Page 12 of Ruin

Damn! It’s not here.

Shouts came from below followed by gun fire. Prime’s hackles rose, adrenaline and power surging through him. A frisson of fear shivered through me. Like this, Prime was so dominant and powerful, I worried about getting him back inside me. I desperately needed Connor; he was the only one strong enough to contain him. If I didn’t have Fire and my wolf to help me, Prime’s spirit would have drowned me by now.

Prime charged back into the arena, the stink of fear and determination raising his blood lust. But it was the other scents that sent joy surging through us both. Other shifters! At least one of them was one of his blood bonded—his pack. Connor’s brothers had come for him! Bullets ricocheted from the walls as Prime skidded, his claws scratching for purchase on the concrete floor. Gaining his balance, he quickly retreated behind the cover of the door frame.

My heart sank as Prime peered around the door frame. Guards were moving forwards. They were dressed in black armour that looked to have been taken from the prison guards, and they were surrounded by Werewolves—bloody big ones.

They were blocking all the exits.Godsdammit!Prime growled in agreement with me before he snarled, ready to rip his enemy apart. He was strong but not strong enough to stop the bullets from four guns.

Shit. Shit. Shit. How the hell do we get out of this one?

I supposed I could try and change back and use Fire again. She stirred, willing to try but Prime blocked my shift back to my human body. I reluctantly agreed. If I got caught, it would spell annihilation for the human race.

Prime growled long and low, pulsing power through our—no, his body, and charged out into the middle of our enemy without giving me or Mea time to object.

Blood flew through the air. His claws ripped the throat out of the nearest werewolf before I could even blink. I knew there was no stopping him now. He was free from my control, and he was looking for vengeance for Connor. Quick as lightning, he dodged a bullet and leapt, his teeth clamping around the head of a guard. No matter the blade that sliced his flesh, he grabbed the guard’s body and ripped his head clean off his shoulders.

Loud gun fire rattled through Prime’s ears but there was no sting of being shot. He snapped his head around to fully see the movement that he had caught in the corner of his eye. A large man ran into the arena, followed by three more figures, all had weapons and with efficiency, shot the Were’s in the back of the head.

I felt Prime’s joy right before he launched his big body to the side and knocked down a large Were who had greasy blonde hair mixed in with his wolf pelt. The Were roared and stabbed his long claws into Prime’s side. Pain flooded Prime, but it didn’t faze him, it only made him angrier. Power exploded from him. The Were thrashed, his demon black eyes glittering, a familiar snarl baring his long black fangs.

Mother Wolf! Santa!

Prime clamped his jaws over the thing’s face and neck. I quickly closed off my senses, not wanting to see this level of violence, no matter what possessed the creature that had once been Santa Cruz.

When I felt Prime charging forward again, I opened my eyes. He bounded over to the gun toting people who had helped us. A large man with close cropped brown hair, a beard and clear grey eyes watched us, his face full of disbelief.

Oh my gods! Owen!I wanted to shriek, but could only do it in my head. He’d made it!

Prime launched himself with a roar and knocked Owen to the ground.

Owen laughed. “Get off me, you great lummox.” And he shoved at Prime pushing the huge wolf away. Prime allowed it, but I felt his surprise at how powerful Owen had become. Owen stood. “That you in there Con?” he asked.

It was then I realised Owen and Connor’s brothers had no idea what had happened to him.

Prime snarled as I tried to push through. He didn’t want to leave his brothers yet. No matter if I was desperate to get back to my human form and tell Owen what had happened, Prime wanted to greet his third as well as his beta. Or is that what they were, now? The dynamics had changed.

Stone was as stoic as ever. He remained still, his gun held across his broad chest, though his face softened and his throat bobbed as he looked at Prime. He stood in front of a blond haired woman, who also had a gun at the ready.

“That’s not Connor,” Stone said, immediately pointing the gun at us. Prime snarled, but my wolf intervened this time, blocking his need to get to Stone and put his brother right.

Owen casually lifted his gun, too.

Prime! Let me back out, I can tell them what happened. They can help us find Connor…

Prime reluctantly agreed. Within seconds he was pulling back inside me, along with my wolf who wanted to console him. He didn’t understand why his brothers didn’t recognise him as their alpha, let alone their Prime. I swallowed the ache in my throat. He was upset. The great alpha Prime was hurt that his brothers didn’t recognise him. I left my wolf to pacify him and forced my way through the shift. Moving my bones and skin to the surface.

“You’ve gotta be shitting me,” Stone uttered, when I stood in front of him. “You?’

“Jeez runt. How d’you do that?” Shannon gestured to my fully clothed body. Yeah, I’d learned a few new tricks with myFirepower. Manipulating molecules was one of them. It wasn’t that hard. It wasn’t that much different than shifting body molecules. I had to laugh though, trust Shannon to comment on my clothes before anything else!

“Ember? What the fuck? How are you hosting Connor’s wolf?” Owen’s face was full of suspicion.

More gunshots came from the stairwell and my stomach clenched. “The others?”

Owen nodded, his expression falling into one of stern leadership. “You’re right, we can talk about this later. Let’s go.”

I pulled the high tech bow from my back which earned me a narrow eyed stare from Stone. “Jealous?” I asked, jogging past him.

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