Page 94 of Wolf Bound

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The only timeI 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 overgreatwith 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 howhandyhe 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.”

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