Page 24 of Beginnings
“I’m not his mate.”
She wasn’t strong enough to push me out of the way, but I wasn’t about to ignore her demand to move, nor would I ignore that statement.
Unable to stop myself, I curled my hands around her hips. “Not yet. But you will be.”
Ember rolled her eyes but otherwise chose to ignore my statement. She couldn’t hide the increase in her heart rate from me, though. I smirked and kept my eyes on her face, enjoying the flush that spread over her cheeks.
Walker peered down at her. “I will heal your shoulder, and my debt to you is no more,” he said.
She nodded in agreement and pushed my hands away.
The fae put his blue-skinned hand on her shoulder. A strange, soft light emanated from his fingers. There was a pop, and Ember screeched.
I instantly tensed. “What did you do!?”
“I’m fine! I’m fine!” Ember grabbed my hand to prevent me from seizing his throat and ending him. It was then she swung her arm experimentally and smiled at Walker. “Thank you,” she said.
“You healed her?” My voice shook, my gut tightening hard enough to be painful. Magic like that only existed between soul mates, at least in this world.
Walker merely grunted. “Now I owe only you.” His voice was smooth and deep. Far deeper than I expected.
“Hey! Does anyone have any ideas? This door’s not gonna budge,” shouted one of the alphas, distracting me from my need to push this otherworldly male away from Ember. I exhaled and entwined my fingers with Ember’s, wanting contact with her. I had no idea what was typical for fae magic, but the thought of this cold-eyed fae being a potential mate for Ember, and rival for me, had my blood boiling. She frowned and gently but firmly pulled her hand from my grasp. I let her go but positioned myself between her and Walker. “No, but come on down and let us up. Brady! You’re the explosives expert. Go and have a look at it. There’s electricity, silver, iron, and a whole load of other shit down here, including Perv’s weapons. Let’s see if you can do anything with it to get us out.”
“If you wait, the guards will come,” remarked Walker. He crossed his arms over his chest and watched us.
I glanced at him, so did Ember. His cold eyes studied the door and then me. “You got some magic there we can use?” Instinct told me he was holding something back, so I did nothing to hide my mistrust. “You appear to be high fae, which means you’re powerful, so why didn’t you escape?”
Owen glanced at me and stepped closer, recognising the suspicion in my tone.
Walker remained utterly unimpressed, his eyes like illuminated chips of ice. I didn’t like that he had healed Ember, but I could smell a lie a mile off. I strained my ears to listen to his heart rate and breathing.
“I am not high fae, and like any other fae, the iron stops my magic from working. I need to be further away from it for longer before my magic will be strong enough to cause damage.”
His heartrate didn’t increase, neither did his breathing. He wasn’t lying, but it didn’t escape me his answers were deliberately vague.
“He’s right.” Rawson shuffled out of the shadows of his cell and spat a mouthful of blood on the ground.
I bit back my retort to Walker, watching Ember as she registered Rawson was awake.
She blinked and with a little cry, ran to him and flung her arms around him. “I’m so sorry about Lyss,” she whispered brokenly into his chest.
I swallowed a growl at seeing her hold another man, even if it was Rawson. It was damn hard. All my wolf wanted was to claim her; the need to do so burning deep in my gut. I wanted nothing more than to drag her into the nearest cell and do just that. But I shook off my selfish desires. She was right, she wasn’t mine, and I was an insensitive bastard for even thinking of claiming her right now. And commanding her not to touch another person, especially one she loved, would only earn me a fist in my face or a boot in my nuts.
“What happened to Lyss?” I asked Rawson.
His throat bobbed. “I—can’t…” He screwed his eyes up as if in pain.
“Then don’t.” I growled, my own throat aching at the thought of Lyss being gone. It was a fucking miracle Rawson was even functioning if Lyss was dead. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to breathe if Ember died, let alone function. It was becoming impossible not to grab her and keep her close. I glanced at Vice’s smoldering body. I wished I could bring him back, just so that I could kill the bastard again.
“No, don’t,” Ember whispered up at Rawson, agreeing with me. She kissed his cheek, tears trickling from her eyes. My stomach flipped at that sign of distress, when I knew she would rather bite her own finger off than cry. Lyss had been kind to me when no other person on this planet seemed to have a heart. Even Rawson had kicked my arse when I’d first come to live with him. I knew the pain Ember suffered, even if I couldn’t express it the same way. Whoever had killed a kind-hearted soul like Lyss deserved to suffer an eternity in hell.
Ember spun away from Rawson. A look of determination crossed her face. I cocked my head, watching her through narrowed eyes. My Firecracker had a plan. Her boots clicked on the concrete as she strode to the stairwell, sidestepping the smoking embers of Vice’s body. The whole place stunk of burning flesh.
She peered up at the three alphas at the top of the stairs. “Come out of the way, guys.”
They hesitated, one eyed me warily, the other two gave her heated looks. I narrowed my eyes and rolled my shoulders, my fists curling so tightly, my fingernails scored my palms. Jealousy was not an emotion I was familiar with. I went after whatever woman I wanted with a single-minded purpose, and they never refused. But Ember was different. She was mine. My mate. Not theirs. And I hated that they even looked at her with interest, never mind the lust that burned in their eyes. Bloody alphas! “Now!” I curled my top lip back in a snarl. My wolf might be caged, but so were theirs. The difference between us? I was still capable of ripping them to shreds. The biggest of them eyed Perversion’s corpse. His silver grey hair and eyes shone eerily when he looked back at me. “That’s right.” I grinned viciously. “Get away from her. Now.”
The alpha narrowed his eyes, nodded and urged the others down the steps, past Ember. They stopped near me, and again I positioned myself between them and her. I inhaled and caught a scent vaguely like Walker’s from the silver haired man.
