Page 62 of Shadow Bound

“Sorry I’m late,” I tell her.

A sly smirk grows on her face. “Are you though? I wouldn’t blame you if you weren’t. Sounds like you two were having agrand ol’ time.”

I’m never going to get used to being around people who are just so…open. They don’t hold back or keep what they’re thinking to themselves. This is just how it is for people who’ve always had freedom of speech, I guess. The few times I back talked Nessa I was punished severely. I quickly learned my lesson.

“Uhh…”How the hell am I supposed to respond to that?Clearing my throat, I give her a sheepish look. “I’m sorry you—”

She holds up her hand, halting my apology. “Stop. I’m not mad. I know you haven’t exactly been welcomed warmly by everyone else, but I actually think you’re a great fit for him. Ransom needs someone with a little edge to them, otherwise he’d grow bored. You’re good for him, Beau.” Seems someone else has adopted my new nickname.

“I don’t think I’m good for anyone,” I admit honestly.

“I didn’t either. I was a mess, thought I was crazy and unstable, but Ranger showed me I was more than what my parents had been telling me my whole life. I wasn’t damaged, I just wasn’t where I needed to be to thrive.” She gives me that look again, the one that tells me she knows something the rest of us don’t. “You just need to find your person and your place in the world, and you’ll see what I’m talking about. You’re good for him, Beau.”

She’s barely been around me, has no idea what I’ve done, yet she can look at me like I’m somehow Ransom’s savior. I don’t think I’m his savior, I’ll more likely be his ruin.

Desperately needing to change the subject from Ransom, I scan the clearing. “What are we doing out here, Winslow?”

With an excited look on her face, she rubs her hands together. “I’m not a shifter or a kickass vampire like you.”

“Right,” I confirm the obvious.

She’s just a witch who can see the spirits of dead people and bring people back from the dead…

“Bad things are going to keep coming at this family—my family—until Sterling is taken care of. Each time that happens, I’m going to be tucked safely away from the fray and Ranger is going to worry about me the whole time. He can’t do that, he needs to be focusing on the enemy that’s in front of him,noton me. I don’t want to be weak and defenseless. I want you to teach me how to fight—maybe use some weapons.”

My eyebrows shoot to my hairline. I honestly had no idea what she was going to need help with, but this wasn’t even a possibility in my mind.

“First of all, Ranger is always going to worry about you. You’re his mate, that’s kind of part of the gig with being mates. You worry endlessly about them and want them safe. Or so I’ve heard. Second, does Ranger have any idea you want to do this?” I can’t help it, I look back at the house, expecting her angry mate to come storming out any second.

“I thought we discussed already that I don’t need Ranger’s permission,” she huffs. “Learning to protect myself won’t make Ranger completely stop worrying about me, but it might make him worry less. And that’s a win.”

Pursing my lips, I think it over. I have no problem teaching her some fighting skills and maybe some basics with weapons. I think everyone should be able to protect themselves and she’s right, bad people will continue to come at her family. At some point, she’ll more than likely need to defend herself. My problem is I’m already on thin ice with her family, I don’t need them being even madder at me.But… I do love to play with guns and knives.

A slow smile grows on my lips and I nod at her. “Alright.”

“Really?” She clasps her hands together.

“Yeah, let’s start with some hand to hand combat moves first.”

“Sounds good.” She marches forward, her chin lifted confidently. “You’ll go easy on me, right? Kinda ease me in?”

“Nope, trouble is headed our way as we speak. You don’t have the luxury of learning with a life jacket on. I’m dumping you into the deep end. You better learn to swim fast,” I tell her, my body humming with new energy. “Now, defend yourself.” With that, I throw my fist at her.

* * *

I’ve gotto hand it to Winslow, she’s a fast learner. She already had decent knife skills, having self-taught herself a few things. I helped her hone those skills until she was pretty deadly with a blade. We started with hand to hand combat, but Winslow barely weighs a hundred pounds and is about as tall as a fifth grader. She doesn’t have the size or strength to beat a shifter or other enemy with just her fists. She put in a lot of effort, but after an hour of me kicking her ass, I finally took pity on her and moved on to guns.

When we stopped at my storage unit in Wyoming, some of the supplies I’d gathered, other than more clothes, was weapons. Guns, knives, even some explosives. I wanted to be prepared for when Nessa and Noah showed up. Winslow had her own set of knives that we practiced with, but now she stands with one of my Glock’s in her small hand.

“Spread your feet more,” I instruct, kicking her legs wider with my foot. “You need to brace yourself better. The gun might be smaller, but it still packs a punch.”

Winslow lifts the gun, pointing it at the makeshift target we’d made out of a piece of plywood left over from the construction on her new house. She’d gone as far as to draw the outline of a person on it. Above the head,Dick Headis written in block letters with an arrow pointing down toward the man. Somehow our weapons training had turned into arts and crafts time there for a minute.

Winslow hasn’t actually shot the gun yet, first I taught her how to assemble and disassemble the weapon, wanting her to understand and be comfortable with it. With it unloaded, we practiced her stance and hand placement. It’s not that I’m afraid of her shooting me, we aren’t using silver bullets, the metal is poisonous to vampires, and as long as it’s not a headshot and I don’t lose too much blood, I’ll be fine. My advanced healing and incredibly high pain tolerance means I can take a bullet no problem, but there are other people loitering around in the woods. I’ve heard them lurking about, rumors of my arrival have probably spread like wildfire through the pack and they want to get a look at the vampire who tried to ‘kill’their alpha. The wolf shifters probably think they’re being sneaky, that I won’t be able to smell or hear them from a mile away, but I’m fully aware that they’re out there.

I’m actually pretty surprised that Ransom or Ranger haven’t come looking for us yet. I thought for sure they would come snooping around, trying to figure out what we’ve been up to, but after a couple of hours, there’s been no sign of them.

I adjust Winslow’s arms once more, making sure she’s standing correctly before taking a step back. The grin that grows on her lips probably would make most people nervous, the glint of…crazy…. in her eyes might also make people second-guess handing her a loaded weapon, but I can’t help but find it entertaining. After spending a couple hours alone with Winslow, I was right with my earlier assessment. I like her.

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