FRACTURED (9 page)

“I think I'd enjoy hearing that myself, Ruby,” Sean said from behind me. My hairs stood on end at the sound of his voice. It was calm and collected, but the undertone I felt was murderous. I had a sneaking suspicion that if he didn't like what they had to say, I'd be having a PC

clean-up crew taking care of my living room―again.

“Of course,” Janner said with an incline of his head to Sean. “We were all members of the South London pack. I'm sure you heard that there was some...
dissonance
amongst the family.”

“I had,” Sean replied shortly, implying that Janner had better start telling him something he
didn't
know, and fast.

Janner acknowledged the situation with a nod and continued.

“Then I won't bother to go into detail about the murder and unrest within the pack as I'm sure you're well apprised. I'll also assume you already know about the change in leadership that took place recently.” He paused long enough for Sean to shoot him a curious look. Sean had no idea what he was getting at. “Oh, I see,” Janner said flatly. “Well, there were those of us who felt the alpha was getting into things he shouldn't and sought to counsel him on the matter. Needless to say, the meeting did not go so well. He was killed.”

“And am I to assume then that you three were responsible for that?”

Janner nodded once.

“So you didn't mean to take his place?” Sean asked, moving forward.

“No. Only to stop the violence.”

“So you fled?”

“Yes,” Janner replied, dropping his gaze to Sean's chin. “He had many supporters within the family, and one of them was all too happy to take his place, ruling as he had. It was banishment or death. We chose the former.”

I looked over to see Cooper's expression soften slightly. He had been a member of a similar pack once, so he understood the quandary they were in.

“But why are you
here
?” Cooper asked.

“We were allowed to leave with what we could carry and what money we could gather before our accounts were shut down. We escaped to the airport and got the first flight to the USA that we could. Once we landed in Boston, we asked where the best and most secluded camping area in the region would be, which led us to northern Maine. We've been hiding out ever since.”

“I don't understand,” I said, trying to work through the logistics of what he'd just said. “Why are you hiding out? They
let
you leave...why not just go somewhere you want to be and start a new life?”

“Because, Ruby, they have no honor. They'll come for us when they think we've dropped our guards―become complacent. It's their nature.”

“Okay, but I still don't get why you're
here
,” I argued.

“We saw you in the woods,” he said, hesitating slightly. “There are stories―rumors―of a wolf so powerful that she can't be stopped by anyone or anything. A Rouge et Blanc,” he said cautiously, looking directly at Sean. “When I first saw you, I knew it was true. You are that wolf. We want to join
you
.”

“Are you saying I have a worldwide reputation?” I asked, dumbfounded.

“Jesus, Ruby,” Cooper sighed. “This is hardly a time to worry about your international street cred.”

“That's not what I was saying!” I snapped at him. “I'm just trying to clarify that there are people that know about me. That know what I am.”

“Yes, Ruby,” Beckett said gruffly, still flanking Janner like a good little soldier. “When you tore past us in the woods one night, red eyes blazing, we all knew. We just never imagined you'd show up on our doorstep. It's a sign.”

“I liked you more when you were quiet,” Cooper snarled. “She didn't show up on your doorstep. The way I heard it, you stalked her through the woods and then attacked her.”

Sean growled, lunging at the trio. He had Janner pinned to the ground before I even saw him move. Beckett knew enough to stand aside, but he looked pissed about it to say the least. Not knowing any better, Alistair attempted to aid his brother wolf and got tackled by Cooper for his efforts.

“Ruby,” Sean grumbled, still holding Janner tightly by the throat.

“
Explain
.”

“Nothing happened, Sean,” I said, finally grasping the severity of the situation. He was going to kill Janner if he didn't find my explanation satisfactory. “They found me. They fed me, clothed me, and brought me home. I wouldn't be here if it weren't for them.” His grip lightened a miniscule amount. I realized I wasn't answering the right question.

I knelt beside him, wrapping my hand around his wrist, trying to lower my face into his line of sight.

“Sean,” I said softly, “they didn't
touch
me...okay? Nothing like that happened, I promise.”

His eyes were black as night, but when they finally met mine, a flash of emerald broke through, if only for a second. He released Janner and stood, hovering above him. I leaned forward to see if Janner was all right, but Sean snatched me by the shoulder and stood me up before I could even get near him.

“Don't touch him,” he ordered, still holding tightly onto my arm. “I think it's time for your company to go, Ruby.”

“Sean,” I started, choosing my words and tone very carefully. “They came to me because they need help. They did as much for me. I want to hear them out.
Please
.”

His chest rumbled violently, but his hostility never fully made it to his face― that he kept as expressionless as possible.

“Cooper, maybe you should take these mutts out of here for a while.

Can you handle that?”

“I'm not wild about your plan, Rubes,” Cooper said, addressing me before he answered Sean's question. Always a pissing contest with those two. "But yes, I can take them out of here for a bit. Maybe we'll go somewhere really nice and private so I can get some real answers out of these accent-wielding chuckleheads.”

“Cooper...,” I sighed, hating his attitude.

“I know, I know. Be nice to the strays, I get it,” he moaned. “You're such a buzzkill sometimes.” He looked over to the homeless trio and motioned for them to follow him out. Much to my surprise, they followed without so much as a word―not even from Alistair.

I caught Cooper's eye before he shut the door.
Be careful,
my gaze told him. His eyes drifted to Sean briefly then back to me saying,
be
careful yourself.

The door closed heavily, leaving Sean and me shut in with our growing silence. I could feel his penetrating stare willing me to look at him, but I couldn't. I was emotionally wasted and physically exhausted, and not up for the talk that I knew we had to have. How do you apologize for nearly killing the one you love?

Without explanation, I slowly started down the hallway to my room, knowing that he would likely follow my lead. He wasn't going to let me walk away; he'd said as much when he showed up at my apartment. What I wasn't sure about was how that conversation was going to go once it started.

My room was dark and chaotic as usual. I'd left for Matty's funeral in a frenzy, and the clothes strewn all through my room were evidence of that. It wasn't surprising―“vintage disaster” seemed to be the theme for it at all times unless someone else cleaned it for me. I didn't even bother making excuses for it; Sean was used to my affinity for messiness.

Since I'd arrived home, I’d never had the chance to change my clothes, or even take my coat off for that matter, and I found myself desperately wanting to get out of my somber, tattered attire and into something far more appealing, like a ratty T-shirt and sweats. Instead, I schlepped myself over to the window seat, which was dimly lit from the street lights outside. I plopped my butt onto the upholstered cushion, then pulled my knees up to my right side, leaning my left shoulder against the wall for support, and stared out the large glass pane.

My eyes suddenly felt heavy and began to close, shutting out everything around me―even Sean. My exhaustion knew no bounds.

“Ruby,” he said calmly, prompting me to acknowledge him. I couldn't read his tone though; he seemed reserved, like he was purposely holding back from me. I wondered if that was for his benefit or my own.

“Sean, I'm sorry about―”

“I'm here to talk, not listen,” he said, cutting me off. It was probably for the best, given my track record of digging holes deeper than they were to start with. “What happened that night...I know it wasn't
you.
You were not behind those actions.” I turned to see his face, all his features beautifully highlighted by the tiny strands of light that permeated far enough into the room. I wished he'd worn an expression to match. “But we still have a problem, you and I,” he continued. “Your inability to trust me has once again caused a rift between us.”

“Seems like a little more than a rift,” I muttered to myself.

“Quiet!” he snapped, and I jumped at the harshness in his voice. He slowly advanced toward me, and I wanted to mold my body against the wall, frightened by his behavior. “After
everything
we've been through—

all the drama...the death,” he growled, still closing the distance between us. “When you came to me that night in the rain―the night you said you chose me―I thought things changed, and yet, only days later, I found myself nailed to the floor with knives, courtesy of Scarlet's lover and
mate
.” He wasn't shouting at me, but his voice was loud and menacing, and I'd have given anything to have been anywhere but in that room with him in that moment. I'd seen that rage before, but never directed at me.

He'd been angry, even fearsome when the whole incident in question took place, but he’d never had the energy to back it up. Cornering me in my room that evening, he did.

“You're scaring me,” I said, trying not to sound like the sniveling weakling I was.

“Good,” he said, leaning in close. “I want you
terrified
.” His black eyes told me everything I needed to know. Whatever proclamation he had made earlier in the night about being my mate was a ruse; he wanted to con everyone out of the apartment so he could punish me. I'd seen the justice he was capable of handing out and heard tales of worse. My day was
not
looking up.

The tremors started low, coursing through my body, especially my hands, growing until they hit critical mass. At that point, there was no concealing the sheer horror I felt as my body knocked against the wall in a spastic, uncontrollable seizure. I felt like it was trying to purge something by literally shaking it out of me. Did my nervous system want to eject Scarlet to neutralize the threat? If so, I definitely preferred my blackouts to the new alternative.

It was hard to read Sean's expression because I couldn't get his face to stay still enough, but something in him shifted slightly. The rage was dying out.

“Where is she?” he growled, pinning my face against the wall in an effort to look me in the eyes. My jaw was spasming so badly that it made it too hard to talk. “Tell that bitch to get out here, now,” he seethed, his grip tightening.

I felt the tears roll in a jerky pattern down my face.

“She's gone,” I stammered, trying my best to be coherent.

“Where. Is. She?” he asked one last time, his irises and pupils bleeding into one large black orb of warning.

“Sean...please,” I begged. “She's gone.... I...I don't know how.

Please,
please
let me go.” His grip eased and he backed away a foot or two, leaving me some breathing room.

“What do you mean 'gone'?”

“I thought Cooper told you,” I said, scrambling further away from him until I was pressed against the cold panes of glass. “When Janner and the other two found me in Maine a couple of days ago, that was the first time that
I
had been let out in what I later found out was three weeks’

time. Scarlet totally flipped out over Matty's death. I don't know what she did, or how she did it, but she stuffed me away somewhere in my mind, locked the door, and threw away the key.”

He eyed me dubiously.

“So for three weeks you had no idea what was going on around you?

What she was doing?” he asked, folding his hands over his chest. He thought I was lying.

“No! I had no idea, that's what I'm trying to tell you,” I yelled, my voice getting tight with emotion. “I'm not sure she planned on ever letting me out initially, but for whatever reason, she left me in the woods, cold and naked. She
knew
those three were tracking her. I'd bet my life on it. I think she left me there to relive my past―the night my parents died,” I whispered, picking at the tattered hem of my coat. “She wanted me to pay, Sean. For both of us to pay.”

I rubbed my eyes, trying to clear my vision, but it was no use. The fatigue and excessive amounts of crying throughout the day had left them blurry and tired. Reading Sean's face was growing increasingly difficult, and I once again couldn't get a feel on his energy. He, like the boys from Maine, was shielding me from something.

“You can't sense her?”

“No.”

“You can't hear her?”

“No.”

“So she would have left you to face my wrath alone?” he asked incredulously.

“Yes, she would. She left me to face the refugee trio in Maine alone, and she was a total no-show when Cooper flipped out upon my return.”

My body still shook, but the convulsive nature of the movements had simmered down to a much duller roar, and my heart rate was finally slowing. I wanted to stand, to face his anger head-on, but I couldn't. After everything that had happened, that anger was warranted. It was hard to blame him for his hostility, especially with Scarlet. Though my fear demanded I run, I did something else entirely. I submitted.

Understanding my actions, his demeanor softened ever so slightly.

“I don't see how this is possible,” he said matter of factly, though there seemed the slightest hint of questioning in his tone. “She's a part of you. She can't just disappear.”

“She's a genetic expression, Sean. You told me that. Maybe the environment that first allowed her to come forward has now sent her back. You said RB's Changed because of trauma. Maybe trauma can Change them back...”

“Something is off about you. I sensed it at the funeral,” he said to himself. “So you think she's truly gone?” he asked, stepping cautiously towards me.