Ruby

by Ashlynn Monroe

  As the man threatened her mate, something dark twisted inside Ruby. The tiger wanted out, and she wanted out now! The man waved his gun erratically at Sol to motion them to come outside and follow him. His movement enraged her tiger further, and the sight of danger near her mates drove her human mind below the surface. The tiger took over, and Ruby felt pain as the muscles and joints of her body contorted. She closed her eyes and let her mind shut down. She was there, just barely, as the tiger took over. She let go of her fear and freed her inner kitty, but this kitten didn’t meow—she roared.

  A SNARLING TIGER cry caused Isser to glance away from the gun pointed at Sol’s chest. The snarl escalated into a vengeful roar. The sound filled the small space. Ruby was gone, but a large cat standing next to the cot glared at the intruder. Ruby sprang toward the men. The bastard let loose a blast of sonic noise. The small emitter he held didn’t look as dangerous as it was, but to the wolf it was potentially deadly. Such a high frequency could kill a wolf shifter as quickly as a laser blast. Isser fell to his knees, unable to focus. The metallic reverberation made his head ache, and he couldn’t hear. It felt as if his head had been plunged underwater. The shot echoed against the fireproof metal and caused a terrible noise that was even more intense for his inner wolf. He was senseless for a few moments.

  “Help me!” Ruby’s very faint and distorted plea hit him hard as the telepathic words reached him. Even in his disoriented state, he was able to hear his mate, and her distress touched him on his most primal level.

  “Ruby! Where are you?” Isser shouted. There was no response. Sol lay on the floor next to him. Isser shook the other man, and his brother managed to open his eyes before he sat up with a long, low groan. The men both stood, on wobbly legs, to look out the door. Ruby had pushed the attacker outside. There was blood on the ground near the shuttle. Fear gripped Isser.

  The scream of a man and more laser fire brought Isser to his senses. His woman needed him. His inner wolf wanted out.

  “I’m okay,” Ruby telepathically replied weakly.

  “I’m coming for you.” Isser sent her the thought. Lasers weren’t what they needed against this enemy. They needed the wolf. He felt the brief but agonizing stabs of pain throughout his joints, and the burning in his muscles as his body morphed into the wolf. His clothing shredded. His skin prickled as his hair sprang out. Every sense he possessed in human form sharpened, and the special senses of the wolf intensified to bring the world into brilliant, glittering detail beyond anything his human eyes would see. Standing perfectly still for a few seconds gave him his bearings. Sol was right beside him. The beautiful coat of his brother’s wolf shone in the sunlight. The wolves looked at each other, and their eyes glowed.

  “We’ll save her,” Sol thought to him.

  “Yes. We will. Those bastards will be sorry.” Isser returned the communication.

  They leaped out of the shuttle at the same time. Another shout directed them to run around to the right side of the craft. Two armed men stood with lasers pointed at their woman. The brothers pounced, and they each landed on a different man. Ruby had killed the one who’d busted through the door. He lay in a heap next to the corner of the ship. The tigress was on top of another man with her jaws clenched around his weak human throat. He screamed. His gun erupted, but he was too far gone for an effective shot.

  The man under him pointed his gun at Ruby. Isser tore out his throat without a second thought. Sol yelped as the man he’d pounced on kicked him off and began to run away. Isser was ready to pursue, but Sol crouched low. The younger wolf sprang forward. With only a few powerful strides, he was on the man’s back. The kidnapper screamed. Sol grabbed the man’s neck and ended his life with a single jerk. Isser frantically turned, searching the area with all his senses, but he saw no more attackers. The man under Ruby was dead. She snarled. Blood dripped from her chin. He felt the animal far more strongly with her than he did with other shifters, and it worried him.

  “How many men took you?” Isser sent her the question.

  “Five,” she replied. He was relieved. She was still in there. The tiger hadn’t taken her from him.

  Pain shot through him. He growled, and the sound became a scream as his body contorted. Incredible misery contracted his muscles. Isser doubled over, and he looked down to see his body in a state of half-man, half-animal transition. “Fuck.” The word roared out of him like a howl. He reached behind his left shoulder with his right hand. The tiny dart zapped him as he pulled it out and tossed it onto the ground.

  Electricity was playing dirty. This was one weapon with the power to truly terrify him.

  Sol was still completely wolf.

  “Are you in trouble? I’m coming.” Sol projected his anxious thoughts.

  “No. Keep going. Stop the human. I’ll protect our woman,” Isser replied. Ruby was half-cat, half-woman now. She went to his side. Even in her transitional state, she was beautiful. He reached up and touched her face. Wretchedness gripped him, and he fought it. He didn’t want her to see just how much he was suffering.

  “I see him. We can’t leave any of them to tell Lilymann we have her. The lackeys have to die. I don’t care if they can shoot me with electricity darts. I’m going after them!” Sol took off running. A man’s scream echoed through the clearing, and then silence. Isser was suffering too much to go after his brother. Ruby held him. He felt her fear and her uncertainty. Being helpless and feeling out of control weren’t feelings he was accustomed to, but it seemed Sol had taken care of the kidnappers. He sighed and lay back in the dirt. He tried to relax his body in the hope it would speed up the process of involuntary transformation.

  Isser’s relief was short-lived as he saw a figure step out from behind a tree. The man carried an electric prod. One touch, and it would send a shifter into a cycle of change and return, only it wouldn’t be like the dart. The dart was small. A prod could deliver a big voltage over a wider area for a prolonged period.

  Electricity was a fatal natural weakness in the shifter’s biology. The agony would be unbearable. There were a lot of ways to die, but this had to be one of the worst ways for a shifter to go.

  The shadows weren’t obscuring his face anymore. Isser’s heart sank. “I see you’ve found my Ruby. I hope you’ll understand why I don’t pay you. I might not be able to keep her half-shifted, but I think this little toy will do the trick.” He gave Isser a stomach-turning smile. The middle-aged man’s gold teeth flashed in the sunlight. His thinning hair sat on his head in sprigs that he’d combed back neatly, and he wore a pristine suit that looked very out of place in the wilderness. Everything about the man set Isser on edge.

  “One shock, and her body will be forced back into human form, but if I turn it down just a little before placing this in the right location,” Lilymann said as he shook the prod at Isser, “such as her vagina, the pain will be just right to hold her in a suspended state between her natures. With the right incentives, she’ll learn to keep herself in between without the electricity, but the training will be long and hard. I’m looking forward to it. I’ve always wanted to fuck a woman with something like this, but it would kill a human. Pain and this prod are the only tools I’ll need to create the perfect whore.” He leered at Ruby, and she flinched. She crouched low and growled. “She’ll be cat enough for a rare and unique experience, but woman enough to arouse my clients. I’ll have something no one else does, and that is what makes this Ruby priceless.” He threw back his head and laughed.

  Ruby sounded more cat than human. Isser felt her tension as he sat up and held her close. The way her muscles tensed told him just how afraid she really was. “Here kitty, kitty,” Lilymann called as he thrust the sick instrument of torture at her. “Let me pet the pussy. I promise you’ll like it,” he said in a creepy singsong way as he came closer.

  “Sol! We need you now! Lilymann is threatening her, and I’m still messed up from the dart. Hurry!” Isser projected his frantic plea toward his brother.

  Isse
r bristled. Lilymann rushed forward, holding the snapping, crackling electrified weapon. The blue energy running up and down the shaft was a reminder of just how dirty the coward would fight. Isser would die protecting his mate. Sol would return and finish off Lilymann if Isser could hold the man off and keep him from reaching Ruby.

  “Get behind me,” Isser ordered gruffly as he pushed himself to his feet while simultaneously shoving his woman behind him.

  Lilymann laughed with genuine mirth. He stared at Isser without a hint of fear.

  “Bring it, dog,” the villain muttered coldly.

  A measure of control returned to him unexpectedly. He groaned as he forced himself back into his wolf form. Every twist and pop of his joints changing and the horrific burning in his reshaping tissue was beyond any torment he’d previously endured, but for his woman he let it continue. Isser howled. His body stopped. He stood in an agonizingly contorted form, more wolf than man, but still not anywhere near completely altered. Pain lanced him, but he was all she had.

  Focusing on the evil pimp, Isser charged the man, ready to take him down and tear out his throat. His sharp fangs were those of the wolf, even if his mouth was still that of a man. His awkward legs stumbled, but he didn’t stop. He opened his mouth and readied himself to bite the man’s calf. Just before his teeth snapped shut on his nemesis’s leg, a jolt of electricity racked his body. Isser half screamed and half howled as the voltage took him from wolf to human and then back again. He collapsed limply at his enemy’s feet. He hadn’t been able to avoid the weapon. Somewhere in the back of his distress-addled mind, he realized Ruby was screaming. Everything inside his soul wanted to keep fighting, but his broken body failed him. He lay curled on his side. He shuddered, and his body was racked with spasms. Every time he tired to move, his muscles jerked uncontrollably. His eyes rolled back in his head, and a seizure gripped him. Ruby was screaming and holding him. She was ripped away from him. Horror and regret coursed through him. He’d failed her.

  * * * *

  Sol caught the bastard. He chased the bastard, but it was soon clear that the he’d never be able to catch up. He’d been forced to get creative. Lucky for him he wasn’t afraid of heights. When he’d landed on the coward, the man had died quickly, but Sol found himself too far from Ruby and Isser. He heard his brother’s cry for help. Every second he experienced his brother’s despair and his woman’s fear was the longest second of his life. He had to get back

  “Isser! Isser! No! Don’t…let…him…take…me…”

  Ruby’s erratic thoughts made his heart skip a beat. He could feel her slipping away. Isser was gone. He couldn’t feel him as he normally could. His brother was either unconscious or dead. Someone was taking his—their—mate.

  “Hold on, Ruby.”

  “Sol? Hurry, please, Isser is hurt. The man who hired you has me. Please.”

  “I’m coming!”

  Never in his life had he pushed himself and his wolf so far. He dodged trees and terrain hazards as if they had no power to hurt him. He wasn’t about to take his time when the two people he loved most could die.

  Despair nibbled at his gut, making him sure he would fail, but then he saw the ships. Renewed by the sight, he ran as hard as he could.

  “Sol!” Ruby screamed. He saw she was caught between tiger and woman. Isser lay on the ground. He was transforming between wolf and human. If they didn’t stop what was happening to him, he’d die. Anger gave Sol a burst of adrenaline.

  He didn’t even slow down as he lunged and tackled the bastard hard. Ruby stumbled away, but Sol didn’t take time to check on her. The growl that came out of him was a distorted “son of a bitch.” He pinned the man to the ground. Lilymann tried to reach his weapon, but it had rolled when he’d dropped it.

  The growl of a tiger told Sol his woman was full-on predator again. He salivated as he looked at the man.

  “Should I kill him?” Sol sent Ruby the thought.

  “Mine! Let me!” Ruby’s telepathy was weak, but there was no mistaking what she wanted. The wannabe pimp looked like he was going to piss his pants. Unarmed and alone he had no bravado left. Isser had no problem killing the man, but he knew Ruby deserved to be the one if that was what she really wanted.

  “Can you live with your vengeance? I’ve taken my share of lives, for less reason than this. The man deserves death. Do you want to be the one?”

  “Yes.”

  Her courage pleased him. A deep and very real pride surfaced. His mate was made for him and Isser. A bounty hunter’s woman couldn’t be soft and forgiving, or she’d die. Ruby was tough. There was beauty in her strength.

  “He’s yours,” Sol thought.

  Ruby snarled. He let the man go. For a moment Lilymann just stared at them mutely before he took off running toward the transport. Ruby was on him in a second. She ripped out the bastard’s throat without hesitation. Then she collapsed beside the body. The big cat lay panting. Sol felt her confusion and the overwhelming sense of emptiness. She had her justice, yet she found no joy in it. He could relate. He left her alone. Their bond gave him the clarity to see that she needed time to come to terms with this new side of herself.

  Sol stood, in human form once more, and turned. Isser lay very still. Sol was next to his brother with only a few powerful strides. He rolled him over. The uncontrolled shifting had stopped. He just hoped it had happened before permanent damage had been done. He lay in a state that was half-wolf, half-human. Sol shook him. Isser moaned. A delicate bit of hope fluttered in Sol’s chest. “Come back to me, my brother,” Sol whispered. “You’re too mean and ugly to die. Open your eyes.”

  Nothing.

  “Come back to us, Isser. Please don’t die on us. We’ve only just found our woman. She needs us—both. Please open your eyes.”

  Sol waited. He’d thought the plea as hard as he could at his brother. If Isser’s determination to protect and cherish Ruby was as consuming as it was for Sol, those words would revive Isser. He glanced back to where Ruby lay. The wave of misery coming from her was strong. She was hurting inside. This was a wound he could do nothing to cure. Both the people he loved most needed him, and he was helpless. It was a terrible sensation.

  Isser stirred. Sol shook his brother’s shoulder. “Come back to me!”

  Isser’s eyes opened.

  “Can you understand me? How are you feeling?” Sol asked carefully, making sure to enunciate the words well. He’d heard of wolves becoming vegetables after a bad shock. He knew Isser would rather be dead than a mindless husk.

  “I don’t kill this easy. Don’t be planning my funeral just yet. I have no plans to become an invalid for our woman to care for.” Isser thought the words playfully.

  Sol gave a great whoop of joy.

  Isser shifted back to human form. He stood shamelessly naked.

  “How are you?” Sol asked, concerned.

  “I’ve been better, but I don’t think I’m going to become a drooling vegetable anytime soon. Thanks for having faith in me,” Isser drawled sarcastically. Sol felt the heat rising up his cheeks. He helped Isser stand, and they went over to Ruby. Isser dropped down next to her and stroked her back.

  “It’ll be okay. You did what you had to do. He’d never have left us in peace,” Isser told her softly. He exchanged a dark look with Sol.

  “I don’t know how to become fully human again! It just happened before. I didn’t have to try.” Her desperate thought emanated fear in psychic waves. Comforting his woman became Isser’s top priority. Sol dropped down too. He rubbed her massive neck and shoulders. He enjoyed the sensation of her silky, warm tiger fur under his human hand.

  “You can do this. Just tell the tiger to sleep. Concentrate on my voice. You can do this,” Isser murmured quietly.

  “We’re here with you. We love you,” Sol encouraged

  There was a change. It rippled through the bond the three of them shared. He experienced the moment she found her power to become human again. Relief trailed through the fee
ling as she realized she wasn’t trapped as the cat.

  Ruby, their Ruby, lay naked on the ground next to the dead man. Isser picked her up and rolled her away from the carnage. She was covered in blood, but he didn’t seem to notice as he held her close. She wrapped her delicately slender arm around his neck. Sol helped his brother stand, and together they took her to the shuttle.

  After laying her down on the cot, Sol stepped back to make sure she looked comfortable. Then he covered her with a thin blanket. She appeared infinitely vulnerable, and he wanted to make her feel okay about what she’d done. He went to the supply cupboard and found one of his shirts, a cloth, and water. When he sat down next to her, she looked up at him. Gently, he began cleaning her wounds. “I felt it when you took care of Lilymann. You weren’t killing him because you’re dark or hateful. You took him out to protect us. You wanted to make sure he never hurt Isser or me again. It was love, not evil, that gave you the courage to do what you did. He stole your life and changed your destiny. It was right that you were the one. Don’t regret protecting your mate. I don’t. I killed men today. I killed to protect you and Isser too. I love you both. You belong to me. I’m not going to let some psycho asshole take you away, not ever, and you shouldn’t feel bad about wanting the same thing. You did what you did for love and peace. It took courage. I’m proud of you. You’re truly a tiger now. You have accepted your inner beast.”

  “What if I’m a threat to the rest of your pack? I’ve tasted blood. What if I’m becoming a killer?”

  Sol grinned. “You aren’t a killer. We’d feel it. You’ll need to get used to being part of a pack. We are connected. You can’t hide who you truly are from us.”

  “I’m not evil, really?”

  Sol leaned down and kissed her softly on the mouth. He pulled back just enough to speak. “No, really, you’re not. I love you, Ruby. I couldn’t love you this much if you were evil.”

  She exhaled a small, tired sigh. Today had taken a great toll on her, and she was fresh out of her transition, which had almost killed her. Then she’d been immediately thrust into a life-and-death situation. She was deflating before his eyes, and he couldn’t fault her for it. Isser helped her pull a shirt over her head. She let him dress her as if she were a helpless child. The exhaustion that poured out of her was the kind of bone-deep weary that took days of rest to recuperate from. Sol helped Isser lay her back down as gently as they could. Bruises were already starting to appear on her pale arms, face, and torso. She’d be hurting for a few days, but to his relief nothing was permanently damaged. She watched the men get dressed.