Page 49 of Ruin

His mouth twisted in thought. “Hmm, not yet. I want to think through all angles of this first, and he’s one sneaky bastard. He’s orchestrated this whole thing and manipulated Zander and me for years. He says it's for the benefit of both our worlds, but I have to wonder at his motives. Why is he bothered about our world when he is the ruler of his own?”

“He said it’s because if the gates between here and Hell are opened, his world would be next.”

“Hmm, makes sense, I suppose…”

The door swung open and a wave of dominance hit me. Connor growled and his spine snapped straight, his eyes narrowing on the intruder.

“Well, now, Drakey boy. What’s this? A meeting happening without yours truly?” Jedi tilted his head, and tutted.

“Who the fuck are you?” Connor growled, Prime pushing into his gaze. All the alphas in the room tensed and power filtered into the air. I shuddered as Mea whined.

Prime already knew who this guy was, so that meant Connor did too. He was deliberately hiding that knowledge.

Jedi shook his head at Drake. “Tsk, tsk. Did my new bitch forget to tell you I’m part of his new friendship group?”

Drake snarled, his eyes flickered and before any of us could respond to Jedi’s comment, a huge sandy and grey wolf launched at him. Drake landed on Jedi’s chest and knocked him to the ground. Jedi roared and held Drake’s jaws from his throat, but couldn’t stop him from ripping into his shoulder. With another roar Jedi shifted, and a huge gorilla threw Drake across the room.

Connor snarled and grabbed me, spinning me away from the fight between the two powerful weres. Jedi was all muscle and raw power, but Drake was a huge wolf, powerful and quick, maneuvering around his enemy with blood dripping from his jaws.

“Stay away from them.” The beast shining through Connor’s eyes was a mixture of shadow and wolf. I cocked an eyebrow at his order, but the sight of Drake with his teeth embedded in a gorilla’s neck stopped me from arguing. Besides, it gave me the warm and fuzzies to hear the protective growl in his voice.

Connor spun around to face the room—and shifted. Prime burst through his skin, his black fur wreathed in shadow. I gasped. Prime was huge; far bigger than he had ever been when he pushed a shift from inside me. His power pulsed, and I knew if Prime called upon the darkness of Connor’s fae side, the merging of those two powerful spirits would make Prime unstoppable. But I felt Connor’s reluctance to show that dark side of his power to this stranger—yet.

Connor dipped his head and shoulders, and snarled at the two warring shifters. The blast of power that hit them was enough to make Stone and Owen stagger. It just washed over me, prickling against my skin.

I watched, fascinated, as Drake immediately released the back of Jedi’s neck. Jedi snarled, taking his advantage, and grabbed Drake, flinging him over his head and across the room. Drake flew through the air and slammed into the wall cracking the flimsy construction. Without missing a beat, he rolled to his feet and bent his legs to attack again.

Connor roared.

Drake immediately stopped. Jedi didn’t. He had no idea how powerful Connor really was and blasted out a bellow of challenge.

Prime was quicker and far more agile than the gorilla. He sent a blast of power out against Jedi before he launched himself over the table and clamped his massive jaws around the gorilla’s neck. Jedi roared and tried to grab Connor, but it made no difference. Connor sank his teeth in further. He could rip Jedi’s throat out and kill him instantly, but he was waiting. He wanted to give this powerful shifter a chance, and he knew Drake’s future was on the line, so he held back.

I sauntered over and squatted next to Jedi. It was risky and he did what I thought he would; he grabbed me around the neck and snarled. Fire erupted from my skin, and he howled, pulling his hand away, staring wide-eyed at me and then Connor.

I tilted my head and peered down at him, my brows raised. “Well, I guess you’ve worked out you aren’t the biggest bad here. That must dent your big ego. But Connor doesn’t want to kill you.”

Jedi, or I supposed I should call him Jed, snorted and snarled again, staring up at Connor.

“Uh, probably best to keep your eyes lowered. Believe me if he wanted you dead, you’d be minus your throat and most of your blood by now. And I could have burnt you to a crisp. So how about you drop the shitty attitude and work with us, not against us. Disrespect my friends again and it doesn’t matter if Connor wants you to live, I’ll burn you, your men, and that fucker who sent you here, into a cloud of ash to protect them. We clear?”

Within seconds Jed was back, fully clothed. Hmm, he knew that neat trick, too. I guessed it was time to teach my friend’s how to do that, if they were going to work alongside these males.

Connor released Jed’s neck and leaned over his face. He bared his teeth. Jed had the sense to keep his eyes down.

Connor changed back, completely naked, but didn’t pull away from Jed. He straddled his body, his hands either side of the other man’s head, hovering close to his face. I wondered what he was doing. Humiliating him? Before I’d even finished that thought, Connor’s head slammed into Jed’s nose. Bone cracked and blood spurted.

“You ever fucking touch her again, and I’ll crush you one bone at a time before I let my fae side feast on your marrow.” He grabbed Jed’s jaw and made the soldier look at him. “You feel me, motherfucker?” And his head morphed into a beast that made even me gasp. It wasn't a wolf, not this time, it was something otherworldly. Darkness oozed from its pores, its eyes flickering between red and black while it wrapped Jed in shadow.

Jed yelled, writhing under Connor’s hold. Connor stared down at him, his body beginning to shift fully into the dark fae that lurked beneath his skin.

“Connor! Stop.” I wouldn’t be scared of him; no matter how dangerous I sensed this beast to be. I reached out and placed a hand on his ridged back. His head whipped towards me. And then a surprising thing happened, those unfeeling black eyes softened. “Enough,” I whispered. “There is no threat to me.”

“Mine!”He growled, his voice like nothing I’d heard before.

“Yes. I am. Now come back to me.” It was a gentle demand, but a demand nonetheless. His eyes turned blue and with one last snap at Jed’s wide eyed form, he came back to me and climbed off his victim. He stared at me while Jed climbed up and went to lean against the wall, visibly shaken, though trying to hide it. Lionel took his shirt off and handed it to him.

“Here use this. You’re making a mess.”

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