Ruby
Loose Id Titles by Ashlynn Monroe
RUBY
Ashlynn Monroe
www.loose-id.com
Ruby
Copyright © January 2014 by Ashlynn Monroe
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Image/art disclaimer: Licensed material is being used for illustrative purposes only. Any person depicted in the licensed material is a model.
eISBN 9781623005771
Editor: Crystal Esau
Cover Artist: Scott Carpenter
Published in the United States of America
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This e-book is a work of fiction. While reference might be made to actual historical events or existing locations, the names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Warning
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Dedication
For Barb—enjoy! Thanks for being amazing. I appreciate your friendship and the generosity of your spirit. I am blessed to know you. **HUGS**
Prologue
Rion sat next to his woman. He stroked the hair off her forehead tenderly. Makis sat at her other side on the bed and held her hand. The pack leader brought the slender, pale fingers to his lips to kiss the tips of each finger with so much emotion the sight made Sol ache in his soul and his heart. He thought he might howl with grief, but restrained himself because he didn’t want to upset the beloved female. Jewel had given the pack twin cubs, a boy named Torr and a girl she called Kelila. The woman and her offspring were ill. All three precious lives could be lost. Jewel and her pups needed real medicine, but the doctor insisted on payment up front. The smallest pup made a whimpering noise. Isser picked the child up and brought her over to Jewel. She brought the child to her ample, creamy breast without a moment of hesitation.
“I’ve never seen anything so perfect.”
Makis’s thought resounded with such intensity the entire group heard him. He reached out and gently caressed the downy head nestled at his woman’s breast. The extrasensory echo of the alpha’s loving feelings hit everyone in the room at the same time. Sol envied the two males who shared this beautiful woman. Jewel had made them all a real pack again.
Sol turned to Isser.
“We need to go looking for money. Jewel and the children need care. Tell them.”
He spoke to his brother’s mind privately.
“The pup and I are going out on a hunt. I have a decent lead on some easy money,” Isser said.
The two eldest males and their woman all looked up at him at the same time. Jewel frowned. Makis growled. Rion glared.
“I don’t want you two to go alone,” Jewel replied. Her words muffled slightly as she yawned. Sol’s stomach clenched when he noticed the moisture gathering in the corners of her eyes. He loved her like a sister. The last thing he wanted to do was cause her more pain.
She gave him a tight, understanding smile. He knew she’d caught an echo of his emotions. “It’ll be okay. I’m tougher than I look.” Jewel said the words, but there was a lack of conviction behind the statement. Her thoughts couldn’t lie. She was losing the battle.
She had to survive, or the family would crumble. She was the cornerstone on which they’d built a new life. After escaping the evil clan leader who’d destroyed their childhood pack, she’d given them a sense of family they’d never enjoyed as adults. The past two years had been the best ones of Sol’s adult life. Without Jewel, this new warm home wouldn’t have been possible. He felt the love flowing from her. Her expression told him she’d heard his thoughts and she was hurting too.
He cleared his throat and stood straighter, physically pulling himself up out of the darkness. “Do not fear for us. All this cute baby stuff wears on a man. We need a little adventure,” Sol proclaimed in a loud, teasing voice. He almost sighed when he saw her brighten a little. Her eyes cleared. She sent him a wave of love and affection. He basked in her tenderness. “We’ll leave the old wolves behind. Young pups like us need a challenge.” Jewel gave him a small smile, but it didn’t reach her big blue eyes. Her long brown hair lay braided over her shoulder, and she had the countenance of an angel. Her pristine white nightgown added perfectly to the image. Sol tried to ignore the sorrow she couldn’t fully hide, but he could sense her growing struggle with grief. He’d been watching her body fail, as had the others, and it hurt. A non-shifter birth of full-shifter pups was extremely rare and dangerous. She’d just given her men twins. Each of her mates impregnated her with a pup on the same night. The children were a miracle, and fraternal twins were considered an omen of good luck in a pack. She’d survived the birth of Rion’s first child a year earlier without a single complication, but Boon was biologically more human than shifter.
“What scheme have you come up with?” Makis asked as he glared at Isser. “Don’t be getting Sol’s balls cut off. You know the pup is foolish enough to follow you straight to hell.”
Sol bared his fangs. “I’m not a kid anymore. Isser’s lead is solid. You worry about your pups and let me worry about my balls for a change.”
Makis glared but said nothing.
Rion stood. “We hunt together, or we don’t hunt,” he declared with authority. Rion wasn’t the alpha, but his bond with Makis gave him an unusual equality with the pack alpha.
The door to the bedroom pushed open a little wider, and Boon came toddling in. They all turned as the dark-haired boy wobbled toward the bed. Boon’s little blanket was clutched in his hand. He rubbed his sleepy eyes. Sol’s throat ached with emotion as he realized this boy would be just as motherless as they’d all been. He didn’t want Boon to endure the loss. They needed money to keep all three cubs warm and safe. Sol couldn’t draw in a deep breath as the magnitude of his responsibility to the people he loved weighed on him.
“So you woke up from your nap,” Rion said softly as he crouched down and held his hands out for his son. The little boy moved into his father’s arms. He remained content for a moment after Rion picked him up, but soon the child reached for his mother.
“Mama!”
The little boy’s thoughts wailed through the group’s telepathy. They all chuckled as Rion set his son on the bed. The little boy crawled over and curled up next to his mother. She kept her nursing daughter close with one arm while she rubbed the toddler’s back with her free hand. The love she radiated toward her children filled the small space. Sol had to turn away for a moment. The power of her love served as a reminder of what the pack stood to lose.
Sol glanced over at Isser and noticed the deep furrow of his brother’s brow.
“We can’t lose her.”
Isser sent the thought to Sol privately.
“Agreed. We leave tonight. We’re big boys and don’t need permission. When we come back with money, they’ll deal with it,”
Sol replied.
Sol looked at the older wolves. They didn’t pay any attention as he and Isser began to leave. Their faces were etched with worry.
Chapter One
Sol gripped the shuttle’s comm and turned it off. They didn’t want any ships to hail them. He set the coordinates in the computer to take them to the planet Atala. “I wish we were closer. Every second counts, and I want to earn this bounty and get back home. Linus Lilymann—huh, he’s such a crook. You know we’re probably looking for stolen, stolen property,” Sol complained.
“I know, but Lilymann has plenty of money. This is important to him if he’s willing to contract professional bounty hunters. He doesn’t get the goods until we get paid.”
“Fair enough. You were the one to get the details. What exactly are we hunting?” Sol asked. His eyebrow rose.
“His ruby was stolen,” Isser replied.
“His ruby? As in singular? One gem?”
“That’s what he said. He said it’s the ruby he’s always wanted, and he needs it back before the full moon. A woman took it. We’re not supposed to take the gem from her. He wants us to bring the woman instead. He said she has it, without a doubt, and just to bring her back to him, alive, and that’s it. He gave me this bit of fabric. It bears her scent. She smells a bit strange, but I can’t put my finger on it.”
Sol took the scrap of pale material and pressed it to his nose. He inhaled sharply.
“You’re right. This scent isn’t quite human. Even the most mutated human wouldn’t smell like this. It’s not like anything I’ve encountered before. It’s almost wolf, but different. Strange.” He sighed and shrugged as he handed the clue back to Isser. “I hate hunting women, even thieves. Makis would never have accepted this job…” Sol paused and rubbed his tired eyes. “If Jewel and her pups die, the pack will never be home again. I doubt Rion and Makis would even survive. Rion might because he has Boon to think about, but Makis wouldn’t have anything if they all three die. If we weren’t on the run, we could take out credit. They’d already have had the benefit of a doctor. Even free from the clan, we are still suffering. I pray to the gods someday we’ll have true safety to live in the old way. Jewel is the glue holding us together. Everything turns to shit when she dies.”
“Don’t…fucking…talk…like…that… Just don’t! Makis is our leader. He’d never leave us by choice.” Isser sounded younger than his years and even a little frightened. The way he said
leader
could’ve easily been substituted for
father.
“You feel it, the way it is for the three of them. Don’t tell me you haven’t woken to a wave of passion in the middle of the night. Occasionally, I’d experience the strong impression of the possessiveness and awe those two have for her. That’s the dream, to love like nothing else matters. It’s why we risked everything to leave the clan. I doubt I’ll ever have what they have, but it’s beautiful. I wouldn’t want to live if I lost a mate and that kind of perfect, forever love.”
Sol heard the clatter of Isser’s seat belt releasing. He turned and noticed his brother’s enraged scowl as the man crouched down in the single pilot compartment next to him. “We can’t think like she’s going to die. We do the job, and we get them what they need. We make it better, got it?”
Sol nodded, but the horror echoing from Isser’s subconscious hit him in waves of agony. They’d all lost family and community once. The idea of losing what they had slammed into his heart with agonizing force.
“At least we won’t have to go through any wormholes. Sit back and relax, Bro. We’re on our way,” Isser muttered. He gave his brother a quick look before he punched the accelerator on the old ship. The stars stretched out into long lines around them as they sped through space in the direction of planet Atala. The money they needed to take care of their pack waited for them.