Wolf Bound (The White Wolf Prophecy Book 1)

by Kayleigh King

  “Are you still upset?” I ask her as I sit up in bed.

  She doesn’t say anything. Instead, she shuts the door behind her as she enters the room. She kicks her shoes off as she walks toward the bed, stopping twice to reach down and remove her socks. She stops at the edge of the bed and looks at me, the soft moonlight coming from the window shining across her face.

  “Can I sleep here?” she asks, instead of answering my question. “I don’t like the idea of sleeping in a different room than you,” she confesses, biting her bottom lip as she does.

  “I don’t like it either.” I hold out my hand to her. “Come here.”

  Part of me is afraid she won’t take my offered hand, but to my delight, she doesn’t hesitate, putting her smaller hand in mine. She climbs into the bed, still dressed in her jean shorts and a tank top. The house is warm from the hot summer day, so I don’t bother putting the blankets over us. Instead, I wrap my arm around her while she puts her head on my bare chest. We lay in silence for a time, each other stuck in our own thoughts. I’m trying to figure out what I’m supposed to say to her to make the Avery situation okay.

  “Remington called you my boyfriend tonight,” she finally says, and I note her voice has a slight slur to it as she speaks.

  “I’ve never been someone’s boyfriend before.” I grin at the idea. The terms boyfriend and girlfriend aren’t used often in the shifter community, it’s kind of strange to hear. “I like it.”

  She pauses again before speaking. “And no, I’m not upset anymore.” She raises her head so she can look at me. “I just don’t like it, and I really don’t like her.”

  “Avery can be a lot sometimes.” I wrap a strand of her hair around my hand before watching it fall between my fingers. “But don’t ever think I care more for her than I do about you. We both have pasts, and we have to make sure we don’t let them come between us. Okay?”

  “Okay.” She nods before lying back down and cuddling closer to me. “By the way, I’m drunk.”

  “I know.” I chuckle. “Ransom texted me and gave me a heads up.”

  “Remi ate like five cheeseburgers on the way home.”

  “Good morning, sunshine!” Ransom tells Remi louder than necessary as she walks into the kitchen. She must have fallen directly into bed after coming home last night because black makeup surrounds her eyes, and her hair is sticking out all over the place. “Sleep well?”

  “Bite me,” she growls at him as she plunks down into a chair at the kitchen table and immediately lays her head down, turned, so she isn’t facing me.

  “How much did you guys drink last night?” I ask her. “Both of you look like shit this morning.”

  I swing my gaze over to Pru, who sits next to me wearing one of my old hoodies and is using both hands to hold her head up. Her usually bright skin is looking a little green, and she hasn’t touched any of the breakfast Mom put in front of her.

  “Gee, thanks,” she scoffs at me.

  “Did you guys drink everything in the bar last night?” Ransom questions around a mouthful of food. Polite as always, it would seem.

  “We didn’t drink that much,” Remi defends, picking her head off the table.

  “Well, considering the fact Pru is wearing her sunglasses inside,” Mom says as she comes around the corner with weirdly dull-colored smoothies in each hand, “I would assume that’s a lie.”

  “Ugh, that is so smart,” Remi whines when she lifts her head enough to look at Pru.

  “Here, you can use mine. I’m starting to feel a little bit more human.” Pru starts to pass the sunglasses across the table to Remi, then pauses halfway there. “Can I even say that anymore? I mean, I’m obviously not human. But I can’t shift into a wolf, so basically I am human? I’m so confused…” she whimpers.

  “Shut up, you’re hurting my brain.” Remi snatches the sunglasses out of Pru’s hand.

  Mom pats Pru’s back as she places one of the smoothies in front of her. “Ryker and you have an appointment with Esme set for today, so you’ll be able to get more answers on how to get your wolf out. Don’t worry, dear, we’ll have you shifting in no time. Now drink up, you’ll feel much better after you get something into your stomach.”

  “Thank you.” Pru gives her a strained smile before groaning and leaning against my shoulder for support. “Has anyone seen Addison? I haven’t seen her since yesterday afternoon.”

  “She went home last night,” Ransom replies with a shrug. “Said something about needing to sleep in her own bed.”

  “I should probably go home tonight, too,” Pru announces before taking a sip of the smoothie in front of her. She hides it well, but by the slight cringe of her face, it apparently doesn’t taste great. “I can’t keep sleeping in your spare bedroom.”

  “Why not?” I sit up straighter in my seat.

  “Because this isn’t my home.”

  “You said last night, you don’t like sleeping without me,” I remind her.

  She glances around the table, losing what little color there is in her face and lowers her voice. “I know, and I meant it, but I can’t stay here forever. Besides, I need to be with Addison. What if something happens and I’m not there?”

  “We can send Noah over,” I suggest even though I know it’s not really a viable plan.

  “Oh sure, let’s send over the guy she’s been in love with for twenty-some years but can’t have,” Pru deadpans. “Doesn’t exactly sound fair to her, to either of them.”

  “It’s so stupid that wolf shifters can only mate with other wolf shifters,” Ransom grumbles. “Our birthrates are so low, and every year more males are turning rogue. It’s only a matter of time before there aren’t any females left, and we become an endangered species.”

  “Birthrates are low for wolf shifters?” Pru questions, her curiosity piqued.

  “Unfortunately, yes,” Mom says with a nod. “Wolf shifters have always struggled to conceive, and even then it’s difficult for the female to carry to full term. And if they do carry to term, the chances of having a girl are very slim. The male to female ratio has been off for centuries.”

  “But you have four kids? How were you able to have so many?” Pru asks.

  “I got lucky with my children, but I also miscarried many pregnancies between each of them. I lost two before I gave birth to Ryker.” Mom reaches across the table and squeezes my hand. “He was my little miracle.”

  “I’m sorry, Margot, that must have been very difficult,” Pru tells her. “But if the male population outweighs the females, that means there aren’t enough females to mate with. Which means…” Pru pauses when it all clicks for her. “That’s why there are so many rogues.”

  “It’s a vicious circle.” I shake my head. “As long as the births of females are low, there will be an increase in rogue wolves.”

  “Is there anything that can be done to help?”’ Pru asks.

  “There haven’t been any breakthroughs thus far, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be one in the future,” Mom says before a smile appears on her face. “I haven’t given up hope of the prophecy coming true.”

  “Uh, Mom, you’ve got to let that go,” Remi moans in frustration. “It was just an old wives tale they used to tell you when you were growing up.”

  “No, it wasn’t,” Mom defends. She’s always been very defensive when it comes to the prophecy. Always believing it was true even when everyone around her believed otherwise.

  “Wait. What prophecy?” Pru questions.

  “It’s some story about how this white wolf will stop the decline of our population.” Remi shrugs dismissively.

  “That’s not it, and you know it.” Mom rolls her eyes at Remi before looking at Pru. “The prophecy says when the white wolf walks this Earth once more and finds her mate, so will the rest of us.” Mom grins as she repeats the same sentence she used to say to us while we were growing up. Instead of bedtime stories, we heard about the white wolf.

  “I don’t get it. What’s so i
mportant about a white wolf? I’ve seen white wolves at the zoo before…” Pru’s eyebrows gather in confusion.

  “Yes, there are white wild wolves. But there has never been a white wolf shifter,” Mom explains. “This prophecy has been passed down for hundreds of years, and it’s very well known. Had there been a white shifter born, we would have all heard about it.”

  Pru still doesn’t look like she fully believes the story, and I understand why. It all sounds farfetched. “People are holding out hope a white wolf will come into existence, and when she finds her mate, everyone else will too?”

  “That’s the idea.” Mom nods. “There’s nothing wrong with having a little bit of hope that one day, things will get better.”

  “There is something wrong with putting your hope into some fable,” Remi snorts. “Come on, Mom, be serious. You don’t honestly believe that do you?”

  “I think there’s a reason this story has been passed down for so many generations and that it’s even widely known in other shifter communities, not just us wolves.” Mom does have a point there. It’s just not us wolves who’ve heard the prophecy of the white wolf, and it has been passed around to all other shifters. I’ve even heard the vampires know about it. “I’m going to remind you of this conversation if it actually happens,” Mom says, giving Remi a pointed look.

  Shaking my head, I glance over at Pruitt. “We should probably head to Esme’s,” I tell her before I stand and move to pull her seat out for her.

  “Do I have to change?” Pru looks down at the cut off shorts, and my oversized hoodie she’s wearing. I love the fact she’s wearing something with my scent on it, thus making her smell of me. It’s a way of marking her that makes my wolf happy.

  “No, you don’t have to change,” I assure her, reaching for her hand as we walk out of the room.

  “I still can’t believe we’re going to go see a witch,” she mumbles under her breath.

  “You’re in our world now.” I smile at her. “This is just the beginning of the crazy.”

  Behind us, I hear Remi choke on something. “For the love of God, what is in this smoothie, and why does it taste like dirt?”

  “She isn’t wrong.” Pru covers her mouth with her free hand to stifle her laughter.

  19

  Pruitt

  I look around Esme’s shop like I did a couple of days ago, but this time I know Esme is a witch, and the things I’m looking at aren’t just for decoration. They’re meant for spells and charms.

  “Well, if it isn’t Ryker Weylyn,” Esme's musical voice comes from behind us, and we spin to look at her. Unlike the other night when she was wearing the long skirt and loose blouse, she has on a simple pair of jeans and a floral top. It’s understated compared to what she was wearing before. Her eyes are as dark as I remember them being, so black I swear they reflect the light.

  “Esme.” Ryker smirks at the woman, and reaches down to give her a big hug. “It’s good to see you.”

  “I never thought I would see you in my shop again,” Esme responds before leaning back to check him over. “Now, let me get a good look at you.” She starts at his toes, and her gaze travels up, taking in every aspect of him. “Your aura looks much better than it did the last time I saw you. I would assume this pretty girl would have something to do with that.” She waves her hand in my direction. “Having Grey back in your life must bring you such relief.”

  “It’s Pruitt,” I correct her. “My name is Pruitt. I…I don’t remember being Grey Thorne. And that’s actually why we’re here.”

  “You were the one who locked away her memories and her wolf,” Ryker explains. “And now we need you to get them out.”

  Esme’s face falls as she looks at us. “I told Addison fourteen years ago it would be difficult, if not impossible, to reverse those spells. Her memories, I’m certain are lost forever.”

  “I’m not worried about my memories.” I step forward. “As far as I’m concerned, the person those memories belonged to died with my parents that night, and if I’m honest, I think it’s best I don’t get those memories back. I don’t need those back. But I need my wolf unbound.”

  “I’m running out of time,” Ryker tells Esme, and I wince when he says the words. When Avery said them, it was easy not to believe her, but now Ryker is admitting that he’s feeling the consequences of not having a mate.

  “How long do you have?” Esme’s voice is full of sorrow as she questions Ryker.

  Ryker pauses before answering. “Not long, a couple months, maybe?”

  “You’ve been feeling this way for a while?”

  “Yes, it started about six months ago,” he tells us. “I thought there was no hope, I figured I would take out as many rogues as I could along the way then take myself out before I turned.”

  “You were going to kill yourself?” I choke out, my stomach lurching as I speak.

  “I couldn’t let myself turn into one of those monsters, and now I can’t have you watch me turn into one…”

  “So, that’s still your plan?” I recoil when he reaches for me. “If I can’t shift, you’re going to kill yourself?” The vibrating feeling in my chest returns, and my heart rate increases, pounding hard in my chest.

  “Pru…”

  “Don’t! I did not—” I pause, shaking my head. “We did not go through all we went through to have you kill yourself if I can’t shift. That isn’t an option.” I whirl around to face Esme. “You better tell us what we can do, because I’ve spent fourteen years thinking I was missing something, and now I’m not going to watch that something take his own life.”

  “It would appear your wolf isn’t as bound as we had originally thought…” Esme breathes, her obsidian eyes scanning me.

  “What? Why do you say that?”

  “Pru, your eyes are glowing, and we can feel your power,” Ryker tells me, a proud look on his face.

  “My power?” I repeat.

  “Yes, every wolf has power,” Esme explains, “and it would appear you’re a very powerful wolf. Which is why your wolf has been able to break through the spell I bound her with. It’s not surprising considering Archer and Genevieve were both very strong alphas. Both born alphas if I remember correctly.”

  “What’s a born alpha?”

  Ryker steps in and clarifies for me. “A born alpha is a wolf who was born with a large amount of power. Versus an alpha who gains his or her power by moving up the pack rank, like my dad and mom. They weren’t born as alphas, but they acquired the power after they became alphas of the pack.”

  “So, if my parents were both alphas…” I gulp. “That means I’m an alpha too?”

  “You will be once we can get your wolf out.” Ryker smiles at me. “You’re going to be an amazing wolf.”

  “Well, that’s only if she can work some literal magic and reverse what she’s done.” I give Esme a look of desperation. “So, can you? Can you help me? Help us?” I correct myself.

  “There’s only one thing I can think of, and if it doesn’t work, I don’t know what else we can do.” Esme shakes her head. “I’ll reach out to the other high priestesses across the country and see what they say.”

  “Thank you,” I sigh, feeling the tightness in my chest relax. “Sorry. That was…that wasn’t me.”

  “It’s quite alright. You’ve certainly been through an ordeal lately.” Esme pats my shoulder as she passes me. “In the past, when your wolf has surfaced like that, has it been during emotionally charged moments like this?”

  “Well,” Ryker starts, “the first time we felt her power was after I kissed someone in front of her.” Ryker holds his hands up in defense when Esme’s dark gaze narrows at him. “Whoa, hey! Don’t look at me like that. She didn’t believe me when I said she wouldn’t be okay with me being with someone else. So to get the point across, I kissed Avery…”

  “He didn’t just kiss her either,” I mutter under my breath before I can stop myself. I wince and look up at him. “Sorry,” I tell him quickly befo
re looking back at Esme. “It happened yesterday, too, when I had a minor confrontation with Avery. It resulted in her falling in the pool,” I say, refusing to look at Ryker when I feel his gaze on me. I thought Avery would have told him by now, but it would seem not.

  “Other than your eyes and your power surfacing, are there any other wolf characteristics you’ve experienced?” Esme asks, not commenting on the whole Avery situation.

  “She ran faster than anyone I’ve ever seen the other day,” Ryker offers.

  “I moved pretty fast yesterday too when Avery drew her claws on me,” I elaborate with a shrug.

  “Avery tried to hurt you?” Ryker demands, grabbing my shoulders, so I’m now facing him.

  “Not now.” I shake my head at him, not wanting to rehash the events with him. “We need to deal with this problem right now. Those other things can wait.”

  “I’m not done talking about this,” he growls before letting go of my arm.

  Esme flips through a very old, very large leather-bound book while nodding her head. “So, like I said, emotionally charmed events bring your wolf to the surface.”

  “Is that a spellbook?” I can’t help but ask when I step closer to her.

  “No, my dear, these are notes of past and current coven members have written down about wolf shifters. We have a book similar to this on each species.” She smiles at me over the page she’s reading. “Okay, here is the plan…”

  “I still don’t understand why we have to go to this thing tonight.” I step over yet another tree branch that blocks the makeshift trail. “Don’t you think we have other pressing matters for us to attend to?”

  “Esme said we don’t have to do it right at sunset. She said as long as the moon is in the sky, the ritual would still work.” Ryker holds out his hand to help me over a larger fallen tree. “The pack run starts at sunset and Dad thinks now will be the best time to tell them about you, since a majority of the pack will be there.”