Page 79 of Shadow Bound

Since she got home from meeting Esme, something has been off. I can’t figure out what it is and it’s driving me insane. My wolf has been pacing nonstop in my head with nerves for the past twenty-four hours. He doesn’t like the new energy coming off of her any more than I do. It’s an odd cross between stress and sadness. All the while, she’s working extra hard at closing herself off from me again.

The soft moment we had tonight standing against the wall is the most open she’s been with me all day. Even last night as I pretended to sleep, I felt her pull out of my arms so she could toss and turn restlessly the rest of the night.

I don’t know why we are both so stubborn, each of us waiting for the other to open up, but we are. It’s clear we are both hiding certain emotions from the other. I understand why I’m staying silent, but I’m not sure what her reasons are. I’m not even sure if my reasons are justifiable anymore. After my talk with my mom, what I already thought I knew is even more solidified in my brain.

Isabeau is mine and I’m in fucking love with her leather-wearing ass.

Gage walks over to where I stand drinking a beer in the kitchen. Lifting the glass, I silently ask if he wants one. The head enforcer nods his head and takes the one I offer him. Gage is older than all of us at thirty. Half of his face is covered in a neatly trimmed beard and his hair is buzzed close to his scalp. He’s got a rugged biker vibe to him. If I wasn’t homicidal just thinking about it, I would joke that Isabeau and him would fit well together.

How he ended up with my sister, I’ll never know and honestly, I don’t care. It’s not going to last, so I’m not getting involved. I’ve seen the way my sister looks at him, she’s not committed to him the way he is to her. If he’s hoping a mating bond will form between them, he’s mistaken. My sister has only ever looked at one man with hearts in her eyes, and it’s not Gage.

It was, however, a slightly unstable demon-wolf-shifter hybrid. Or as she calls him, ahellhound. Technically, Remington isn’t wrong.

“So, that vampire you brought home,” he starts, instantly making me bristle. I don’t like other men talking about my girl. “She seems like a handful. I bet she’s fun as hell though. I’ve never been with a vamp before.”

The growl that rips through my chest is vicious and brings the conversations in the adjoining living room to a screeching halt. I don’t miss the way my two brothers jump to their feet, not sure whether it’s to defend me or protect Gage, but I don’t wait to find out before I turn my murderous gaze to the enforcer’s. “What did you just say?” I ask him slowly, biting out each word between clenched teeth.

My eyes have turned to their silver wolf color and my claws are pressing into my palms as I ball my fists at my side.

“Relax,” he jokes, an easy smile on his face. The idiot has no idea how close to death he is. He’s usually a smart man, there is a reason after all why he’s the head enforcer, but right now I’m really second-guessing why he was ever given the position. It’s a prestigious job, giving him rank within the pack. The enforcers are the warriors of the pack, the defenders, the first to go into battle. The head enforcer works closely with the alpha and betas to ensure pack safety. A douchebag should not have the job. “I knew this guy a while back that fucked a vampire, said it was like sharing a bed with a sexy icicle. Can you confirm?” Did this asshole just wink at me?

That’s it. I don’t give a shit that he’s Remi’s boyfriend, the fucker just signed his death warrant.

I take one menacing step forward, fully intending to spill Gage’s blood all over Winnie’s white marble counters, but hands grip me from behind and yank me back. I snarl and fight my brothers, but they aren’t wavering.

“Gage, I feel like you should know better than to taunt a man about his woman,” Ryker pipes in, his words shocking the hell out of me. When did Ryker accept Isabeau as mine? And why can he accept it, but I can’t even admit it aloud to anyone but mymother?

“His woman?” Gage chuckles. “Good luck with that, my man. She’s going to eat you alive and then run for the hills the second she gets what she came for. She’s here for her mother, nothing more. I can see the flightiness in her eyes.”

I lunge again, almost making it across the kitchen island, but I’m dragged back by my brothers again.

“Dude! Shut the fuck up or I’m going to let him go and let him beat your ass,” Ranger snaps at him, sounding exasperated. “And he’lldestroyyou before you can call for your mama.”

“I’m the head enforcer.” Gage puffs his chest.Cocky and a dumbass it would appear.

“You’re an idiot,” Remington suddenly says from behind him, her hand on her jutted hip. “Seriously? Want me to get a measuring tape and you can compare sizes? Or are you good and we can just leave instead?”

My sister’s taste in mensucks.

“Yeah, darlin’, let’s get going.” Gage slings his arm around Remington’s neck, leading her to the front door. He turns his head and gives me an amused look before the door shuts behind him.

Ryker and Ranger don’t let me go until we hear the sound of his car engine starting and his tires crunch on the gravel as he pulls away. Smart, because I would have gone after him and slaughtered him in the driveway.

Releasing me, Ryker pats me on the back with an understanding look in his eyes. “I’d lie and say it gets better, but I want to kill fuckers all the time for what they say about Pru.”

I snatch my beer off the counter and chug the rest. “She’s your mate, so it’s different.”

“Is it though?”

Ranger and Ryker both look at me like they hold knowledge I’ve yet to learn. Annoyed with their stares, I search the room for Beau, but find she still isn’t back from getting whatever she needed from her bag. Thinking about it, it was a long time ago she slipped out of the room.

Dread and alarm bells go off in my head and anxiety shoots through my veins.Fuck. Shoving past my brothers, I sprint down the long hallway to the bedroom at the end. Ranger calls my name, asking what’s wrong as he follows close behind me.

I know she’s not inside before I open the door, her honey scent is too faint. Once inside, I’m proven right when I find the window open, the linen drapes move from the wind coming from outside.

“She’s gone,” I growl. “She fucking left again!”

Did she leave me?This thought alone makes my chest constrict.

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