Page 18 of Soul Bound

She gives me a sheepish smile. “Ranger is family. Family comes before girl code, sorry.”

I sometimes forget that not every family is like mine—some familieslikeeach other and will stand behind each other. I never had that. Montgomery’s aren’t known for their nurturing sides, why they wanted a child is beyond me. Emily Montgomery, my “mother” is the coldest person you will ever meet. I guess living on a strict diet of white wine and benzos will do that to a person. The only thing my dad, Cyrus, cares about is money and power—the more the better. I don’t get the feeling he will ever have enough of either.

I try a different tactic. “I don’t have any of my stuff here.”

“You can borrow some sweats to sleep in and I have extra toothbrushes,” Pru answers easily because it would seem she has an answer for everything.Great.

I scowl at Ranger and Pru. “Well, I don’twantto sleep here.” I’m this close to stomping my foot like a four-year-old throwing a temper tantrum.

“I didn’t want to deal with a pissed off ghost or a random chick tonight, but yet here we are. I don’t trust your ass to not flee the second we leave you alone. So, youwillbe staying here where I can keep an eye on you,” Ranger grabs my upper arms and starts pulling me down the long hallway. “And no offense Arizona, but the dark circles under your eyes are making my black eyes look good, you need to sleep.”

“You sure do know how to make a girl feel special.” I narrow my eyes at him, but I’m not sure he saw it because I’m abruptly shoved into a bedroom and the door is slammed in my face. “Stop it, this isn’t funny!” I slam my hands against the wood of the door and grab at the metal doorknob. But it won’t budge, because someone with superhuman werewolf strength is holding it on the other side. “Ranger!”

“Get some sleep, Winslow, we’ll talk more in the morning. I still have questions.” His deep gravelly voice comes from the opposite side, and I ignore the way it sends a shiver down my spine.

“I’m going to skin you and wear your fur as a hat!” I slam my palm against the door again for emphasis.

The asshole has the nerve to laugh at me.

Fuck the hat. I’m making him into mittens too.

6

Ranger

My body is stiff from sleeping on the ground outside the door of Winslow’s room. She screamedflight riskto me, so I insisted on spending the night guarding her door. I considered letting her leave last night, but since she had already tried to run away twice, I figured it was for the best if she was my prisoner for the night—and not in a kinky way, which would have been more fun than sleeping on Pru’s hardwood floor.

I walk in the kitchen rolling my right shoulder, trying to ease the soreness that now resides there. “Morning,” I grumble at Pruitt and Remington, who both sit at the kitchen counter drinking coffee. Remington had spent the night with Pru since Ryker is still out hunting a rogue wolf with Sawyer. Ransom left as soon as he possibly could last night. I find it comical he’s so spooked by the ghost. He’s been training with Ryker lately and has been going on rogue hunts, and from what I’ve heard, he’s become quite the killer. But some little spirit makes him run for the hills.

“Did the annoying bird wake you up too?” Remington asks me, speaking into her coffee cup she holds close to her chest.

I pour myself a cup as well, needing the caffeine boost from the shit sleep I had. “Bird?”

“Yeah, this stupid blackbird is sitting outside, squawking like a motherfucker. I’m this close to going out and wringing its neck.”

My eyes slide to Pru, who is shaking her head at her best friend. “She’s only on her first cup of coffee, so she’s feeling a little murderous.” Pruitt pats Remi’s head, my sister’s response is to glare daggers.

“It’d be great if you didn’t kill Poe.” A soft voice comes from behind us. “He can be annoying, but he means no harm.”

I turn to find Winslow standing there, leaning against the wall. Her hair looks a little tangled from sleep and her unique eyes look soft like they’re still trying to wake up from being asleep. We never did give her a change of clothes to sleep in, so she still wears the same clothes as yesterday and they’re very rumpled.

“Poe?” I raise a brow at her.

“Yeah, the bird you’re talking about—he’s a raven and his name is Poe.” She peers out the big windows, I assume she’s trying to spot the feathered creature. “You know, like Edgar Allan Poe? He has a poem calledThe Raven.”

“So, he’syourbird?” Remington glares. “Can you ask him to please shut the fuck up? He’s the worst alarm clock that’s ever lived.”

Winslow shrugs, not answering the question. “He was probably trying to get me to come outside, but I passed out the second my head hit the pillow last night and I didn’t hear him.”

I bite my tongue, stopping myself from sayingI told you so.

My wolf is pleased to see the dark circles have started to fade. Again, I’m confused as to why my wolf feels so protective of this human. He’s never acted like this before.

“Do you have berries or walnuts?” Winslow glances back at Pruitt.

“I have some blueberries, Ryker puts them in his smoothies, but I doubt he’ll care if I share them.” Pruitt grabs the container from the fridge and walks them over to Winslow. She eyes her suspiciously, but hands over a handful of berries.

We stay inside while Winslow walks out onto the back porch, within seconds, a huge black bird swoops in and perches itself on the railing. Winslow smiles at it. Her smile does something that I don’t like—it makes my heart skip a beat and my wolf feels smug and content at the sight of it.

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