CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Connor didn’t know how long he’d slept for, all he knew was that he’d fallen asleep with Beth in his arms and, when he woke up, she was still right there next to him. He growled softly and snuggled her closer, breathing her in.
He'd meant every word when he'd told her that he loved her. It hadn't been just a spur-of-the-moment thing. He'd really meant it. Connor smiled to himself. He'd never told that to anyone before, but it hadn't terrified him in the way he'd thought it would. Her being here with him, in every corner of his life, was what he wanted. If she ever left, it would be empty and cold again.
“Just as well you’re staying,” he whispered, pressing a kiss to her cheek before letting his eyes close again.
It was a couple of hours later before Connor woke again, finding, this time, that Beth was gone. Swearing under his breath, Connor threw himself into his clothes and tore down the stairs—only to find Beth and Sarah having a leisurely brunch in the kitchen.
“Good morning,” Beth grinned, seeing the surprise on his face. “Did you decide to sleep late?”
“What time is it?” Connor asked, kissing her quickly.
“Almost one in the afternoon,” Beth replied, her hand catching him around the waist. “You were tired. You needed it.”
Connor turned to Sarah, who was looking at him with something of a wan smile on her face. “How are you, Sarah? How is Thomas?”
She shook her head, and he saw her swallow a few times before she was able to answer. Obviously there was a lot going on for her.
“Thomas is still asleep,” she replied, eventually. “He’s been in and out of consciousness, but I think he’s OK now. He’s been sleeping for the last two hours, and I left him that way.” She lifted her now empty coffee mug. “I needed something to eat.”
“And you still can’t tell if he remembers you?” Connor asked, holding his breath as he waited for her answer.
She shook her head. “Once he wakes up, we’ll be able to talk more.”
“Well,” Beth interrupted, briskly. “I think we should be resting up today while we wait for Ross and the others to get back.” Lifting Connor’s cell phone from the table, she handed it to him. “You had a message.”
"What kind of message?" Connor asked, looking down at it and seeing a voice mail. Hitting the numbers, he listened for a moment. "That's good," he murmured, deleting the message. "Ross left a message a few hours ago saying that they're on their way. Apparently, they were successful, whatever that means!"
“It means they must have got the other shifters out,” Beth replied, sounding happy. “We’d better prepare this place for having some more boarders.”
Sarah frowned. “There’s no space for extra bodies. Not unless Ash is willing to give up his room, which I doubt he will.”
Connor cleared his throat. “Uh, about that. I think Beth and I will be sharing a room from now on. That leaves one free bedroom.”
“Oh.” Sarah’s eyebrows lifted for just a moment, but she smiled at him too. “I’m really glad to hear you’re staying, Beth,” she said, glancing over at her. “It wouldn’t be the same without you here. Especially after everything we’ve got through together.”
Beth smiled back. “There’s nowhere else for me to go anyway, but I couldn’t be away from Connor. Not now.” Looking up at him, she gave him a warm smile and a surreptitious wink that made a ripple of awareness tense his body. Already he was looking forward to more nights with Beth.
“I, uh, guess we’d better get your old room sorted out,” he said, trying to get his thoughts off Beth and back on track. “There’s still glass everywhere, and we’ll need to clean up a bit more.”
“Sure.” Beth got to her feet and began to clear the dishes. “I hope Ross won’t mind that we haven’t done much work to the stables.”
“I think he’ll understand,” Sarah replied, getting up to help her. “After all, we’ve managed to get Stephen under control. I—I hope he’s still in the cellar, Connor. I didn’t check. I didn’t want to go near it.”
Connor nodded. “That’s OK. I’ll go check now.” Grabbing one of the pitchers of water off the table, he stacked a few bits of food onto one of the plates. “I suppose I’d better feed him too.”
“I can come with you,” Beth said quietly. “I’m not afraid, Connor.”
Looking at her, Connor was aware of just how little fear was on her face. “It’s not that I couldn’t use your help,” he said, uneasily, “but I’m worried what he’ll say to you. There are other ways to attack you other than just the physical stuff, Beth.”
She nodded, but her eyes didn’t leave his. They were quiet and reassuring, as though asking him to trust her.
“I can face him,” she said softly. “You don’t need to worry, Connor.”
Wondering whether he was making the right decision, Connor nodded. “Fine. Grab that mug, would you? And if you can take the food, I’ll open the hatch. He’s not able to get out of the cellar, though. I made sure of that.”
“Don’t underestimate him,” Beth warned, as they walked from the room. “He’s gotten out of more scrapes than anyone else I’ve ever known.”
Connor shook his head. “There’s no way he’ll have got out,” he said, trying not to let doubt nag at him. “Maybe grab some clothes too, Beth. The last thing I want is some kind of naked shifter trying to attack me.”
Beth waited until he’d opened the hatch, hearing no sound from below before walking from the room. “I’ll be as quick as I can,” she called, and Connor could hear her feet rushing up the staircase to his room.
“Stephen,” he called, walking down the first few steps and reaching for the light switch. “I’m coming in with food and water. Don’t even think about moving.” His eyes searched the gloom, waiting for the lightbulb to glow with its full strength before he carried on down the steps.
A warning began to ring in his chest, his wolf instinct telling him that something wasn’t right. He didn’t want to leave the hatch open, just in case Stephen had managed to get out of the ropes Connor had tied him up with. He’d even slung his paws around a large iron rod that ran from floor to ceiling, but maybe Beth was right. Maybe that hadn’t been enough for Stephen.
Reaching the bottom of the steps, Connor put down his water pitcher, mug, and plate of food and then hastily climbed back up the steps to pull down the hatch. He caught the sight of Beth’s feet, just as he reached for the pull.
“What’s wrong?” Beth asked, dropping clothes at the entrance to the cellar. “What are you doing?”
Connor shook his head, holding the hatch just above his head. “Instinct.”
“Let me come in.”
"No." He wasn't about to let her risk her life again. She'd been through enough already. "I can get him back under control if I have to. There's no way to get out the cellar other than the hatch, which is why I'm closing it." He caught the angry line of her mouth, the way her eyes blazed with fire, but he kept the hatch almost fully closed. "I'll be back up in a few minutes, Beth. Just wait for me, please."
As the hatch closed, he was sure he heard Beth’s footsteps almost running from the room but couldn’t be sure. Slowly creeping back down the stairs, he let his eyes narrow as he searched the room, looking over to where he’d first tied Stephen up.
There was no sign of him.
Connor’s gut tightened. Where was he? A pile of ropes was scattered around the cellar, as though Stephen had just used brute strength to tear the ropes apart. It doesn’t matter, he told himself, his hands curling into fists. I’ll just use something stronger next time. There were handcuffs up the stairs in the office. Obviously, he hadn't been able to use them when they'd first brought Stephen down here since he had been in his wolf form. He'd use them now.
But he could shift and escape again, came his whirling thoughts. How are you going to tie this alpha shifter down?
Part of him wanted to go straight back up the stairs and out of the cellar, leaving it until Ross and Ash got back so that the three of them could face Stephen together, but his pride wouldn’t let him do it. Stephen knew he was here, knew that he’d seen the broken ropes. If he turned tail and ran back up the stairs, it would be a huge display of cowardice.
“I know you’re here,” Connor growled, refusing to back off. “There’s nowhere to run, Stephen. Not this time.”
“You keep underestimating me,” came a voice, although Connor couldn’t see where it came from. “I’ll be out of here soon. Beth will be gone too. I won’t let her stay here.”
“She gets to make her own choices,” Connor retorted, angrily. “You don’t get to control her.”
A ripple of laughter came from the corner of the room, and Connor turned on his heel to move toward it.
"She's my stepsister and a female at that," came Stephen's reply. "I'm the alpha. Of course, I get to dominate."
Connor didn’t say anything, his jaw clenching as he waited for Stephen to keep speaking. The longer he dialogued, the closer Connor could get to finding him.
“Deep down, she likes it,” came a dark whisper. “You’re a male, she’s a female. You come first, she comes second. It’s the way of things.”
“No, it’s not,” Connor hissed, unable to stop himself from responding. “We’re equal.”
Another snort. “You should use your strength and power to dominate, Connor,” Stephen replied, as though trying to encourage him to treat Beth the way he did. “It’s the only way forward.”
Connor said nothing, but a growl escaped from the corner of his mouth as his lip curled, his teeth grinding together.
A mocking laugh reached his ears as he moved closer into the shadows in the corner of the room. He growled again, as Stephen’s scent grew stronger. “You won’t get to carry on with your plans, Stephen,” he barked, anger washing over him. “Ross is coming back with all the other shifters you were holding. Everything you’d planned, everything you’d hoped for, it’s all over.”
A fist smashed into his face as Stephen leaped unexpectedly out of the darkness. Falling backward against some wooden crates, Connor shook his head as lights went off in his head. Another fist thumped itself into his stomach, making him groan as he struggled to push himself to his feet. Stephen was strong and agile, and his blows had come out of nowhere. Another blow hit him square in the jaw as he put up his arms to defend himself.
“Get off him, Stephen.”
A calm, cool voice broke into Connor’s blurry haze, blinking furiously to see Beth standing at the bottom of the cellar stairs, a gun in her hand.
Sarah must have shown Beth where the guns were kept and, from the way she was holding it, this wasn’t her first time armed.
“Beth,” he croaked, as Stephen stood up to his full height and took one step toward her.
“Don’t think I won’t do this, Stephen,” Beth said, ignoring Connor. Her features were steady, her eyes bright with focus. “I won’t just stand aside while you hurt more people.”
Stephen laughed. "What, you've suddenly found some kind of courage? Don't make me laugh, Beth!" Taking another step forward, he suddenly stumbled back as the sound of a gunshot rang through the room.
"I told you I'd do it," Beth said, calmly as blood poured from Stephen's thigh. "And now I don't think you'll be able to shift anytime soon. Solves one problem, at least."
All at once, the hatch to the cellar flew open and two shifters hurried down the steps, only to stop and stare at the scene in front of them.
“Oh,” Beth said, putting the gun down onto one of the crates. “Ross, Jenny. Hi.”
Jenny stared at the gun and then at Stephen, currently being tied to a chair, groans pouring from his mouth as he pressed one hand against his leg.
“Beth, are you OK?” she murmured, reaching for her hand. “What happened?”
“Do you think we could talk about it when we all get upstairs again?” Connor interrupted, his face dark. “I need to stop the bleeding, and then I’m going to get the handcuffs from the office.”
“He’ll get out of those if he shifts,” Ross warned, only for a dawning realization to cross his face. “Oh, of course.”
Beth looked across at her stepbrother, at the face she’d hated for so long, and felt her anger and loathing melt away, replaced with a deep emptiness. She wasn’t afraid of him anymore and certainly wasn’t going to waste any more time thinking about him, worrying about where he’d be or what he’d be doing. “Even if he does shift,” she said quietly. “He won’t get far. I don’t think he’d be able to walk on that leg.”
She felt Ross’s eyes on her, turning around to look at him. “I had to make sure he couldn’t get away.”
Ross nodded. “Of course, I understand. Sarah sent us down here. She was the one who was worried about you both. I think we have a lot to talk about, though.”
“I’ll be up as soon as I can,” Connor said over his shoulder. “The bullet’s gone straight through, but I need to stop the bleeding. Can someone bring me down some handcuffs as well?”
“I’ll do it,” Ross volunteered, putting a hand on Beth’s shoulder and steering her toward the stairs. “Jenny, Beth, let’s go back up and leave Connor to it.”
***
Connor finished cleaning Stephen’s wound, keeping one eye on Stephen’s free hand. The other hand had been handcuffed to the iron bar that ran from floor to ceiling. There was no way Stephen could get out of it this time.
“If you shift,” Connor warned, hating that he had to talk to the man. “You’re just going to reopen the wound and bleed all over the place. By the time I come back to check on you, you could very well be dead, so I wouldn’t recommend changing.”
Wiping his hands as best as he could, Connor pulled one of the larger crates over to Stephen’s chair and put down the pitcher of water, the cup, and the food he’d brought down initially. Miraculously, it hadn’t been knocked over in their fight.
“Here,” he grunted, making to walk to the stairs. “Someone will be down in a couple of hours.”
“What’s going to happen to me?”
Connor paused, his foot on the top step, more than satisfied to hear a slight note of worry in Stephen’s voice.
“That’ll be up to Ross to decide,” he said, refusing to give anything more away. He looked across at Stephen and saw, for the very first time, the slight sheen of fear in his eyes. A grin crossed Connor’s face as he thought about what Beth had done. Stephen definitely hadn’t been expecting that.
“I’m sure Beth will have a say in it too,” he finished, climbing the rest of the stairs. “And I know what she has to say isn’t going to be good. Then again, just being alive is more than you deserve.”
Shutting the hatch, Connor padlocked it and went to wash his hands, washing away the stain of Stephen’s blood.
“Connor?”
Turning, he saw Beth looking up at him uncertainly.
“Beth,” he exclaimed, putting his arms around her even though his hands were still wet. “Are you OK?”
“I’m fine,” she mumbled into his shirt. “I just wanted to make sure you . . .”
Frowning, Connor pulled back and looked into her face, seeing the worry in her eyes. “What is it?”
Beth swallowed. “I know I didn’t do what you’d asked me to do. I’m sorry if I upset you by coming down into the cellar instead of letting you deal with things.”
Realization washed over him like a bucket of icy water. “Beth,” he breathed, tilting her chin with one hand. “I’m never going to be angry with you for making your own decisions. I know what I asked you to do, and you chose to do something else and probably saved my life. Stephen was going all-out crazy, and I was really struggling to defend myself against his blows.” He smiled gently. “You don’t have to do what I say, Beth. That was how Stephen ran things, and it’s not what this pack is like. We talk to each other and decide a way forward. Do you understand?”
As he watched, the worry slowly left her eyes, replaced with a gentle smile, her body losing its tension as her arms slowly twined around his neck.
“I understand,” she replied quietly. “Sorry. Old habits.”
“That’s OK,” he reassured her, his heart filling as he looked down into her face. “You’ve changed so much already, Beth, and I love seeing it.” Pushing his hand into her hair at the temple, Connor felt desire tug at him. “I love you.”
“I love you,” she echoed, reaching up on tiptoe. “You let me be me.”