her cell phone rang, and she jumped. could it be howard? get a grip. she'd never given him her number. she scurried to the desk, where she'd plugged in her phone to recharge.

"hello?"

"ellie, sweetie," aunt greta responded. "how are you? are you all right?"

"i'm fine. how are you?"

"tired, but i made it all the way to buffalo. i just got off the phone with aunt ula. she's in albany. i'll meet her there, then we're hoping to reach you by tomorrow night. can you reserve a room for us?"

"yes, of course," elsa assured her. "don't push yourself too hard. i'm fine here. alastair is next door. and oskar will be arriving tomorrow with some of the crew."

"good. stay in your room till you have plenty of guys to protect you."

elsa groaned. "i have a job to do. i'm not going to cower in my room like a scared rabbit."

"you . . . oh my god, did you go out today?"

"of course. i have a - "

"oh no!" greta's voice rose in panic. "i told you to stay in your room."

"i'm perfectly fine." and i'm twenty-seven years old.

"you're not taking this seriously enough!"

"aunt greta, please. calm down."

"this has been going on for centuries! it's not only your grandmother who was murdered but her grandmother, and more ancestors as far back as we can remember."

elsa gasped.

"and they all had the same birthmark you have."

elsa's knees gave out, and she collapsed on the bed.

"ellie? are you there?"

"yes," she whispered. she pressed a hand against her racing heart. her aunt was doing a good job of scaring her now. "they . . . they were all murdered?"

greta sighed. "we thought you would be safe in america, that you would never run into a berserker here."

"a what?"

"we thought they were all in norway and sweden," greta continued. "damn. they must have migrated over the centuries."

"who? what?"

"the berserkers. according to family legend, only a berserker can activate the curse."

elsa shook her head in confusion. howard was a berserker? "what?"

"in a way, i suppose it's our own fault," greta mumbled. "it's part of the curse. we should have never made the berserkers, and now we keep paying for it. bad karma, i guess."

"what are you talking about?"

greta heaved a sigh. "so you didn't stay in your room like i asked. please tell me that you at least had the good sense to stay away from the man who activated the curse."

elsa winced. she'd just made out with him. "well, i did . . . see him."

"oh god, no. didn't i tell you to avoid him?"

"he seemed perfectly normal."

"berserkers can always seem normal. but you never know when they're going to go berserk!"

elsa recalled her aunt's words from the night before. did he seem wild or crazy to you? was that what she meant by berserk? "he's not like that. he's not wild or crazy."

"berserkers kill," greta insisted. "they're killing machines. that's what they were created to do."

a shiver ran down elsa's spine. how quickly had howard run off to kill those pigs? "no." she shook her head, refusing to believe he was wild or crazy. he'd only done it to protect the schoolchildren.

"they go berserk and kill everything in sight," greta continued. "they're like wild beasts."

elsa's breath caught. i won't ravish you in the woods like a wild beast.

"do you understand the danger now?" greta asked. "will you stay away from him?"

tears crowded her eyes. she didn't want to say yes. she didn't want to believe anything bad about howard. but she couldn't leave her aunts in a panic. maybe after they met howard, they would realize he was all right. they would see how sweet and gentle he was. "i . . . won't see him." for a day or two.

"good. now get some rest, and we'll see you tomorrow night." greta hung up.

get some rest? elsa dropped the phone on the desk. did greta seriously think she could sleep now?

she paced across the room. berserkers? she checked the lock on the door and paced some more. what the hell was a berserker?

she booted up her laptop and did a search. berserkers were part of scandinavian lore. fierce norse warriors who went into battle, wearing the pelt of a wolf or a bear. the term berserk could refer to a bear shirt. they worked themselves into an animal-like frenzy, killing indiscriminately.

she jumped to her feet and paced across the room. animal-like frenzy? she halted suddenly, recalling the loud roar she'd heard that afternoon. when howard was doing battle with the pigs.

her skin prickled with gooseflesh. was that why she'd felt like those ladies knew something she didn't know? they knew howard could roar like an animal?

"no." she sat on the bed. howard was normal. he didn't go into an animal-like frenzy. he certainly couldn't think he was an animal. that would be crazy.

wild and crazy. greta had said the berserkers were like wild beasts, killing everything in sight. was she right? was howard dangerous to be around? but why would shanna trust him to watch over her son if he wasn't safe?

was this the duality she'd sensed about him? powerful, but restrained. strong, but gentle. tough, but kind. human, but animal?

i won't ravish you in the woods like a wild beast.

"no!" she clenched her fists. "i won't believe it."

hours later, in a fitful sleep, she started to dream. a beautiful man came to her in the night. large and powerful, he covered her body with his. his big hands roamed over her skin, setting her on fire. she wanted him. she cried out for him. she burned for him.

his hands were magic. skimming the length of her legs. fondling her breasts. stroking her neck. tightening their grip.

choking her.

she thrashed against him, but he was too strong. too powerful.

with a cry, elsa sat up. she panted in the dark, searching the room. no one was there. it was just a dream.

with trembling hands, she turned on the light, then checked the room more carefully. no one there.

she splashed cold water on her face and looked at herself in the mirror, half expecting to see red marks on her neck. nothing there.

it was just a dream. no doubt her subconscious was trying to process the new information she'd learned. or it was trying to scare the hell out of her.

it had to be a psychic thing. her brain was doing this to protect her. it was warning her what could happen to her in the future. if she wasn't careful.

if she continued to see howard.

chapter thirteen

the next morning, bright and early, howard parked his suv behind elsa's rental car in front of the gatehouse. he'd gone into town to pick up a few dozen donuts, and he'd planned on surprising elsa with them for breakfast. when he'd noticed her car was missing from the motel parking lot, he'd surmised that she and alastair were at the gatehouse.

shanna was doing her best to help with his courting. last night, she'd left a detailed list with him to pass on to elsa and alastair so he'd have a good excuse to drop by this morning. he grabbed the donuts, along with a brown envelope containing shanna's list, then strode toward the house.

the front door was slightly ajar, so he nudged it open with his foot. "hello?"

alastair peered out an open doorway near the end of the foyer. his eyes narrowed. "ah, howard. come on in."

"i have breakfast." he lifted the box as he crossed the foyer. "and a note from shanna."

"excellent."

howard followed alastair into what appeared to be the old kitchen. a quick glance around told him the room would need a massive amount of work. it was devoid of all modern appliances and, sadly, also devoid of elsa.

he set the donut box and envelope on an old scarred table. "shanna sent a list of things she wanted. she said you'd gone over most of it last night, but she wanted it in writing."

"i understand." alastair pulled two water bottles from an ice chest on the floor and handed one to howard. "i'll take a look."

howard sat carefully in an old rickety chair by the table. it groaned under his weight. while he sipped some water, he strained his hearing to detect where in the house elsa might be. if she was here, she was being very quiet.

he glanced at alastair, who was studying the list, frowning. he wasn't behaving in his usual cheerful, charming way.

alastair nodded. "yes, this all sounds familiar. they're fairly common requests, except for wanting a second master bedroom suite in the basement. no windows. sounds a bit gloomy to me." he set the list down on the table. "she mentioned her mother would be living with them, so i assume they plan on stashing the ol' gel in the cellar."

howard nodded, although he knew shanna and roman would be using the basement.

alastair helped himself to a donut. "unfortunately, we haven't been able to inspect the cellar yet. the old wooden staircase is half rotted away, and the only other access point is outside, the old coal chute. oskar will bring a ladder when he comes this afternoon, so we'll have a look then."

"sounds good." howard drank more water. "so is elsa around?"

alastair shot him an annoyed look. "you'll have to conduct all your business meetings with me or oskar. elsa has requested not to see you again."

howard's mouth dropped open.

alastair scowled at him. "i don't know what you did last night, but i don't appreciate you scaring the hell out of her. she's a nice - "

"what?"

"she looked dreadful this morning. black circles under her eyes. she wouldn't say what had upset her, but it was obvious she hadn't slept a wink."

"she - she's upset?"

alastair gulped down some water. "so what happened? did you make a pass at her?"

"i - "

"i'm not blind, you know. i could tell you two were attracted to each other, and quite frankly, i was delighted for ellie. she's a lovely woman and deserves to be happy - "

"i didn't hurt her." howard gritted his teeth. "i would never hurt her."

"well." alastair eyed him suspiciously. "i'll have to take your word on that. but for now, i expect you to honor her wishes and stay away from her."

"where is she? is she all right?"

alastair lifted a brow. "she'll be here later with oskar and the crew. in other words, she will be surrounded by a group of brawny construction workers who consider her their darling little sister."

howard's inner bear growled at the implied threat. did they really believe he was a danger to elsa?

he rose to his feet. "i would never harm her. and i will honor her wishes. you have my word."

alastair nodded. "good." he extended a hand. "no hard feelings, ol' chap. let's continue to work well together."

howard shook his hand, then strode from the house.

a few minutes later, he found himself parked in front of the motel in cranville. he'd been in such a daze that he couldn't remember driving there.

he gazed at her door. room number five. even here, he could detect a hint of her lovely scent. what had happened to make her suddenly reject him? had he moved too fast the night before? kissed her too hard?

he replayed the scene in his mind, trying to figure out where he'd gone wrong. yes, he'd kissed her with passion, but she had kissed him back. she hadn't seemed insulted or frightened by him.

damn. he raked a hand through his hair. what the hell had upset her? had she experienced a delayed reaction to being teleported? if that was freaking her out, then how would she ever handle the truth about him being a shifter?

he might never get the chance to tell her. she might insist on never seeing him again.

despair slammed into him, nearly doubling him over. the bear inside him howled in pain. it rammed against his defenses, demanding release. it needed to run, needed to destroy a poor tree with a few ferocious swipes, needed to shred and devour a helpless animal.

"later," he whispered, sweat beading on his brow as he tightened his control on the beast. charging around town as a grizzly bear would not help his cause. what he needed now was a new strategy.

he retrieved a pen and small legal pad from his glove compartment so he could write elsa a note.

what the hell happened? he scrawled, then realized all caps looked like he was yelling at her. he ripped that page off and tried again.

elsa, i'm sorry i jumped your bones.

to hell with that. he wasn't sorry at all. he tore that page off.

my dearest elsa:

i heard you didn't sleep well, and i was concerned. what could be upsetting you, sweetheart? why are you so afraid? i never took you for a coward!

he ripped that page off. dammit, he couldn't let his anger creep in.

"holy crap," he muttered. there was only one page left on the pad.

he took a deep breath. fourth down and ten. no pressure here.

dear elsa,

i was sorry to miss you this morning. please call me whenever you get a chance.

he looked it over. not too bad. he wrote down his cell phone number and signed it simply with his name. it would have to do. he folded it up and wrote her name on it, then took it inside the motel office and asked the sleepy manager to pass it on to her.

with one last glance at her door, he returned to his suv, then drove back to the school. instead of going inside, he jogged to the nearby woods, stripped, and let the bear free.

he roared his frustration, ripped his claws through a tree trunk, then ran through the forest. he made a circle around the school, clawing and marking his territory.