by BE Kelly
“Ringer,” Sophie said, reaching out to touch his arm. She could feel his muscles bunch under her hand and she worried that Dave had gone too far. “If you kill him, he won’t be able to give you answers.” She was only half kidding. From the look on her husband’s face, he was considering murder.
Dave’s eyes widened and he was smart enough to take a step back from them. “You need to remember that I’m a federal employee,” Dave warned. “You can’t just come into my place of work and threaten me. I can arrest you.” He rested his hand on his sidearm’s holster, driving home his point. He was armed, dangerous and feeling threatened by them showing up at his station.
“Maybe we should just go,” Sophie begged. Ringer stepped in front of her, shielding her body with his own. “Ringer, please.”
“I’ve got this, Honey. We can leave in just a minute,” he promised. “I’m not here to cause any trouble, Dave.” Ringer spat the guy's name like it pissed him off.
“Then why come all the way back here. Your trip had to have taken you days, from the Big Easy,” Dave taunted.
“Oh my God,” Sophie breathed. “He knows where we live.”
“What the fuck,” Ringer shouted. “You want to tell me how you know where we live?”
Dave laughed, “I know a lot about you—both of you.” He looked past Ringer to where Sophie stood.
“Don’t,” Ringer yelled. “You don’t get to fucking look at her. Look at me, asshole. You tell your friends that I’m not going to stop until I get the answers I’m looking for. Tell them that if they want any peace, they need to meet with me.”
“Is that some sort of threat?” Dave asked. “You came back here to threaten all of us, Ringer?”
“So, you’re admitting that you are a part of them, Dave?” Ringer questioned. Sophie knew Ringer had already guessed as much but hearing the guy admit that he was involved with the men who had turned Ringer was almost too much. If he was mixed up with shifters, he could be one too and this all might end badly for her and Ringer.
“You should have just kept your head down and your nose clean. They would have reached out when you were ready, Ringer. But now—” Dave shook his head and Sophie wondered what he meant.
“Now what?” Ringer asked. “You threatening me now, Dave?” he asked.
“No,” Dave said. “Go home, Ringer. Akin and his boys will be in touch.”
“I don’t want those fuckers anywhere near my home or my wife,” Ringer growled. “You tell them to stay the hell away from us. I want answers, Dave,” he demanded.
Dave barked out his laugh and started stripping out of his uniform. “You won’t be getting them from me, Ringer. I have my orders and talking to you isn’t one of them. Aiken will contact you when the time is right. Go home,” Dave said again. Sophie watched as the guy stood in front of them in just his boxer briefs and wondered what the hell he was doing.
Ringer started for him before Sophie had a chance to stop him. “Ringer,” she cried.
He looked back over his shoulder at her and back to Dave. The park ranger had shifted right in front of them. Where the man stood seconds before, a giant brown wolf replaced him.
“Shit,” Ringer growled. He turned and grabbed Sophie’s hand, pulling her along with him back to his pick-up. He helped her into the cab of the truck and she looked back to the ranger’s station.
“He’s gone,” she said. “Ringer, Dave’s gone.”
“Fuck,” he cursed under his breath. “Stay in the fucking truck, Soph,” he ordered. Ringer shut her door and disappeared into the station. It felt like she was holding her breath and when he reappeared minutes later, she let it out.
He rounded his truck and got into the driver’s seat. “What now,” she asked.
“Now we go home and we wait,” Ringer said. “Shit,” he yelled, “I was so fucking close to having some answers.”
“I’m sorry, Ringer,” Sophie said, gently touching his hand that had a death grip on his steering wheel.
“Not your fault, Honey,” he said, relaxing a little.
“He shifted,” she whispered. It was almost as if one minute Dave was a man and she blinked and he became a wolf. It was seamless, effortless and he just seemed to transform before their very eyes. It was nothing like Ringer described and she wondered if her husband was able to do the same thing—shift so effortlessly. It would save him from having to lock himself away in a storage container, wanting to keep her safe.
“I saw,” Ringer said. He sighed and shook his head. “What if I can do that, Soph? It would make things so much easier knowing what I’m capable of. Knowing that I’m in control of all of this. That I won’t hurt you if I shift. God, I was so close,” he whispered. “So fucking close.”
Ringer
One month later
It had been about a month since they got back from their little honeymoon trip to Yellowstone Park. If that’s what their disastrous trek halfway across the country could be considered. They had spent all that time in his pick-up and he hated that he had cheated Sophie out of a honeymoon she deserved.
They closed on their home about a week and a half after getting back in town. He was surprised by how fast everything moved but he paid cash and that helped speed things up. Sophie loved the house and he had a few more surprises for her on the day they moved in. He had called her brother and their friends to come in to help and the entire house got a fresh coat of paint and new furniture that they went shopping for. He never thought of himself as a domestic kind of guy but putting this house together with Sophie made him happy.
Ringer walked into the family room, looking for his wife. He shouted for her and when she didn’t answer, he wondered if he had forgotten an appointment. He thought back over their morning conversation and couldn’t remember Soph telling him that she had anywhere to go.
“Soph,” he shouted up the stairs.
“I’m—I’m in here,” she stuttered. He followed her voice to the kitchen and before he even walked into the room he could smell her fear. Seeing the terror in her eyes was nearly his undoing. They were there—Akin, Nix, and Husk. And, they had his woman pinned into the corner of the kitchen.
“What the fuck,” he growled. “How the hell did you get into my house?”
“I let them in,” Sophie whispered. “I didn’t know—I’m sorry.”
He wanted to rush into the room and tell the three of them to get the fuck out. He wanted to demand that they leave his woman alone but that would all be pointless. He was outnumbered and outmuscled and there was no way he’d put Soph or their son in danger.
Ringer stood back and watched as the three men circled his woman. Sophie stared them down as if she wasn’t afraid of the threat they posed but he could see in her eyes—she was scared to death. God, he hated seeing Soph that afraid. His inner wolf felt about ready to tear Akin and his boys apart but then they’d never find out what all this was about. They had promised him answers and he was going to get them. Then, he’d get Sophie someplace safe and double back to take care of the three of them. At least, that was the plan. Ringer knew that if Reaper didn’t come through and deliver his message to Rios, his plans would go down the shitter real fast.
“Akin,” Ringer growled. “How about you leave my woman alone and come on over here. I was the one who called you—she’s not in this.”
“You called them?” Sophie questioned. He didn’t tell her. Hell, he wished he could keep her completely out of this shit but Akin and his boys seemed to have other ideas.
“Sorry, Honey,” Ringer said. “I was going to tell you. I was able to track down Akin’s contact information and called him to meet up. Coming to the house wasn’t the plan, guys.” Sophie stared him down, seeming to know full well that he was lying.
Akin chuckled and Ringer could tell the guy was going to call bullshit too. “From the smell of her, you made her a part of all this,” Akin taunted.
“She’s carrying your pup, isn’t she?” Nix asked. Husk growled and sniffed S
ophie. She tried to back away from him but the three of them had her cornered against the wall.
“She’s my fucking wife, asshole. Leave her the fuck alone, Husk,” Ringer growled.
“Or what?” Husk asked. “You’re getting stronger every day, Ringer, I’ll give you that. Unfortunately, you’re still not a match for the three of us. We made you; do you think we don’t know what you’re capable of?”
“How about we take this someplace else?” Ringer asked.
“You were the one who summoned us here,” Akin said. “Now, you’re asking us to leave?”
“This meeting wasn’t supposed to go down in our home,” Ringer said. “And, my wife wasn’t supposed to be a part of this. Please,” he begged.
“Her being here is a part of our insurance policy,” Akin admitted. “We figured that if you had something to lose, you’d behave yourself.”
“You fucker,” Ringer spat.
“I’m fine, Ringer,” Sophie lied. “I just want this nightmare to be over. Maybe they’ll have answers for us.”
“What kind of answers you looking for, Honey?” Nix asked. He ran his fingers down Sophie’s arms and Ringer took a step towards them.
“No,” Sophie said. “I’m fine, really,” she promised. “We want to know what the possibility of our baby coming out a shifter is, for starters.”
“One hundred percent,” Nix said.
Sophie gasped, “How can you be so sure?” she asked.
“We can smell him,” Husk said. “That’s also how we tracked Ringer here,” he admitted. “We created him and well, your kid will be a part of our pack now—like it or not.”
“Fuck,” Ringer swore. The thought of him being attached to the three of them pissed him the hell off. The idea that his kid would always have some attachment to them just plain infuriated him.
“See, now you’re getting the picture, man,” Akin said.
“Why is any of this happening?” Sophie asked. “Why change him in the first place? He wasn’t a threat to the three of you. Ringer was just some guy out hiking and camping in Yellowstone.” Soph was right. That was something Ringer had thought of many times over the past months; more so now that he had Sophie and the baby in his life. Why would they risk being found out and change him when he was just out minding his own business?
“We need him,” Akin said, shrugging as if it wasn’t any big deal. “We need as many men and women as we can get.” Sophie’s gasp filled their kitchen.
“What do you need people for?” she asked.
“We’re building an army,” Nix offered. “Of wolves.”
“Why in the hell do you need an army of shifters?” Ringer asked.
“We want to change things up a little,” Husk said. “Change the numbers to reflect in our favor instead of humans. We’re sick of playing the monster when humans are the ones who are monsters. They hunt us down and call it protecting humankind.”
“But, what the fuck are we?” Nix added, holding his arms wide. “We look human. Hell, we never killed a human but they are still hunting us—killing us for sport. Our numbers are dwindling and we need all the help we can get. We make more wolves and those wolves go out and make wolves—one way or the other.” Nix patted Sophie’s belly and Ringer charged him. He wanted to rip the guy's fucking hand off for touching his woman.
“Ringer,” Sophie screamed. Akin had pulled her to the corner of the room and wrapped his arms around her. At first, Ringer was sure Akin was trying to hurt her but he quickly realized it was to protect Sophie. Akin had pulled her out of the way because Nix had shifted. Ringer looked down at his giant paws as they landed on the kitchen floor and realized he had also shifted. Shit! He had never shifted in front of anyone before. Hell, he had never shifted and remembered it. Now, he felt as if he was on the inside looking out. He could see everyone and everything around him, including Sophie, but he felt like he was trapped behind a two-way mirror. Was this how his inner wolf felt? Ringer panicked at not having the control he usually craved. Would he hurt anyone else? Would he hurt Sophie and their baby?
His wolf landed just in front of Nix’s wolf and he could tell the guy was waiting him out. Husk stood by his brother, still in human form. “Your move, Ringer,” Husk taunted. He closed his eyes, willing himself back into human form but nothing—no change. He opened his eyes again when he heard laughter only to find that no one was laughing.
“It’s me, man,” Nix’s voice filled his head but the wolf that stood before him wasn’t the one talking. It was almost like Nix was inside of his head with him. Ringer had heard some of the guys in Perdition talk about their connection. Once you were part of a pack, you could hear what the other pack members were thinking or feel what they were feeling. It wasn’t something that Ringer had ever experienced and he wasn’t sure it would ever happen for him. He hoped that joining Perdition would give him that—a home, a pack and a connection that he had been craving since being turned into a shifter.
“Jesus,” Nix said. “You're all over the place, Ringer. Just calm the fuck down so we can figure this all out. Yes—I’m inside your head but you are inside mine too. Akin and Husk can hear you too, but right now, it’s just you and me.”
“How the hell is this happening?” Ringer thought.
“Like we told you, we’re all connected. We’re a family whether you like it or not.” Nix said.
“I don’t like it one fucking bit,” Ringer growled. He looked over to Sophie and cringed inwardly at the fear he saw in her eyes. Was she afraid of him? Would she still want to be with him once she saw what he truly was?”
“She will,” Nix said, reading his mind. “You need to trust us, man. Let us help you figure this out so you can protect your woman and pup.” Ringer walked over to where Sophie stood with Akin.
“Easy, Ringer,” Akin said. “He won’t hurt you, Sophie. He’s worried you won’t want him now that you’ve seen him like this.”
“Ringer,” Sophie whispered. She reached out her trembling hand and stroked his face. He leaned into her gentle touch, needing more. “That will never happen,” she said. “I’ll always want you. We both will,” she said, cupping her hand to her belly. For just a minute, Ringer could have sworn he could hear the pup inside of her cry out to him. Were the connected too?
“Yeah,” Nix said. “We’re all connected. That’s how we could tell she’s carrying a shifter. We could feel him. It made tracking you down easier. You’ve been hard to find. It’s almost as if you haven’t wanted to be found.”
“I didn’t want to be,” Ringer admitted. “But now, with the baby, we had to know what we’re dealing with. That’s why I went back to the park to track you three.” Nix shifted back to human form and grabbed a dishtowel from the kitchen counter to cover himself. Ringer could feel his wolf relinquish control of his form and he felt as though his entire body was tingling. It was the strangest sensation he had ever experienced. His body transformed back to his human form and he looked down at his bare feet. He was completely naked, which was how he had usually woken up in the storage container after he had shifted. Ringer usually stripped bare before the rise of the full moon, wanting to keep his clothes intact. The first time he shifted, his clothing had been torn to shreds when he became human again. He barely had enough fabric left to cover his ass to make it from his car into his house. He didn’t make that mistake again.
Akin release Sophie and she ran to Ringer, throwing herself into his arms. “You shifted,” she said.
“I know,” he said, wrapping his arms around her body. “How about I get Nix and me some clothes and we sit down and hash this out?” He looked around the kitchen and the three other guys nodded their agreement. “It’s about time we get some answers and figure this shit out.”
“I’ll make some coffee,” Sophie offered.
“Thanks, Honey. I’m sure your brother and a few guys from Perdition will be showing up. Let them in when they get here,” Ringer said.
Akin chuckled, “You call in
the calvary?” he asked.
“Yep, as soon as I realized you three were here. I sent Reaper a 911 text and well, he knows what to do from there,” Ringer said. “I don’t take chances with Soph or the baby. I knew that I could count on her brother, Reaper, to get my club a message. Let’s go, Nix,” he ordered. Nix followed him up to his and Sophie’s bedroom and Ringer pulled some clothes out for him to put on. Nix and he were about the same size, which made things a whole lot easier. If Husk had been the one to shift, he wouldn’t have fared well, if he had chosen to go after him. Husk was two of him put together and Ringer didn’t have anything to fit the guy. The idea of him sitting around buck naked in front of Sophie made him mad enough to spit nails.
“You know that we are all still connected, right?” Nix asked. “We can still pick up on your thoughts, Ringer.”
“What? I thought that the telepathy thing only worked when we were in wolf form,” Ringer said. “You three are still in my fucking head?” he growled.
“Yep,” Ringer heard Husk’s voice and Akin’s chuckle in his mind and he inwardly cursed. “It’s a family thing. You’re a part of our family since we created you, Ringer. Packs can’t do this unless they are related by blood.” That explained why the guys in the club could only connect when they were in wolf form. The only two men related by blood were Rios and his brother, Trace and they never really talked about their connection. Hell, they didn’t talk to each other at all now since sexy Aylen entered the picture.
Ringer heard Husk’s long whistle, “She’s hot,” he growled.
“She belongs to my club’s Prez. And stay the fuck out of my head, Husk. Last warning,” Ringer growled. Nix chuckled, pulling the t-shirt Ringer lent him over his head. He pushed back his overly long blond hair and smiled across the room to Ringer.
“You still don’t think you can trust us, do you, man?” Nix asked. He didn’t but if they were all connected, the three of them would already know that.
“Last time I saw the three of you, things didn’t end so well for me. Hell, you three flipped my fucking life upside down. How am I supposed to trust you?” Ringer asked.
