Ellison drove the motorcycle out to this road now, not stopping until they were as far from civilization as they could get to in one afternoon. Under the cool shade of trees, he helped Maria off the bike, not letting go as she regained her feet.

Maria looked up at him, her hair tangled from the ride, her eyes still full of fire, stirred by anger and fear. She'd been through so much, this woman, and still she faced down the world, standing up for herself and the weaker, like Olaf.

She drew a breath to say something, but before she could, Ellison wound his arm around her, drew her up into him, and kissed her.

He tasted her agitation and outrage, and liked it. Maria's lips, dusky red and warm, moved on his, her kiss more practiced and confident than the one earlier today. She kissed in anger, seeking him, needing release.

Ellison pulled her closer, fitting her body against his, every curve of her against every hard plane of him. She was warm from the ride, mouth hot, skin damp with sweat, her scent filled with spice and heat. He could drink her all day, here away from the world. Nothing else mattered but this moment, his heart pounding desire through every s.p.a.ce of him. Out here, Maria was his.

Maria pushed at his chest, breaking them apart, though she didn't step away. She was breathing hard, the spangled shirt that hugged her b.r.e.a.s.t.s rising with her breath, its little b.u.t.tons beckoning his fingers. "Why would someone do that?" she asked, rage in her eyes. "Try to take the cubs like that?"

"Bradley?" Ellison could barely remember the guy's name after that heated kiss. He barely remembered his own name. "For the money. And the power. But we'll teach him, darlin'. Don't you worry about that."

Maria didn't calm. "Why do people like him think they can walk into someone's life and take them? Away from everything? Like they own the world and can do whatever they want? They steal a person's whole life." She balled her fists. "Why? And why do we let them?"

"Come here." Ellison pulled her rigid body close again, knowing what she was really talking about. "You didn't let what happened to you happen, sweetheart. They were feral Shifters. They wanted you-they took you."

"You don't know. You weren't there. I did it to myself. I walked right into it, took my own life away from me. And now my family won't forgive me, and I'm alone. With no one. Just me."

"And me." Ellison let his voice go low as he stroked both hands down her back. "And what are you talking about, you did it to yourself? It wasn't your fault, honey."

"Yes, it was. I was stupid. So stupid."

Ellison smoothed her hair, letting the satin warmth of it fill something in him. "Well, once you tell me all about it, love, I'll know too. And I'll keep explaining that Shifters do whatever they want, and ferals don't even bother to be polite about it. Don't keep this inside yourself, Maria. What happened?"

"What I did made my own family turn against me. My brother didn't want me around his little girls, didn't want them influenced by me. That's the main reason I came back here. I could take it if my brother hated me, but he was teaching his kids to be afraid of me."

A red haze of anger rose in Ellison, wolf anger. "Marquez is right. You're brother's a b.a.s.t.a.r.d, and I'd like to explain it to him. Now, I want to hear your side of the story, so I can tell you again that it wasn't your fault."

When Maria looked up at him, the heartbreak and anguish in her eyes stabbed pain through Ellison's heart. He understood the loneliness he saw in her-he too had been ripped away from everything he knew and loved when Shifters had been discovered and rounded up twenty years ago.

He'd watched his sister lose her mate to a freak infection, and he'd watched his own parents make a pact to die together rather than submit to the Collars. He and Deni had been left alone, bewildered, with Deni's two little cubs to take care of.

"I fell in love," Maria said, tears of anger in her voice. "No, it wasn't love. I didn't understand what I was feeling. Luis was a stranger, exciting, handsome. And I fell for his lies."

"Luis was the Shifter who kidnapped you, right? And took you to Miguel?" Dylan had told Ellison what he'd pried out of Maria-that a wolf Shifter had abducted Maria to add to the pack at Miguel's instigation. But Dylan had given Ellison only cursory details, and only after Ellison had badgered him. He'd wanted to know everything about Maria.

"I didn't know Luis was a Shifter, not until later," Maria said. "I was a stupid girl, bored with being a good daughter and with waiting to marry the right man. Luis convinced me to run away with him. And I did it. Because I'm an idiota."

The tears finally came. She didn't sob uncontrollably, but beads of tears formed on her lashes then splashed quietly to her cheeks.

"And the a.s.shat Luis turned you over to Miguel." Ellison's anger made his voice harsher than he meant.

"I didn't understand what he wanted. I thought Luis was taking me to a big house, where he would marry me. But then he revealed he was a Shifter, and he took me to the abandoned warehouse. When I saw the other Shifters, I was scared and tried to run away. But they dragged me down into the bas.e.m.e.nt and said I had to stay there with the female Shifters. They locked us in."

Dylan had pretty much related all this, but hearing it in Maria's halting words made Ellison's anger escalate to furnace-level rage. A spark snapped in his Collar, warning, and he stepped away from Maria, the wolf in him ready to kill.

"My family might have forgiven me if I'd been abducted," Maria said. "But I walked away from them. I went with Luis in the middle of the night, and then I thought he'd protect me."

"Maria. Sweetheart." Ellison took a breath, trying to cool himself down, but he was finding it hard. She didn't need a Shifter going kill-crazy in front of her, but Ellison fought the instincts that made him want to race away and find Miguel now. "You didn't go of your own free will, so stop saying you did. Shifters know how to coerce. Trust me, I've lived with them the past hundred years. They do what they want, Collared or no, and these were crazy-a.s.s ferals. You might have walked out of your house on your own two feet, but you didn't go of your own free will, sweetheart. But even if you had, Luis should have protected you. That's what mates do. They protect you from all others. Every evil in the world. He didn't do what he was supposed to." And for that, Ellison wanted to taste his blood.

"Luis did try to protect me." Maria wiped the tears from her face. "Miguel killed him when he tried. And Miguel killed Luis's cub before that, or as good as-he let the cub die. My cub."

"G.o.ddess." Ellison's Collar flashed another spark, but his rage negated the pain. "Maria."

In the wild, males who headed a pack or clan sometimes killed the offspring of the other males, but that practice had died out years ago as Shifters became less barbaric, and also realized they needed diverse blood to survive. The instinct to kill a rival's offspring, though, was still there. In a community of Shifters going feral-losing every bit of compa.s.sion they had and letting themselves be driven by the needs of the beast-the alpha's instinct to kill another's cubs would be strong.

Ellison hadn't known until now that Maria had lost a cub. She'd never spoken of it, and Dylan hadn't mentioned it-maybe Maria had kept it from everyone. But Ellison should have known from the emptiness in her eyes.

"After that, I didn't care anymore what he did to me," Maria said. "I spent my time planning how I would kill Miguel and escape, but before I could, Ca.s.sidy and Diego came and blew up the warehouse. And Dylan brought me here."

Where Maria had been floating ever since, trying to make a life for herself. She now lived in the protection of Shiftertown, in a house with four strong Shifters and a cub, but Maria was alone, and she knew it.

The unmated male Shifters had been told to keep their distance from her, but Shifters like Broderick were tired of keeping their distance, and Broderick wasn't the only one. He and others would swoop soon, and Challenges would come thick and fast. Liam would be forced to tell Maria to choose a mate to keep the peace or go live somewhere else.

Ellison would never let that happen.

He wrapped his arms around her again and pulled her in for an embrace. Shifters needed touch for rea.s.surance, for comfort, and humans, Ellison had discovered, pretty much did too, even if some pretended not to. Maria was stiff, shaking, and Ellison held her tightly against him, not letting her go.

It was hot out here, but Ellison rubbed his warmth into her anyway, hands smoothing her thin shirt, kneading her back. He felt her start to relax into him, but not enough. She was hurting, oceans of pain, and it would take a lot of loving to ease that.

Maria looked up at him, her eyes glistening with tears, her eyelashes damp. Ellison kissed a tear from the corner of her eye then he leaned to kiss her lips.

Her mouth opened under his, her kiss hungry, needy. Ellison tasted her sadness-a mother's loss, Maria's fury, her despair-and the will that drove her to live.

The length of her body moved with his as she kissed him, her b.r.e.a.s.t.s soft against his chest. She had strength and gentleness rolled into one package.

Maria pulled away from the kiss, her beautiful face wet. "I'm sorry," she said. "I'm sorry. I can't . . ." She wiped her eyes.

Ellison's breath came fast, his lips tingling from the frenzied kiss. "What the h.e.l.l are you apologizing for?"

"I don't know . . . I don't trust what I think anymore."

"You've been through h.e.l.l, Maria. No one can think straight after that. I don't care if it was a year ago. But you can trust me."

"Trust you for what?"

"To take care of you." He caught her hand, kissed her fingers, and laid his hand and hers over her heart. "Be my mate," he said swiftly. "Let me protect you."

The look she gave him was stricken. "You don't have to. I've already decided what I'm going to do."

"Go to school, yeah, I know. You can do that and be my mate at the same time. My sister loves you, my nephews think you're cool, and everyone in Shiftertown likes you."

She nodded and looked away. "Everyone has been good to me, yes."

"Let me be better. Come on, sweetheart. All the pretty ones get snapped up before I have a chance. This time, I'm cutting everyone else out."

"Ellison . . ."

She was scared. Terrified from what had happened to her before. She'd trusted the wolf Luis, and he'd not been able to save her from the worst. Trusting again would not come easy for her.

"It's not the same now," Ellison said. "When I mate-claim you, when we're joined under sun and moon, no one will get to you. Not Broderick, not anyone. I'll be your protector, your first line of defense. And believe me, I'll be a way better fighter than your Luis ever was. I'd never let anything happen to you. This, I promise."

She wanted it. Maria felt the pull, the need to lay her head on Ellison's shoulder and let him take her hurting away. His gray eyes were focused on her, unyielding, resolute, his body warm from himself and the Texas sunshine. He hadn't worn his cowboy hat while they rode, stuffing it into the saddlebag instead, and his short hair was ruffled by the wind and gleamed gold. He was a delicious sight.

But Maria had woken up one morning months ago, after many weeks of not wanting to get out of bed at all, realizing that the person who needed to take care of Maria was Maria. Hence her plan to go to school, get a professional degree, find a job, and live in safety the rest of her life.

Becoming a mate of a Shifter had no part in that plan. Never again.

Then again, this was Ellison. With Luis, Maria had been not much older than a schoolgirl, and she'd believed Luis was a dream come true. She'd wanted to get away from her dull life of near poverty, of routine that would last forever. Luis had been handsome, romantic, a means of escape.

Ellison was a friend. The first time Maria had seen him, when Dylan had brought her straight from Mexico to Shiftertown, she was broken and barely able to speak. Ellison had made her want to laugh even then. He'd been so-over-the-top Texan-with his boots, hat, huge belt buckle, the Texas drawl, the ma'am. He'd touched his finger to his hat and called her that, nodding and smiling, his gray eyes warm.

Dylan had intimidated her almost as much as Miguel had, and she'd been afraid that her situation hadn't improved. But Ellison had made Maria laugh from day one-he'd been truly funny, instead of using humor to be derisive and cruel. While she'd not been able to look up at Spike, or even Ronan, she'd raised her head and let Ellison's smile make her feel better.

His smile still made her feel better, and his kisses were even better than that.

Maria reached up and smoothed his hair, liking the wiry silk of it. Ellison's eyes flickered, the Shifter in him responding, but he only closed his eyes briefly, letting her touch.

He didn't want to scare her. From the time she'd met him, Ellison had been trying to calm and rea.s.sure her, and to keep others from frightening her. He'd been right there when the a.s.shat human had tried to intimidate her last night; he'd been at her side the moment Broderick had tried to hara.s.s her on her way home.

Now he stood in silence, letting her touch him, not grabbing her or coercing her. She ran her hands up his forearms, feeling every muscle, finding the hollows inside the bend of his elbows, the hard strength of his biceps under his shirtsleeves. Up to his shoulders, which held the responsibility of his sister, his nephews, Deni's violent episodes.

So strong, and yet carrying so much for others.

Maria's touch went to his face, the rough of unshaved whiskers, the warm satin of his lips. She rose on her tiptoes and pressed a kiss to those lips, while he watched her, his gaze intent. One arm came around her, solid, holding her upright. The strength of him took her breath away.

And Ellison was . . . s.e.xy. The way he danced to the country tunes at Liam's bar revealed his grace, and she felt it now as he held her without effort as she kissed him.

Maria had never touched a man like this. Her experience with s.e.x had been limited to Luis deciding when, where, and how. Luis done all of the touching, and that hadn't been much.

Ellison was different. He caressed her back, easing her closer, kissed her lower lip then the corner of her mouth.

"I think I'm liking this kissing thing," he said.

"Me too."

Ellison touched his forehead to hers. "I'm not going to mate-claim you right now. Much as I want to. I told Broderick to give you a little s.p.a.ce, and I will too. What I'm going to do instead is teach you how to love life."

Maria looked up at him in confusion. "I do like my life now. It's much, much better here than it's ever been."

"No, sweetheart, you're only surviving. Maybe basic surviving is a little easier now, but you're still living in the shadow of all that pain and fear. You want to go to school because-why? It will help you survive better?"

She shook her head. "I want to be a doctor, to take care of people. I can live anywhere if I do that, maybe go back to Mexico and help people who don't have anyone. Or find people here that need the same thing."

"You're kindhearted. But it's still surviving. What you mean is you want a way to take care of yourself, so you don't live under someone else's thumb ever again. Not Shifters, not family, not friends, not anyone."

He understood. Ellison's eyes sparkled gray in the sunlight and were full of knowledge. How he knew exactly what went on in her heart Maria wasn't sure, but he did.

Maria's voice was quiet. "I never want to be enslaved again."

"Neither do I." Ellison's hand went to his Collar. "You know what Shifters know-what we've learned? That it's not enough only to survive. We want to live."

"I want to live too. That's all I've ever wanted. But when I tried, I nearly destroyed myself." Maria drew a breath, stifled a new wash of tears that threatened to flow. "So now I'm happy with survival."

"No you're not. But I tell you what, love, any other woman who'd been through what you have would be dead by now, or maybe in constant therapy on happy drugs. You're strong, one of the strongest women I know. Now let me teach you how to use that strength, to grab on to life and make it yours."

She wanted to believe him. Ellison's eyes sparkled with liveliness, the man more alive than anyone she knew.

"How?"

Ellison seized her hand in a strong grip, and grinned. It was a wide, warm grin, as big as Texas. "Come on with me, sweetheart, and I'll show you."

They rode. Ellison zoomed the motorcycle down another back highway, the road a black line to the horizon.

Maria threw her head back and let the wind catch her hair. It was warm, the early May heat full of the promise of summer. Fields rushed by, green hills rolling from the river as the Colorado snaked eastward to the Gulf.

After about thirty miles or so, Ellison dove off the highway to another twisting dusty road that led down to the river bottoms, stretches of it overhung with trees. Ellison slowed, and Maria rested her head against his shoulder, ducking low branches and the black swarms of bugs that the little hollows bred.

They came off the winding road to a narrow lane, and a small trailer house set up on cement blocks, under the overhang of stooping trees. The tiny lane ended at this house, and the man standing in front of it with a shotgun.

Chapter Nine.

Ellison halted the bike a respectful distance away and held up his hands. "Peace, Granger. It's only me."

"Ellison?" The man unc.o.c.ked and lowered the shotgun, shaking his head. "s.h.i.t, you should have called first. I was about to blow your head off."

"Didn't know I was coming." Ellison shut down the bike and tilted it a little so Maria could slide off. He settled the motorcycle in place, pulled his hat out of the saddlebag, and took Maria's hand. "This is my friend, Maria. How's the water?"

The man called Granger chuckled. "Nice." His hair hung in a long dark ponytail, his face bore a coating of unshaved whiskers, and his full-muscled arms were covered with tattoos. His eyes, now that they weren't glittering over the barrel of the shotgun, were full of good humor.

"Water?" Maria asked.

"Swimming hole." Ellison winked at her. "Come on."

Granger shouldered the shotgun. "You kids enjoy yourselves, now."

Maria gave Granger a polite smile as Ellison led her past him. "It is nice to meet you."