Page 39 of Shadow Bound

“I already know that it wasn’t.” She said Alexandre would have killed her if Sterling asked him to. I wouldn’t kill my own siblings for anything in the world. “What was your point to this conversation? Are you warning me about her?”

Winslow places her hand on my forearm. “Yes. I’m warning you that if you truly are developing feelings for Isabeau like I think you are—don’tlook at me like that Ransom Weylyn,” She chastises when I scowl at her. “You never would have gotten between your twin and her if you didn’t have some kind of feelings for her.” She rolls her dual-colored eyes. “I’m warning you that you’ll have to be patient with her. She isn’t like the normal girls you chase after.” She gives me a pointed look.

“Hey, they weren’t that bad,” I defend

“Ransom, please, don’t even try to lie to me right now. Those girls were fucking train wrecks and you know it. I’m all about girls supporting girls and all that shit, but it’s hard to do that when between the lot of them, they had the IQ of a celery stick.”

I bark out a laugh. Winslow has only been in our lives for a little over a year, but she’s one of my favorite people ever. I especially appreciate she was able to make my twin happy. Seeing him smile again has been nice. She was there for Pruitt when Addison died, and she tried to be there for Noah too, but the retired beta wolf wanted nothing to do with her.

“Just be patient and don’t hurt her.” Her lips quirk. “though I get the impression she’s more than capable of taking care of herself if you do.”

“She’s vicious.”

“Good, she’ll need to be if she ever meets your wolf.” Winslow, just like Sawyer, sees behind the chill façade I put on in regard to my wolf. She’s been able to see his wild side since the beginning. Hell, considering he tried to maul her to death the first time they met, she’s well acquainted with his temperament. “Has she met your wolf?”

“Not up close and personal.”

“It’ll be interesting to see how he reacts to her,” she muses.

“He hated her at first, wanted me to let him kill her, but…” I trail off.

“But?”

I clear my throat. “He’s become less volatile when it comes to her.”

“Interesting,” is all she offers. She turns in the direction of the motel. “Okay, let’s get back.” She starts to walk away but freezes about five steps away. Her head cocks to the side and her brows furrow.

“Winnie?”

She doesn’t respond, just keeps staring off into nothing. “What are you looking at?” This is how she gets when there is a ghost near, and she can see them lurking about.

Rubbing her arms from the chill in the air, she shakes her head. “Nothing. It’s nothing.” Winslow ducks her head and marches forward, not bothering to make sure I’m following behind her.

Ranger and Remington are waiting for us at the black SUV when we get back. I watch as my brother’s eyes light up when he sees his mate. They were apart for all of twenty minutes, but he looks at her like she’s been away for years. I wonder what Ryker will look at Pruitt like when she’s finally able to come home. Unconsciously, my eyes wander the parking lot until they land on Isabeau. She leans against the door to my motel room, her arms crossed tightly across her chest like a shield. Her face is expressionless, meaning that mask I’d been slowly tearing away is back in full force. If the girl had a warning sign on right now, it’dsay ‘stay the fuck away’ in bright neon red lettering.

I can still taste her honey flavor lingering on my tongue and feel how she shuddered when I kissed her neck. I want to march over there and finish what we started, but I know she’d press a blade to my throat (or dick) before she let that happen right now.

The back seat window rolls down and Dr. V sticks her head out. She smiles warmly at me; her dark eyes hold a tinge of worry in them. “You two got very lucky today, that could have ended very badly for you both.”

I nudge my chin in Isabeau’s direction. “Wasn’t luck, it was her.”

Doc looks over at Beau with assessing eyes. “Well, maybe she’ll be good for you to have around if you insist on putting yourself in dangerous situations like you do.”

“Considering she’s saved almost everyone here; I think she’s good to have around for everyone’s sake.” Looking around Doc, I see Sawyer leaning his head against the headrest of his seat. His eyes are closed, but I know he’s awake. He cradles his professionally bandaged arm against his chest. Putting my hands on the edge of the rolled-down window, I peer inside. “You doing okay, dude?”

“Peachy,” he offers, not turning his head to look at me. I don’t take it personally. Dr. V had pumped him full of pain meds to prepare his body for her having to rebreak his arm and then place the bone back inside. Even with his blood stream full of medication, he felt everything she did to his limb. I’d felt horrible having to hold him down while she worked on him, but luckily for everyone, he passed out from the pain eventually. He’s been through the fucking wringer today.

“He’ll be fully healed in a few hours now that the bone is back in place and he has some fresh blood in him.” Doc pats my hand reassuringly. “I left the cooler on the desk in your room,” she whispers, her dark eyes cutting briefly to Isabeau again. “If you need more, call me, I have colleagues here who can help.”

“Thank you,” I tell her before stepping away from the car and moving to my siblings.

Ranger nods his head in greeting. “How long do you need to pack your shit? The pilot is waiting. I was thinking we could send someone back here to pick up your truck.”

I freeze mid-step and frown at him. “I don’t need to pack my stuff, I’m not leaving.”

Remington’s head snaps in my direction, blue eyes blazing. “What? What do you mean you’re not leaving?”

“I still have a rogue to find,” I explain slowly, thinking it was fairly obvious I still had a job to do.

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