Page 90 of Wolf Bound

“You must be Ryker.” He nods in my direction as he pushes off the car and stands straight. “I wasn’t sure which one of you was. Also, Blondie, I mean, Pru, isn’t mad at me about the whole torture thing. You shouldn’t be either.”

Images of Pruitt being tortured and in pain fill my head, and my legs push off the dirt road shooting me forward toward Jax. Fueled by rage, I bring my fist back, fully intending to smash this guy’s face in, but in the blink of an eye, he disappears, and the smell of smoke fills the air. I look around and don’t see him anywhere. My family does the same thing, their gazes glancing frantically around the car and the nearby treeline for him, but he’s nowhere to be found.

“What thehell?” Remi drawls.

“Only part hell, sweet cheeks.” Jax suddenly appears at Remi’s side. “Try to kill anyone recently? I think the guard you almost took down while you were being held by good Ol’ Nico had to go to therapy.”

“How do you know me?” Remi takes a step back from him and scowls. “How are you doing that?”

“I was lurking around when Nico brought you back to his hideout in Montana. As for your other question… I’m part demon, and I’m fairly good with the whole hellfire thing—it’s a rare ability, but I can use it to travel between the physical planes of the world…” Jax trails off and gives her a look. “I—is this really important right now? Don’t you think we have more urgent business to attend to?”

“How do we know you can be trusted and you’re not just one of Nicolai’s loyal soldiers?” Ransom questions him before I can.

“You people aresoparanoid,” Jax says, huffing. “Pruitt asked me to come here and help you guys. Nicolai told her his plans for Ryker, and she’s freaking thefuckout since she knows he’s more than capable of doing what he promised.”

“I still don’t know how we’re supposed to trust you.” I cross my arms and narrow my eyes at him. “You’re a demon, after all. Theyarenotoriously untrustworthy.”

“Partdemon,” Jax corrects. “Pru told me that the last thing she told you before she left was she would find a way to be okay, but if we wait out here any longer, she’s not going to beokay.”

I hadn’t been able to wipe away the tears streaming down her face when she told me that since I was under the effects of the paralytic, but her words had broken my heart. She was trying to be so strong for me—forallof us. There is no way for Jax to know what Pru whispered to me in the clearing without Pru telling him herself.

“Okay, I believe you,” I concede. “Now how do I get my mate out of there alive? Preferably with all of us alive?”

“I have a plan, but we’re going to have to act fast if it has any chance of working.” Jax takes a couple steps down the road before turning back to look at all of us. “Leave the car here, it will probably be for the best you don’t literally drive through Nicolai’s front gate.”

I’m the first to follow the demon, while my family hesitates at first. Each of them has a worried look on their faces. I should probably be more worried than I am, but I’m less than a mile away from my mate, and that’s all I can think about. My dad is the one who finally makes a move to follow us, and then my siblings fall in line behind.

As we pass the back of the SUV, we all hear the muffled sounds of someone gagged and trying to call out from inside. There’s also a slight thumping noise that follows the faint calls.

“Is there someone tied up in your car?” Jax raises a brow in question when he looks back at us.

“Yes. It’s Pru’s uncle, actually.” Remi grins proudly.

Jax looks between the car and us before a smirk appears on his face. “Awesome.”

* * *

The satellite imageswere a couple years old and didn’t show the ten-foot brick wall with barbed wire on top of it. And from what I can see from our vantage point behind a thick cluster of trees, the only way in or out is the metal gate has been conveniently left open. Being wolf shifters, we’re able to see really well in the dark, so while the human guards patrolling the area can’t see us, we can see them.

But for Jax’s plan to work, they can’t see us until we want them too.

I wait for a guard to pass us before reaching for William, who’s still bound and gagged. We had put a silver cuff on his arm before we left his apartment building, so he’s unable to shift. His eyes widen in fear when I drag him closer to me. Jax had laughed when he saw William hog-tied in the back of the car, and honestly, under other circumstances, I would have too.

I grab hold of the tape over his mouth and rip it off. Lucky for him, he’s clean-shaven, so I doubt it hurt as bad as it could have.

“Dammit!” he growls in pain.

“Shut the hell up, you big baby.” Remi rolls her eyes at him.

“I’m going to laugh when Nicolai tears you all apart.” William sneers at us. “And you,” he adds, glaring at Jax. “When he finds out you’re helping these people—well, you’re going to wish you were never created.”

“Too late for that, buddy.” Jax flips him off.

“Shut up,” I growl at them all before I push William out of the treeline we’re hiding in. He stumbles but quickly regains his balance. “Go call for help and pray to God I don’t ever get my hands on you again because if I do, I’m going kill you.”

William gives us all one last look before he takes off running down the dirt road. His movements are weird and awkward since his arms are still tied behind his back.

“They’re down there! Someone go fucking kill them!” he yells at the guards. “Why are you just standing there? Did you not hear what I said? They’re right there!”

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