Page 39 of Ruin

“Ember, look at me.”

I turned my back on him and squeezed my eyes shut. I’d never forget the moment my hand clawed through Reed’s chest, my werewolf utterly out of my control. I shook my head. “I can’t.”

Gently, he turned me to face him and lifted my chin with his fingers until I had to look at him. “I know it wasn’t your fault. Do you really think I’d ever believe you would hurt him willingly?”

I just stared up into his face. His features softened. “Well do you? Because Reed would seriously kick my arse, if he thought I did. We mated because you gave him the push towards me that he needed. I won’t forget that, Ember, no matter what happens to him in the end.”

I blinked, and before I could overthink it, I threw myself into his body, wrapping my arms around him.

“Hey, come on, I’d rather deal with your smart-mouthed attitude than your tears. We have to be strong for him, Em. Just like he would for us. And there’s still hope we can bring him back.”

I sniffed and nodded before I pulled away and wiped my snotty nose. “Yeah.”

“Will you come and see him soon? It might...well, help him. You know? He might be in there somewhere behind that thing that has taken him. Maybe he can hear us.”

“Of course.” And I would, as soon as I knew Connor was really okay.

* * *

I walked past Stone,who lifted a brow at the amount of food I’d brought my mate. “Oh, shut up,” I said, but smiled as Myles opened the door for me.

“See you later.” Myles grinned, and I flushed as he winked at me. “Much later, if I know Connor.”

I walked into my room carrying a tray piled high with bacon, eggs, tomatoes and toast, plus two huge thermos mugs of coffee. I’d kiss Drake when I saw him again. How he’d pulled off this amount of luxury in the middle of the Canadian wilds, I had no clue.

“Hey, Firecracker, where’ve you been?” Connor’s voice was little more than a growl as he stepped out of the shower cubicle, only a towel around his hips while he rubbed water from his shoulder length hair with another. His blue eyes fixed on me, but I couldn’t stop my gaze grazing down his chest and over his stomach, amazingly the circular burn was already healing. He’d lost a lot of muscle and his body was a criss cross of scars that hadn’t been there before. I swallowed hard. It didn’t matter to me what he looked like, he still affected me the way he always had. My heart raced ridiculously fast in my chest and my face heated as he stopped rubbing his hair and threw the towel on the bed. “Come here.” It was a gentle command, one I was more than happy to comply with.

I’d laid on the bed with him all day yesterday and he hadn’t wanted to let me go. Everytime I’d moved, he’d pulled me closer and nuzzled his nose into my hair, breathing me in. He’d been naked apart from a towel that Owen had fixed around his waist, but I’d remained fully dressed. Exhausted, he hadn’t said much except to ask me to stay with him and let him hold me.

Swallowing hard, I stepped close enough that his body heat bathed me. We were silent as we studied each other. Words seemed hard to form, so many emotions slamming through me that my legs wobbled. His eyes were bright, his jaw clenched and his whole body tense.

“Hey,” I said, my voice barely more than a whisper. I just wished I could take away some of the fear I saw in his eyes.

He lifted his hand and slowly trailed the back of his forefinger down my cheek, before wrapping a lock of my hair around it. I shivered at his touch. Connor leaned in and inhaled. “You’re real,” he whispered, almost to himself. The next second I was wrapped in his arms and crushed against his chest. With his spine bowed, he buried his nose in my neck. “You’re really here.” His voice broke, and his arms crushed me. Tears burned my eyes at his shuddering breaths. Ignoring the discomfort of his overly tight embrace, I held him as close as I could, trying to reassure him that I was with him, even as Prime and Mea whined, reacting to our distress.

“I really am. Gods, I’m sorry for what you’ve been through. Walker—he took me to Faerie and I couldn’t get back to you.”

Connor pulled back and searched my face, his own darkening. “Yeah, I saw that prick take you.”

A huge breath left me. I’d forgotten he had no idea who had been pulling his strings all this time. “He did. But he didn’t hurt me. Connor, he’s far more than you think he is...”

Connor didn’t let go of me, instead he pulled me to him again. “Tell me in a bit. Right now, I just need to hold you. I need to know that you aren’t going to disappear.”

I wrapped my arms back around him. “Oh, gods, I need to hold you, too. You’re not alone, I promise. I’m scared that this, thatyou, will disappear. But we really are here, together.” And it was true, something in my soul calmed when I had contact with Connor. It was different from the spirits that inhabited my body, as if the pieces of our souls clicked into place, fusing together as they were meant to be.

He dropped his hold to my backside and lifted me. Without hesitation, I wrapped my legs around his waist and he walked us to the bed where he laid us down, rolling onto his side so that he could hold me close.

“Well this is unfair. You’re dressed and I’m not.”

I smiled against his chest, inhaling deeply. This warmth, this deep spicy scent, it was all Connor. “Well, I’m not going anywhere. So you can rectify that if and when you’re ready.”

He squeezed me closer. “I just want to hold you.” His stomach rumbled loudly.

I chuckled. “I think your stomach has other ideas.”

He huffed. “Yeah? Well, my stomach can wait.”

His hips pushed into me and I inhaled sharply at the contact. Gods, I’d missed him. But… “No. Food first. Like I said, I’m not going anywhere, and you need your body to be strong.Ineed your body to be strong. First, for me.” I tilted my head up and back so he could see the heat in my eyes. “But, then, we have to stop him, Connor. Berith, I mean. Owen has a small army, now that Drake has pulled in all of this equipment, and more men. And you are still Prime of this pack.”

---