Wolf Marked (Magic Side: Wolf Bound Book 1)

Savannah

Apart from glimmers of the full moon peeking out from the clouds and the passing headlights, the night was dark.

I finished my second meat and potato pasty—a local Michigan staple—and brushed the crumbs off my tank top. Regina had given me a clean pair of jeans and a shirt, and though biker chic wasn’t my style, they fit, and I was glad to be rid of my damp and blood-stained clothes.

“You feeling okay?” Sam turned and looked at me from the front passenger seat. Jaxson was driving, and he glanced at me in the rearview mirror.

She was being nicer since I’d saved her ass. Hell, even Regina and Tony had warmed up a bit. I never thought I’d see the day.

“I’m fine. Just needed sustenance. How much farther to Billy’s cabin?”

“Twenty-five minutes,” Sam said.

We were deep into Michigan, driving through the heavily wooded Upper Peninsula. I watched the passing trees in the darkness, and my thoughts drifted to the sorcerer. The faceless man. Shivers snaked down my spine.

What would we do if Billy didn’t know where the sorcerer was?

He was after me—my blood—and I had the sinking feeling that he wasn’t going to stop, regardless of whether we got to Billy.

Jaxson and Sam were talking quietly. They’d debated bringing me, but I’d had some sharp words to say about that. I’d reminded them that I’d bested four werewolves on my own and that I’d been the one to rescue Sam. If that didn’t prove I was enough of an asset to bring along, I didn’t know what would.

I silently reached into my backpack and pulled out the scrying potion. Would the sorcerer be there? What if he was planning an ambush with Billy? We needed more information, and I could do something about that. I leaned forward and took a swig of the potion, grimacing as I swallowed it. I knew it was a long shot, but it could make all the difference.

Settling back, I closed my eyes so Jaxson and Sam wouldn’t notice what I was doing. The potion burned through my veins. I concentrated on the sorcerer, and my muscles spasmed as my mind focused and drew me into darkness.

The potion was working faster than I’d anticipated. I glanced around. It was pitch black, and the air tasted stale.

Something was different. A light shone up ahead, and I walked toward it. I was in a cave. The walls were covered in lichen and dripping with water. I stumbled on a rock and silently cursed as the sound echoed through the space. Was it supposed to do that? I’d never heard anything while scrying. The time the sorcerer had spoken to me, I hadn’t actually heard his words—they’d formed in my mind like a thought, rising from my subconscious.

As I drew closer to the light, my nail beds itched, and fear took root in my heart. He was close. I sensed it with every fiber of my being.

My heart pounded against my chest. Last time I’d scried, it had felt like I’d been dreaming, but this…this felt so real, like I was actually here.

I swallowed my rising panic and looked around, taking in every inch of my surroundings so that I could sketch it later. There was nothing specific about this cave, though it was dark and creepy as hell.

Up ahead, the cave opened, and a small fire illuminated the space. Two passages split off in the distance, veiled in darkness. Apart from my breathing and my racing heart, it was quiet.

“Savannah,” a low voice whispered.

I spun, but no one was there. Goosebumps erupted across my skin, and panic seized my chest. I couldn’t breathe.

“I’ve been waiting for you, my darling. Come to me, Savannah.”

I just needed to stay long enough to see his face. To know who he was. “Where are you? Show yourself.”

A sinister chuckle echoed through the cavern. “Oh, Savannah. I told you once before: no peeking.”

His voice sent terror right through me, and my chest heaved as I sucked in air. I couldn’t explain my body’s reaction.

Instinct.

“Show your face, you coward.” I spun, feeling dizzy.

Suddenly, a form appeared in front of me, gripping my arms. There was no face, though, just a black, empty, cavernous space. Horror paralyzed me, yet I managed to scream.

I tried to break the vision, but I was stuck.

The form’s grip tightened, and his nails dug into my skin. This wasn’t supposed to happen. This was all wrong.

“We’re one and the same, Savannah. You can’t escape me. I’ll find you, always.” His voice penetrated my mind, filling my soul with a cold darkness that made me want to claw my skin off.

I kicked and wrenched my body, trying to free myself, but my blows didn’t connect. Desperate, I screamed, “Jaxson!”

My vision went black, and two hands gripped my shoulders. “Savannah, come back to me!”

I opened my eyes. Jaxson was staring at me through the open door, fear etched across his face. His shoulders relaxed slightly when my eyes locked onto his.

Tears streamed down my face.

Jaxson pulled me toward him, cradling the back of my head with his hand. “You’re safe now.”

His voice was soothing, and I buried my face in his chest, trying to escape the dreadful feeling that had taken root inside me like the aftershocks of a terrible nightmare.

Once my breathing had calmed, he gently cupped my face with his palm and wiped the tears from my cheeks. His brow was furrowed, and he looked upset. “What happened?”

“I wanted to see if I could get any more clues about the sorcerer’s plans, so I scried on him. He saw me and spoke to me. Grabbed me. I couldn’t leave, it was so real…” I squeezed my eyes shut and shook my head, trying to rid the vision of his blank face from my mind.

“That’s not possible,” Sam said. She was crouched on the middle console, watching me closely.

“Wrong. It happened.” I hiccupped and wiped my eyes.

Jaxson’s hands slid down my arms, and I looked down. My heart stilled. Red streaks trailed down my skin where the sorcerer had gripped me.

Jaxson locked me with a steely gaze, and his jaw tensed. “No more scrying.”

I nodded. “No more scrying.”

He glanced at Sam like they were exchanging some unspoken words, and then he returned his gaze to me. “Will you be all right? We’re fifteen minutes from the cabin. You don’t have to come. Sam can take you back to Magic Side.”

Determination replaced my fear. “No. I’m not running. I need answers.”

I was going to find out who this fucker was and destroy him.

Jaxson nodded and closed my door. He motioned to the four cars that had pulled off the road behind us, and then he slid into the driver’s seat and started the engine. As he drove, he watched me with concern in the rearview mirror. I rubbed my stinging arms and looked out the window.

That was really stupid, Savy. What would have happened if I’d gotten stuck in that vision? There was still so much I didn’t know about scrying, and I really had to be more careful.

Sam handed me her leather jacket. “Take this. You’re shivering.”

“Thanks.” I slid my arms into the jacket, which was still warm, and I pulled my sketchbook and pencil from my bag. As much as my skin still crawled from the thought of that monster, I needed to draw the vision while the details were still fresh. Familiar tools in hand, I got to work, losing myself in the process.

Ten minutes later, we pulled onto a dirt road that cut through the forest. I stopped and looked at the drawings on the two papers. The faceless man stared back at me from the cavern. That was when I noticed the mark on his neck—a tattoo. My heart pounded, and I squinted at the page, trying to make out the design.

A triangle with the number thirty-seven in it. What did it mean?

I put the sketchbook and pencil away and tightened the laces on my magic boots. Jaxson had left one of his people behind at the Sunrise Inn to collect everyone’s belongings once the wolfsbane dissipated, and while I hadn’t had much on me to begin with, I was relieved to find my boots and my purse returned. The boots, especially—after running through the woods and sanatorium in bare feet, it was a spine-tingling relief to have them on again.

I needed to start sleeping with those puppies laced up, I decided, as if that would solve all my problems.

A light mist had started, and fog settled in the trees. Just what I needed. My nerves were already shot.

Jaxson pulled to the side and parked. The cars behind us followed, and soon, it was pitch black.

I took an unsteady breath.

Time to woman up, Savy. Get some answers.

I climbed out of the car, and Jaxson appeared before me. He slid his hand to my hip, and my heart quickened. “Stay close to me,” he murmured. “I want you in sight.”

He pulled out the bulletproof vest I’d used before and helped me suit up. Each time he tugged the straps tight, I sucked in a quick breath, inhaling the scent of his signature. I wished I could wrap it around me just as tightly as the vest. Then maybe the jitters would go away.

He handed me a pistol. “Things are going to get rough.”

“I know.”

His hand lingered for a second while his gaze lowered to my lips. My breath hitched as he turned, and I felt the sudden loss of his touch as I slipped the gun into the back of my jeans.

God, I needed to learn to control my reactions around him, but it was hard. He was dangerously handsome, and the attraction between us was electric. Every time we got close, I felt like a part of my soul wanted to claw its way out…though not in a bad way. I couldn’t explain it. It made no sense and was frankly weird as hell, like a relentless pushing against my ribs that strengthened every time he came near.

Jaxson handed Sam a pistol and slid another behind his waistband. Eight shifters stepped from the other vehicles. Tony, Regina, and a couple of others I recognized from our first jaunt to the she-wolf’s cabin near the lighthouse. They nodded at me, and I guessed everyone was warming up a little. That, or they expected me to die and were just being polite about things.

I took an unsteady breath.

Things would be fine. Jaxson had explained the plan of attack at the road stop. Everyone except him and Sam was going to shift. The wolves would split into two groups and surround the cabin, while we approached from the south.

The werewolves seemed to prefer attacking with claws and fangs over using guns. It made sense for fighting in the trees, where there would be a lot of cover. Plus, as far as I could tell, they were faster, stronger, and healed more quickly in wolf form.

I, however, was not a werewolf, and I had no control over the little magic I had, so I was really happy for the Glock. I touched it for good luck as Jaxson had everyone huddle up.

“You know the plan,” he said. “Go quietly, and be quick about it. Take out the sentries, then breach. But don’t forget—Billy is mine by right. If you see him, howl. Pursue, but don’t engage. We need him alive. He’s our link to the sorcerer behind this, and if he goes down, the bastard may slip away.”

Everyone nodded. I could practically smell their excitement, the urgency to run.

“Stay alert,” Jaxson said softly. “Billy will be expecting us.”

I averted my gaze as the wolfborn stripped and shifted. The snapping of bones made my stomach turn.

“Ready?” Jaxson’s voice sent shivers down my neck.

I turned and nodded. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

He smiled, but I could see the pain in his eyes. This couldn’t be easy for him. Billy was a prick, but he was also Jaxson’s family. I really had no idea what that must be like.

With the rustling of leaves and the soft padding of stealthy paws, the wolves disappeared into the trees.

The fog seemed to blanket the forest in silence. Jaxson and Sam flanked me, and I followed their lead as we crept through the woods. My pace was slow. I didn’t have wolf vision and had to gingerly step over the rocks that littered the ground. Boots of speed were great, but boots of stealth would have been really handy.

Gunshots resounded through the forest, followed by two howls. My pulse raced. The tension in Jaxon’s shoulders was clear. He glanced at Sam, and they slowed. I bit my lip in frustration, wishing I could speak wolf.

Suddenly, loud cracks echoed through the trees behind us as bullets sank into bark. I ducked low behind a fallen trunk, unable to discern where the shots were coming from.

More gunfire erupted from the left, and bullets dug into the dirt a few feet behind me.

Wrong side of the tree.

I dove over the log, and Sam crouched beside me. Jaxson ripped off a few shots into the darkness, aiming for something flickering at the edge of my vision. Their eyes were so much sharper than mine.

My heart began pounding, and a bead of sweat rolled down my spine.

Deep breaths, Savy. You’ve got this.

No, I fucking didn’t.

I could shoot, but I wasn’t trained for gunfights in the dark. Lying on my stomach next to the fallen trunk, I suddenly had a greater appreciation for demons, which just tried to eat you and didn’t shoot back.

With gasping breaths, I reminded myself of why I was there. Why I’d left Belmont and gone to Magic Side—to find out who was hunting me. I was almost there. I just needed a face and a location.

A bullet ricocheted off a rock near Sam’s head.

We were surrounded.

Suddenly, Jaxson threw himself on top of me, crushing me with his weight. Though I struggled, he wouldn’t budge. He grunted, and then shouting and snarls erupted around us. With my cheek pressed into the dirt, I couldn’t see anything.

“Stay down! We’ll lead them off” Jaxson hissed, and then he launched off me.

I glanced up. Jaxson and Sam were gone in a burst of gunfire.

A man screamed, and the sound of gurgling made me sick. I clamped my palms to my ears, fighting back the vomit in my throat. Then the shooting shifted away from me.

I peeked through the crack beneath the fallen trunk. Blurs moved through the trees on all sides. And then a canister landed ten feet away, spewing smoke.

It was the hotel attack, all over again.

Howls and shouts echoed around me. My lungs clenched, and I coughed as the gas filled the air. My eyes watered, and my skin stung.

Wolfsbane.

A man with a gas mask darted through the forest. The bastard!

I fired off three shots. The man stumbled but regained his footing. With the fog, the darkness, and now the smoke, I could barely see well enough to aim.

Screw this. I scanned the forest ahead and ran forward. I wasn’t waiting for Jaxson.

I shielded my nose with the sleeve of my jacket and wound through the trees. Apart from the occasional gunshots and snarls, the forest was eerily quiet.

Light shone from ahead, and I headed toward it. I ducked behind a bush and peered through the foliage at a rustic cabin. A single bulb illuminated the outside. How the hell this place had electricity all the way out here was a mystery.

Movement in the trees beside the cabin caught my attention. Wolves—and Jaxson. They surged forward, and my heart seized. Something about this felt wrong.

Floodlights flicked on, casting a blinding light in a hundred-foot radius around the cabin.

No!

Machine gun fire peppered the ground. I dropped as bullets flew overhead, lodging in the trunks of trees around me.

Psycho bastard prick.

I glanced through the bushes. Two wolves were down, and I didn’t see Jaxson or Sam. More wolfsbane canisters soared through the air.

We were trapped.