Page 92 of Shadow Bound

At the same time, Ranger and I rip out the throats of the vampires.

Together we turn to face the next threat, but a pained howl echoes through the clearing, making us freeze in place and search for the source. I’d know the owner of that howl anywhere.Remington.

Galloping around the various people fighting, I spot her across the field. She stands over top of a large dark brown and tan wolf, her snout pressed to his throat, but the other wolf doesn’t move as she tries to rouse him. The brown wolf’s eyes are open and unblinking, from here I can see the snow beneath him is turning bright red.

Oh no.

It’s Gage.

My heart aches for my sister as she stands protectively over her deceased boyfriend. I want to allow her the time to grieve, but she isn’t paying attention to the threats that surround her.

Ranger, who stands next to me, is also taking in the scene and lets out a low whine, also feeling sympathy for our sister. We each take a step to go to her aid, but Jax appears out of thin air and kneels beside her, placing a hand on her shoulder to comfort her. Jax’s hands are covered in blood and his shirt is hanging torn off one of his shoulders.

Why he doesn’t just shift, I’ll never understand.

At first, I think my sister is going to accept his offered comfort, but she shocks me by baring her teeth at the demon, her ears flat to her head as she snarls at him. She even nips at the hand that touches her.

With one last look at her boyfriend, she pulls herself together and jumps back into the fray.

Right now, there is nothing we can do to make it better. Ranger and I have no choice but to turn and search for our next targets. It’s just our luck that two mangy rogues are headed in our direction.

Ifight my way through rogue wolf after rogue wolf, slashing them with my blade and occasionally filling them with silver bullets. The vampires are young and unskilled, it’s as if Nessa has spent the past week or so building an army of young inexperienced vampires. They aren’t driven by Nessa’s cause, they’re just hungry.

If I had to bet, I’d say they were held captive in a similar way as the rogues were. Confined in a box until they were mad with hunger.

The vampires are driven by blood and the rogues are driven just by the madness they’ve found themselves in. In my limited capacity to care for others, I find myself struggling to give any of them sympathy even if it’s not their fault they ended up here.

Right now, they’re nothing but my enemy, maybe I can find it in my heart later to feel bad for their poor souls.

Wiping my blade on the fur of the last wolf I disposed of, I turn on my heels in search of my next victim. The scene I find in front of me is something I never thought I’d witness.

The Weylyn pack works as a fluid unit, working together to protect their home and people from the threat. My eyes of course search for one wolf in particular, needing to see that he’s okay. I would feel it in my soul if he was killed, the bond would break, and I’d be left in the kind of pain Nessa has been in for centuries.

Across the clearing, Ransom works alongside his twin. I’ve only ever seen Ransom fight Ryker and he was holding back then. Now, my bloodmate isn’t holding anything back. He fights with a voraciousness that makes my skin tingle and my body grow warm in appreciation.

Ranger is a powerful wolf too, but he doesn’t have the slightly unhinged side that Ransom has. His work is more precise and thought out, Ransom’s is pure bloody chaos.

I’m a fan of the chaos that lives in his soul, it matches mine perfectly.

A vampire charging at me brings me back to the present. Smiling as he races toward me with his gnarly fangs bared, I grip the hilt of my knives tighter, prepared to slice him to little bits. He’s five feet away from me when a bullet flies through his head, exiting between his eyes. I move out of the way just in time to miss the bullet as its momentum continues to carry it through the air.

Warm blood sprays on my face from the head wound and I wipe it away as best I can as the vampire falls dead at my feet. Looking from the dead vampire to the window Winslow sits in, I raise my hand and salute her.

Nice shot. She had a good teacher after all.

Stepping over the body, I make it five feet away when I smell her scent.

She’s not even bothering to hide it right now like she usually does. No, she wants me to know she’s here. Peering between the trees, I look for her, but there’s nothing there.

It’s a trap,the voice in my head warns.

I’ve worked too hard and too long to get to her. She’s somewhere close, I can’t walk away from this opportunity. Looking back at the battle behind me, I’m trying to catch Ransom’s eye, but he’s caught up fighting a pair of rogue wolves.

Wait for him, the voice insists.

The idea of what Nessa could do to Ransom if he were to go anywhere near her makes the decision for me. Ransom can’t get close to Nessa, not only will it put him in the direct line of danger, but it’ll also put me in danger. Having him there will distract me from what I need to do. I need the clearest head I can get to face Nessa.

Feeling set in my choice, I slip through the tree line, swiping one of the knives I’d lost in the battle. It still sits impaled deep in a wolves’ head from where I’d thrown it at him. It’d made a really satisfying sound when it impaled his skull.

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