Maria knew that Pablo wasn’t wrong to say that Bradley was untouchable. She might not have another chance to tell Ellison what she felt.
“What?” Ellison asked, his voice deadly quiet.
“You heard me.”
Maria started to push past him into the house. Ellison clamped a hand on her shoulder, drawing her back, turning her around. She looked up into gray eyes that held hunger and silent need.
“I know I heard you,” he said. “I want you to say it again. Like you mean it.”
“I do mean it.”
Ellison’s eyelids slid down in a slow blink. When he opened his eyes again, they were lighter gray, the wolf in him coming out. “Say it again, Maria.”
Why not? She wasn’t ashamed or afraid. Maria drew herself up straight and looked into his eyes. “I think I love you, Ellison Rowe.”
His fingers bit down. “You think? What, you’re not sure?”
“I don’t know what real love feels like. I loved my parents and grandparents, but I was a child. I thought I loved Luis, but I never really knew him.” She swallowed under Ellison’s burning gaze. “All I know is, I can no longer imagine my life without you in it.”
Ellison yanked her against him, his hands remaining on her shoulders. His grip held raw power—strength, but not imprisonment. Never that.
“Then mate with me,” he said, his voice low, savage. “Let me mate-claim you, and join with me sun and moon. I’ll give you . . . everything.”
Maria warmed against his body. “Will you stay alive for me? And stay with me?”
Ellison started to smile. “You bet. But I hope you’re not gonna ask me to stay home and not go after Bradley.”
“No.” Maria said. “I want you to get that sucker. We need to, as Spike would say, take him down.”
Ellison’s eyes narrowed. “Who’s we? You are staying with Andrea.”
“We need to stop him, Ellison,” she said.
Ellison stilled again, the laid-back human with the smiles and jokes fading into the Shifter who took care of his family at any cost. “We will. But not with you. I don’t want him knowing anything about you.”
“He already does. Like you said, he had his men following me with the cubs, and he knew Connor went with me to the test today. He must have planned the abduction by watching me, figuring I wouldn’t be able to stop anyone taking Connor.”
“Yeah, but to Bradley right now, you’re just the human female who lives with Shifters. He’s an idiot if he thinks you’re nonessential, but I want him to think that, if it means he’ll ignore you. You flash yourself in front of him, he’ll have you in his sights as a person trying to interfere with his lucrative business.”
“If you’re so confident you can stop him, it won’t matter.” Maria balled her fists. “We have to stop him, Ellison. They can’t keep trying to hurt us.”
Ellison’s eyes flickered slightly, and Maria realized she’d said us.
Well, she was one of them now. She’d lived with the Austin Shifters, laughed with them, helped take care of them, and loved them, for months now. Ellison had imprinted himself on her, and she knew that no matter what else she’d do in life, she’d somehow be bound to him.
“We will stop Bradley,” Ellison said, a deadly edge to his voice. “But my way.”
“Fine, but I will be with you every step of that way.” As Ellison started to turn from her, Maria put herself in front of him. “You know that if you go without me, I’ll find a way to follow. Unless you intend to lock me in the basement?”
“No.” Ellison’s tone was harsh. “I’d never do that.” He’d never be like Miguel, he was saying. Never imprisoning her. Never. Then he grinned. “Although, there’s a new flat-screen TV down there. Doesn’t have cable, but Elizabeth has been smuggling me DVDs.”
Maria’s eyes widened into a glare. “Are we going or not?”
“Yep.” Ellison gripped her shoulder again. “I’m taking you, because I know that if I don’t, you’ll follow me, and I can’t be worried about where you are. So you’ll stay with me, and when I tell you to keep out of sight, you do it, all right?”
“Of course I will. I don’t have teeth and claws, or a handy weapon, so what could I do?” She looked up at him in all innocence.
Ellison gave her another suspicious look, but he nodded, as though he accepted her words. “Fine. Let’s go get backup.”
***
Backup meant, first, Ronan, who didn’t want to come. “Ellison,” Ronan said, standing in his front door and filling the entire doorframe. “What if they’re waiting for us to empty Shiftertown? Then they come in for the rest of our cubs?”
Olaf peeked out from behind Ronan, and Ellison was aware of Scott and Rebecca in the background. Ellison seethed with impatience.
“An attack on Shiftertown is a different thing from their snatch-and-grab modus,” he said. “Rebecca won’t let anything happen to the cubs—you know that.”
“You got that right,” Rebecca said. She was tall, like most Shifter women, but when she shifted to her Kodiak bear, in all of Shiftertown, only Ronan was bigger.
“And I’m not chopped liver,” Scott said. “Anyone comes for Cherie and Olaf, and I’ll let my craziness come out.”
“We need you Ronan,” Ellison said.
“And if he’s too much of a wuss to go,” a voice said behind Ellison. “I’m game.”
Broderick. The wolf Shifter stood on the walk between Ronan’s house and converted garage, arms folded. “I know you think I’m an ass**le,” Broderick said before Ellison could speak. “But I have nephews and younger brothers. We cut this off at the source, Ronan.”
Ronan stroked Olaf’s hair, pushed the lad gently behind him, and closed the door. “Fine. I’m coming.” He glared at Broderick. “But I’m going at you at the next fight club. For calling me a wuss.”
Broderick looked pained—no one won fights against Ronan, except maybe Dylan. But at least Ronan was coming.
“Can we hurry?” Maria asked, as impatient as Ellison.
“One more,” Ellison said.
He’d saved the best for last. He knew that once Tiger joined them, the man wouldn’t want to slow down to let Ellison pick up anyone else.
When Andrea unlocked the door for them to Liam and Kim’s house, Tiger was nowhere in sight. Ellison scented him, though, and the Tiger-man was not happy.