Page 44 of Wolf Bound

“I’m sorry, Margot, that must have been very difficult,” Pru tells her. “But if the male population outweighs the females, that means there aren’t enough females to mate with. Which means…” Pru pauses when it all clicks for her. “That’s why there are so many rogues.”

“It’s a vicious circle.” I shake my head. “As long as the births of females are low, there will be an increase in rogue wolves.”

“Is there anything that can be done to help?”’ Pru asks.

“There haven’t been any breakthroughs thus far, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be one in the future,” Mom says before a smile appears on her face. “I haven’t given up hope of the prophecy coming true.”

“Uh, Mom, you’ve got to let that go,” Remi moans in frustration. “It was just an old wives tale they used to tell you when you were growing up.”

“No, it wasn’t,” Mom defends. She’s always been very defensive when it comes to the prophecy. Always believing it was true even when everyone around her believed otherwise.

“Wait. What prophecy?” Pru questions.

“It’s some story about how this white wolf will stop the decline of our population.” Remi shrugs dismissively.

“That’s not it, and you know it.” Mom rolls her eyes at Remi before looking at Pru. “The prophecy sayswhen the white wolf walks this Earth once more and finds her mate, so will the rest of us.” Mom grins as she repeats the same sentence she used to say to us while we were growing up. Instead of bedtime stories, we heard about the white wolf.

“I don’t get it. What’s so important about a white wolf? I’ve seen white wolves at the zoo before…” Pru’s eyebrows gather in confusion.

“Yes, there are whitewildwolves. But there has never been a white wolfshifter,” Mom explains. “This prophecy has been passed down for hundreds of years, and it’s very well known. Had there been a white shifter born, we would have all heard about it.”

Pru still doesn’t look like she fully believes the story, and I understand why. It all sounds farfetched. “People are holding out hope a white wolf will come into existence, and when she finds her mate, everyone else will too?”

“That’s the idea.” Mom nods. “There’s nothing wrong with having a little bit of hope that one day, things will get better.”

“Thereissomething wrong with putting your hope into some fable,” Remi snorts. “Come on, Mom, be serious. You don’t honestly believe that do you?”

“I think there’s a reason this story has been passed down for so many generations and that it’s even widely known in other shifter communities, not just us wolves.” Mom does have a point there. It’s just not us wolves who’ve heard the prophecy of the white wolf, and ithasbeen passed around to all other shifters. I’ve even heard the vampires know about it. “I’m going to remind you of this conversation if it actually happens,” Mom says, giving Remi a pointed look.

Shaking my head, I glance over at Pruitt. “We should probably head to Esme’s,” I tell her before I stand and move to pull her seat out for her.

“Do I have to change?” Pru looks down at the cut off shorts, and my oversized hoodie she’s wearing. I love the fact she’s wearing something with my scent on it, thus making her smell of me. It’s a way of marking her that makes my wolf happy.

“No, you don’t have to change,” I assure her, reaching for her hand as we walk out of the room.

“I still can’t believe we’re going to go see a witch,” she mumbles under her breath.

“You’re in our world now.” I smile at her. “This is just the beginning of the crazy.”

Behind us, I hear Remi choke on something. “For the love of God, what is in this smoothie, and why does it taste like dirt?”

“She isn’t wrong.” Pru covers her mouth with her free hand to stifle her laughter.

19

Pruitt

Ilook around Esme’s shop like I did a couple of days ago, but this time I know Esme is a witch, and the things I’m looking at aren’t just for decoration. They’re meant for spells and charms.

“Well, if it isn’t Ryker Weylyn,” Esme's musical voice comes from behind us, and we spin to look at her. Unlike the other night when she was wearing the long skirt and loose blouse, she has on a simple pair of jeans and a floral top. It’s understated compared to what she was wearing before. Her eyes are as dark as I remember them being, so black I swear they reflect the light.

“Esme.” Ryker smirks at the woman, and reaches down to give her a big hug. “It’s good to see you.”

“I never thought I would see you in my shop again,” Esme responds before leaning back to check him over. “Now, let me get a good look at you.” She starts at his toes, and her gaze travels up, taking in every aspect of him. “Your aura looks much better than it did the last time I saw you. I would assume this pretty girl would have something to do with that.” She waves her hand in my direction. “Having Grey back in your life must bring you such relief.”

“It’s Pruitt,” I correct her. “My name is Pruitt. I…I don’t remember being Grey Thorne. And that’s actually why we’re here.”

“You were the one who locked away her memories and her wolf,” Ryker explains. “And now we need you to get them out.”

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