A whimper of distress comes from her before she says, “Oh God.”
“What?”
“I’m going to be naked! Your brothers cannot see me naked, Ryker.” Her voice is full of panic when she realizes her clothes are torn to shreds.
“I don’t think either of us would enjoy that,” I agree with her before turning to look at my family that stands off to the side. “Can you guys go do a perimeter check for a minute while she shifts back? And Dad, can I borrow your coat?”
I take the jacket from my dad as they pass us. I wait for them to round the corner of the building before turning my attention back to my scared mate.
“Okay, we can do this. Just do what I said,” I assure her calmly. “Picture yourself in your human form.”
“Okay.”
It takes several minutes before the white fur starts to be replaced by tanned naked skin and long blonde hair. Her vibrant green wolf eyes shift back into their equally pretty human ones, and her fangs and claws retract. As happy as I was to see my mate in wolf form, I’m more ecstatic to see her crouching in front of me as a human.
“Hey,” I say when she looks up at me, and I can’t help the goofy smile that appears on my face.
“Hi.” She smiles back before she launches herself at me. She wraps her arms and legs around my middle and holds me tight in her grasp.
I fall to my butt, and my chest still burns, but it doesn’t stop me from wrapping her up in my arms and holding her close to me. My wolf howls in happiness in my head, having her safe back in my arms. I hear her sniff a couple of times and I feel my own eyes sting with tears of pure joy.
We stay like this for several minutes before she leans back and presses her mouth against mine. I immediately kiss her back, and after the last few days of being away from her, I’m desperate for her touch.
Her fingers travel my back and neck before stopping at my scalp. Her mouth stills, and she pulls away, her eyes narrowing as she frowns and glares at me. “What the hell did you do to your hair?”
The only time I let go of her hand is when she puts on a pair of clean scrubs Ranger found for her somewhere inside. But other than that, I never leave her. Even now, as she’s hugging Remington, I hold one of her hands. I have a feeling it’s going to take a while before I’m ever willing to let her out of my sight. And I’m sure that’s going to go over great with her.
“Oh my God, Pruitt!” Remington squeals into her shoulder as she holds her tight. I notice Remi’s hands are still stained with Jax’s blood from trying to stop the bleeding. “That was amazing. Kind of gross, but amazing.”
“I—I can’t believe I can shift.” Prue smiles so hard, I swear her face looks like it’s going to crack.
I waited for Pru to say something about her white fur when she shifted back, but when she didn’t, I decided we would wait until we got home to tell her. She’s had a tough couple of days, and I don’t think adding to it right now would be wise. She needs a minute to calm down and breath before we drop that bombshell.
“That was pretty cool, Blondie,” Jax adds from where he leans against the brick building. “And you killed him like you promised.”
“I told you I would.” She gives Jax a knowing smirk.
“If you hadn’t done it, I would have found a way to. The fucker had me shot.” Jax rubs the spot on his chest. “Shit fucking hurt.”
“Are demons affected by silver too?” I ask him.
“No, but that doesn’t mean a bullet entering my body didn’t still hurt.” Jax rolls his purple eyes.
“And he’s only part demon,” Pru says.
“Yes, we saw how handy he was with hellfire.” I glare at Jax. “I’m still not happy about him using it on you, though.”
“He didn’t have a choice,” Prue says in defense of Jax, shocking me. “And I think he’s more than made up for it, don’t you?”
“Yeah,” Jax chimes in, “and it got me shot, so a little thank you would be appreciated.” Jax sticks his finger through the bullet hole in his shirt. “Ruined my favorite shirt as well,” he says under his breath.
“Thank you for your help, Jax,” I concede. I hate to admit it, but I don’t think we would all be alive if Jax hadn’t taken out as many of the guards as he had. Which reminds me... “Was William with the passed out guards you rounded up?” I ask him.
“No, bastard must have woken up before everyone else and gotten away. I can go find him if you’d like?” Jax offers. I’m not surprised he’s gone. He is a wolf shifter after all, and most of the guards were human. Meaning the effects of the hellfire probably wore off faster on William, and he got the hell out of Dodge.
“Who’s William?” Pru asks.
“He’s your uncle.” Jax shrugs. “They had him tied up in the back of their SUV when I found them. It was awesome.”
Pru shoots me a confused look, and I shake my head. “I’ll explain it all later,” I tell her.
44
Pruitt
We all agree we can’t leave these poor people locked up in this hellhole any longer. We break off into teams to open all the doors. The ones who want can leave or wait for the authorities we've already called. We figure we have about fifteen minutes before the cops get here, and we work fast since we want to be gone before then.
“You’re safe now,” I tell another scared coyote shifter. She looks at the open doors and then back at me. “I promise this isn’t a trick. Now go before the authorities show up.”
The woman shifts into a petite coyote and sprints out the door. She pauses down the hallway and looks back at us. I swear I see her nod her head, almost like she’s saying thank you.
“I’m glad we’re able to help them,” Ryker says after she’s gone.
“Me too, but this is just one facility. Jax thinks there’s more located all over North America.” I frown at the thought that there are more women being treated like this. “And Nicolai wasn’t the mastermind behind all of this either. There’s some guy out there named Sterling who is funding and creating this madness.”
My stomach rolls when I remember the taste of Nicolai’s blood on my tongue. I have no remorse for killing Nicolai, but no matter what, I took someone’s life today, and that’s something I can never take back or undo. When we walk past another empty room of a recently liberated woman, I immediately feel better that by me taking the life of an evil man, I was subsequently able to save the lives of many.
“We’ll find them all.” Ryker pulls me to his side and wraps his arm around me. “We will find this Sterling guy too.”
“Glad to hear you say that because I promised Jax that if one day he needs my help finding Sterling, I would be there no questions asked.” I bite my lip nervously as I can tell by the way Ryker looks at Jax that he isn’t a fan of the demon. I’m afraid he’ll be mad at me for making such a promise.
“After what he did today, I think it’s safe to say we owe him one.” Ryker leans down and kisses my head. “Although I’m still not happy he used hellfire on you.”
“He was created in one of these labs, Ryker, and he’s made it his life’s mission to find Sterling and kill him. He thought doing what Nicolai told him to do would bring him closer to that goal, and honestly, I don’t blame Jax for being willing to do anything to find and stop that man.”
I look inside the glass cell and find another woman on a ventilator, connected to all kinds of machines. “Look at her. I would probably do the same thing Jax did if it meant I could save them.”
Unfortunately, we can’t do anything to help the woman connected to the machines since don’t want to cause any further damage. The best we can do is wait for the cops to call in a medical team. Elias has already put a call into Noah to tell him what’s going on here. Noah then, in turn, called his wolf shifter contacts in Vancouver, and that’s who’s on their way here now. We didn’t want human cops and doctors sniffing around this place, but still, we’d rather not be present and have to answer a lot of questions.
“There
’s still something we need to do before we can bring down the breeding program.” Ryker stops walking and looks down at me. “I want to do the mating ceremony as soon as we get home.”
I smile at him so big, it’s almost painful. “I couldn’t agree more.” I rise on my tippy toes and plant a soft kiss on his mouth. “I can’t wait to be mated to you.”
“Me too.” He smiles back at me, but there’s also an odd look in his eyes when he looks down at me.
“What is it?”
“When you shifted—” he starts to say but is interrupted by Ranger coming around the corner with blood on his hands.
“Ranger!” I gasp before rushing down the hallway toward him. “What happened? Are you hurt?” I ask as I look him over, searching for the source of blood.
“It’s not mine.” His face is void of any emotions. “It’s hers.”
We look into the room he’s pointing to and through the open doors of what looks like an operating room or sorts. In the middle of the room in a single operating table with a lifeless woman lying there. Her glassy eyes stare blankly up at the ceiling.
“What happened to her?” Ryker asks as we move to the doorway, and now that we are closer, I see and smell the fresh blood coming from a large incision on her still swollen belly.
“They just left her here.” Ranger looks at the woman. “They cut out her baby and they just…left her here.”
“Oh, God.” I put a trembling hand over my mouth. “Where is the baby now?”
“They took it.” Ranger shakes his head and looks away from the lifeless body that lies before us. “She said it was a girl,” he adds before he turns and walks down the corridor without us. His head hangs low, and I can see from here his blood-covered hands are shaking.
When we leave the building, there is no sign of Ranger. I’m worried about him and thinking of little else as we head toward the car they said they left a mile or two down the road. Everyone is quiet, and Ryker still hasn’t left my side. I get the impression he has no intention of ever doing so again, and right now I’m okay with that.
I’ve never been so scared in my life as I was when I watched Ryker slump to the ground after the bullet ripped through his chest. I will forever be grateful for the fact shifters can heal fast. I know if Ryker had been human, he would have bled out instantly. Since the bullet was silver, he’ll be a little sluggish for a few days, and he may not be able to shift until all the silver particles have cleared his system, but that’s okay.
We’re okay.
When we get to the car, we find Jax leaning against the bumper with his arms crossed in front of him. He lifts his head when he hears us nearing. Like the rest of us, he has dark circles under his eyes, and he looks exhausted. I know I haven’t slept in… I don’t actually know how long, but I know it’s been too long, and with the threat lifted from the people I love and myself, I feel the exhaustion starting to settle in my body.
“Get everyone out okay?” Jax questions.
“Almost.” I smile sadly when I think of the dead mom. “I hate these people.”
“Don’t have to tell me that.” Jax gives a knowing look. I told Ryker about how Jax was a product of the breeding program, but I didn’t tell him Jax’s father is, in fact, Sterling. While I’m not keen on keeping secrets from Ryker, it’s not my secret to tell.
“I know.” I lean against the car next to him. I can here Ransom and Ryker talking to Ranger on the other side of the car. I sigh in relief, knowing Ranger is here and not off wandering the woods. “So, what’s next for you?”
“I’m going to find my father,” Jax announces, his voice full of determination. “And along the way, I’m going to take out as many of these fucking places as possible.”
“Sounds like a good plan,” I praise. “Let me know when you need help. I’ll be there.”
Jax looks at the ground and smirks. “You know, before I met you, I didn’t trust anyone. I mean, why should I? But now, when you say you’ll be there to help me, I believe you.”
“Of course.” I pat him on his shoulder. “That’s what friends are for.”
Jax’s violet eyes light up as he looks around to see if anyone was listening to what I said. “I told them we were friends!”
I laugh at this because who would have thought I would have made a friend out of all of this? I went in to be tortured and left with my torturer being an ally. “Never thought I would have a demon as a friend,” I joke.
“I never thought I would have a friend.” Jax smirks. “Thank you for that.”
“Only took a couple doses of hellfire for me to like you.” I smirk at him.
“I’m still impressed by you, Blondie, but now that I’ve seen you shift, I understand why you were able to survive the hellfire.” Jax gives me a look I don’t quite understand. It’s similar to the look Ryker was giving me before Ranger showed up covered in blood.
“What does that mean?” I question. “Did something else happen when I shifted?” I didn’t think anything special happened when I shifted. I figured all the weird looks I was given were because my wolf finally broke through.
“You don’t know?” Jax raises his dark brows in question.
“Know what?” Ryker asks when he comes around the car and stands next to Jax.
“You didn’t tell her she’s a white wolf? And the whole prophecy thing?” Jax looks at Ryker and cringes when he sees the disturbed look on Ryker’s face. “What? I thought you would have told her by now! It’s kind of important information.”
“I—” Ryker starts.
“Hold up.” I raise my hand to get them to stop talking. “When I shifted, I was a white wolf? Like from the story your mom told us about?” When I shifted, it didn’t even occur to me to see what color my fur was. That was the last thing on my mind at that point.
Ryker scratches the back of his neck before huffing out a breath. “I was going to wait until we got home before I told you. I figured you needed a couple of days to adjust to everything before I added that in…” Ryker looks me in the eye when he says, “You’re a white wolf, the first white wolf shifter to be born in centuries.”
I think back to the morning Margot told us the fable-like story about the white wolf. She had said, ‘when the white wolf walks this Earth once more and finds her mate, so will the rest of us.’ I honestly didn’t put much thought into it when Margot recited the tale, but now I’m starting to think I should have asked her more questions.
“Just because she’s a white wolf doesn’t mean the prophecy is true,” Remi interjects. “Okay, yes, technically she is a white wolf, and that is very shocking. But I don’t think that immediately makes her the white wolf.
“That’s true,” Ransom agrees with her, “And besides, Pru already found her mate, and nothing happened.”
“Exactly,” I nod at him as I push off the car and stand up straight. “You know what? I don’t want to deal with this right now. Can we please just go home?”
When I think of home, I think of Addison. I haven’t gotten a chance to call her and talk to her myself, but Elias has been in contact with Noah, so she knows I’m okay.
“Of course.” Ryker pulls me to him, and I rest my head against his chest. I don’t even care he’s still wearing his blood-soaked t-shirt. “Maybe we can contact Esme when we get back. If anyone is going to have more information about the prophecy it’s her.”
“That witch knows everything,” Elias sighs. “Sometimes I think she knows too much.”
“Is this the same witch who did the spell that bound your wolf?” Jax asks.
“The one and only.” I nod.
Jax lets out a low whistle. “Give her my regards. That was one hell of a powerful spell that even my hellfire couldn’t burn away.”
“Where will you go now, Jax?” Remi asks him. I don’t miss the look on her face when she looks up at the attractive demon. “Ever been to Montana?”
“Nope.” He shakes his head. “And I don’t know where I’ll go yet. I have to c
hase down a couple leads, but I’m sure you’ll all see me again.”
“Can’t wait,” Ryker says dryly, causing me to elbow him in the ribs.
“You don’t have to lie, I know you’ll miss me.” Jax smirks at Ryker before he starts to back away from the group. He smiles and winks at me before saying. “See you later, Blondie.”
“Be safe, Demon Boy,” I reply.
And then he’s gone.
“Is it bad I want to be a demon so I can do that?” Remi asks, breaking the silence that fell over the group after he disappeared.
“Yes,” Elias grumbles from the front seat of the car.
“Is it the hellfire power or the demon thing you don’t approve of?” I hear her ask while she climbs into the back seat with Ranger.
“Both,” Elias replies.
I smile at them and then up at Ryker. “I’m still mad at you for putting your life at risk to find me… but thank you.”
“I’ll always find you.” He presses a kiss onto my forehead. “Let’s go home.”
45
Pruitt
I’ve been home for a week now and have been splitting my time between the Weylyns’ house and Addison’s. But no matter where I decide to spend the night, Ryker is there. He made it clear when we got back he wasn’t letting me spend the night away from him again. And after spending a couple nights chained to a metal table, the idea of sleeping curled up against him sounded great to me.
Since I’ve been back, I’ve been waking up in the middle of the night with nightmares of Nicolai killing Ryker, and having nightmares is something I’ve never experienced before. Sure I’ve seen some scary movies that caused some unpleasant dreams, but the ones I’ve been having since I’ve been home have felt so real. Similar to when I was dreaming about the black wolf that ended up being Ryker, I feel like I’m truly living these dreams. I wake up yelling and drenched in sweat, but every time it happens, Ryker calms me down and holds me close until I fall asleep again. I feel terrible I’m waking him up every night, but I’m thankful he’s there.
Wolf Bound (The White Wolf Prophecy Book 1) Page 30