Page 32 of Fire Bound

I keep looking at my mom, her offhand remark still really bothering me. Whether she meant it how it sounded or not, it’s not sitting well with me.

“Remi.” My dad saying my name snaps my attention to him. “Let’s go.” He nods toward his waiting Escalade. Everyone around us has started shifting toward their own vehicles leaving us to stand off.

Pursing my lips, I look between him and the dark car. “I would really rather not.”

“This isn’t up for discussion. You’re coming home.”

Home. Cringe. “No, thank you.”

“You can’t be alone at the hotel anymore.” Jax appears at my side, his violet eyes crossed with concern. “Or go anywhere alone anymore.”

“I don’t want babysitters,” I argue. It’s easier to keep secrets when no one is around to hear them. “And you don’t make the rules, hellhound.”

“No, he doesn’t.” Pruitt walks up from behind my dad. “But I do.”

I raise my brows at her. “You’re going to pull the alpha card on me?” Not once since she became the alpha of the pack has she treated me as anything but her friend. Her equal.

“I don’t want to,” she starts softly, but her voice hardens as she warns, “But I will if you make me.”

We stand facing off. The woman in front of me now isn’t my friend I used to talk about boys with. She’s the alpha—my alpha. A job she’s stepped into with such grace and ease.

“Fine,” I finally relent with a snarl as bitterness burns through my veins. “But I’m running there.” No way am I getting into an enclosed space with both of my parents right now.

“What part of you can’t be alone are you not hearing?” Dad asks.

“I’ll go with her,” Jax volunteers and for the first time in a while, I’m glad he’ll be hovering around.

He’s the lesser of two evils, I suppose.

Wordlessly, I remove the blanket and push it into the demon’s chest, leaving my dad and Pru on the road. Jax follows silently behind me into the trees. As I walk, I start removing clothing, tossing it carelessly onto the forest floor. This is an outfit I’ll never wear again. I don’t need a reminder of this night.

“Are you going to shift with me?” I ask over my shoulder as I yank my tight sweater off. After all this time, Jax has never shifted in front of us. Some days, I’m not even sure he can shift. When asked about it, his answers are always annoyingly allusive.

His jaw tics as he watches me undo the strap of my bra. “No.”

“Are you ever going to let your wolf stretch his legs? Have a little freedom.”

“It’s a nice sentiment in theory. I’ll give you that, but in reality, that would be unwise.” He laughs like it’s some kind of inside joke with himself.

“What? He doesn’t play well with others?”

“That’s putting it mildly.”

Interesting.Both Ryker and Ransom’s animal sides are unpredictable and volatile, but they still shift around us. How much worse can Jax’s wolf truly be?

“You better be able to keep up with me if you’re not shifting,” I warn. “My wolf wants to run and I’m not planning on holding her back.”

“Good,” he praises. “I hate it when you hold back.”

I shoot him a look. “You were the one who held back first.”

“That’s true,” he willingly admits, but doesn’t elaborate.

I wish I knew why a year ago, in the span of a minute, Jax’s entire attitude changed. He went from caressing me with a tenderness I didn’t think he was capable of, to spewing those foul words at me. If I knew, maybe I’d understand and be able to move on. He’s never once offered an explanation and after he broke my heart so viciously, I didn’t have it in me to go back to him to ask.

Now we’re both holding back. I know my reasoning, his remains a mystery.

I kick off my shoes before pulling the dark jeans from my body. Jax swallows once I’m standing before him naked. His beautiful, unique eyes heat as they scan over every inch of my naked skin. Nudity is something shifters get comfortable with quick, but no one has ever looked at my naked body the way Jax Whitlock does. “Stop looking at me like that,” I order.

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