Page 53 of Shadow Bound

Beau’s eyes widen. “Jax? Jax is who’s been hiding Pru?”

“You know Jax?”

“Of course, I know Jax.” She stuffs her hands in the front pockets of her hoodie. “We met multiple times as kids. Went a couple years without seeing each other but caught back up that night in New York. He’s what made me realize people like us can change when he risked his life to save Winslow and Ranger.”

“He risked his life to save Pruitt too,” I tell her. “When Pruitt was taken by Nicolai, Jax was the one who helped us get her out.”

“I’m glad he’s the one who’s with her now. If it couldn’t be Ryker, at least it’s him. He’s wicked strong and his wolf...” She trails off, not offering any more information. “Anyway, when do we leave?”

“Weleave?”

“Yeah, you didn’t think that I was going to let you go back to Montana without me did you?” Beau questions.

I frown at her for a second, dumbfounded. “I didn’t think that you would want to go home with me. I thought you were going after Nessa.”

“I still am. I’m guessing your plan is you’re going to call Jax and tell him it’s time to bring Pruitt home since Nessa knows she’s alive. No point in continuing to fake her death if they already know she’s breathing. And when Nessa shows up, it’ll be safer to have the full strength of your pack there to protect Pru.” As always, she’s dead-on, guessing my steps before I’ve even confirmed them myself. “Nessa will come to your pack territory, and if I had to guess, she’ll team back up with Noah. The enemy of my enemy is my friend and all that bullshit. So yes, Ransom, I’ll go home with you, but only because Nessa will be coming there to finish the job I botched. It’ll be the best chance I have of killing her.”

“So, you’re only coming because of Nessa?” I eye her skeptically.

I watch as she places her mask back on, that cold, dead look returning to her eyes. “Of course, I am. Why else would I go home with you, Ransom?” She blinks blandly up at me.

Fuck. That hurt. Even my wolf lets out a whine as if we’d been physically stabbed by her words.

Forcing myself to remain calm, I nod once. “Okay. We leave now.”

“We need to make a pitstop at a storage unit I have in Wyoming.”

“Why? What’s in it?”

“Supplies.”

He was quiet the whole drive to his home state.All fifteen hours. His blue gaze, that I’ve started to crave having pointed in my direction, stayed focused on the road ahead. Not once did he look my way. Even his wolf, whose energy I’ve become attuned with, was irate. It was on the tip of my tongue multiple times to ask what was wrong with him, even though I know the answer.

I lied to him again and this time he believed me. In the past, he’s been able to see past my dishonesty, but when I told him the only reason I was coming home with him was because of Nessa, he believed me. And for some reason, I can’t get myself to admit to him that I lied. That part of me that is still closed off and guarded won’t allow the words to escape my mouth, even though I can feel them there, dying to be let out. The reasonable side of me also knows that admitting to him that I’m not ready to leave his side will make it even harder for me to do it.

When Nessa and Noah are taken care of, there will be no reason for me to stay and I’ll have to leave. I still need to find Kaius, Sterling’s closest confidant, when this is all over. Why admit to him I want to stay when I’ll only have to leave soon after?

I’m trying to protect him from growing too attached.

I’m trying to protect him.The only other person I ever protected was Alex. I protected him by killing our victims when he was too afraid to do it. When that changed—when he changed—I then protected him from losing control, in fear that Nessa or Sterling would punish him. In the end, I protected others from him, because after years of covering for him, I knew nothing was going to change. That the man I was protecting was no longer worth the energy.

Ransom is worth the energy though. He’s worth the awkward ride I just endured, the waves of uncomfortable animosity that radiated off of him and the horrendous family reunion I’m about to find myself in.

I’ve been to a lot of different places, but there is something about driving through the backroads of Ransom’s Montana town that is so serene. Huge trees line the road, on the left through the foliage I can see the glistening lake below. It’s the same lake his family’s log cabin style home sits on. This would have been a great place to grow up in.

Even with the pretty scenery, I can push away the wave of nausea that keeps creeping up. The pain in my stomach that I’d been feeling since yesterday when I drank the blood Ransom brought me has intensified. I’ve never gotten sick in my life, never been feverish or had a stomach bug. My vampire genes make it so I have a perfect immune system. Feeling like I do now is new to me.

I don’t feel weak like I did when I was deprived of blood, but I don’t feel well.

Ransom pulls out his phone and hits someone’s name. The car speakers are filled with the sound of a phone ringing. On the second ring, they pick up. “Are you okay?” Winslow’s voice fills the cab of the truck. “Did you find the rogue?”

For the first time in half a day, Ransom’s eyes slide to mine. A pensive look on his face. Scratching the side of his face, he nods as he answers. “Yeah, I found him, but it’s a long story.” She starts to ask what he means, but he quickly cuts her off. “Winnie, where are you?”

“I’m just leaving the cabin. Construction is finally done, and we got the all-clear to move in.” During my recon of the property Pruitt and Ryker live on, I had found a treehouse-like cabin being built. I’d quickly figured out it was the house Ranger was building for him and his new mate. It was a cool modern design with big windows.

“That’s great, I’m happy for you guys.” Ransom sounds exhausted when he talks. We drove straight through the night and morning; not once did he pull over to rest. He also refused to let me drive for a little while. I don’t technically have a license, but I know how to drive. I’d been stealing cars all year as I moved between states looking for Nessa. “I need you to get Ranger and meet me at Ryker’s. Find Remington, we may need her there too.”

“Wait? You’re coming home?”

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