Wolf Bound (The White Wolf Prophecy Book 1)

by Kayleigh King

  The house is a couple of miles away from my parents’ home, and the whole way I see her face. My head swims with images of Pru as I hike through the woods. I think back to the night I carried her out of here after the rogue attacked. Images of her stunned face after I shifted in front of her the first time follow. I see the look of pure happiness on her face after I told her I bought the house for her—for us.

  The house sits dark and empty as I walk up the driveway. The lights I had strung are hanging loosely from the trees, the strands blowing softly in the wind. It feels like ages ago that I brought her here, but really it was a few days ago. We’re supposed to be meeting with the contractor about renovations and changes we want to make.

  Once inside the house, I sit down on the counter in the kitchen. I look out the large floor to ceiling windows to the moonlight reflecting off the lake and casting light into the house.

  The feeling of complete hopelessness I have grows as I sit in the quiet of the house. Before, when I thought she had died, I found some solace, knowing she was at peace.

  But this time, there is no peace. Nicolai would never allow her to have that. I saw it in his eyes when he looked at Pruitt. I saw that his plans for her were the opposite of peace and tranquility, and there is nothing I can do to stop him.

  We have no idea where he’s keeping her. Nicolai was smart by bringing the helicopter. It doesn’t leave tracks or a scent trail we can follow, and once in the air, they could have gone anywhere.

  “I’m so mad at her!” Remington’s voice cuts through the silence of the room. I hear footsteps to my left and turn to find my sister standing at the entrance to the kitchen. She looks exhausted, with dark circles under her eyes, and her skin looks paler.

  “I am too,” I admit.

  “And I feel guilty for being mad at her because she did what she did to save me—to save us.” She walks into the kitchen and stands next to me.

  “I wish I could feel guilty. All I feel right now is angry and betrayed.” My wolf is equally as pissed, and he’s clawing to get out. “I just don’t understand. Did she not believe I could win the challenge?”

  “I don’t think that’s it.” Remi shakes her head. “She wasn’t willing to allow anyone else to get hurt trying to protect her—especially you.”

  “But I am hurt!”

  Remi wraps an arm around my shoulders. “I know.”

  “How am I going to get her back, Remi? I don’t even know where to start looking for her. We know nothing about Nicolai or where he’d take her.”

  “You’re right. We don’t know anything about Nicolai.” Remi suddenly stands straighter. “But there’s someone who might.”

  36

  Pruitt

  Jax left the room right after he introduced himself as a demon and as my torturer, and I haven’t seen him or anyone else since. The fluorescent lights shining bright above me never dim or turn off and I struggle to know what time it is. I try to fall asleep, but the metal table I’m chained to and the light above make it difficult, and despite knowing that my chains are magically strengthened, I can’t help but pull against them over and over again.

  I spend the majority of my time thinking about Ryker. The look on his face when I walked into the clearing will probably haunt me until the day I die. I know how hard it was to leave him, but I can’t imagine being the one who was left behind.

  If by some miracle I’m ever able to see him again, I don’t know how I will ever look him in the eye knowing the hurt I’ve caused him.

  I have absolutely no idea how long it’s been since Jax left, but I jump when the electronically locked door buzzes open behind me.

  I can’t see him, but I recognize his scent and know this can’t be good.

  “Good morning,” Nicolai’s annoyingly chipper voice comes from my left. “Did you sleep well?”

  “Like a baby. The metal chains and this table were so relaxing. I don’t know how I ever slept without them,” I snap at him.

  “Well, it won’t be like this forever, Grey.” He smirks and pats my shoulder, reassuringly, causing me to recoil from his touch. “Once we’re able to break that stubborn wolf out, and we are mated, I’ll have you moved to a more—comfortable room.”

  I want to gag at the idea of mating with him, but I don’t let him see my disgust. Instead, I clench my teeth and give him a tight grin before saying, “Can’t wait. Also, my name isn’t Grey anymore.”

  “Ah, yes. Avery told me you went by Pruitt now.” Nicolai nods. “Do you know why that name was chosen for you?”

  I pause, realizing it was something I never got the chance to ask Addison. “No.”

  “It was your mother’s maiden name.” Nicolai smirks. “Genevieve Pruitt.”

  My blood boils when I hear her name come out of his mouth. “Don’t ever speak my mother’s name again. You lost all right to talk about her the night you had my father and her killed.”

  “You’re not exactly in a position to be making any demands.” Nicolai runs a finger down my face, starting at my brow bone before traveling down to caress my jawline. His soft touch changes abruptly when suddenly his hand is wrapped around my throat, slowly applying more and more pressure to my airway.

  “You’re going to need to learn your place here, Pruitt,” he says, spitting my name out. “You don’t get a say over what I do or what I say, especially what I do to you. You gave all that up the second you called me.”

  “You talk a lot, Nicolai,” I snarl. “But so far, I haven’t seen much action from you. What’s the matter, Nicolai? Performance issues?”

  I don’t know why I’m taunting him. I know it’s only going to come back to bite me in the ass, but I do it anyway. Maybe it’s because of the look on his face when my words slap him, or maybe it’s the fact my words are all I have left. I can’t move or change my situation, but I sure as hell can piss him off.

  “You stupid little bitch,” he growls before his grip tightens on my throat, and he pulls my head off the table, slamming it back down on the metal surface.

  I groan and clench my teeth against the pain. I know before I even open my eyes they have shifted into their wolf form because I feel my very angry wolf come to the surface, and when I look at Nicolai, there’s an expression of pure joy when he sees my eyes.

  “Ah, there she is,” he says gleefully, removing his hand from my neck. “Now that we’ve got her attention, we can begin.”

  The aroma of smoke from earlier fills the room, and suddenly Jax appears out of nowhere at Nicolai’s side. He’s dressed head to toe in black just like he was the last time I saw him, although today, he wears a loose black Henley shirt with the sleeves pulled up to his elbows.

  “I never thought you would be one to outsource your work,” I say to Nicolai, even though I’m glaring at Jax.

  “As much as it pains me to admit, Jax has a special set of skills that I don’t have,” Nicolai says. “He’s the best we’ve ever had here at the facility.”

  “Thank you, Sir.” Jax grins and nods his head, and I can’t help but notice his smile doesn’t reach his eyes.

  “As you know, Jax is a demon,” Nicolai says, his pale eyes scanning Jax, “and he has a very special skill of being able to control the fires of Hell. He uses this skill to do many different things, but the one that is most useful to my cause and me is his ability to infuse hellfire into your blood.” Nicolai’s sharp teeth mash together in a pleased smile. “You’re going to feel like you’re being burned from the inside out, Pruitt. And we will do this every day until your little wolf decides to make her appearance. When you can finally shift, I will mate with you, and you will bear me many sons.”

  “Just like these chains,” I say, lifting my hands, causing the chains to clank against the table, “my wolf is magically bound. In fact, the High Priestess herself did the binding. Do you really think you’re going to be able to break her free?”

  “Every spell can be broken. It sometimes just requires a little sacrifice and a lot of hellf
ire.”

  Nicolai nods at Jax. “I’ll be back in an hour to check your progress.”

  Nicolai left the room but not before giving Jax and me a knowing smirk. The excitement in Nicolai’s eyes frightened me, but I refused to allow him to see me afraid or in pain. That’s what he wants. He wants to see me broken and scared. I’m sure it makes him feel strong and in control, but really it makes him look weak.

  I watch Jax, who is searching for something in the white cabinets off to the side. I don’t even want to know what kinds of torture devices are stored in there, so instead of worrying about what kind of pain is headed my way, I begin to ramble.

  “So do you have horns? A tail, maybe? No, wait! Wings—do you have wings?”

  “There you go again, asking all kinds of personal questions. Didn’t we already have a discussion about this yesterday?” Jax’s words are distorted and muffled since his head is almost completely in one of the cabinets as he looks for whatever he needs.

  “Didn’t I tell you I no longer care about having manners?” I roll my eyes.

  “Your friend also didn’t have many manners.” There’s a smirk on his angled face when he turns around. “That girl almost took a guard’s eye out when she tried to escape.”

  “What friend?” I ask him.

  “Rimy, Rumi? I don’t know—something like that anyway.” He shrugs. “She had a mouth on her too. I swear I saw one of the former marine guards blush when she verbally attacked Nicolai.”

  “That’s Remi.” I can’t help the small smile on my face when I picture what she must have been like when they took her hostage. Remington has an attitude problem on a good day. I can only imagine she was a nightmare when being held. “She’s my best friend and my mate’s sister.”

  “Remi,” Jax repeats like he’s testing her name on his tongue. “I must say, she fought a lot harder against those chains than you have. What’s wrong, Blondie? Don’t feel like leaving?”

  “I’m exactly where I need to be.” I lift my chin. “As long as I’m here, the people I love are safe, and that’s all that matters to me.”

  “You say that now, but you haven’t felt the effects of the hellfire yet. After we’re done today, you’ll be begging me to let you go.” Jax walks closer to the table. I know he’s holding something, but I can’t quite make out what.

  “What is that?” I ask.

  “It’s a mouthguard.” He pulls the rubber guard out of its case. “We don’t want you cracking your teeth in half or biting off your tongue from the pain.”

  I feel myself break into a sweat and my heart rate picks up. “Is it really going to be that bad?”

  “It will be the worst pain you’ve ever felt.”

  I scoff. “My mate thought I was dead for most of his life, and we recently found each other again. I then proceeded to lie and scheme behind his back before temporarily paralyzing him and leaving him behind for the second time. If that didn’t completely break me, nothing will.”

  “I hope you’re right because I’m starting to enjoy your company, and I would hate to see you not survive this.” The demon grabs hold of my chin, and after a couple seconds of hesitation, I allow him to push the mouthguard over my teeth. “And for what it’s worth,” he adds, “I’m sorry it has to be like this.”

  That’s all he says before he places his palm on my chest, directly over my heart. I watch how his face contorts, and his eyes flare an even more vibrant violet.

  At first, I think it’s just the heat from his palm, but the burning hot sensation builds and builds. The heat spreads, and I swear I can feel my blood start to bubble and boil. And then it hits me. It feels like someone has dumped a bucket of lava and hot coals over my body. I scream in pain around the mouthguard. I wish I could spit the damn thing out because it feels like it’s suffocating me; my lungs struggle to expand and fill with air when I breathe.

  The pain started on my skin—the whole surface of it feels like it’s on fire, and now the burning sensation is in my chest and growing from there. My muscles feel like they’re being pulled apart, and my bones feel like they’ve all been shattered.

  I rear up, fighting against the chains so fast that Jax takes a hasty step back. When I look down at my body with blurry vision, I expect it to be covered in flames, but nothing is there. If someone were to walk into the room right now, they would not see anything physically wrong with me. There’s no wound or blood.

  I collapse back against the table as another searing round of pain enters my body. This time my back arches, and my arms and legs start to kick and thrash.

  “Make it stop!” I scream at Jax. “Oh my God, please make it stop!”

  “I can’t,” I hear him respond.

  My eyes will no longer focus, and I can only hope it means the sweet relief of passing out will soon follow.

  37

  Ryker

  Addison’s back is turned to us when we enter the barn. She has on a knitted cardigan than falls off one of her boney shoulders. Over the past month, since she told Pruitt she was sick, her health has taken a dramatic turn, and I can’t help but worry that now with Pru gone, she will give in to her illness. But I won’t allow that to happen because we will get Pru back, and when we do, she’s going to need her aunt in her life.

  “Noah said you guys were on your way here,” Addison says softly, without turning around to face us.

  “We hope we aren’t interrupting, we just wanted to ask you a couple questions.” Remi pushes past me and walks toward the woman. I watch as Remi pulls her into a tight hug, and they both sink into each other.

  I think back to when Noah and I talked and how he accused me of being selfish. He was right—I am selfish. I keep forgetting I’m not the only one who lost Pru this time. Remington lost her best friend, and Addison lost the girl she has raised as her own daughter.

  I cross the space and lean against a nearby table where the whole surface is covered with sketches and colored pencils. I notice a large sketchbook with Pruitt’s name elegantly scribbled across it. I look at Addison first and find her still wrapped in Remi’s arms, then I reach for the notebook and trace Pru’s name with my finger. It took me a while to get used to the name Pruitt, but now I don’t know if I could ever go back to calling her Grey.

  I fell in love with the name Pruitt, just like I fell in love with the woman.

  I quietly flip open the sketchpad, and my breath catches in my throat when I see what she’d sketched out last. I knew she was an amazing artist, but I didn’t realize she was a very talented designer as well. The gown she had drawn looks to be made of lace with a long veil to match.

  “It’s a wedding dress,” Addison says, drawing my attention back to her. “I decided earlier this year I wanted to try adding wedding dresses to the boutiques and Pru—she was so excited, and she volunteered to help.”

  “They’re beautiful,” Remi whispers after she takes the notebook from me and begins spinning through the designs. “I wish we would wear wedding dresses during the mating ceremony.”

  “Pru used to talk about her wedding all the time when she was growing up. She watched all those television shows about the brides picking their dresses. She would steal my white bedsheets to create make-shift dresses, and then she’d do a fashion show for me.” Addison smiles at the memory. “I guess a wedding was never in her cards…”

  “She did seem a little bummed when I told her wolf shifters don’t have weddings,” Remi agrees. “Oh, wow, this one is beautiful.”

  “She worked so hard on that one. I honestly believe she was designing it for herself.” Addison chuckles. “She’d shown me the other designs, but never that one. I think she was keeping it a secret so I wouldn’t put it in the store. I don’t think she wanted to share it.”

  “I don’t blame her, it’s amazing.”

  “She was very talented.” Addison frowns before correcting herself. “She is very talented.”

  “I’m going to get her back,” I promise her. “But we need your hel
p, Addison. We need to know more about Nicolai.”

  “I don’t know that much about him…” Addison shakes her head. “I only know what Genevieve told me.”

  “Anything will help, Addie,” Remi says, keeping her voice soft. “Our biggest problem is we have no idea where to start looking. Where is Nicolai from?”

  “I know he was born in Russia before relocating here. He killed the alpha of the largest pack in British Columbia, and he became their alpha. During a nationwide pack summit, he met Genevieve’s older brother, and that’s where he learned of her,” Addison sighs. “I’ve never told anyone this because Gen never wanted anyone to know where she was originally from in fear someone would slip and tell the wrong person, but the pack Genevieve was born into is based out of Vancouver, and that’s where we met.”

  “You’re Canadian?”

  “I was born in the states but moved there when I was in grade school,” Addison corrects.

  “Do you think Nicolai would go back to Canada?” I question.

  “I’m not sure. I know after Genevieve died, he walked away from his pack there and created another pack elsewhere. Noah had heard rumors his pack was made up of rogue wolves, but who knows if that’s true.”

  “Addison, why would Genevieve’s parents sell off their daughter?” I ask her. I don’t understand how anyone would willingly hand over his or her little girl to a monster like Nicolai. You can practically feel the ill-intent rolling off of him. “They had to have known what kind of man he was.”

  “I don’t think it was really their idea,” Addison starts. “Genevieve’s brother William was actually the one who pushed them to do it. He was much older than Gen, and from what I’ve heard about him, I think he was a little resentful of Gen.”