His scowling eyes, she realized. A frown drew his thin lips downward. She didn’t doubt he was annoyed, but she didn’t know why. She watched his muscles bulge as he shifted position, and she knew he could hurt her easily. However, the image that flashed through her mind was one of pleasure, rather than pain. She blinked it away, attributing the brief thought of having him cradle her against his chest to the aftereffects of the concussion she must have sustained.
“Rica,” the woman said, and her tone held a note of reproof. “The miss is not yet well enough—”
“Davinia.” He glowered at her before his gaze turned back to Ellie. “You’ll understand we don’t like outsiders.”
She nodded.
“My people chose to rescue you,” his tone left no doubt his choice would have been different, “but now you are well enough to leave, yes?”
She shrugged, and pain fanned down her spine. “I don’t know where I am.”
“Necheau,” Davinia said. “High in the Bulgain Mountains.” She glanced at Rica, and her eyes held a mixture of anger and fear. “Rica knows you can’t leave, miss.”
Her eyes widened. “What?”
“The pass.”
Ellie frowned. Was that supposed to answer her question? “Huh?”
“We are snowed in until the spring thaw.”
Rica growled, and the menacing sound echoed through the small room. “You will fly back the way you came.”
Ellie shook her head, immediately regretting doing so as pain flashed through it. “I can’t. The plane crashed. I don’t know the extent of the damage, but I doubt it’ll fly anytime soon.”
“No, it won’t,” said Davinia. “It is a miracle you survived, miss. You can’t fly that contraption.”
“I don’t care if you walk out. You will leave tomorrow morning.”
She shuddered at the conviction in his harsh tone. Ellie inclined her chin a notch and tried to paste on a charming smile. “Please, sir, let me stay until I recover.”
That’ll only take three months. It will be a long recovery.
She bit back a delighted giggle. Who would have guessed a plane crash could be serendipitous? She had the perfect excuse to stay and observe these people, at least for a few days. If she could ingratiate herself with this man, who seemed to be their leader, she might even be able to stay the full three months. Three months would be a cinch compared to the two years she lived with a small tribe in Africa, or eleven months in the rain forests of Brazil with another tribe.
His scowl deepened. He glared at Ellie, and then Davinia, before turning on his heel and striding from the room. He slammed the door, and the sound reverberated through her aching head.
“Ignore Rica’s temper, miss,” Davinia said in a whisper, after shooting a glance at the closed door. “He is too used to getting his way, with everyone kowtowing to him. He is sometimes like a little boy.” She let out a little giggle before clapping her hands over her mouth. She looked alarmed by her revelation.
“Who is he?”
“He is the Alpha.” She hesitated, before adding, “He leads us.”
“Thank you for saving me, and for sticking up for me.” Ellie smiled at the brunette when she sat beside her on the bed. “It couldn’t have been easy to contradict your leader.”
Davinia shrugged. “It is the way of women, to watch out for each other.” A sad expression flitted across her face. “Of my people, anyway. The Pack is different about such things.”
Ellie’s eyes widened. “‘The Pack’?”
She busied herself straightening the quilt, seeming to be avoiding Ellie’s eyes deliberately. “The villagers call themselves this.” She stood up quickly. “I should let you sleep, miss.”
“I’m not really tired,” Ellie said, as a yawn tried to free itself from her. “Well, maybe a little.”
She nodded and turned to the door. “Sleep well.”
“Oh, Davinia?”
“Yes, miss?”
“Call me Ellie.” She didn’t try to keep in the yawn. “Thanks.”
“Of course.” With a small curtsey, the woman left the room, closing the door behind her with a soft click.
Ellie smiled at her thoughtfulness. If the others in the Pack were as welcoming as Davinia, she wouldn’t have any trouble integrating into their culture and getting a firsthand point-of-view for her study. Her smile faded as she realized how difficult it would be to get them to warm up to her if the others were like their leader. Surely, no one else in Necheau was that cold or unyielding.
Or that attractive
, a sly voice whispered in the back of her mind as she slipped into sleep once more.
Chapter 2
When Ellie next awoke, the headache had gone. She stretched in the small bed and pushed back the covers, shivering at the chill in the air. She eyed the primitive log room with interest. Instead of electricity, oil lanterns stood on the table and above the mantle of the fireplace. No fire burned now. Ellie padded to the closed drapes, wincing at the coolness in the wood floor against her bare feet. She pulled them open and cried out with shock, stepping backward.
Four children had their faces pressed against her window. When they saw her, they too fell back into the snow. Three scattered in various directions, but the smallest stayed. She couldn’t have been more than four. She cautiously approached the window, sniffing like a dog. A smile blossomed on her face, and she waved before darting off to catch up with her comrades.
Ellie grinned as she watched the little one run away. Her eyes were still on the window when she heard the door open. She turned and smiled at Davinia as the other woman entered with a pail of water, soap, and a towel. “Good morning.” She ventured a guess of the time based on the sunshine streaming through the window.
“Good morning, Ellie.” Davinia set down the pail. When she did so, her dress pulled taut over her stomach, revealing she was far into a pregnancy. “Did you sleep well?”
Ellie nodded. She walked over to join the woman, glancing down at her stomach. “When is your baby due?”
“Three weeks.” A fleeting glimpse of sadness darted through her eyes.
Ellie frowned. “What’s wrong?”
Davinia shrugged. “Nothing. I’m excited, but worried. I had hoped my aunt would be beside me during the delivery, but she died last year.”
It was instinctive to reach out and pat the girl’s hand. Ellie guessed Davinia was a few years her junior, but it wasn’t a mothering instinct that had her reaching out for the girl. She just seemed so lonely and lost. “I’m sorry. What about your mother?”
“She died when I was very young. I was a late baby.” Davinia seemed to make a determined effort to push away her sadness. “Viggo has given me permission to name our daughter after my aunt.”
Ellie’s interest piqued. “Who’s Viggo?”
“My husband. Rica’s brother. He’s the beta.”
She nodded, wondering why this group had fashioned their culture after a wolf pack. It wasn’t unheard of to still find primitive groups, but it was rare to find one in the middle of Eastern Europe, when the surrounding countries thrived on progress, technology, and science. “Is it normal for the men to choose the names of children?”
Davinia frowned. “Not so much, but I’m not a recognized citizen of the Pack. I can’t stand in during the Naming Ceremony, so Viggo will be alone. He’s agreed to the name I picked for her.” She rubbed her stomach, seemingly in an unconscious movement.
Ellie led her to the bed, getting her to sit before sitting beside her. “What does it mean, that you aren’t recognized?”
“I’m not one of them. I don’t have any rights. I’m not even a real person to most of them.” She lowered her voice after glancing around the room, as though looking for someone who might be listening in. “They are clannish, these people. Not at all open to outsiders. If I didn’t love Viggo so much, I wouldn’t be able to tolerate life here.”
“Where are you from?” What she wouldn’t give for the recorder in her bag. Ellie would settle for a piece of paper and a pen, but didn’t want to alarm Davinia and risk missing this information.
“I lived nearest to Bulgainia. I grew up at Castle Draganescu.” A melancholy smile flashed across her face before disappearing. “I wouldn’t have met Viggo if I hadn’t gotten a little lost in the forest and ventured farther than I planned on a nightly hunt—” She suddenly broke off, and her eyes widened. “I have chores to do. You should bathe. You’ll find your cases in the closet. I didn’t dare unpack until Rica approves your stay.” She got up quickly and made for the door.
“Davinia, wait.”
The girl paused at opening the door, but didn’t turn around. “Yes, Ellie?”
“When will you have time to talk more? Your people fascinate me.”
Davinia turned around. “They aren’t my people.” She shook her head. “I suppose I would have time to talk tonight, if you’re still here.”
Ellie frowned. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“A meeting’s been called. Several members of the Pack are demanding you leave. Rica will hear the arguments and decide tonight.”
“He can’t send me away. I have nowhere to go.”
Davinia bobbed her head, but she didn’t reply to that. “I have to go.”
“Davinia, how do I go to the meeting?”
The girl quickly shook her head. “Oh, you mustn’t. It’s closed to all except adult members of the Pack. I won’t be going either.”
Ellie felt a twinge of fear, realizing the only person who seemed to be on her side wouldn’t be allowed to speak in her favor. Despite her plan to blend into the fringes of the Pack, she knew she would have to go to the meeting and make herself heard. She bit her lip, considering her options. She didn’t want to get Davinia in trouble, but the girl was her only option. “I need to go to the meeting. Will you help me?”
Davinia hesitated. She seemed to be debating her options. Finally, she nodded slowly. “I’ll come for you after sunset.”
“Thank you, Davinia.”
“You might not thank me when you see the Pack. They won’t be shy about their desire to get rid of you.”
Ellie firmed her shoulders. “I’ll be fine.”
Davinia made a non-committal sound and left the room. The silence pressed on Ellie after her departure, leaving her with only her thoughts. And what heavy thoughts they were. It looked as if this group would be the most challenging one of her career. She could handle it. She knew how important it was to finish this study so she could get tenure and the chair of her department. She wouldn’t let a little thing like the group’s close-mindedness drive her away. Besides, she didn’t have anywhere to go until the snow thawed.
* * * * *
Ellie awaited Davinia’s arrival in a state of nervous excitement. She jumped when the door opened, although she had expected Davinia more than an hour ago. The sun had been down two hours now. She got to her feet and shrugged on the parka hanging from a hook when she saw the other woman wearing a floor-length fur wrap. “Where are we going?” she asked, following Davinia from the room.
“The meeting spot. It’s a bit of a walk.”
As they left the room where Ellie had spent her time, she looked around. The room was part of a larger cabin, designed in the same rustic manner, and built from logs. It was reminiscent of pictures from frontier days in the west. “Does everyone live like this?”
Davinia led her to the wide front door, pausing to look back. “Like what?”
“In cabins,” Ellie eyed the profusion of dimly lit lanterns scattered throughout the room, “without electricity?”
“Necheau isn’t equipped to have electricity. Some families don’t even have running water, but Viggo and I do. He installed it when I agreed to marry him.” A small shudder racked her frame. “I can adapt to the lack of electricity, but I’m not running to the lake for a bath every day.”
They stepped outside, and Ellie immediately hunched into her coat. She huddled behind Davinia’s taller frame, using her as a buffer against the fierce wind blowing through the night. Fat flakes accompanied the wind, slapping her in the face as they landed. She slogged through the foot of snow on the walkway, eyeing the drifts on each side of the walk. They rose to her waist. “Where’s the meeting spot?” She hoped it wasn’t far, because her designer leather boots were no match for the piled snow.
“About half a mile.” Davinia moved lightly through the snow, seeming not to have any trouble navigating.
Ellie plodded along. It wasn’t long before the snow penetrated her boots and pants. Soon, the damp feeling turned to an icy sensation. Breath smoked from her in plumes, and she was about to call a halt to the endeavor when Davinia stopped walking. She paused at her side and glanced down, seeing nothing. “Is this it?”
“Down the hill and around the corner.” Davinia bit her lip. “Wait here. I need to make sure everyone’s…” She trailed off and rushed down the hill without so much as a cloud of snow following in her wake. How did she move so fleetly with her heavily pregnant frame?
Ellie began to jog in place and blow on her hands, hoping to bring warmth back to her extremities. She was half-convinced the blood had frozen in her veins. She thought longingly of the Árvore tribe, living in the sweltering jungle. What she wouldn’t give for the high temperatures and even higher humidity she had hated during her eleven-month stay in Brazil. It was paradise compared to Necheau.