Page 25 of Beginnings

Ember eyed me, then them. No question she was pissed that they had listened to me and not her. I shrugged. “Alpha,” I reminded her, but it wasn’t just that. It hadn’t escaped my notice that all these other men were shifters, but not just any old shifters; they were all potential alphas, too.

Without another word, Ember ran up the steps.

I had an idea what she was doing. The only trouble was, if it worked, there was no knowing what was outside that door. “What’s your name?” I asked the grey haired man.

“Stone,” he answered coldly.

“Don’t go near her, Stone. And make sure the others stay away from her.”

His face remained blank and cold. “Why? Frightened she’d prefer them over you, alpha?”

It was interesting that he didn’t include himself in that comment. “No. Sure, I’ll still kill them if they look at her the wrong way.” Yeah, I was not a nice guy around my mate and other alphas. “But see this guy here that she burned to a crisp?” He nodded. “It has more to do with the fact you’ll end up like that if you upset her.” I shrugged and stepped over to Perversion’s body. Squatting, I pulled two guns from the holsters on his smoldering legs. One looked like some kind of tranq’ gun. It was loaded with tiny darts that held a small phial of green liquid. My nostrils flared in recognition. Careful to avoid his scorched flesh, I searched his body and discovered one large knife and two smaller ones.

I peered up at Owen. “Here you take the gun. Check it still works. I’ll take the knife. I’m better at close combat than you. Hey, Walker?”

Icy eyes looked at me. “You want this?” I waved the dart gun in the air.

He nodded once, walked over and took it.

“Still a man of few words, hmm?”

He just looked at me.

I grinned. The two smaller blades I handed to Stone. “We stay together up there,” I said. No one argued. A pack stood a better chance of survival than a lone wolf. “You need help there, old man?” I asked Rawson, hiding my worry for him. Rawson shook his head and gestured for me to go ahead. I didn’t like leaving him to stagger along behind, but neither could I stay and help him, not that he would accept it. Forcing my worry aside, I jogged up the steps. Getting Ember out was my priority right now.

Ember had her hands flat on the metal door, right over the locking mechanism. “Don’t you come near me.”

“You can’t burn me, remember?” But my attention was on her hands, fascinated with the way heat pulsed from her skin.

“I know, but it doesn’t mean I won’t try, you bastard.” Her eyes opened, and she turned her head to glare at me. They shone wetly, and my gut tightened. I hated to see those tears and know I was the cause. I’d fucked up when I’d left her after our kiss.

“You left me. Without so much as a word, you dumped me on the driveway, and then you just disappeared.” She turned her face towards the door again, closing her eyes.

I swallowed, my heart squeezing, even my wolf hung his head. “I’m sorry, Firecracker, but it wasn’t my fault...”

“I know. Not this time.” Her voice was tight, and I didn’t know if it was with the effort of summoning enough heat to melt the lock or if it was a far darker emotion. “It’s just the way things are. People leave…My parents left me. And you? You left me years ago, well before you disappeared this time.” She sighed, and removed her hands from the door, shaking them out. “It was Doherty who told us you were dead.” Her statement was flat and unemotional.

Anger surged in my veins at the depth of the director’s deceit.

“Rawson left me and Lyss after you disappeared. He spent hours, days and then weeks away from us trying to find the truth about what really happened.”

My attention flicked down to Rawson. He leaned against the wall and stared at the floor. That man had given me a shot at a decent life, and it seemed he had lost his own trying to save me—again. Oh, I knew he wasn’t dead, but he may as well be. He’d lost Lyss, and she was his whole life. Nausea rolled in my gut. Looking for me had cost him dearly. I owed him—big time. I also needed to know what devils he’d unearthed to make Doherty come down on him so hard. But right now it was Ember who needed me most. We had to get away from here, and she needed to know I wouldn’t leave her again, that she could trust me.

Her gaze followed mine to rest on Rawson’s damaged face. “And now he will leave again, especially with Lyss being gone. He will tear down the world to find those responsible for killing her. None of us can go home.”

“He’s not going to leave you, Ember, neither am I.”

“You will,” she said, her voice still flat, her eyes so distant I shuddered. “You’ll help him bring Doherty down, and to do that you’ll both have to leave. I have no idea why he was keeping you all here, but he can’t be allowed to get away with it.”

The other alphas watched us, their faces dark, their fists clenched, but I ignored them. Walker prowled to the bottom of the stairs.

I brushed her cheek with the back of my fingers. “Even if we have to leave, we’ll always come back.”

She sighed, and blinked slowly. “No, Connor, there are no guarantees you will, and even if you do, it doesn’t mean you’ll stay.”

I had no idea what was going on in her head, or her heart, but it was clear she didn’t trust me, and now wasn’t the time for a deep conversation like this. I needed to get her and the others out of here.

She swallowed hard and looked away from me. “I can’t do this,” she whispered, studying her hands. She held them up, desperation in her voice.

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