Page 89 of Shadow Bound

“Oh my god,” she pants desperately. She’s close, so am I.

Leaning close to her ear, I whisper, “Let go, baby.”

And she does.

Iwant to be relaxed watching her interact with my family with surprising ease, but the impending disaster headed our way is like an ever-present thundercloud over us, blocking us from enjoying the sun.

Noah said that he was headed here, I’m not sure what is taking him so long. No good will come from the battle that is to come, but I wish we could just get it over with so I can focus on my future with Beau.

It’s been three days since I’d forced the blood bond and I can’t remember a time that my wolf felt so at ease. Or even myself, for that matter. Neither one of us is itching to go off and hunt something or feel like we can’t sit still.

For the longest time, I thought I’d never be content on pack territory again, that I was meant to be out in the world hunting down the bad guys, but now that I have my girl, I understand why Ranger and Ryker are happy here. Then again, I think I could be content anywhere with Beau by my side.

“Should we be worried?” Ranger asks, coming up to me.

I swing the ax down, splitting yet another log of wood. Why Ranger insisted on a wood-burning fireplace when there are electric ones, I’ll never understand.Who has the time for this shit? Chopping wood isnotfun, but I needed something to take my mind off Noah, so I volunteered for the job today.

“Worried about what?” I wipe my forehead with my forearm, after cutting log after log of wood for the past hour, I’m sweating my ass off even though there is fresh snow on the ground.

“That they’re going to team up and take over?” Ranger points across the yard to where Isabeau stands in front of a wooden table absolutely littered with weapons. Winslow stands near her, asking her questions about the different weapons Beau is organizing.

I’m cutting wood with an ax to distract myself and Beau is playing with her guns and knives. We make quite the pair.

She hasn’t said it, but the waiting is also making her uneasy. She’s tossed and turned the past few nights, a couple of times I found her up, pacing at the end of the bed. After some convincing, she agreed to come back to bed, where I then wore her out until she had no choice but to fall asleep.

“You’re a fool if you don’t think they’re already plotting,” I tell my brother, shaking my head at the women. “If Pruitt and Remi join the little alliance, we’d all be fucked.”

“Could you imagine Remington with a gun?” Ranger laughs. “We’d be fucked because she’d accidentallyshootus.”

Remi, who just happens to be walking by at the same time, glares at my twin. “Who said it’d be an accident, jackass?” she questions, pointing finger guns at us. “You’re both annoying enough that it’d be justified.”

“You’d shoot us simply because we annoy you?”

“Yes, now keep that in mind the next time you give me shit about who I’m dating.”

“He’s a douchebag,” I observe bitterly, still not past what Gage said about Beau.

The scent of smoke fills the air and Jax appears out of nowhere. I have no desire to be a demon, but I am a little envious of Jax’s ability to use hellfire to travel between locations. “Who’s a douchebag?” Jax questions, violet eyes lingering on Remi for a second too long.

“Gage, her boyfriend,” Ranger answers him.

The demon’s face twists with disgust and anger. “I have no idea what you see in that guy.”

Remi scowls at him. “Who asked for your opinion,hellhound?”

“I told you to stop calling me that,” Jax growls threateningly at her.

Of course, my sister doesn’t bat an eye at this. While everyone else here is aware and weary of the slightly unstable side of Jax, my sister chooses to ignore it. No, Remington Weylyn prefers to provoke danger, choosing to poke at it with a stick until it burns or bites her.

“Why would I ever do that?” She bats her eyes innocently at him. “It’s just so fitting. A wolf shifter and demon hybrid?Please. Sterling knew exactly what he was doing when he made you in a test tube.”

Jax’s eyes glow with anger. “You’re a brat. One day that mouth of yours is going to get you into trouble.”

Remi’s head tips back as she laughs. “You’re absolutely right, it will.” She moves closer to him, a sly smile on her face. “You just won’t be the one that doles out my punishment.”

She goes to walk away from him, but his hand snaps out and grabs her upper arm before pulling her to him. “You sure about that, love?”

My sister looks up at the demon like she’s been caught in a spell. Her eyes are glassy and her lips are slightly parted as she stands there. Jax stares back, looking equally caught up. I’m not blind, I knew something was up between them, but I also figured after ten months apart with zero contact things might have fizzled out. Plus, Remington is with Gage now and claims she’s happy.

---