me, but now he had this edge of danger to him, which lit my insides, stirring her lust, too. I pulled my hand away from where my palm now rested against his chest and clenched my fists as I resisted my need to grab him, and wrap myself around his powerful body. I shoved back at my wolf until she receded, grumbling discontentedly. When the rough bristle on his jaw brushed my soft cheek, I inhaled sharply, my reaction impossible to hide.
He straightened, and I watched as Connor won the battle of wills with his wolf. Blue soon consumed that obsidian gaze again, which dropped slowly over my body, lingering on the curve of my breasts and the bare skin of my flat stomach. I tried not to react, but I couldn’t hide the goosebumps that shivered across my skin. It was like he’d touched me, trailing his fingers over my flesh.
“The weak die in this place. Only the strong survive—and even then they must repeatedly battle to win, and keep winning if they want to live.” I opened my mouth to ask what he meant, but he interrupted me. “You need to stay out of trouble, Firecracker.”
My brow creased. He’d used my nickname again, the one he’d given me as a teenager. My temper had been fiery then, too. Did that mean he accepted me as, well, as me? I offered him a shaky smile, trying to infuse some sass in my voice. “I always stay out of trouble, Prime.”
He cocked a brow, and a smirk curled the corner of his generous mouth. “Really? Then trouble just finds you, does it?”
I shrugged. “I guess so.”
His smile widened. “I seem to remember it always did.” He stepped closer again, so I stepped back, trying to keep in control of this situation. “You’ve got quite a reputation already, you know. That means you’ve become a challenge to the males in here. Join my pack. It will offer you protection. If you belong to me, no one will dare hurt you again.”
“That’s a generous offer, Connor, but, just like Shannon, I prefer to have choices, and I don’t fancy being at the beck and call of any male in your pack—even you.” I turned to walk away.
“Ember, wait.” Demand infused Connor’s voice. Of course, I ignored it. I didn’t respond well to demands, not even from him. Beside, I was quickly losing control of my urge to give in to anything he said, and no matter how much I loved him, I didn’t know him anymore, or what he was capable of now.
“See ya later, Connor.” I wiggled my fingers in farewell and kept walking. I released the breath I’d been holding when he just let me go.
Chapter 6
Connor
* * *
Owen barged into my cell. “She’s in trouble again.”
“Jesus! Doesn’t she ever stop?” My heart pounded against my ribs as I curled my hands into fists. Ember had become the bane of my life. I still hadn’t worked out why I’d given in so easily to her demands to protect the submissive shifters in gen pop. Ever since that day, almost a week ago now, she’d fought off gangs of males determined to prove that they didn’t plan to respect my new rule and that, as the catalyst, Ember would pay for it. The body count was going up by the day, from her and my brothers, who were now bound to uphold my rule. Owen had also taken to protecting her even though I hadn’t asked him to. Part of me was jealous, and hated that he wanted to, and part of me was grateful.
“Let her deal with it herself. She managed well enough last time, and you’re showing too much interest in her. It's making things worse by painting a target on her back.” Stone's eyes were hard.
“No.” I flashed a dark look his way. True, Ember had managed so far. The last time I’d seen her, she’d had cuts and bruises but no broken bones, but that wouldn’t last, and we all knew it. Her ending up abused, and likely dead was only a matter of time. My gut clenched at that thought. I had been so conflicted since she’d shown back up in my world and I wasn’t handling it well, I knew it, and so did my brothers.
“Why not just mark her, then?”
I ignored Stone’s question and stormed after Owen. I didn’t know how I felt about branding Ember with my pack mark. I inhaled deeply through