Page 2 of A Second Roar for Love

“Elowen.”

“Thank you, Elowen.” There was a brief pause, then, “I have Sheriff Mallory on the other line, he’s almost to your location. I’m going to disconnect now, but he’ll be there any second. Just sit tight, okay?”

“Okay. Thank you.” The line went dead and she let the phone drop into her lap. The same Mallory from school? Flashes of chiseled features and piercing amber eyes flitted through her memory.

She didn’t have long to ponder. Less than a minute later, she heard the slam of a car door outside and heavy bootfalls coming up the porch steps. Two sharp knocks rattled the door.

“Sheriff’s department!”

Knees wobbling like a newborn foal, she pushed to her feet and went to let him in. She pulled the door open.

And found herself staring up into the scowling face of Reed Mallory, a face she knew almost as well as her own once upon a time. Fifteen years had only made him more devastatingly handsome, sharpening the angles of his cheekbones and adding a few faint lines around his eyes. His hair was different too, cropped short on the sides, but still the same rich chestnut that always made her fingers itch to run through it.

“Ellie?” he said, his scowl melting into open shock. He reached up like he might touch her, then caught himself and dropped his hand. “I didn’t know you were back in town.”

“I just got in,” she said weakly. Hearing her old nickname fall from his lips made her heart clench painfully. She had been Elowen for too long. Now she could be Ellie again and hopefully have the happiness in her life that had been associated with the name.

“My grandmother left me the house when she passed last month. I came to settle her affairs, but now...”

“Right. You, uh, said there was a body?” Reed’s expression shuttered, professionalism sliding back into place. He stepped around her to enter the house, sharp eyes cataloging every detail.

Ellie nodded and led him to the guest room. The sight of the crumpled form hit her like a punch to the solar plexus all over again. She didn’t think she’d ever get used to seeing death.

Reed, however, seemed grimly unfazed. He knelt next to the body, checking for a pulse and examining the twisted neck with clinical detachment. After a few moments, he sighed and stood.

“He’s gone, all right. Looks like his neck was snapped.” He pulled a small notebook out of his breast pocket and started jotting down notes. “Did you touch or move anything when you found him?”

“No, god no. I almost puked, actually.” Ellie hugged her arms tightly around herself, trying to ward off a shiver. Reed’s presence steadied her, but only slightly. “Who is he? And what the hell is he doing in my house?”

“Hard to say without an ID.” Reed grimaced apologetically. “Look, I know this is your place, but we need to treat it like a crime scene until we know more. I’m gonna call the coroner to collect the body, and I’ll need to tape off this room. You got somewhere else you can stay for a few days?”

“I...” Ellie floundered. She had planned to move right into the cottage. But the thought of sleeping mere feet away from where she found a dead body made bile rise. “I can get a room at the B&B, I guess.”

Reed nodded. “I think that’s best. We’ll process the scene as fast as we can, but these things take time.”

He must have seen something forlorn in her expression because his stern demeanor softened. Resting a broad hand on her shoulder, he gave her a gentle squeeze. “I’m sorry this happened, Ellie. I know it’s not the homecoming you imagined. But I promise I’ll get to the bottom of it.”

“I know you will,” she said, meaning it. Reed had always been a man of his word, even when it came to tricky things like teenage love and family feuds. He hadn’t promised her forever at eighteen, and she knew now it was because he respected her too much to make a vow he wasn’t certain he could keep.

Part of her would always love him for that.

On autopilot, she followed him out to the main room, barely registering as he radioed for backup and the coroner. Her mind whirled with dark possibilities, each more unsettling than the last. Whispering Pines might look like a fairy-tale village, but she knew it harbored things that went bump in the night. Finding a body in her supposedly empty house reeked of the uncanny.

“You okay?” Reed’s voice cut through her spiraling thoughts. He stood in front of her again, frowning in concern. “You kinda spaced out on me.”

“Yeah, sorry. It’s just... a lot. I mean, I didn’t exactly expect a murder mystery as a housewarming present.” She tried for a smile, but it felt brittle. “You don’t think this was random, do you? A body showing up the day I come back, in my family home...”

“I don’t want to speculate just yet,” Reed said carefully. But she saw the flicker of doubt in his eyes. No, this was no coincidence. And they both knew it.

Outside, sirens approached, shattering the sleepy mid-morning quiet. Reed turned toward the door to meet his backup, then paused, looking over his shoulder at her.

“For what it’s worth, Ellie... I’m glad you’re home. I just wish it were under better circumstances.”

With that, he strode outside, leaving her alone with the specter of death and a heart full of unspoken history.

Ellie watched through the window as the cavalry arrived - a couple deputy cruisers, an ambulance, and what she assumed was the coroner’s van. Reed directed them with terse efficiency, every inch the seasoned sheriff.

He’d always wanted this, she remembered. To protect and serve, to keep Whispering Pines safe. It was his legacy as a Mallory, just like magic was hers. She wondered if the call of duty ever reconciled with the wilder urges of his inner tiger the way he hoped. She wondered if he ever thought about the future they might have had if their bloodlines hadn’t gotten in the way.

---