Page 8 of Wolf Bound

And at that moment, I see something else too. The same golden aura that surrounds the wolf in my dreams shines around Ryker, and the glittering golden air around him shimmers brightly in the sun.

I don’t know I’m moving before I find myself ducking around the corner from the window, out of sight from everyone’s view.

Hisview.

I place my face in my hands and take large, gulping breaths. I don’t know why I’m hiding.Well, maybe it’s because I’m absolutely going crazy and seeing things!

It’s time I sign myself into a mental institution. Very vivid dreams and sleepwalking are one thing, but when the craziness starts to creep into my real life, that’s when I need to get help.

Out of nowhere, my body feels like it’s been electrocuted. The shooting and zapping pain starts at my scalp and shoots through my skin. Gasping, I throw my hand over my mouth as nausea wracks my body so hard I’m lurching forward, vomit close to making its unsightly escape. I quickly make a beeline for the closest bathroom as the last thing I want to do is lose my lunch all over Margot’s pristine living room floor.

Just as I’m rushing past the front door, I hear a voice call to me. “Pru, you look like shit!” Remington hollers after me, her footsteps sounding as though they’re right behind mine. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

I barely make it to the toilet before I’m hurling my brains out.

4

Ryker

Iforgot about my father’s fiftieth birthday last week. Just add it to the list of reasons why I’m a horrible son.

Walking into my childhood home for the first time in five years is like stepping back in time. Very little had changed or moved. Mom had bought new sofas for the living room, and the chandelier in the entry is also different, but everything else looks the same.

While this place should feel like home and welcoming, for me, it feels like a graveyard. As if being back here wasn’t bad enough, we had arrived in the middle of my father’s birthday party, and from what I could tell, the whole pack is here.

Even though I’ve been gone for years, my inner wolf recognizes his pack members. While the human side of me has no issue being away from my family or pack mates, my wolf longs for the companionship. I know wolves are pack animals and forcing my wolf away from his community was unfair, but I simply couldn’t be here any longer.

My mom and little sister had burst into tears the second I walked through the front door. Both of them barreled into me at full force and just about knocked me on my ass, and my ribs still hurt from their death-grip hugs. My brothers had both given me a stiff one-armed hug before punching me in the arm and chest. My father’s reaction to my arrival was as expected. He gave me a curt nod and said it was good to see me. He, of course, didn’t miss the opportunity to comment on the number of tattoos that now cover my skin either. I have twice as many now as I did when I saw him last.

I guess a lot can happen in five years.

I haven’t yet had the heart to tell them the reason I’m here is to inform them of the rogue that is more than likely in or around the pack’s territory. I wish I were a good enough son to really be here to celebrate my father’s birthday, but I’m not. I’m the son who walks away from his family with no intention of ever looking back. I’m the son who hunts and kills things on a daily basis. I’m the son that enjoys doing it.

“Your family is welcoming,” Avery says from her spot to my left. We had all agreed to stay for my father’s party as we practically walked in as it was starting. It was a good excuse for Sawyer to catch up with his parents and old school friends. Besides, I didn’t have the heart to drag my father and his beta, Noah, away from the party to discuss rogue business. “And this house is amazing, andoh my God,look at the view. Why would you ever leave this place?” She gestures wildly with her hands at the property I grew up on. The large wood cabin-styled house sits on under four hundred acres of heavily wooded land and has the lake right in the backyard. It’s beautiful, and still, Ihateit.

“That pool is where Grey learned to swim and where we spent most of our last summer together.” I point to the large rectangle pool; a couple of small children swimming and splashing each other, having fun. “That tire swing is where Grey and Remi would take turns for hours pushing each other back and forth. And the tree stump next to it is where I would sit and pout, annoyed she wasn’t playing with me instead.” I honestly can’t believe the tire swing is still there. I would have thought my dad would have taken it down by now. “And the boat dock down there,” I continue, “is where my dad told me Grey and her parents had been killed.”

I watch as Avery looks down at the dock where several jet skis are tethered and then back at the pool where the screaming children play. “Looks a little different now, right?” I say sarcastically and hope Avery’s starting to see why being here is like being in a graveyard of what once were happy memories.

“Yes, it does. I’m sorry we had to come here. I can see how this would be tough for you,” she whispers after a small moment of silence. “Where the hell did Sawyer go?” she asks, effectively changing the tense topic of conversation. “Didn’t he say he would be right back with the good booze? Not that I’m complaining, but your parents’ alcohol selection out here is crap.”

“There are a bunch of families here.” Many of which had grown and aged in the past five years. I was a little surprised to see many of the people I went to high school with are now mated to each other and having children. There is only a small handful of kids here, but I know many of them belong to the people I grew up with. “My parents aren’t going to have the strong stuff out when it’s a family event.”

“Where’s the fun in that?” Avery grumbles.

“You were raised in a barn, weren’t you?” It’s a standing joke between us that Avery was literally raised by wolves. Her upbringing was anything less than a normal civilized life. From what she’s told us, her pack gave into their animalist nature more than most wolf shifter packs. While most try to let the human side of them lead, Avery’s pack preferred to spend a majority of their time in wolf form.

“Wolfden,actually.” She smirks as Sawyer makes his reappearance, a bottle of good whiskey in his hand. “Dude, finally, what took you so long?”

“Your dad moved the stash again, and I couldn’t find it,” Sawyer explains to me as he starts pouring some of the amble liquid into our empty wine glasses. “This girl Pruitt had to show me where your dad keeps it now.”

“Pruitt?” I ask, not recognizing the name.

“She’s a new friend of Remi’s. As far as I can tell, she’s human.” He shrugs before taking a swig of his drink. “Super hot though and there was something about her so familiar, I just couldn’t place it.”

“Gross. Human,” Avery snarls with a scrunched look on her face.

Sawyer laughs at her and teases her for her hatred for humans. Again, Avery explains her reasoning for her dislike or distrust; something about how human child protective services tried to remove her from her parents’ care when she was young. Her elementary school had called the service when they got worried about Avery’s socialization skills. Not that I think it had gotten any better since then.

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