation, but the words just kept pouring out of her mouth. “They’ve followed me wherever I went. Human cities. Enclaves. They were never far behind. I would have driven on as soon as I saw Greg, but my car decided tonight would be the best time to give up the ghost. So I came in here hoping he’d get the picture and leave me alone.”
“He needs a hard lesson on when to back the fuck off,” Ellis growled.
“No cursing around the kids,” Noelle chided automatically.
Maylee flicked a glance up to him as her inner bear rumbled an agreement. Gold swirled in the eyes he had focused on her. A shiver ran down her spine, lighting up an awareness of him that she’d never felt before.
She ripped apart their connection and shoved her bear to the back of her head. Hell no. That was how it started. Longing looks and prickling need.
“And Esme’s father? Other relatives that could help?” Jensen asked, arms folding over his chest.
“He’s not in the picture,” Maylee said quickly. Truthfully, as far as the shifters would be able to tell. She couldn’t speak an outright lie without them hearing it in her voice, and the complete truth might have them flagging down Greg or Vinnie to take her back home. That couldn’t happen. “It’s just us. All we’re looking for is a little peace and quiet to get on with our lives. If Greg’s gone, I really should be on my way.”
“In the car that isn’t working,” Ellis said flatly.
Maylee pressed her lips together and refused to meet his eyes. “I’ll figure something out. I always do.”
Lie, her bear roared at her.
Ellis scratched at his beard, gold still shooting through the dark brown of his eyes. “We can give you a meal and a place for the night. At least let us make sure no one is coming back for you. The auto shops are closed for the day, anyway. There’s no getting your ride fixed up before morning.”
Noelle nodded and busied herself with pulling out more of the dishes like the boy had taken into the office with him and the little girl. Maylee tried not to watch too hard or think about the dwindling supply of finger foods in her car. The temptation was overwhelming, and not only because of the siren’s call for a home-cooked meal.
Her bear wanted to stick close to Ellis. Her human half wanted to put a thousand miles between them.
“I’m fine. Really.” Her stomach betrayed her with a growl.
Ellis’s eyes dropped to her middle. “You need to eat,” he rumbled.
Noelle set a plastic container in front of her and then held out her hands. “I’ll trade you. Baby holding duties for dinner.”
Esme decided for her, giggling while reaching for Noelle. Maylee held her breath and tracked the other woman until she sat back down. Even so, she sat stiffly in her seat and her bear prowled through her head.
They weren’t a threat, she told herself. They were just trying to help.
Help. The word had turned into a foreign concept. Trust, too. Safety. Security. Family. Her clan hadn’t exactly been prime examples at any of those ideas, but she knew where she stood. Now? She saw danger around every corner. She wouldn’t breathe comfortably again until she put miles between her and Greg and the others.
Dinner. A place to stay. No chance at getting her car fixed until the morning. Wariness still riding her hard, Maylee popped open the container.
Inside, a thick slice of bread covered a huge serving of lasagna. Maylee nearly groaned at the first bite. She’d gone months without something so delicious; if it couldn’t be bought at a fast food joint or assembled in a parking lot, it wasn’t on her menu.
“Mom!” Atticus stuck his head out of the office. “Sienna made a mess.”
Both Noelle and Alanna jumped to their feet. Noelle looked around for a free pair of hands to take Esme. Before Maylee could drop her fork, Ellis reached for the baby.
“Eat,” he said. “I’m not going anywhere.”
No, he sat himself across from her while all the others melted away. The mates ducked into the office to handle the cubs, and Jensen pushed back into the bar, leaving her alone with Ellis.
Maylee sat back and chewed her mouthful. She pinned Ellis in place with a look that promised a slow and painful death if he so much as lost a single hair on Esme’s head, but she needn’t have worried. He bounced the baby on his knee. The smile splitting his face looked at odds with the beard and tattoos.
Gentle giant.
He was the exact opposite of Dustin. He actually paid attention to the little girl, for one. Instead of seeing her as something to control, some bargaining chip to sell off, something to use to hurt or demand obedience, Ellis smiled. He didn’t even get upset when Esme wrapped her little fist in his beard and yanked.
Oh, there was a wince and a flash of gold to his eyes, but he waved Maylee off when she dropped her fork and reached for the little girl. That, too, added to the small pile of niceties he’d shown her since he threw Greg out on his ass.
If only Helena had met someone like him instead of letting Dustin crawl around inside her head.
“Thank you,” Maylee muttered. “For everything.”
Skies above, she felt like a kicked dog learning how to be around people again.
So close, she couldn’t help but get intimately familiar with his scent. Dark, with a hint of edge, like well-oiled leather and aged alcohol, with the added wildness of moonshine and deep forests in the middle of summer.
Shit. Not the thing to notice. Or care about. Or enjoy.
Morning couldn’t come soon enough.
The back of her neck prickled with awareness. Her bear rolled through her, pleased as could be. Maylee wrestled with her inner beast, resisted lifting her eyes, but the man across from her wore her down simply by existing.
“How is it?” he asked.
Maylee sputtered. “What?”
“The food. How is the food?”
“Very good.” She frowned and flicked her eyes up. “I’m taking someone’s dinner, aren’t I?”
“Don’t worry about it. The mates usually pack extras for late-night snacks.” He fixed her with a loaded look and dropped his voice. “Besides, your supplies looked a little low.”
Maylee straightened. “How did you know—”
He laid a finger against the side of his nose. “Followed your trail right to your car and had a peek through the windows. I’m pack enforcer. I had to check you out. We have pups to protect.” The last was added with an unapologetic shrug of his great shoulders.
As an expert in telling half-truths, Maylee heard one in Ellis’s voice. The words sounded right, but there was something else he held back.
Not that she cared for any other reason than what he’d laid out. His concern was focused on his pack. Hers was focused on Esme.
Ellis continued, “Must take some really shi—terrible circumstances to move you and a baby into life on four wheels.”
There was a question in his statement. Pack enforcer, right. This was round two of an interrogation.
She chose her words carefully. “There’s nothing for me to go back to. My old clan, they… hurt someone I cared very deeply about. I can’t raise Esme in that sort of environment.”
Ellis nodded like he expected the answer, and didn’t push for more. “Maybe you should stay here. You said they keep following you. So throw them for a loop and stay in the exact spot when they expect you to bolt.”
Maylee shook her head, fighting her inner bear’s acceptance with every contraction and release of her muscles. “Oh, no. I couldn’t. What would I even do?”
“You could work here. I know Jensen has been kicking around the idea of hiring an extra hand to run drinks so he and Wyatt have some evening hours for family dinner at home instead of here.”
Denials sprang to her tongue. Her bear warred with her. Stay, and let the man work his way closer to her. She could already feel the suffocating binds wrapping around her throat. She couldn’t let herself fall into the same trap that killed Helena. “I’d need a babysitter. I can’t work in a bar. I don’t have any idea what to do.”
“You could try it out for a night. Consider it repayment for dinner,” the mountain rumbled.
Maylee glanced up to find Ellis staring at her again. She couldn’t drop her gaze if her life depended on it.
He saw her. Really, truly saw her. She didn’t like to be indebted to anyone, and he picked up on it within minutes of meeting her.
She needed food. Money for Esme. Money to fix her car. Maybe he had a point about sticking to the place where she’d already been found.
Her bear flashed her a series of sendings of a giant wolf standing between her and a clan of bears. Still frames moving like a flipbook raised the wolf’s lips in a snarl and jumped the beast forward.
Ellis was protection. At least in her bear’s eyes.
What other options did she have? Beg her way into engine repair? She had to keep Esme out of Dustin’s hands, and Ellis offered her a way to do so.
Her bear rattled the bars of her mental cage in gruff approval.
She’d planned to find her footing in Redwater, anyways. Just because fate collared her there didn’t mean the place held no value. She just had to be more mindful of her next steps.
Maylee nodded slowly. “To work off dinner,” she agreed.
Ellis smiled broadly, her bear roared in victory, and Maylee felt a ghost rush through her.
Chapter 5
At six o’clock sharp the next night, Maylee backed against the door. The bar was slowly starting to fill on the other side. Music played from a jukebox in the corner, but the song was hard to hear over the murmur of voices.
“She’s been changed and fed, so she’ll probably be ready to play for a bit. Her favorite toy right now is the shape sorter, the one that looks like a lunch box? She’s getting the hang of putting the right shapes into the correct holes. Oh, and there are some books in the diaper bag when she starts to get sleepy if I can’t get back here.”
Noelle nodded along while she rambled like a crazy person. “It hasn’t been so long since I was at this stage. Won’t be long before I’m there again.” She smiled and rested her hand on her baby bump. “Go on. Esme is in good hands.”
With a last twitch of her fingers, Maylee pushed through the door. Noise swelled over her. Bits of conversation garbled together with song lyrics she couldn’t place, and none were identifiable over the disgruntled roar of her bear. Her instincts to protect the young cub sparked like mad. Hell, she hadn’t even been able to stomach the idea of leaving Esme at Noelle’s, which was how an impromptu daycare was set up in the back of the bar.
The Rawlins pack owed her nothing and offered her so much in return.
She wiped her palms against her jeans. Leaving Esme behind felt awful. A hole opened up inside her where her stomach
should have sat and grew and grew until she was nothing but churning unease.
She thought of all the mothers she’d ever come into contact with. Noelle and Alanna. Helena. Her own. Aunts and cousins and women met in the grocery store. Had they all felt the same the first time they were separated from their babes for more than a few minutes?
Maylee swallowed back the wave of grief that rose at the mention of Helena. She needed something to do. Some activity to take her mind off her twin’s death. After one last look at Esme.
She whipped around and planted her face in the wide chest right behind her.
Ellis steadied her by the shoulders, then took a step back. He shook out his hands like he’d just been shocked.
Her bear surged to life with the same jolt of electricity where their skin had touched. A roar echoed through Maylee’s head, followed by a deep ache in her middle that had nothing to do with the need to eat.
She’d spent the night camped out in Noelle and Jensen’s living room after refusing to take Sienna’s bedroom. Stretching out on a couch was like heaven after months of curling up in the back seat of her car. But the burly wolf shifter was never far from her thoughts about her next moves.
Intercepting Greg was easy to explain as his role in the bar. Bouncer, enforcer, the man was built like a tank and ready to run over anyone in his path.
That he’d spoken up for her, offered her a place to get back on her feet... That was something else entirely, and related to the flare of warmth she felt when his fingers brushed over her skin.
Maylee put another step between them before her bear pitched her forward into the man’s barrel chest. She jerked a thumb toward the Employees Only door. “Sorry. This is the first time I’ve been away from Esme in a long time. I guess I’m a little distracted.”
“Not like you’ve had anything big go down lately,” he said in a bland tone.
“No, near misses and seeking shelter in a bar have become an average week for me.” Maylee snorted and shook her head, then turned serious. “What if they come back?”
Ellis shrugged casually, but the gold of his inner animal added a dangerous glint to his eyes. “They’ve been told to back the fuck off and stay away from here. They won’t be pleased if I have to repeat myself.”
Bourbon and Bears: Book Three: Shifters and Sins Page 3
