Shadow Kissed (Magic Side: Wolf Bound Book 4)

Jaxson

My vision slowly shifted into focus. I was in my living room, standing unsteadily beside the couch. The whiskey glass lay on the floor, shattered. Early morning sunlight shone through the penthouse windows.

With my heart hammering, I rubbed my throat, which still burned.

Just a dream—but what did that mean anymore?

Footsteps thundered down the stairs, and Savannah emerged, wrapped in a sheet that trailed behind her.

“Jaxson, are you okay? I heard a crash.”

I shook my head. “Just a nightmare. Sorry.”

“I had one, too. You were there, and the Dark God. I saw visions of him destroying the city, and I spoke with him…”

My heart slowed to a crawl. Fuck. “I had the same dream.”

The shocked silence hung between us. Savannah licked her lips. “Do you think the others—”

I kissed her to quiet her question, one I wasn’t sure that I could face.

If our whole pack had had similar dreams, I could soon have chaos on my hands.

Our mouths moved together as we found the sweet solace and comfort that we’d shared two nights before. Once Savy finally relaxed in my arms, I led her into the kitchen to make coffee.

As I started the brew cycle, my phone rang, and I glanced down. Regina.

I swiped it off the counter. “Yes?”

Her worried voice cut across the line and straight into my gut. “I just got five phone calls, Jax. Everyone in the pack has had the same dream, and it’s bad. I had it, too.”

I fought to keep my breath steady and my mind in control. “It was the Dark God. This is his magic.”

There was a pregnant pause before she spoke again. “The council has called a meeting, Jaxson. You need to be there in three hours. I tried to head them off, but you’ll need to explain. People are freaking out, and there’s only so much damage control that I can do.”

What the fuck? How was this moving so fast?

“I didn’t call a meeting,” I snarled.

“Your father did.”

For a second, I didn’t know what to say. I just hung up as those three words sent my mind spiraling into rage and darkness.

“So everyone knows what I am now?” Savannah asked from behind me. Her voice was quiet but on the edge of despair. “That I chained my wolf? That I’m the twin-soul that’s meant to take all their souls?”

“They know what we did,” I said as I turned. Her expression broke my heart. “They may not understand the rest.”

“Are they going to turn on me?”

Protectiveness surged through me, and I closed the distance with her, pulling her close. “No. Never.”

Savannah peered up at me, and that feeling of being unable to breathe returned. Gods, she was so beautiful. And broken. And she didn’t believe me.

Before I realized what I was doing, I reached up and traced my thumb over her cheek. So soft and warm. I’d exile anyone who tried to lay a finger on her. “Let them try to do anything. I haven’t met a soul who could take you on.”

She smiled at that, and my heart swelled.

I’d fallen into the deep end with this woman, and though I’d fucked up by not realizing what was going on sooner, I could still make things right.

She leaned into my touch, her gaze intense like she was trying to reach into my mind. “What do we do?” she whispered.

I released my hand and stepped back. She must have felt the loss of contact equally as strongly as I did because her brows pinched together. Sadness and confusion swirled around her, but I couldn’t move past the festering guilt inside me. I needed to set things right.

“We meet with the council.” I scooped up my phone, which was now exploding with calls and messages. “They’re panicking because they don’t know what’s happening or what to do. We need to show them that we have a plan—that we have the Order and archmages on board.”

“Do you trust the council? Regina was going to drag me in front of them for killing a wolf in self-defense. What do you think they’ll do now that they know I’m the one who’s supposed to steal their wolves?”

“The pack and the council don’t know that. They know that you’re tied up in the prophecy, but the exact words are only known by a few. I didn’t know until I spoke with my father.”

“And unfortunately, he’ll be there. And they know I’ve chained my wolf as well…”

My father had warned me once that if I found a twin-soul, I should kill them. No matter who it is, no matter the cost, do it without hesitation.

I nearly rammed my fist through the wall. “You’ve made sacrifices for the pack, Savannah—sacrifices that no werewolf should ever have to make. We’ll remind them of that.”

“Jaxson—”

I lifted her chin to look her in the eyes. “Do you trust me?”

She searched my expression before finally admitting, “Yes.”

“This is my pack, not my father’s. They will follow me. All that matters is defeating the Dark God, and we all need each other to do that.”

It will likely be a losing battle, my wolf said.

I knew it. But sometimes, life didn’t give you a choice. When it set you on a path, there was only one direction to go: forward, even if it meant to your doom. Deep down, I’d known this the moment I’d met Savannah.

This woman would be my salvation and my ruin.