Magic Side: Wolf Bound Complete Series: Books 1-4, page 101
I placed my head on his shoulder. “I’m sorry, Jax.”
We sat like that for a long time until he cleared his throat. “I was never meant to be alpha. It wasn’t a path I chose, but one I had to take. That was Stephanie’s fate, not mine. She’d been trained for it. I was just her muscle. A thug.”
I sat up. “You’re not a thug, and you’ve done well. The pack is thriving.”
He gently squeezed my hand. “I know it is. But when I started out, I was in over my head. I only managed it because of Regina and Sam. You need to trust them, like I did. You don’t have to carry everything on your own. You’re part of a pack. They’ll stand by you, no matter what. We need to tell them.”
So this was what it was about: come clean, admit the monster that I was. I shook my head. “Regina wanted to string me up when we first met.”
He stood. “You won her over, Savy, and she’ll be your staunchest defender. You need to trust me in this.”
I rubbed my temples.
I was so tired. Tired of running. Tired of hiding the truth, first about my wolf, then about the prophecy.
You might like being the Lone Ranger, Wolfie whispered in my mind, but something tells me we’re going to need a fucking high-powered posse to bring down the Dark God. I’m with Jax, let’s tell the pack.
I’d told Casey and my aunt and Neve, but only because I had to. And because I wasn’t prophesized to betray them. The pack was different.
Hey, this way, they can’t say you didn’t warn them. Anyway, you’re going to crack if you hold on to this much longer.
That much was true. I stood and stretched. “Fine. We tell them. If they don’t freak, then we go from there.”
“Good.” Jaxson grinned. “They’re already waiting in the parking lot.”
“What?”
“I figured I’d win you over. Let’s go.”
Cocky alpha.
You like him that way, my wolf observed.
Shut up, Wolfie.
Trepidation and irritation fought for dominance in my gut as I followed Jaxson back to the bridge, where indeed, Sam, Regina, and the loremaster were waiting.
Sam raised a six-pack that was already missing a few bottles. “Jax said to bring beer. What’s up?”
Regina pulled one out, popped the top, and handed it over. “Jax said things were fucked and that you needed our help. So here we are.”
Stunned, I took the beer and looked at each pack member. At least we were on the silenced side of the bridge and no one else would be able to hear.
Ready for a leap of faith? Wolfie asked.
Nope.
I took a long pull of the beer, and then I told them everything.
12
Savannah
“Fuck Dragan, and fuck the Dark Wolf God,” Sam growled.
I’d just finished explaining how I happened to be the horrible monster of werewolf prophecy, that I had accidently released the Dark God, and that I would soon be stealing all their souls.
I dried my eyes with the back of my wrist.
Regina crossed her arms. “Okay. Clearly, the fates are out to screw us, as usual. So we work the problem. We need to take the Dark God out of the picture before he fucks over Savannah and the rest of us. If we can stop him from returning, then the prophecy will be moot.” She pivoted toward me. “Any ideas?”
I raised my eyebrows. “Honestly, I thought you guys might just want to get it over with and string me up.”
She glared. “Nobody messes with my pack, and you’re part of my pack. We take him down.”
“Yes, but he’s a god,” Sam muttered. “How do we take down a fucking god?”
The loremaster cleared her throat. “The Moon did once before, so it’s possible.”
Sam laughed. “Yeah, she seduced and drugged him. I don’t think that’s going to work again, and I’m sure as hell not signing up for that job.”
The loremaster glared at Sam. “Don’t be daft. It’s a story. A metaphor with a grain of truth, and a lesson for those who listen. But the Moon did something to him. We’ll have to ask her how to do it again.”
Ask the Moon? I gaped. “Is that even possible?”
She snorted. “Wolves have called on the Moon in times of trouble since we first set foot on this earth. There are old rituals, magic that has been passed down from grandmother to grandmother.”
“How?” Jaxson asked. “Tell us what you need.”
The loremaster cleared her throat and doodled sheepishly in the hard dirt of the path with the end of her cane. “Well, the problem is, I’ve done moon calling, but I’ve never actually tried to summon the Moon herself. They’re old rituals, and the details are fuzzy.”
Jaxson shrugged. “At this point, we don’t have much to go on, and fuzzy is better than nothing. How do we proceed?”
The loremaster put two palms on the top of her cane and rose. “Well, first, we have to find ourselves a Moon temple—a place of her worship.”
“A Moon temple? Are there any of those still active?” Regina asked.
The loremaster squared her shoulders. “I said it was an old ritual. Even an abandoned one will do.”
Jaxson grunted and folded his arms. “Well, if ruins are what you’re looking for, I’m pretty sure I know who can find us one: Neve Cross.”
A couple of hours later, Jaxson and I followed Neve back to her desk in the Archives. Though she had an office with the other detectives, she said she preferred to work in the company of books.
I couldn’t help but be awed by the place. Though I wasn’t a researcher and I preferred to read thrillers, I could appreciate the wonder of being surrounded by some of the world’s most ancient and powerful books. I also couldn’t help the envy I felt for Neve, who seemed to have it all—magic she was comfortable with, a job she loved, and a partner who was mad about her.
“The Moon has many temples, but this is the closest one I could find next to a portal, so it’ll hafta do.” She tore a page from a notepad and handed it me. “These are the coordinates.”
“To where?” I asked.
“The island of Delos. It’s the birthplace of Apollo and Artemis, and there’s a small temple to her there.”
“Wait a second, Artemis?”
Neve nodded and paged through a weatherworn book. “Selene, Diana, Artemis, they are all personifications of the Moon.” She handed the book to me, which was open to a black-and-white sketch of the goddess Artemis. She wore a flowing gown, and a crescent moon crown adorned her braided hair. I traced my index finger over the image, my eyes drawn to the bow in her hand and the majestic wolf beside her.
“Is that the Dark Wolf God?” I asked.
Neve shrugged. “The Moon attracts creatures who are drawn to the lunar phases. Wolves, in particular, are closely associated with her. It’s no wonder the Dark God was smitten with her.”
Neve handed Jaxson a folded sheet of paper. “These are the coordinates. Myrto will greet you and show you to the Temple of Artemis. She’s an archaeologist who works on the island, and she was the one who agreed to let you use the portal.”
I frowned. “But I thought all portals were open to Magica.”
“Correct,” Jaxson said. “But not all portals have free access.”
“That’s right. The one that you’ll be traveling through is a minor portal, and its use is controlled. Delos is a sacred island full of history. The Ephorate of Antiquities of Cyclades doesn’t want Magica tramping around the archaeological site, performing unsupervised magic and rituals. I doubt the gods and goddesses would like that, either.”
Right. That’s exactly what we were going to do. Nerves fluttered in my gut. God, I hope the Moon comes when we summon her.
Jaxson’s phone buzzed, and mine vibrated a second after. A text from Sam: We’re outside.
Neve led us out. “Good luck, and tell me how it is. I’ve always wanted to visit Delos. So much history…but alas, so much to do here. The chaos never stops.”
A glint of envy shone in her eyes, and I could sense her pining to tag along, but she’d told us yesterday that she was on an important case and shouldn’t skip town.
I gave Neve a hug, wishing that she was joining us. “Thanks again. We owe you big time.”
Neve waved her hand through the air. “Psshh. It’s what friends do for each other.”
Despite the unease that was gnawing at it, my heart swelled at Neve’s words. My life was epically fucked up, but I’d managed to find my tribe. That was something I’d cherish, no matter what happened.
An officious and impatient clerk escorted us out of the Archives, and we found Sam and the loremaster waiting for us on a bench across the front plaza.
“How’d it go?” Sam asked.
“Well, we’ve got the location of a temple,” I muttered. “So let’s find out how to take down the Dark Wolf God.”
13
Savannah
Unfortunately, getting to Delos required using a portal, a mode of transport with which I was still getting comfortable. I had no idea how some people used them for daily commutes—it felt like having your body disassembled and dumped into a washing machine, then put back together again.
Jaxson’s driver dropped us off downtown at the edge of Rain Bridge Plaza. It was like O’Hare Airport, except the lines were shorter, and you were less likely to lose your luggage.
The wide plaza was ringed with dozens of wrought iron archways. Long lines of people had formed in front of each of the gateways, traveling to and from destinations in the magical and non-magical worlds. One by one, they stepped through and disappeared, while every so often, a different person would step out the back of the doorway.
The real mind-bending feature of the place—aside from all the vanishing Magica, which I’d now come to take for granted—was the floating river that wound overhead, the Rain Bridge. It was a living sculpture that gently misted all the people who passed through.
I followed Jaxson as he headed to the front of one of the lines and glared. The people in line dutifully shuffled back to let us cut. In the past, an alpha stunt like that might have embarrassed me, but at this point, we were on our way to save the world. The foodie on his way to get fresh biscotti in Milan could wait a bit.
“I haven’t left Magic Side for a decade,” the loremaster said as she shuffled forward with her cane. “I’m ready for an adventure.”
I glanced back and arched my brows at Sam, who was standing beside the old woman, probably worried that she might stumble and break a hip. As if reading my thoughts, Sam’s lips tightened, and she shook her head.
I wasn’t sure how to properly act around the loremaster. She was old and wise and definitely to be respected, but she had a fierceness about her, and I didn’t want to coddle her.
I stepped to the side to let her go ahead.
She raised her eyebrows. “What? Age before beauty? Are you kidding me, child? You and the alpha are going first in case there are any beasts lurking on the other side.”
I flushed red, but the loremaster looked over at Sam and winked.
Jaxson entered the coordinates that Neve had given us using a dial on the side of the portal. The translucent veil covering the ringed doorway began shimmering in the afternoon sun. Jaxson’s lips pulled up slightly into a smile, and he offered me his hand. “Ready?”
His question was simple, but the way he looked at me implied so much more. Would I step with him into the unknown?
With a gaze that intense and smoldering, how could I not follow a man like him anywhere? I swallowed and took his hand. He continued to watch me, though his eyes betrayed a hint of delight.
Yeah, he knew how my body reacted to his attention.
He gave my hand a light squeeze that made my stomach summersault, and then we stepped through together.
With a rush of magic, the ether sucked us into the void of space. My stomach flipped for real as my body was pulled in countless directions. Just as I thought I couldn’t take it anymore, I stumbled out onto a set of narrow stairs beneath a night sky.
Nausea swam in my gut, and I doubled forward. My balance was shit, though, and my foot slipped, and I fell.
With a single fluid motion, Jaxson slipped his arm around my waist. “Steady, there.”
His heat pressed into me, and his eyes dropped to my lips. Hell, I was in trouble here.
My neck flushed, and I awkwardly peeled myself out of his grasp. “Thanks. That was a rough ride.”
“Minor portals like these don’t get a lot of use. The magic degrades if it’s not maintained,” he said, giving me an amused smile.
Clearly, he’d enjoyed catching my fall. I wasn’t sure if that annoyed me or made me wish we’d been somewhere private when it happened.
My gaze drifted to the stars and faint clouds above.
Right. Greece was hours ahead of Chicago.
I took a moment to inspect our surroundings as best I could in the dim light. Since I’d first shifted, my night vision was getting better and better.
We stood in an ancient well or cistern of some sort. Low walls of stacked granite slabs enclosed the water feature, their surfaces etched by dark watermarks.
I wasn’t sure how deep the green pool behind us was, but it looked stagnant. At least the portal hadn’t dropped us in the water. The only thing worse than wet boots were slimy wet boots.
Ascending after Jaxson, I emerged into a windswept landscape filled with standing columns and the crumbling ruins of countless ancient structures off in the darkness. My pulse quickened as the wonder and magic of the place buffeted the air around us.
I was broken from the spell by the loremaster’s grunt from behind.
“My fates! That portal had the jitters. Who do I complain to around here?” The huge grin on her face told me that she’d been absolutely unfazed by her trip through the ether. Sam laughed beside her, and I felt the heat on my neck spread. Why was I the only one who got portal-sick?
Footsteps approaching over the rocky ground pulled my attention, and I glanced over my shoulder. A bobbing light approached, and Jaxson stiffened as I put my hand up to shield my eyes from the glare.
The beam of light swept down to the ground, and after a second my vision adjusted, revealing a petite woman with a pixie haircut.
“You must be the people Neve sent. Welcome to Delos.” She had a faint accent and wore cargo pants and a white T-shirt that accentuated her sun-kissed skin and green eyes. “Sorry to keep you waiting. This place has been shut down for hours, and it took longer than I planned to get past the night guardsmen—even though they know exactly who I am.”
She flashed us a warm smile and extended her hand to me. Her signature smelled of earth and rosemary and felt cool and calm. I was immediately drawn to her, and I was sure it had everything to do with her magic, whatever she was.
“I’m Savy. This is Jaxson, Sam, and our loremaster. Thanks for meeting us so late at night,” I said, shaking her hand.
“Night is better,” Myrto shrugged. “Better than having you folks pop out in the midst of a tour group.”
“Neve told us that you’d be able to show us to the Temple of Artemis?” Jaxson asked.
“Yep. Right this way,” she said cheerfully, heading down the path in the opposite direction than the one she’d come. “I’d give you a tour of the place if the moon was up, but it’s a bit dark, and I imagine you’re pressed for time.”
“Thank you so much, but the clocking is ticking,” I said regretfully. “The portal we came through, was that a well?”
“That’s the Minoan Fountain. It was one of the island’s public fountains, but long before that, it was a sacred spring that belonged to the nymphs.” She gave me a wink.
Was she a nymph? Her signature was unfamiliar and tasted like raw honey. She definitely wasn’t a sorceress or werewolf, or hell, a demon or vampire, for that matter.
Myrto led us down the weatherworn dirt path, her flashlight sweeping the way ahead. Like ghosts of the past, the ruins were pale and barely visible in the faint starlight. I couldn’t help but feel a pang of regret for not being able to see the place in its former glory, or even the light of day.
Suddenly, the hair on my neck stood on end, and I got the uncanny feeling of lightning about to strike, or of being watched.
I slowed my steps and scanned our surroundings. My attention settled on the outlines of a large building to our left. Broken columns and other pieces of architecture littered the interior, and a rectangular slab with a bull head was set on three supports.
Nothing moved in the ruins, but something wasn’t right.
Myrto must have noticed my gaze because she paused to flick her light toward the structure. “That’s a stoa. It doesn’t look like much now, but it was once a covered walkway with statues. Right beyond it is the Sanctuary of Apollo, where we’re headed.”
I glanced back at Jaxson and met his eyes. He gave me a subtle nod.
Something was up, and he knew it.
The air was almost heavy, and something about the old magic of the place started to shimmer and shift almost imperceptibly. Myrto drifted into conversation with the loremaster, but Jaxson and Sam both had their eyes fixed on the darkness.
One moment, all three of us stood there listening and searching for scents. Then a crunching and grating sound echoed from the distance, almost like stones being moved.
I stepped up beside Sam and Jaxson. “What is that?”
Jaxson’s nostrils flared, and then his body tensed. “Loremaster, Myrto, quiet—something’s headed our way.”
“What?” Myrto asked, glancing over her shoulders.
I felt a rising swell of dark energy rush over me.
The Dark God.
“I think we’re in trouble,” I whispered.
Before Jaxson could respond, two starlit shadows appeared at the junction in the path about a hundred yards ahead. My blood iced.
About the size and shape of lions, the feline creatures began to prowl toward us. Something was off about them. Their bodies were too sleek, and they moved with an unnatural gait.
