Magic Side: Wolf Bound Complete Series: Books 1-4, page 98
As we stood there, a chilly frost began to creep through the wound in my shoulder, and I sucked in a sharp gasp of pain. It was far worse than the ghost’s touch, like a blade of ice slowly pushing toward my heart.
Run! Wolfie whispered in my mind.
6
Savannah
The Dark Wolf God was here. His presence was unmistakable—dark, bitter, and angry. It burned into my wound and seeped into my bones like a bitter chill.
My breath fogged the night air as we waited, silently measuring every sound in the forest.
Suddenly, a shadow flickered in the corner of my eye.
“Did you see that?” I whispered.
“See what?” Casey hissed, doubt rattling his voice.
Jaxson sniffed the air and scanned the woods. Like a cobra, he was coiled and ready to strike. His strength practically thrummed around us, and for a moment, the vibrations of his power calmed my pounding heart.
We waited, watching and listening.
Another shadow flicked through the woods.
“There! Between those trees.” I pointed. “And another!”
“I still can’t see anything,” Casey whispered. “Should I light it up with my magic?”
“No.” I quietly crept forward. “Just stay alert and stay put. Jaxson and I will handle this. We can see in the dark.”
Jaxson stepped up beside me, and his heat made the air seem frigid. “I feel a presence.”
“It’s his, though it’s weaker than when the Dark Wolf God first spoke to me.”
“It might be his spies. Or agents. We’re definitely being watched.”
I strained with all my senses, hoping for the crack of a twig or even the rustle of leaves, but I sensed nothing other than the familiar scents of Jaxson and Casey amid the forest. Out of nowhere, the branches of a tree swayed, and a shadow sped away.
I didn’t hesitate. My legs erupted into a full sprint as I tore through the brush and foliage. I was a wolf. I was the hunter.
“Savannah!” Casey’s shout echoed from far behind.
Jaxson was at my side in an instant, flying through the brush and downed trees. “What is it?”
“I don’t know,” I snarled between heavy breaths as I ducked between two bushes. “But it’s straight ahead of us, and I’m not letting it get away!”
The dark shape wove between the trees, using the shadows for cover. Perhaps that could’ve shielded it from Jaxson’s eyes, but the shadows were my playground, and my magic let me see what others couldn’t.
My fangs and claws erupted as fury consumed me, and I punished the earth with every step I took. Was there no place that I could be free of the nightmare? My life had become little else but fear and anger and suffering. It was his fault. Whatever he’d planned, I wouldn’t run, and I sure as hell wouldn’t roll over.
The rage pulled me on, driving me past the point of control and reason. I became one with the hunt; nothing else mattered.
As I jumped across a small gully, the black shape broke left.
I tried to pivot as I dug my foot into the earth, but I slipped. Jaxson vaulted over me to avoid my tumbling form as I crashed to the ground.
Pain cascaded through my side, but I was up again before I even stopped rolling. I gritted my teeth against the agony in my foot and charged, pulled onward by the chase.
Just then, a shadow flashed beside me, and an icy chill rippled over my skin. Was there more than one?
With a sudden snap, my spine contorted, and I shifted mid-stride, faster than I’d ever shifted before. Agony wrenched through my body as my wolfish form shredded through my clothes. Before I’d finished another stride, my paws hit the earth.
A feral rage consumed me. I would hunt. Kill. Destroy whatever he had sent to haunt me. I delighted in the sudden surge of power that rose inside. I could tear the whole world apart.
Low brush and branches ripped across my face as I tore through the woods after the shadow. I wove around trees and leapt over logs. My feet propelled me with more power and strength than I’d ever had. My wolf and I were in sync, and we moved as smoothly as smoke. Hell, we were almost flying.
The shadow I was pursuing turned right, and before I could react, my wolf angled hard to intercept. She’d taken full control, so I let her steer. The woods were her realm.
Something glinted up ahead, and for a second, I caught the silhouette of a figure moving through the trees.
My wolf surged forward and sprang, jaws wide.
The shadow screamed, and I only felt contempt for my prey’s pathetic cry of horror.
Wait a minute. Casey?
The realization struck me in the gut at the same time as the air around me erupted in a billowing sheet of flames. Just before my paws collided with Casey’s chest, a heavy force slammed into my side. I hurtled sideways and tumbled head over heels. The dirt and leaves extinguished the patches of flame on my fur.
A massive wolf landed beside me, shaking the earth. Jaxson.
Before I could thank him, I was up on all fours, snarling. With a burst of speed and my fangs bared, my wolf charged Casey as he scrambled back.
Horror twisted my gut.
Stop! I screamed at my wolf, but no response came.
I tried to force her aside, but she didn’t relinquish control. What the hell was happening?
Suddenly, Jaxson’s hulking form was between us, with his lips pulled back in a savage snarl—Submit!
I skidded to a halt, then shot left. But Jaxson moved to intercept.
Stop! I commanded my wolf, but she wasn’t listening. It was as if she weren’t there. I struggled to gain control, but it was like grasping at mist.
Jaxson growled deep and low. His power and presence hit me like a windstorm, vibrating through my body and pushing me to my knees, giving me one command: Shift.
Did he realize my wolf was out of control?
I strained to obey, but my limbs wouldn’t return to my human form. My jaw clenched as I struggled to force the shift, drawing power from Jaxson’s presence and wrapping it with my own will.
Finally, my shoulder popped. Agony jolted down my spine, but I drowned it in anger. I will have control!
My body shook as my magic pulsed through me, and I howled in pain as the transformation came. My spine snapped, and my ribs began to realign. Time stopped having any meaning. Jerking and shaking, my human form fought to rip its way free of the wolf until I was left panting and naked on the ground.
I sucked in a lungful of air and moaned in frustration as I rolled over. Jaxson, now human himself, knelt beside me and took my hand. “You okay?”
I could sense his concern and worry.
“I don’t know.” I blinked, and the dark trees above me blurred into view. A few moldering leaves clung to my sweat-streaked back as I sat up. I quickly called my magic and cloaked myself in shadow. “Where’s Casey?”
I looked around frantically, but there was no sign of my cousin.
“He should be about fifty feet to the north and staying put. That is, if he did what he was told,” Jaxson growled, though I could hear the doubt in his voice.
Yeah, our family wasn’t great at that.
With my head throbbing like it was the morning after an all-night bender, I took Jaxson’s hand and rose on unsteady feet. “What the hell happened?”
“You tell me,” Jaxson said quietly, without judgement. “You charged off into the woods, chasing something. Then you turned, shifted, and chased down Casey. You seemed like you wanted to take a chunk out of him—not that I blame you, but…”
“Oh, my God.” Terror crept up my spine. “There were shadows moving through the trees. Didn’t you see them? I mistook Casey for one of them…then my wolf, she wouldn’t give me control back.”
“You’ve had that problem before,” Jaxson said softly, though his eyes glistened with worry.
“This was different, Jax. She was different. She wanted to attack him, I think, or at least, she couldn’t tell friend from foe. I could feel it.” I whispered the words, not wanting to admit the gravity of what I said even to myself, though my voice had a panicked edge to it.
My wolf—she’d gone rogue.
The ghost’s words slipped into my mind: He’s already got his claws in you.
Was this the Dark God’s doing?
Shaking with fear and confusion, and desperate for a rock to cling to, I stepped forward and grabbed Jaxson’s arm. Every inch of my body wanted to get closer, to have him hold me, but our nakedness was a barrier I couldn’t quite step through.
I needed his warmth.
Jaxson nodded subtly and appraised me with a concerned expression etched across his face. “You got caught up in the hunt. It happens. We’ll sort it out. You’ll be okay.”
Lies.
7
Savannah
Jaxson knew things weren’t right with me and my wolf, but now wasn’t the time to press him on it. We had to get out of Pere Cheney.
“Is Casey okay?” I asked.
Jax gave a noncommittal grunt. “He’ll be fine. He might have nightmares for a few weeks, but they’ll fade. As far as he’s concerned, we say you were trying to protect him, got it? We don’t need any more trouble with your family.”
Guilt and shock knotted my stomach. “But that’s not what happened, is it?”
He shook his head. “For now, it’s the easiest story, and one he needs to believe. As for what’s going on with your wolf, we’ll sort that out later. We should get your cousin and get out of these woods. There’s bad magic here.”
I tightened my grip on his arm before he could turn away. “Did you see anything?”
Jaxson’s eyes hardened, and his gaze scanned the trees behind me. There was a long pause before he spoke. “No.”
My stomach plummeted, and my knees suddenly went weak. What was happening to me? Had the shadows been my imagination? Was I losing my mind?
Jaxson glanced out into the darkness, searching. “I didn’t see it or smell it, but I felt it, whatever it was. Something dark, ice-cold. I don’t think you were chasing ghosts—or in this case, maybe you were. You see things I can’t.”
That was true. Between ghosts and shadows, my eyes were open to a sinister world. I hoped that was it, and not just me going crazy.
A shudder rippled down my spine. “This wasn’t ghosts. It was the Dark Wolf God.”
Before I could take another breath, Jaxson pulled me tightly against his body. “We’ll figure this out. I promise.”
I didn’t dare breathe. We stood skin to skin in the midst of the dark woods. I could feel his heat and wanted nothing more than to melt into him, to hide in his warmth and take refuge from the world.
My heart began pounding faster than before.
And then, just as quickly, he released me and looked away. The cold night air flooded into the space between us, and my skin mourned the loss of his touch.
Jaxson cleared his throat. “We should go. Let’s grab your idiot cousin and get out of here before anything else happens.”
Always, there was disaster looming. How I wished I could hit pause, just for a moment, even if I had to march on to my doom after. I was so tired of the sword hanging over my head.
Giving Jaxson a regretful look, I reached out and traced a finger down his chest, channeling my magic to slowly drape him in a cloak of shadow like my own.
He raised an eyebrow, and I gave him a half smile. “If Casey sees you naked like that, he’d probably try to burn his own eyes out.”
With a rough laugh that pushed back a little of the chill around us, Jaxson turned and started making his way through the brush. “Hopefully not. I had to shift into human form to order him not to panic. He was freaking out.”
“I’m sure seeing you shift in front of him calmed him right down. God, he’s going to be traumatized for life,” I muttered as I picked my way through the brush beside Jaxson. We headed in the direction of Casey’s scent—which was a hell of a lot more than fifty feet away, and definitely not north.
We found him three minutes later. It wasn’t hard. He was standing against the largest tree he could find with fireballs blazing in each hand.
“Casey? Are you okay?” I shouted from the darkness as we approached.
“Savannah? What the hell is going on? And no, for your information, I am not okay. A werewolf just tried to eat me, and I got to see John Holmes here naked. So no, I am never going to sleep again.”
“Just don’t shoot,” I said as I emerged, hands raised.
“Do you have any idea how fucking scary you two look right now?” he snapped, dismissing one—and only one—of his fireballs. “You’re like a couple of severed heads floating out of the darkness. Human heart muscle wasn’t meant for this kind of bullshit, Savannah. I think I’m having palpitations. Start explaining, now.”
Right. We were cloaked in robes of shadow. I hadn’t considered the optical effect at night.
Before I could respond, Jaxson cleared his throat. “There was something in the woods. You were in danger. Savannah, in wolf form, tried to knock you down, but you fireballed her.”
My mouth went sour. He’d chosen his words so carefully that it made me sound like a hero and a victim instead of a half-crazed assailant. Every phrase was true, yet together, they were a lie.
“That was you?” Casey asked. “Do you have any idea how terrifying you are? Never, ever, do that shit to me again. What the hell were you chasing?”
My shoulders drooped at the bitterness in his voice. “I’m really sorry, Case. That’s…not how I wanted you to meet my wolf. I was chasing a shadow creature, but I couldn’t catch it. I don’t know what it was. Probably one of the Dark God’s minions.”
“And we should get out of the woods before more of his servants arrive,” Jaxson said, scanning the darkness.
We picked our way back through the bushes as I tried to think of a way to apologize to my cousin for so many things. I just kept digging myself deeper.
As we neared the truck, Casey finally broke the silence. “Don’t be so glum. We both nearly killed each other tonight, so let’s consider it a learning opportunity.” Casey shouldered me gently and gave a sly glance at Jaxson ahead of us. “For instance, I learned what you see in Jaxson. Wow. I mean, like, wow girl.”
Scorching heat flooded my neck and face, and I stopped him in his tracks with my finger jabbed against his chest. “We are not discussing that part of my life. Got it?”
“Fine. I think I already know everything I need to.”
I spun and stalked after Jaxson, flushed all the way to my burning core. Idiot cousin. Jaxson, of course, had heard every single word, and I could smell the scent of his smugness. God save me.
Jaxson unlocked the truck, and I slipped into the passenger side while Casey climbed in the back. My cousin wasn’t the only one with whom I needed to work things out. I closed my eyes and concentrated on the spirit of my wolf.
Wolfie? Are you there? Can we talk about what happened tonight?
No response.
Wolfie?
A deep dread settled over me.
What was happening with my wolf? Was the Dark God intruding on our connection?
A litany of questions tightened around my heart as we backed out of the cemetery and headed down the dirt road.
Had I really brought the Dark God with me, like the ghost had said? And what had she meant when she’d said that he had his claws in me, that he’d consume me like the sea?
All I knew was that with each passing minute, I felt more and more like a liability to Jaxson and the pack, let alone my own family. I was losing control of my wolf. What if I lost control of myself?
Dragan had taken over my body before—first, to make me walk into the arms of a lurking noctith demon, and then he’d tried again in Pere Cheney. If Dragan could do that, then the Dark God would be powerful enough to make me dance like a puppet and turn me into the monster of werewolf legend.
The twin-soul will steal the wolves from every werewolf who resists them and will leave your people weak before the Dark God.
I had to get rid of the Soul Knife. And if things kept going to shit, really to shit, I needed to find a way to lock myself away, despite Jaxson’s objections. Maybe then, the pack would have a chance.
8
Savannah
I parked my Fury in the temporary parking outside of the Hall of Inquiry. We’d driven all night back to the dunes, where Jaxson had dropped Casey and me at our rides. We’d all headed to Magic Side as dawn started to creep above the horizon and made good time until we hit the outskirts of Chicago.
Already exhausted from the sleepless night, I was pretty sure the rush hour traffic had sucked the last breath of life from my soul. I texted Neve that I’d arrived, then took a sip of the Zinger I’d picked up on the way. My nerves didn’t need the buzz, but my tired body did.
Heaving myself up, I climbed out of my Fury and groaned as the aches and pains of driving crept down my spine and into my legs.
Jaxson pulled up in his truck behind me. I headed over and pounded on his door, and he rolled the window down. “I’m going to ditch the Soul Knife,” I said. “It shouldn’t take long.”
He nodded. “Need me to come in?”
“I’m not sure you’re allowed,” I replied, recalling our last encounter in the Hall of Inquiry. “Can I crash at your place after? I don’t think I’m in any state to deal with Aunt Laurel.”
A smile crept up at the corners of his mouth. “Of course. I’ll be here when you get back.”
I did my best to hide my reaction and walked away. “I need sleep, Jaxson.”
Neve waved from the stairs as I made my way across the square out front. The weathered stone of the neoclassical building matched the gray sky.
“Hey, there.” She pulled me into an embrace, then held me at arm’s length as she eyed me. “You look…”
“Like an exhausted mess?” I prompted. “I’ve been chasing shadows through the woods and driving all night.”
