CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Connor stood in front of Sarah, his growls pouring out of him as Stephen advanced slowly. Stephen was one of the strongest shifters he’d ever met, and he and Sarah were both struggling to try and get him under their control. Unfortunately, Sarah had been thrown across the graveyard by one of Stephen’s attacks, hitting one of the stone graves. Thankfully it wasn’t her head that had struck it, but it was enough of a blow to make her lose her breath. She was struggling to right herself, the head injury from last night making her weaker than normal.
Where is Beth?
His lip curling, Connor bared his teeth, refusing to answer Connor’s question. He wasn’t about to start telling Stephen where Beth had gone or the fact that she couldn’t shift, although he had to admit that he was slowly running out of ideas. He was tiring already, but Stephen didn’t seem to have any loss of energy.
She doesn’t want to go with you, he growled, his paws clawing the earth. Leave her alone.
Stephen barked, saliva dripping from his jaws. She is mine.
Connor tensed, anger rippling through his body. Beth doesn’t belong to anybody.
“No, I don’t.”
A calm, clear voice echoed across the graveyard, making Connor look up at once. Beth was walking toward them, her steps even and measured. Panic rushed through him as his mind screamed at her to turn back around and go hide somewhere. This wasn’t what they had agreed.
“Stephen, I’m not going with you.”
The wolf barked, slowly walking toward Beth, who, to Connor’s surprise, simply held up a hand.
"Enough of your threats, Stephen. I said I'm not going with you. This is over."
Strength almost seemed to exude from her, making Connor wonder what had gone on in the church. She seemed to know exactly what she was doing, and there wasn’t even a glint of fear in her eyes.
“Sarah,” Beth said, turning her attention to Connor and Sarah for a moment. “Thomas is waiting for you. The church is safe.”
Sarah let out a tiny yip of excitement, looking at Connor who dropped his head, letting her know it was safe for her to go. She ran past him in a flash, giving Stephen a wide berth before running up toward the church door.
“I wouldn’t go after her if I were you, Stephen,” Beth said, calmly. “Your shifter has been taken care of. There’s no one left here but you and the two of us.” She tipped her head slightly.
Connor padded closer, his eyes and ears on full alert. He could hear the low growl coming almost constantly from Stephen’s chest, his own mind filling with warnings about what Stephen could do to Beth. Stephen could easily launch an attack and rip out Beth’s throat if she wasn’t careful. Thankfully, she seemed to be more than aware of what could happen, making sure to keep a grave or two between her and Stephen.
“Why don’t you just give up, Stephen?” Beth asked quietly. “Your shifter inside will be coming with us and the rest of the White Fire pack are taking away all the shifters you’ve held prisoner.” She paused, her eyes glancing up to Connor before landing back on Stephen. “It’s all over.”
Without warning, Stephen launched himself at her, leaping over a gravestone, his paws landing on Beth’s chest and pushing her to the ground. Connor rushed forward, suddenly terrified about what he would find. The scent of blood filled his nostrils as he reached Beth, seeing her almost completely covered by the dark wolf’s body.
“Beth!” His human skin was out in a second, pain ricocheting through his body as he changed quickly.
“I’m fine,” came her muffled reply. “Can you get him off me?”
Frowning, Connor realized that Stephen was entirely motionless, his body a dead weight on top of Beth. Grabbing fistfuls of fur, Connor pulled Stephen off, seeing his jaws open and his tongue lolling out of his mouth.
“What did you give him?” he asked, hauling Beth up into his arms and burying his face into her hair. “I can’t believe you did that!”
Beth laughed softly as her arms encircled his waist. “I found some syringes up in the church. I’m sure they’ve been giving it to Thomas, so I just thought I’d use it on them.” Pulling back slightly, she looked into his face. “I couldn’t let you and Sarah get hurt.”
Connor let out a long breath, shaking his head at her. “When I first saw you walk out, I was pretty terrified. I didn’t know what was going to happen, and the way Stephen was acting . . .” He trailed off, not wanting to put words to his fears.
"I had to stand up to him," Beth murmured, pushing one hand through his hair and looking into his eyes. "You taught me that, Connor. I wouldn't have been able to do it without you." She smiled at him. "Although I'm really desperate to be able to shift again. My wolf is getting pretty mad being stuck inside!"
He laughed, his chest rumbling. “I know, it won’t be long now. Just a couple more weeks and then you and I can head out to the woods whenever we want.”
“You want me to stick around, then?” she asked softly.
“I don’t think I’d know how to be without you now,” Connor replied, honestly. “The house would seem empty without you.” He saw her smile, lifting her chin with one hand. “Although I think you’re going to have to promise to stay in my room.”
“Our room,” she corrected, lifting her face to his. “If you want me to stay, you’re going to have to get used to sharing with me.”
“I’d love it,” he smiled, relieved that this all seemed to be over. “But we’ve got to actually get back first.”
Beth’s eyes widened. “Sarah!” she exclaimed, tugging herself away from him. “Come on, we’d better make sure Thomas is OK.”
“What about Stephen?” Connor glanced down at the prone form of the wolf, wondering when he’d wake up. “Can we tie him up or something?”
Beth shifted uneasily. “That should keep him out for a good long while but I don’t want to leave him just in case.” She glanced up at him, her eyes lit by the moonlight. “Can we tie him up or something?”
Connor frowned. “I’ve got stuff in the trunk of the car, but we’d have to get him there first. He looks pretty heavy.”
Shaking her head, Beth bent down and grabbed two fistfuls of Stephen’s fur. “It’s better than just leaving him here. We’ll have to get Thomas down next anyway, and I don’t want to take any chances. What if we came back and he were gone?”
A growl tore from Connor’s throat.
“Exactly,” she replied, grinning at him. “Let’s get him to the car, and we can get to Thomas.”
Connor tried to heft the wolf up in his arms, but the alpha wolf was heavier than he’d thought. It took a lot of effort, but eventually Connor had the wolf over his shoulder, although his jaws were a bit too close to his neck for his liking.
“Can you manage?” he heard Beth ask, although he struggled to see her through all the fur.
“I can manage,” he bit out, each word an effort as he began to walk. “I just can’t see where I’m going all that well.”
He heard Beth snort with a sudden spurt of laughter. "If you were wearing something, I might be able to hold on to your clothes and lead you, but since you're not wearing anything . . ."
Connor couldn’t help but laugh as his bare feet made their way across the mossy ground of the graveyard. “You just keep talking,” he replied, thinking that he didn’t want her to grab hold of anything right now. “I’ll follow your voice.”
Beth kept up a steady stream of chatter as they made their way slowly up through the graveyard and back along to the road. They made a strange sight, that had to be said. An entirely naked man carrying a huge black wolf along the road, accompanied by a woman with her arm in a cast—and all in the middle of the night. Small stones bit into his feet as he walked, making him wince, but he knew he couldn’t stop now. He had to get Stephen into the trunk of his car before he could think about doing anything else.
“Here.” He heard Beth scrabble for the keys where he’d hidden them, and soon the soft click let him know that the car was open. Beth pulled open the trunk and, without any dignity, Connor dumped the wolf into it.
“Rope?” he asked, trying to ignore the way his breath was coming in short, sharp gasps. “It should be somewhere.” Putting his hands on his knees, he drew in lungfuls of air, jumping slightly when Beth touched his bare shoulder.
“Will he be able to breathe OK?” she asked, sounding concerned. “I know I probably shouldn’t be worrying about that kind of thing, but I want him alive at least.”
Connor slung ropes around the wolf’s front paws, tying it tightly before carrying on to the back paws. “He’ll be fine,” he grunted, as something like triumph settled in his chest as he stepped back. “Although I don’t know what Ross wants to do with him.”
“As long as doesn’t ever have his freedom back,” Beth added, slamming the trunk closed, “I’ll be happy. I’ll leave it up to others to mete out justice. I’m too close to it.”
Hearing the upset in her voice, Connor reached for her hand that was resting on top of the trunk. “It’s over, Beth. He can’t get you now. You did more than I ever expected. You should be proud of yourself for that.” He saw her eyes sparkle with tears, catching the moonlight. “I know I am.”
She sniffed. “Thank you.” Wiping her eyes with her fingers, she gave him a quick smile. “We’d better get back to Sarah and Thomas.”
“Right.” A little embarrassed that he’d forgotten about his own brother, Connor pulled open the car door and found his bag of clothes. Dressing quickly, he let out a sigh of relief as he pulled his sneakers on, glad that he wouldn’t have stones catching his feet on the way back. “Let’s go.”
Beth caught his hand as they began to hurry back toward the Old Church, their fingers twining. Connor glanced down at her, his heart filling with a mixture of pride and love over the person she had become. When they’d first arrived at the church, Beth had wanted desperately to prove herself, but now that she had, there was a something different about her. Maybe it was the way she was carrying herself, more sure of herself, more certain that she could stand up for what she wanted. Whatever it was, Connor was happy to see it. It made him want her more—not just for one more night or a few more days but for his lifetime. At least now he knew for sure that she wasn’t going anywhere. She’d be right where she belonged.
She’s my mate, Connor thought to himself, his heart slamming into his chest at the sudden realization. Beth is my mate.
He couldn’t have been happier.