Ryker scratches the back of his neck before huffing out a breath. “I was going to wait until we got home before I told you. I figured you needed a couple of days to adjust to everything before I added that in…” Ryker looks me in the eye when he says, “You’re a white wolf, the first white wolf shifter to be born in centuries.”
I think back to the morning Margot told us the fable-like story about the white wolf. She had said, ‘when the white wolf walks this Earth once more and finds her mate, so will the rest of us.’ I honestly didn’t put much thought into it when Margot recited the tale, but now I’m starting to think I should have asked her more questions.
“Just because she’s a white wolf doesn’t mean the prophecy is true,” Remi interjects. “Okay, yes, technically she is a white wolf, and that is very shocking. But I don’t think that immediately makes her the white wolf.
“That’s true,” Ransom agrees with her, “And besides, Pru already found her mate, and nothing happened.”
“Exactly,” I nod at him as I push off the car and stand up straight. “You know what? I don’t want to deal with this right now. Can we please just go home?”
When I think of home, I think of Addison. I haven’t gotten a chance to call her and talk to her myself, but Elias has been in contact with Noah, so she knows I’m okay.
“Of course.” Ryker pulls me to him, and I rest my head against his chest. I don’t even care he’s still wearing his blood-soaked t-shirt. “Maybe we can contact Esme when we get back. If anyone is going to have more information about the prophecy it’s her.”
“That witch knows everything,” Elias sighs. “Sometimes I think she knows too much.”
“Is this the same witch who did the spell that bound your wolf?” Jax asks.
“The one and only.” I nod.
Jax lets out a low whistle. “Give her my regards. That was one hell of a powerful spell that even my hellfire couldn’t burn away.”
“Where will you go now, Jax?” Remi asks him. I don’t miss the look on her face when she looks up at the attractive demon. “Ever been to Montana?”
“Nope.” He shakes his head. “And I don’t know where I’ll go yet. I have to chase down a couple leads, but I’m sure you’ll all see me again.”
“Can’t wait,” Ryker says dryly, causing me to elbow him in the ribs.
“You don’t have to lie, I know you’ll miss me.” Jax smirks at Ryker before he starts to back away from the group. He smiles and winks at me before saying. “See you later, Blondie.”
“Be safe, Demon Boy,” I reply.
And then he’s gone.
“Is it bad I want to be a demon so I can do that?” Remi asks, breaking the silence that fell over the group after he disappeared.
“Yes,” Elias grumbles from the front seat of the car.
“Is it the hellfire power or the demon thing you don’t approve of?” I hear her ask while she climbs into the back seat with Ranger.
“Both,” Elias replies.
I smile at them and then up at Ryker. “I’m still mad at you for putting your life at risk to find me… but thank you.”
“I’ll always find you.” He presses a kiss onto my forehead. “Let’s go home.”
45
Pruitt
I’ve been home for a week now and have been splitting my time between the Weylyns’ house and Addison’s. But no matter where I decide to spend the night, Ryker is there. He made it clear when we got back he wasn’t letting me spend the night away from him again. And after spending a couple nights chained to a metal table, the idea of sleeping curled up against him sounded great to me.
Since I’ve been back, I’ve been waking up in the middle of the night with nightmares of Nicolai killing Ryker, and having nightmares is something I’ve never experienced before. Sure I’ve seen some scary movies that caused some unpleasant dreams, but the ones I’ve been having since I’ve been home have felt so real. Similar to when I was dreaming about the black wolf that ended up being Ryker, I feel like I’m truly living these dreams. I wake up yelling and drenched in sweat, but every time it happens, Ryker calms me down and holds me close until I fall asleep again. I feel terrible I’m waking him up every night, but I’m thankful he’s there.
Right now, I’m standing in the middle of the empty living room of my childhood home, and in a few short weeks, it will be my home again.
Ryker didn’t skip a beat when we got back. He jumped right into making plans with the contractors, and he even handed me his credit card and made the mistake of saying, “Buy whatever you want.” After he sees his billing statement, I’m sure he’ll never say that again.
Oops.
This is also the first time I’ve been alone since we got back. Ryker is with Sawyer, apologizing for how he behaved after his best friend helped me. It took some convincing, but Ryker finally agreed with me and gave his friend a call. From what I’ve heard, Ryker is lucky his friend is willing to even sit down with him right now. If I had been talked to the way I hear Sawyer was, I would be a little hesitant to agree to it. I feel guilty I came between them, but I’m optimistic they will recover from all of this.
Ryker promised he would be back soon since we both agreed tonight was when we wanted to complete the mating ceremony. The full moon is tonight, and we don’t want to have to wait another month. I’m excited but
