Page 93 of Soul Bound

I cock my head and look him over. “Wait,canyou shift?”

He grabs an apple from the bowl on the counter, he takes a big bite and shrugs his shoulders noncommittally, not exactly answering the question.

“I was thinking about this earlier,” Remi announces to Jax. “You’rebasicallya hellhound. You know because of your whole hodgepodge, alphabet soup, wolf shifter, demon DNA.”

Ransom’s eyes widen. “She’s right, youarea hellhound.”

“Hellhound Jax,” Remi muses, a pleased smile on her face.

“I amnota hellhound.” He growls at her.

“Touchy…” she drawls. “It’s clear you’re not a fan of the new nickname but I’ve got to be honest with you,I dig itand I willprobablycontinue to use it. It’s best you just come to terms with it now.”

Jax’s violet eyes flash bright and he bares his teeth at her. She doesn’t flinch or bat an eye at him, just stares coyly back at him. He snarls once more at her in warning before he vanishes, leaving the scent of smoke in his wake.

Ranger shakes his head at his sister’s antics. “One day you’re going to go too far with your jokes and he’s going to bite you.”

Remi smirks. “I wouldn’t complain if he did.”

I hide my face in Ranger’s chest, sniffling a laugh. His free arm immediately wraps around me on instinct, holding me close to him.

“Remington…” Ransom warns. “That man is all kinds of messed up, you can see it in his eyes. He isn’t right in the head. Based on how he was raised, and the things Nicolai made him do, I understand why.Andhe’s a demon,” he adds at the end.

Remi purses her lips and eyes her brother. “I’m not seeing your point.”

“Of course, you’re not,” Ransom grunts.

“Remi, he’s just trying to look out for you,” Ranger tries. “He doesn’t want you to get hurt. You’re going to find someone who’s right for you, it’s just not Jax.”

“Hey!” She wags a finger at him. “Just because you’re only hours away from being allwifed-upand you’re all gooey and love-struck right now, you don’t get to start on me. I’m not looking at him as the person that’srightfor me. I’m looking at him like he’s hot as sin and fun to play with.”

Wifed-up.I smile at this. We aren’t getting married like Ryker and Pruitt. I’ve never dreamed of having a wedding like Pru did, and the idea of walking down an aisle in a white poufy dress makes me break into hives. Tonight is the full moon and we are completing the mating ceremony. We agreed we didn’t want to wait another month for the next full moon.

We’ll officially be matedtonight.

I was nervous to tell his family and Esme when we got back to Montana we are mates, but everyone was ecstatic for us. Margot broke down into tears again, and Esme had hugged me so tightly my ribs hurt for hours. Ransom pouted and pretended like I was breaking his heart, his theatrics earned him a punch from his brother. Even Elias seemed happy with the news and welcomed me to the family.

Family.

After tonight, not only am I going to be bound to the love of my life, I will also be gaining a family. A real family, one that loves each other and looks out for each other. It’s a family I’m excited to join.

I pat Ranger’s bare chest before pulling away. “Ignore them, Remi. If you want to have some fun, I say go for it.” I ignore the dirty look Ranger sends me.

I understand everyone is overprotective of Remi, she’s the baby and the only girl, but they can’t shelter her forever. Everyone has to go out and make mistakes, that’s how we learn and grow as people. I wouldn’t be where I am now if I hadn’t made some bad choices in the past, but I’m thankful for them because they brought me here. They brought me to Ranger.

Ella starts to fuss, and I remember we’re supposed to be feeding her. “We need to give her a bottle.”

“I want to do it!” Both Remi and Ransom yell at the same time.

“You did it last time!” Remi whines at her brother.

“I did not, Ryker fed her last,” Ransom argues.

“She’s leaving soon. I have to get more bonding time in with her, so she’ll remember me.” Remi looks at Ella and frowns.

“She’s three months old, she’s not going to remember any of this,” Ranger scoffs.

Thank God. I don’t want her to have any memories from her time in Sterling’s organization.

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