by Kim Fox
She smiled and blushed, feeling the nerves float away. This was Ryder. Her mate. She had nothing to worry about. They were going to be just fine.
“I had fun too,” she said. “I’m just happy I didn’t drop a knife or an ax on your foot.”
He laughed. “That wouldn’t have been good.”
They gave each other a loving kiss and then Tempest steeled herself, ready to unleash her mother’s spell that would finally open these handcuffs.
“Skaintée hourtew nurèena,” she whispered, concentrating hard. “Palãpintara fowlinquâ satru.”
The cuffs clicked open and they both gasped in surprise.
“You did it!” Ryder said, staring at her in shock.
“Of course, I did,” she said with a sad smile as she unhooked it from his tattooed wrist, then hers. “I’m a badass bounty hunter, remember?”
She hooked them safely on the back of her jeans and then rubbed her wrist. It had a red mark around it that looked like it would never go away.
“I guess we’re free,” he said, looking sad.
She sighed. “I guess so.”
Tempest tossed her running shoe back into the garage and then closed the door, locking it after.
“Ready?” he asked when she was all finished.
She nodded. “Ready.”
Ryder smiled as he reached out his hand.
What was I worried about?
Tempest slid her hand into his with a happy grin on her face.
They walked back to the car hand in hand.
Joined together, but this time, it was by choice.
Epilogue
Ryder
“Now, remember,” Ryder said as he watched Tempest line up in front of the bullseye. “Keep the ax perpendicular to your arm.”
They had been practicing a lot lately. Tempest was determined to launch the throwing axes at the bullseye as well as Ryder could. She had a long way to go.
“I do,” she said with a touch of frustration in her voice. “It just never goes where I want it to go.”
He laughed. “That’s because you suck.”
She shot him a fiery look, but she couldn’t hide her smile. “I don’t suck. I just need some more practice.”
“We’ve been practicing all day.”
She chuckled as she lined up the ax at the target. “Okay, fine. I suck.”
“You can do it,” he said, hoping she’d nail it this time. “I believe in you.”
Tempest took a deep breath, raised the ax, and then yanked her arm back down, letting it fly. It somersaulted through the air and landed with a thunk… in the maple tree beside the target.
“Oops,” she said with a wince. “Sorry, Mr. Tree.”
“He’s going to be called Mr. Stump by the time we’re done,” Ryder said with a laugh.
“It’s because I’m using the wrong axes,” she said, looking at the pile of boring old metal axes on the ground. “I’ll go get my golden ax.”
“I’ll wait here,” he said with a chuckle. “I think you’re right. It’s definitely the ax. It’s not you at all.”
She kissed her palm and blew it over to him. “I knew you’d see the truth.”
He never took his eyes off her as she skipped across the ranch and into their cabin. The past two weeks with Tempest had been incredible. They were no longer attached together, but they hardly spent any time apart. He couldn’t get enough of her.
She had officially moved in and was a card carrying member of the Clayton Rock Bounty Hunters. She didn’t even care that it didn’t come with a paycheck.
They hadn’t seen or heard from General Hunt or any of his friends since he left on his helicopter. Grant had put the other shifters in the town on alert and even met with the alphas of the crews in the nearby town of Colwood in case they needed some extra furry firepower.
It was over for now, but none of them were foolish enough to think that he wouldn’t be back. Men like him always came back.
“I got it!” Tempest said, running back over with the golden ax in her hand. Her gorgeous brown hair was flowing in the wind behind her, and Ryder’s heart felt so full that he thought it may very well explode.
“Let’s see what you got,” he said, grinning at her with a challenging look in his eyes.
She lined up with the target and took a deep breath as she raised the ax in the air.
“You’ll see,” she said as she narrowed her beautiful blue eyes on the bullseye. “It was the axes all along.”
Ryder chuckled as he watched her.
She took a deep breath and let the ax fly. It cartwheeled through the air and landed with a deep thunk in the middle of the red bullseye.
Her hand flew to her mouth in shock. “I did it!” She jumped up and down and squealed in delight before rushing over and yanking the golden ax out of the plywood.
“My badass bounty hunter,” Ryder said with a happy grin as he watched her.
“Yes!” she shouted as she turned around. “I’m the best bounty hunter in the world!”
As she said the last word, she threw her hands up in the air and the ax flew out of her hand, sailing into the air. It flew toward Ryder in an arc and landed right in the middle of his foot.
He gasped as his eyes widened and pain shot up his leg.
“Tempest!” he yelled as he lifted his foot with the golden ax sticking out of it.
She winced. “At least I didn’t get your toes…”
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Bonus Chapter 6.5: The handcuffed shenanigans continue from Chapter Six as Tempest and Ryder cut up their clothes, Ryder tries to steal Tempest’s wand, and Ryder desperately tries to break the chain with a chainsaw when Tempest won’t stop singing!
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