Page 85 of Fire Bound

Everyone laughs at the human hacker who shockingly looks perfectly at home amid a pack of wolf shifters. I wonder what he’s going to do now that this is all over. Or what any of us are going to do?

I know what I want to do next and I’m growing antsy having to wait for it. I want to give Remi time with her family so they can heal together. She needs that, but I just need time alone with her. I’ll only ever need her.

Sawyer looks at Ryker. “And to think, all of this started because you decided to start hunting rogue wolves.”

And that’s the truth in all of this. All it takes is one choice, one decision for lives to be forever changed for the good or the bad. There’s been a lot of bad, but standing here among this family, each of them with their mates next to them, I’m reminded of all the good.

Every drop of blood spilled, every scar slashed into my skin, every moment where I didn’t know how I was going to keep going, it all brought me here. It brought me to Remington.

It brought me home.

“So, what now?” Winslow asks everyone, her unique colored eyes darting around to each of us.

“Now?” Pruitt grins while she reaches for her mate’s hand. “We celebrate. We celebrate that we’re still here and our enemy isn’t. We celebrate the lives it cost us to get to this point, and we celebrate that from this day forward, we just get to live.”

The pack’s cheers turn into howls as everyone begins to shift around us. The wolves yip and bark happily before one by one they take off into the woods chasing each other. The sound of their joy fills the still night air.

The twins laugh and push at each other as they tear at their clothes and shift into large gray wolves. They tackle and play fight with each other for a second before they bound into the woods. Beau and Winnie smile at each other before walking into the woods side by side after their mates.

Soon it’s just Ryker and Pruitt left with us. “Are you guys coming?” Pru asks, a hopeful gleam in her eyes.

Before I have to explain that my wolf doesn’t get along with others, Remi jumps in and answers for me. “You guys go. Have fun with everyone for us.” She turns her head and looks at me as she says, “I don’t know if you guys heard, but I died tonight and that puts in perspective how precious time is. So, I’m going to go spend as much of it with my mate as I can.” Her hand squeezes mine tight.

Ryker nods in understanding. “Okay, don’t go far. We still have to figure out what we’re doing with those people stuck in Esme’s circle.”

I can’t fight the smirk that threatens to grow on my lips. “I’m not taking her far,” I lie.

As Pru passes us, Remi reaches out and places her hand over her growing stomach. “Your grandma says hi,” she whispers low. “And now I have to keep what you are a secret for four more months. Totally unfair.” Pru looks at Remi with wonderment and confusion on her face, but Remi just smiles and promises, “I’ll tell you all about it later.”

Almost reluctantly, Pru follows Ryker into the trees.

Finally alone, I wrap my arms around Remi and rest my chin on her head. I breathe in her scent and allow it to calm the exposed nerves that are still inside of me. We stand quiet, just allowing ourselves a moment to revel in the calmness.

“Do you trust me?” I ask her after some time has passed.

Placing her chin on my chest, she looks up at me with nothing but love in her eyes. “With my life.”

I smile, knowing she used the same answer I’d given her when she asked me the same question.

“Close your eyes and hold on to me,” I instruct her.

Without question, she does as she’s told.

My own eyes close and imagine the scene in my head as I call upon my power. As it begins to roar to life inside of me and the air starts to crackle with power, I order, “Whatever you do, don’t let go of me.”

“Never again,” she promises before the power swallows us whole.

I wantedto go to the beach with my mom, but that option was taken from me. So, I brought my mate there instead.

Remington gasps and stumbles back a step when she feels the powdery white sand beneath her toes and the waves crashing softly onto the shoreline. Her head whips around, taking in the scenery as she works through her disbelief.

I could have warned her about what I was going to do, but I wanted it to be a surprise, and based on the look on her face, it was worth it.

When she first showed me that hellfire didn’t hurt her, I considered the possibility that I could bring her with me when I used the flames to travel between places. The lingering fear that it would be too much stopped me from trying it. I changed my mind when I discovered she could walk through the flames without so much as growing warm. That’s when I knew she could withstand traveling.

For the first time, I let go of her hand and allow her to wander away from me. We’re on a small uninhabited island in the Caribbean. There is nothing here that can hurt her. Hell, no one even knows we’re here.

She covers her mouth as she stares out at the beautiful water. The sun is starting to creep over the horizon and stunning pink and orange lines are forming in the sky. “I’ve never seen the ocean before,” she breathes. “It’s amazing.”

---