Page 37 of Beginnings

Epilogue

Connor

Snow swirledin front of me making it difficult to see. I rubbed the crusted blood from under my nose and studied the unimpressive building on the far side of the tarmac landing strip. It looked unassuming and small, but that didn’t mean a thing. My attention moved to the surrounding area. The whole place was covered in a white blanket of snow, the heavy flakes making it impossible to see clearly in the dark. Only the runway had been cleared and was illuminated. I squinted, pretty sure that trees edged the area of clear ground around the fenced compound. The double fence was too tall to jump, even for a shifter, and the thick posts told me it was fed with electric current.

I shuddered from the bone-deep cold and inhaled. Pine sap, snow and fresh air. No cloying exhaust emissions, or the stink of a nearby city. We were in the middle of nowhere.

I shivered. My shirt was a memory, burned by Ember in our escape attempt, and my naked chest stung from the vicious cold. With effort, I stood tall, trying not to curl into a ball to keep from freezing to death. My teeth chattered, so I clenched them together. This damn cold had no mercy; it slayed my skin and gripped my lungs, trying to rip them from my chest. On top of that, the silver collar burned, leaving blisters as my wolf tried to push through to save me. All he could do was howl and snarl against his forced imprisonment in my body.

Determined not to show any weakness, I squared my shoulders and moved my feet along the frozen airstrip. I had fought hard for the position I now held.

Prime. Alpha of alphas.

The other men filed out of the cage behind me. All alphas, and all now sworn to me.

Needles of ice whipped through the air, stinging my exposed skin and burning my lungs.

“Fuck me,” wheezed Owen.

“Not today, man. I need to recover from kicking their arses first.”

While we moved, I scanned our surroundings, looking through the night for any weakness in the security.

There was none.

Guards watched us from the platforms of observation towers, their weapons and spotlights trained directly on us. Shifters circled us. They were predators; their eyes honed in on us, their need for blood evident. Snarls and challenging growls sounded as they prowled closer. I curled my upper lip and snarled back, but held back the power that crackled through my veins.

I discovered something on the plane that I needed time to process. When I killed with my bare hands, I absorbed the power of that shifter’s spirit. Why was a mystery to me. But for now it didn’t matter why. Only the fact that killing made me stronger mattered.

I had no idea where we were or what was going on, but I did know we were being tested. The fight in the cage had been to see who would survive and emerge the strongest. I hadn’t decided yet if it was good to be at the top, or bad. Whoever ran this operation only wanted the strongest shifters, and I had no doubt there were more people involved than Doherty. He was a weasel; a bastard of the first degree, sure, but he wasn’t powerful enough to arrange all this.

All the prisoners who were incarcerated with me were strong, vicious and bloodthirsty. Even Walker had displayed his own brand of power. I wondered again why he had thrown me and the others to the wolves. I doubted he was working with the SBI, but it was clear he hadn’t wanted me to escape either.

I shelved my thoughts about Walker’s betrayal and grinned at a yellow-eyed tiger who prowled too close. I cracked my knuckles and rolled my head, ready to take it on. I’d rip its heart out if it attacked, even if I died doing it.

Footsteps and cursing came from behind as the other shifters were forced to move out of the plane and into the wind and snow. If they stumbled or resisted, they got a cattle prod as an incentive. The red eyed guard marched out. He didn’t even need to speak, just point. Snarling, the tiger dropped back, its gaze fixed on me like I was its next meal. Once I was sure it wasn’t going to pounce, my attention shifted to Red.

He stared directly at me. My eyeballs burned looking into those orbs of flame, but the fucker could go to hell; I’d not look away first. My wolf rumbled in agreement.

Red huffed and shook his head. “In there.” He pointed toward the building.

I planted my feet and crossed my arms over my chest. I was prepared for some pain, and I wanted to see what happened if I pushed.

Red exhaled heavily through his nose. “Fine.” He nodded to one of the guards.

Without hesitation, the guard turned to me. I tensed, prepared to take a hit from his weapon, which I’d already seen was set to stun. It would hurt like a bitch, but wouldn’t kill me. He lifted it—and changed the setting. “What’re you doing?” I asked, my eyes narrowed. Before I could blink, he turned the gun on Owen and pulled the trigger. Red’s other guards simultaneously fired into the group of shifters who now saw me as their Prime. Bodies fell to the ground. I released a bellow, my heart pounding. I knew what they’d done. The little bullets were now wedged under my pack’s flesh.

“Fry them,” ordered Red.

They all started twitching and shaking, their cries of agony inciting my wolf’s anger.

“You are their alpha. You behave, they stay safe. You disobey, your pack suffers.”

I growled unable to hold my wolf back. He wanted blood. My neck swelled, my body straining, my wolf trying to push through. The silver collar burned away my skin. I hissed and forced him back, taking control of him, pushing him down away from the silver. He snarled and paced inside me, his need to rip apart the men who tortured his pack hard to deny.

I’d been played. These bastards needed an alpha to control a pack, but the pack would give them leverage against the alpha himself. It was inherent in an alpha to protect those who were his responsibility. And by fighting, winning and dominating these other trapped shifters, I’d put myself in the position of their Prime. I hadn’t wanted it, but it was necessary to stop more bloodshed on the plane. I cursed. They had me exactly where they wanted me.

Red gave me an evil smile. “I see you’ve worked it out. Now, move.”

---