All Chapters of Bound by Blood: Last Ruby Wolf and Her Fated Mate: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

My Grandma Ellis made me take dance lessons when I was a kid.She and I were never close, but that was the one thing we always did together that I had enjoyed. I’d been good—really good—because of all my fight training, and I’d enjoyed it.I hadn’t attended a lesson or class since she passed away when I was sixteen, but riding on the back of Merrick’s bike, I missed it. Not because of my Grandma, though I did miss her. But because riding with him felt like dancing.Merrick started at an easy pace, and the song began on the winding road. He leaned into a turn, and I moved with him. My body had to adjust to follow his, paying attention to his movement so I could mirror it without knocking us off balance or making steering more difficult for him. After a while, I figured out his pace. That was when the movements became more natural.It was different from riding my own bike. There was a certain thrill and comfort that accompanied being the passenger instead of the driver. My body was cudd

When we got back to Merrick’s place, he took a quick shower while I grabbed clothes from the closet. Then, he dressed while I showered. When I came out of the bathroom dressed in a tight white tank and a pair of comfortable lazy-day shorts, his eyes left the video game on the TV screen to follow me across the room.I sat down on the other side of the couch from him, propping my feet up on the cushion and resting my head on the armrest Shooting noises came from the TV—the game. I’d never really played video games, only trying them out a few times with Noah and his brothers. For the most part, I was too busy to bother.Staring up at the ceiling, my mind swept over what had happened on the mountain. Really, I hadn’t stopped reliving it since we left. The riding, the sightseeing, the making out…“Ellis,” Merrick warned from where he sat, his thumbs flying over the controller as he played. “I smell grapefruit.”He’d said grapefruit intertwined with my scent when I was hot and bothered—damm

After an awkward evening filled with more Call of Duty and absolutely zero touching, we went to bed.The soft tone of my alarm woke me up at 2 AM. I expected Merrick would sleep through it, and I was right. The man slept like the dead. What I didn’t expect was that I’d wake up in his arms again.When I’d gone to bed in his room, I’d locked the door—and blocked it off with my suitcase, so the clattering would wake me up if his pheromones drew me out or something.But the pheromones hadn’t been needed. I woke up twenty minutes after falling asleep and with absolutely zero common sense, I’d gotten up, carefully moved the suitcase off to the side of the door, and slid onto the couch with Merrick. And of course, he wrapped his arms around me without a damn question.With my alarm’s quiet music getting louder by the minute, I had to wriggle and buck and flop like a fish to get out of the Grizzly’s arms.Crashing to the floor, I landed in what resembled push-up position and blinked down at

“Damn.” I whistled, walking around the ruby in a slow circle. It sat nestled in a set of gigantic golden prongs, and Darius was right; it was bigger than me. If I’d opened my arms, I couldn’t have wrapped them around the massive jewel. “All I have to do is put my hand on it?”“Yup.” He nodded, his eyes flicking between me and the ruby.We were in a circular underground room. The walls were white with swirling red and gold designs shimmering on their surfaces, the floor some sort of dark stone. Though the place looked nice, it felt almost sinister.And that feeling had me thinking I needed to ask a few more questions. “Why did you tell me the truth when Merrick wouldn’t?” I asked, taking a step away from the ruby.“It’s been a long time since the jewel has had a wolf’s power, so we don’t know for sure what will happen when it tastes yours. Our best guess is that you’ll take command of the city through this.” He gestured to the ruby.“Blake isn’t ready for the fighting to end. He likes

“Put me down,” Hazel commanded, her voice muffled by the shirt against her face.“You’re bleeding,” I growled back, my beastly-side completely in control. Humanity fled when my True Mate was injured, and wouldn’t return until she was healed.I set her down on a large rock, far enough away from our vehicles that her friends wouldn’t hear us. My fingers grabbed the shirt, and hers wrapped around my wrist. “Careful,” she warned.I may have been more animal than man, but I didn’t want to hurt her.Only a monster could physically injure the woman he existed to love.Gently, I peeled the cloth away from her nose. She helped me, and I rumbled with worry when I saw that she was still bleeding. “The power is too much for you to hold alone. Mate with me, female.” The words spewed from me without thinking, my pheromones blasting like a damn furnace and ripping control away from me.“Back off, Grizzly.” Hazel’s leg kicked out toward me, her palm reaching for the shirt that stank of her blood and