Page 86 of Soul Bound

“Is she your mate?”

“I don’t know. The mating aura hasn’t shown up yet, but I know I love her. My wolf loves her just as much as I do.”

“Must be a hang-up on her end that’s blocking the connection from forming,” Jax offers. “Does she love you?”

I don’t know.

“Winslow keeps her emotions pretty close to the vest.” I shake out my fingers, my knuckles starting to swell from the fight. “But I fucking hope so, man,” I admit.

“I do too.” Jax nods. “Because maybe she can help take that massive chip off your shoulder. Isn’t your back sore from carrying that thing around?” He rubs his shoulder for emphasis.

I snap my teeth at him. “Fuck off.”

He raises his hands in surrender but gives me a knowing look, “Justsayin’.”

Unable to stand still, I start pacing, stepping over the men on the floor as I go. Jax leans against the wall picking at imaginary lint on his sweater. I feel his gaze on me occasionally as I move back and forth.

I don’t know how long I pace the hallway. It’s long enough one of the men starts to stir, he groans and lifts his head from the marble floor. Jax is on him before he can call for help. Like he’s playing a game of soccer, Jax lines up and delivers a kick to the guy’s head, knocking him unconscious again.

I raise a brow at his actions.

He just shrugs. “What? I wasn’t taught how to play nice with others.”

Considering he was raised in a facility mostly byNicolai, I believe him. He didn’t exactly have the best role models to look up to.

The sound of the door opening softly has me spinning around and holding my breath. I’m immediately on the defensive, just in case it’s another guard. But the second I realize it’s Winnie, I relax. She looks a little wired and frazzled, but I don’t smell any blood on her. She’s okay—thank God.

Her two-toned gaze connects with mine and my chest constricts. This girl has found a way to wiggle her way into my heart—into my soul. I just know I will never be able to live without her now. My wolf calms at the sight of her, pleased to see she isn’t hurt as well.

I’m so busy making sure she isn’t hurt I don’t realize what she’s holding at first and when I do, I’m overcome with such relief and happiness, I can’t stop myself from smiling. She has the baby.

We fucking found the baby.

After everything that’s happened, we actually did it. We kept our promise to Thalia and we rescued her daughter. I spent months feeling guilty, carrying around a weight with me that I wasn’t able to save Thalia or her daughter. I let the guilt and anger consume me, and now that I see the infant nestled into Winslow’s chest, I feel both of those emotions fade away. And for the first time since Thalia died, I feel like I can fucking breathe.

Winslow smiles back at me, her eyes shine with emotion as she stares at me. I can’t look away from her face, I’m completely captivated by her.

And then it happens.

It’s like I was hit by a taser. An electrical current runs through my body, zapping every nerve ending I have. I scan my body for the source but don’t find anything. Across the room, a small gasp escapes Winslow and my eyes fly back to hers. I’m expecting to find her in trouble, but instead, I find her gaping at me, her eyes searching the space around me.

I do the same to her because around her is a shining gold aura.

The mating aura.

My wolf prances happily, overcome with joy she’s our mate. That she truly isours.Not that there was ever going to be any other option, there was no way I was letting her leave me and now she can’t. She’s fucking stuck with me.

A tremble of delight passes through me.

She’s mine.

“You’re glowing,” she finally whispers, her eyes wide as she stares at me.

I nod stiffly. “So are you.”

“Does this mean what I think it means?”

I’m rooted in place, still in shock. “Sure does sweetheart. You’re my mate.”

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