Shadow Kissed (Magic Side: Wolf Bound Book 4)

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.