Wolf Marked (Magic Side: Wolf Bound Book 1)

Savannah

I stepped into Billy’s cabin with Jaxson and the others on my heels.

The scent of cigarettes burned my nose. Maps and newspaper clippings were tacked to the walls of the dingy living room. Apart from a table and stained white couch, the place was devoid of furniture, though I spotted the canisters of wolfsbane stacked in the corner and the piles of guns scattered about.

It was an operations room. An armory.

My pulse quickened as I drew my gaze across the walls. There had to be a clue here pointing toward the sorcerer…

I froze.

Taped to the wooden boards were a series of photographs. Casey, Aunt Laurel, Uncle Pete, and a lot of people I didn’t know, all arranged in a web chart like a family tree. A photograph of me eating at Eclipse had recently been added, and fear buried me like an avalanche.

Billy’s words from earlier echoed through my mind: We’ll slaughter them all.

“What is this?” I murmured, dragging my eyes to the half dozen house plans and the map of the Indies.

I’d assumed Billy had been taunting me when he’d said, You’ll be their undoing. I never thought he’d actually had a carefully executed plan to take out every last one of us.

I ripped the photo of myself off the wall and turned. “Did you know about this?”

Jaxson was staring at Billy’s plans, his expression hardened. He scrubbed a hand through his hair. “Fuck.”

“I’ll ask one more time,” I snapped. “Did any of you know that Billy was planning to massacre my entire family?”

I scanned their faces for answers, but Tony and Sam looked uncomfortable and avoided my eyes. Regina was the only one who stared at me, her expression cold.

Anger and betrayal simmered within me. These wolves weren’t my friends. If Billy had been telling the truth, then members of their pack were planning to use me—somehow—to murder the LaSalles.

“We didn’t know. We knew he hated the LaSalles, but I never…I never imagined this,” Jaxson said. His voice was icy and sharp. He was telling the truth, but that didn’t make this all right.

I wanted to scream, to tear the cabin to the ground. “How could you let this happen? How could you not know? I was around Billy…hell, I’m lucky to be alive! You had to know how much he hated me and my family.”

“Is it any wonder?” Regina retorted. “Your family murdered his wife. They were true mates. You can’t recover from that bond. They broke him.” She’d planted herself in front of the door, her fists clenched and gaze locked on me.

“Do you all hate my family so much that you’d just turn a blind eye to what was obviously going on?”

“Watch your words,” she said. “No one had any idea it was this bad, or what he was planning.”

“This is my fault,” Jaxson interjected, picking up a canister of wolfsbane. “I should have suspected. But when someone is your family, it’s easy to turn a blind eye to their flaws. You know that as well as anyone, Savannah.”

Heat crept up my neck. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

I knew what he meant—that my family were monsters who had killed his sister, and that I was okay with it. But that had happened years ago, and I didn’t have the full story.

Regina crossed her arms. “It means nobody is blameless here. Not you, for sure.”

“How am I to blame? I was waiting tables and minding my own business when werewolves showed up and tried to kill me!”

“Right, and then you started killing them.” She spun on Jaxson. “One of whom was your brother-in-law.”

Regina actually blamed me for fighting back?

“In self-defense! Are you crazy? Billy attacked me and was either going to kill me or hand me over to some psycho blood sorcerer to complete his plan of murdering my family. I’m the victim here, not Billy, and certainly not that sociopath I ran down in Belmont.”

Regina’s body trembled, and she lowered her eyebrows. “You didn’t have to come here. And you didn’t have to chase down Billy on your own. That was Jaxson’s business, pack business, but you stuck your nose in where it didn’t belong. Again. You made your choices and killed one of our wolves, so you should stand trial before the pack under the Old Laws.”

Her threat hit me square in the jaw, and I flinched. I’d do no such thing.

“You’re right,” I shot back. “Maybe somebody should stand trial for all this. Billy planned these abductions and murders, and he had help. Maybe I should call the Order right now and let them know what I’ve learned about your operations. Let them know about the pack’s involvement in these crimes.”

Regina’s claws came out, and her eyes flashed. “You’re threatening our whole pack now, LaSalle?”

“Enough!” Jaxson’s voice boomed through the room and made us all shrink back. “There will be no trial for Savannah. Or the pack. And as far as anyone outside the inner circle knows, I’m the one who killed Billy. Never speak of Savannah’s role in this again.”

He shot Regina and me a look that had us withering in place. His alpha signature settled over me, making my pulse skyrocket and my palms sweat. I tore my gaze from his, even angrier that he had this effect on me.

I wasn’t the only one, though. Regina had submitted, and Sam’s and Tony’s eyes were on the ground. I could almost taste the cocktail of fear and submission that mixed within the cabin air.

“I’m assuming you three have already scoured the cabin. Any indication of who Billy was working with?” Jaxson asked his wolves.

“None. He kept his dealings with his affiliate quiet. There’s nothing here but his plans for the LaSalles,” Sam said, eyeing me.

Frustration mixed with my anger, and I felt like I was going to explode. I had to get out of here. Get back to Magic Side so I could warn Casey about how close the pack had come to taking his whole family out. My family.

I crossed to the door and stepped around Regina, who glared at me. “I’m leaving.”

The screen door banged as Jaxson followed me out. “Where are you going?”

I hurried down the wooden steps, trying to get a little distance between us. “Back to Magic Side. To my family. As far away from you people as possible.”

I wasn’t sure how I’d get back there. Maybe I’d steal Tony’s Jeep.

“It’s not safe. The sorcerer is still out there, and there may be others in the pack after you. You should stay with me on pack lands.”

I spun on Jaxson. He was inches from me, and his pine scent clouded my senses. God, why did he smell so good? I dragged my eyes from his lips. How could I be so affected by him when I knew how dangerous he was? When he despised who I was? When he was ashamed of me?

My cheeks blazed. “No. And don’t pull that alpha bullshit on me. I helped you find out who was behind the abductions, and now I’m done. Stay away from me, Jaxson, and get your wolves in line.”

The screen door creaked, and I noticed that Sam, Regina, and Tony were on the porch watching us.

Jaxson’s eyes narrowed, and his body tensed. Fear hit me like a brick, and I took a step back, praying that his wolf didn’t come bursting out.

Something flashed across his face, and it looked like he was about to say something but then decided against it. “Sam, make sure Savannah gets home safely.”

My shoulders eased, and I let out an unsteady breath. I’d seen it over and over, and I couldn’t let myself forget it—beneath the rugged exterior, Jaxson was also a monster.

Tony handed Sam his keys, and she headed to the Jeep, casting me a look over her shoulder as she slid into the driver’s seat.

I gave one last glance at Jaxson and turned, retrieving my bag from his truck. His anger was palpable, and his eyes burned into my back, sending shivers down my spine. My chest tightened as I climbed into the Jeep, but I didn’t look back.

I clicked on my seatbelt and felt Sam’s eyes on me. “What?”

She started the Jeep and turned up the radio so Jaxson and the others couldn’t hear us. “You Wreck Me” by Tom Petty blared from the speakers, and I silently swore.

“I saw you two in the forest,” she said. “That ends here. You and Jaxson can’t ever be a thing. It would break him and tear the pack apart. Understand?”

My cheeks blazed. “What you saw was a mistake. Heat of the moment. There isn’t anything between Jaxson and me, got it?”

“Mm-hm.” She arched an eyebrow. “One more word of advice: don’t tell anyone about it, and just stay away.”

A deep ache lodged under my ribs, and I couldn’t help but feel Jaxson’s embarrassment and disgrace that Sam had seen our kiss.

My feelings for Jaxson—whatever they were—had clouded my judgement. Jaxson was dangerous. Werewolves were dangerous. The fact that he could instill such terror in me with a single look was a sign in and of itself.

I had to get as far away from him as I could.

As the Jeep bounced down the dirt driveway, I looked in the side mirror. Jaxson stood under the porch light with his fists clenched and honey-gold eyes burning.

I left the beautiful predator in my wake.