Page 35 of Wolf Bound

“You may lose her, but you’ll never be alone, Pru.” I hold both sides of her face between my hands. “I’m not going anywhere. Remi isn’t going anywhere. My family and the pack aren’t going anywhere. I promise you’ll always have us. You’ll always haveme,” I remind her.

“I know, but it won’t be the same without her.” Pru leans forward again and rests her head on my chest, her arms wrapping around my middle. “She’s the only family I remember having, and I don’t know how I’m supposed to make it through all this craziness without her.”

“You still have some time with her now. Focus on the days you have with her, not on losing her.”

“I don’t know how to do that. I know my parents died, but I don’t remember them, I mourned theideaof them more than I actually mournedthem. I miss them, but without those memories, it’s different. Addison, though…” Pru shakes her head as if searching for the words. “As far as I can remember, she’s the only thing that’s always been in my life, my one constant, and to not have that, to not haveher, I won’t recognize my life. Everything I knew or thought I knew is crumbling around me, and now Addie is going with it.”

“Your life isn’t crumbling around you. It’s changing,” I correct her. “Losing Addison will be a big change, but you will adapt to a world without her. You’ll be okay. I promise.”

“I just don’t see how that’s possible right now.” She holds me tighter. “Did you know she was in love with Noah? When she would visit my mom, she would sneak off and spend time with Noah. They would even meet up in different cities when Addison was traveling for work. She gave him up to raise me…”

It appears Addison disclosed more to Pru than just her diagnosis. “He loves her, too,” I confess. It may not be my secret to tell, but Addison doesn’t have enough time for secrets.

“Can they even be together? Since she’s human?”

“They can love each other as much as they want, but they can never be mated. That’s something special between shifters. And they both would have had to go through the change first before they can mate, in any case,” I try to explain the best I can. It’s hard to understand when you’re not raised in a shifter community. “Think of it as a sort of puberty shifters go through.”

“How old were you when you first shifted?” Pru asks as she pulls back from me. Tears no longer run down her face, and her eyes are already less red than they were.

“I was thirteen, which is the youngest anyone in our pack has ever shifted. Most males shift for the first time around sixteen, and females shift more around the age of eighteen.” I look down at the white shirt I’m wearing and find that black stains now cover the front of it. “I’m sending you my dry cleaning bill,” I joke with her, desperate to see her smile again.

“Oh please, like you’ve ever had anything dry cleaned before,” she says with a snort. A small grin appears on her face, but it doesn’t reach her eyes. “You said only shifters who have gone through the change can mate, what does that mean for…us?” She pauses. “Not that I’m ready to mate with you right now! I’m not saying I’ll never be ready to but… You know, just so I have all the facts?” she adds, stumbling over her words. It’s obvious, the idea of us mating makes her nervous.

“Pru, it’s okay. I know you’re nowhere close to being ready to go through the mating ceremony, and I can wait. I’ve waited fourteen years, what’s a couple more months,” I reassure her. If I had it my way, I would mate with her on the next full moon.

Wait, the full moon is tomorrow. Maybe that’s a little bit too soon…

“Ryker, I may never be able to shift, remember? So that means—”

“We might never get to complete the bond,” I finish for her, cursing the gods as I do. How could fate be this cruel to me?To us? We have waited so long to find each other, and now we might never get toreallybe together.

“Okay, there is only one thing for us to do.” Pru takes another step back and puts her hands on her hips, a look of determination on her face. “You need to teach me how to shift.”

16

Pruitt

“You need to relax,” Ryker says for the four hundredth time.

“If you tell me to relax one more time, I’m going to hit you.” I keep my eyes closed as I snap at him. We’re standing in the woods not far from the house. Ryker is trying the best he can to explain to me how to “call upon” my wolf. So far it’s goingfantastically. I’ve spent the past hour of my life having someone tell me to dig deep and picture my wolf. Then picture it taking shape where I stand. Oh, and I mustn’t forget the most important part—I have torelax.

Good God, how is any of this relaxing? I’m trying to call upon an animal that is caged deep,deepinside of me. Oh, and I just found out the only family member I’ve ever known is dying of an aggressive form of cancer.

But sure, let me just relax.

“It’s cute you think you’re fast enough to actually hit me.” He chuckles, and although I can’t see his face, I know there’s a cocky smirk on it.

“I did outrun you yesterday,” I remind him. “That was insane, by the way. I’ve never moved so fast in my life.”

“It was pretty amazing, which is why I know your wolf is in there and trying to break free of the binding spell. Well, that and the vicious growl you let out after I kissed—”

“Yep! I know who you kissed, there’s no need to bring it up again!” I crinkle my face at the memory.

“It proves your wolf is still awake inside of you, aware of her surroundings. She’s just, for lack of a better word,stuck.”

“Okay, how do we get herunstuck?” I ask, throwing my hands up in frustration. “Because we’ve been at this thing for a while, and nothing is happening.” Unable to stand it any longer, I open my eyes and look at him.

“I think our next step should be to go see Esme. She was the one who bound your wolf in the first place, she may know how to free it.”

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