The Unwanted Wolf

ADIRA

The moment Xavier’s lips pressed against mine, my body revolted. I couldn’t stand another man kissing me, even if I didn’t mean it. I only craved Mark’s touch. A surge of energy burst through my body, causing the tendrils to disintegrate. Xavier was thrown off, and stumbled backwards. I flung my fist at him, hitting him as hard as I could.

“I knew it was too good to be true.” Xavier spat b***d onto the ground.

He lifted his hands out, sending several waves of back tendrils shooting towards me. I lifted my hands to create a shield, but the dark magic automatically diverted around the shield. The back magic began swirling around Xavier and me, twisting up and up until we were standing in the middle of a small hurricane.

I looked up and watched as the light of the moon was blocked out of vision, and I could feel my magic grow dimmer in response. The magic surrounding us was filled with anger and pain, one of the most powerful emotions out there. The feeling of it was so intense, I started to feel queasy. I understood how this magic could destroy the world, especially if I allowed it to grow stronger.

As I stood there, absorbing the intensity of the dark magic Xavier held in his heart, I understood what my position in all of this was. The prophecy came to my mind as if it was always in there. I felt the words flowing out of my mouth automatically.

“In the darkest hours of the darkest days, the Daughter of Moon and Magic and the Son of B***d and Magic will be fated together, creating the most powerful couple in existence. It would be a bond no one could break and one that would end up breaking the world. Destruction would rain when the two became one, and the world would change forever.”

Xavier smiled at me as I repeated the prophecy. “You feel it in your bones, don’t you? You can feel that this is what we were meant to do. We were meant for each other.

“Unless the Daughter of the Moon chooses light over dark,” I continued. I didn’t know where this was coming from, but I could feel it. Everyone only focused on the first part of the prophecy, but no one realized there was more to it. There was a choice.

“What are you talking about?” Xavier snapped. His eyes grew wide with fear.

I looked straight into his eyes, and I knew he felt the words the same as me. “Standing on the pinnacle of darkness, she would have the choice to choose a different path. She would walk away from the Son of B***d and Magic, never creating the dark bond in the first place. She would choose light and create a bright new future.”

“How are you doing this?” Xavier growled. He was starting to panic.

I grabbed his arms, feeling the spark inside of me growing once again. I sent a wave of light magic flowing around Xavier, wrapping his arms like he had done to mine.

“I am choosing light. I am choosing love. I am choosing a life without you,” I growled, putting my all into countering his dark magic.

Xavier’s eyes flickered, and for a moment I saw Jori’s eyes, instead of the dark pits filling them.

“Kill me,” he whispered, and I could feel the shift in energy. Jori somehow managed to break free from Xavier’s grasp for a split second, telling me he was still in there, fighting against the parasite that had taken over him.

“Jori,” I gasped, letting go out of surprise.

His eyes snapped back to black, and I knew Xavier was back. He took advantage of my shock to grab my throat. He squeezed my larynx and lifted me into the air. I tried to shift away, but the dark tornado blocked me from going anywhere.

“You chose wrong,” Xavier said. “I would rather kill you now than let you walk away from me.”

I clawed at his grasp, but I couldn’t get him to let go. I was struggling with breathing, and I was starting to lose focus.

–

MARK

I dashed forward, seeing that bastard touch my mate like that. I was ready to rip his throat out with my teeth. I watched as Adira broke free from his grasp and lunged forward, hitting Jori right in the face.

That’s my girl.

I felt proud of the way Adira fought back. That was one of the things I admired most about her. She never gave up. No matter what horrible things the world threw at her, she kept fighting hard for the life she wanted. I wanted more than anything to make her happy and keep her away from the terrible things in this world.

As I ran towards Adira, ready to finally be with her again, I watched as a black tornado unfolded before my eyes, completely consuming Adira and Jori in the mix. I froze, unsure of what to do. I didn’t know how to break through that magic wall, and fear consumed me. I was too close to lose Adira like this.

I shifted into human form and looked over at Reyland, who was only a few steps behind me. He shifted into his human form and stared at the dark tornado billowing in front of us. His eyes were wide, fear filling them to the brim. This only made me start to panic more.

“What the hell is that?” Reyland asked, disbelief constricting his throat.

“Magic,” I whispered. “How do we get her out of there? She needs help more than ever. I can’t lose her.” I was just trying to keep my voice steady, but hysterics threatened every word, making it hard to speak at all.

Bright lights started sparking through the tornado, and I could feel Adira’s energy. She was fighting for her life in there. She was strong, but I didn’t want to leave her to fight on her own, not when I was only a few feet away. I started moving towards it, but Reyland grabbed my shoulder.

“If we rush in there not knowing what we are up against, it could kill us,” he said, holding my shoulder firmly.

I watched the tornado, giving Adira a moment to break free, hoping she could beat whatever this dark magic was. “She could be killed if we don’t help her.” I was on edge, hating the scene unfolding before my eyes. I didn’t understand how magic worked, and I especially didn’t understand how Jori was able to control magic. He was just a werewolf. He had always smelled like a pure alpha werewolf, so how was he able to control this dark magic now?

Suddenly, Adira’s magic disappeared from the tornado, and I knew something had gone wrong. I pushed Reyland off my shoulder and dashed forward. I didn’t care if this killed me, but I had to protect Adira and my baby. I shielded my face as I jumped into the tornado. For a split second, all I saw was darkness. I could feel inexplicable rage and was ready to kill the first person who crossed me.

A moment later, everything came back, and I saw Jori holding Adira up by the neck. She was fighting to get away, but I could see her losing strength. I was going to kill him. There was no doubt about that in my mind. I jumped forward, grabbing Adira while elbowing Jori in the face. The dark tornado disappeared, and Adira and I fell to the ground. I made sure to twist my body, so she landed on top of me.

She gasped for air now that her neck was freed, and she looked around in a daze. Finally, her eyes met mine, and tears welled in her eyes.

“Mark?” she whispered, disbelief filling her face.

“It’s me, baby,” I whispered, pulling her into me. I held her as tight as possible without hurting her, never wanting to let her go. It had been much too long since I had seen her, and it felt like a piece of my heart had been returned.

I wanted to stay there forever, but I knew we were still in danger. I started to stand up, and I could feel Adira clingy to me. She was shaking with fear. She was acting so strong, but I knew she was acting strong this entire time. It was time for me to take over and protect my mate.

“How are you here?” Adira asked, refusing to let go of me.

“I told you, I would never stop fighting for you.” I stood up and set Adira behind me. “We can talk more when I know you’re safe.”

I looked at Jori, who was still trying to process what happened. His eyes snapped to mine, and I saw they were filled with complete darkness. What happened to my best friend?

“What are you doing here, mut? She’s mine, so don’t get any ideas,” Jori growled.

I couldn’t believe my ears. Even if Jori had gone completely mad, why would he call me a mut? He was a werewolf himself.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” I growled.

Adira grasped the back of my shirt. “That’s not Jori. It might look like him, but he was essentially infected by the Son of B***d and Magic.”

I furrowed my eyes at Adira’s explanation. It made no sense and all of the sense at the same time. The man in front of me looked and sounded like Jori, but his actions and the black magic were nothing like the young werewolf I had grown up with. I decided to just accept it for now and get more of an explanation once we were out of this situation.

The man in front of me smiled with amusement. “You heard her. I’m the Son of B***d and Magic, and that’s my soulmate you have hiding behind your back. I don’t know what you plan on doing, mut, but I can tell you one thing. She’s not leaving here with you.”

“That’s not your call,” I said, making sure Adira was behind me. I would make sure she could leave here with her freedom no matter what it took.

The man that looked like Jori laughed wholeheartedly. “Do you really think you’re strong enough to defeat me today? I’m the strongest sorcerer ever. A measly werewolf will have no chance against me. Save yourself the pain and just lie over and die.”

He lifted his hands and shot a black tendril at me. Adira lifted her hand up, creating a shield in front of me. The attack deflected off to the side. She stepped up and grasped my hand. “You’re forgetting that you’re outnumbered. Also, you’re not as powerful as you think, or have you forgotten? You are still trying to gather the strength back that was taken away from you by the Council of Magic. You may have found another body to host your energy, but you’ll never be as powerful as you once were when you had your own body.”

The man gritted his teeth and tried to throw another attack at us, but Adira easily deflected that attack, too. Now that her hand was in mine, I could feel her magic buzzing inside of her, stronger than I had ever felt before. She was on a mission, and even though I came here to rescue her, I knew Adira would be the one getting us out of this mess. I was just here as emotional support.