Page 37 of Ruin

“Oh, damn, I’m sorry. Of course, I just…” She sat back on her heels staring at me wide eyed and pale. “I can’t believe this is really you; that you're really here.” She swallowed hard. “I’m afraid to let go,” she whispered.

I squeezed her hand, giving her the reassurance that I knew she needed—because I needed it, too.

Owen strode closer as I struggled up into a sitting position trying to ignore the roar of agony in my chest, and the weakness in my body. Once upright, I blinked away my dizziness. Owen helped Ember to stand, then Alex and Owen helped me to my feet. My legs wobbled and I growled, looking down at myself. I was a shadow of my former self, my muscles wasted and weak. Granted, I didn’t feel as weak as I had as Berith’s prisoner, but still, not good.

Now that I was upright, I immediately reached out for Ember and pulled her into me, hissing when her head brushed against the burned skin of my chest. Frigid air brushed my naked skin, though I couldn’t give a shit that I was standing in my birthday suit. Hell, everyone in this room had seen me naked before; but I did care about the guilt I could see in every part of my mate’s face. Carefully, I put her a little distance from me. “Listen to me. You do not need to feel guilt for anything that happened to me.”

Her shoulders rose and fell in a shrug. “I’m sorry it took me so long to find you. It was really Zander who saved you, Connor. Not me. He and Alex figured out how to send Berith back to Hell.” Her throat bobbed as she swallowed, pain in her eyes as she glanced at Shannon and then Alex.

Alex shook his head. “Don’t you even go there. Riding him was not my finest moment.”

“Yeah, and taking my female’s form to do it, was something I will never forgive you for, you perverted shit.” Stone stepped forward, his fists clenched.

Alex jumped back almost behind me, his hands raised. “Hey, Zander said it was the only way to throw him off guard.”

Stone snarled. “Yeah? And how do you know what she looks like naked?” He glared accusingly at Shannon, whose mouth dropped open.

“Are you kidding me? You think I slept with him?”

“How else does he know what you look like naked, Shannon? After all, it wouldn’t be the first male in this camp you’ve fucked, now would it? Seems you’re happy to be with anyonebutme.”

“Oh, my gods, are you for real?” Before anyone could react, Shannon slapped Stone’s face. His head jerked to the side. “Fuck you, you faerie bastard.” And she turned on her heel and stormed out.

Stone’s eyes flashed bright yellow, purple burning in their depths. He made a move to go after her.

“No!” I snapped out the order on instinct. “Leave her to cool down. You need to, as well. And just for the record, that was a low blow, Stone.”

Stone dropped his head and took a deep breath, but surprisingly did as I ordered and stayed where he was, his gaze on Alex like he wanted to rip him to pieces.

“Explain.” I glared at Alex.

Alex’s wary eyes stayed on Stone. “Zander told me he had just broken you and your mother out of the prison when he became suspicious you weren’t your normal self…”

“What did you just say?” I growled low, not sure I’d heard him right.

Alex swallowed and Ember’s hold on me tightened. She took up his explanation.

“Connor, it seems Zander really is your brother—by blood—and he was forced to work for Berith because his mother, your mother, was also a prisoner there. Berith coveted her, she was his prisoner as much as you were, but Zander somehow managed to get you both out. I can only assume that BerithletZander and Tyen escape with him.” She blinked, a frown furrowing her brow. “I mean you, because he knew I’d come for you; that I’d find you eventually. And it’s me he wants.”

I shook my head. “Zander is my brother—by birth? And I have a mother? That can’t be true, Berith is not my father. He called Zander his son.”

“I know. You have the same mother, not the same father. Tyen is a fae, you are half-fae, half-shifter, Connor; like Stone.”

Darkness swirled around my mind, infiltrating my thoughts and telling me what it had done for me. The monster of shadow that had burst forth and ripped Doherty to shreds, had also protected my thoughts; it had shielded my memories of Ember and my brothers, and it protected my mind from Berith’s tortures as much as it could, absorbing the evil realities that he’d tried to force on me. I closed my eyes and thanked it, knowing I’d be nothing but a broken shell without its help, glad to finally be able to acknowledge and understand it. The darkness pulsed, letting me know it was happy to have my human soul back, even if my shifter spirit was still inside Ember.

I blinked slowly. My mother was alive? And Zander? Mother Wolf, I had a brother who had sacrificed his freedom for me! I needed time to absorb all this new information, but Iwoulddeal with it. I swallowed the ache in my throat. My mother. I remembered very little of her. When I was young, I had deliberately shoved her from my mind so that my father couldn’t use her memory to hurt me. That evil fucker had told me she had left us for another shifter. I snarled.Lying bastard.

I took a deep breath and nodded. “I would like to meet her—very soon. But right now I need to rest.” I met Owen’s steady gaze and felt that connection with my beta. No, he was now an alpha in his own right. “You up for filling me in? As soon as I can stand on my own two feet without help, of course.” I gave him a rueful grin.

Owen returned it. “Sure, but you always were a pussy, so that might take a while.”

I huffed and raised my middle finger. “Piss off.”

Even Stone smirked, though his attention kept drifting to the door.

I glanced back at Alex. “So you pretended to be Shannon because Berith knew from my memory we had history?”

Alex flinched and nodded looking at Stone. “Hey, man. I’m sorry, but it was the only way. And you should go apologise to that woman, because we sure as shit didn’t do the horizontal tango.”