Dark Lies (Magic Side: Wolf Bound Book 3)
Dark Lies: Chapter 22

Savannah

Regina turned and walked back to the pack.

Huh. I think I like her better now, but maybe not a whole lot better, Wolfie said.

You and me both. I studied the dense crowd of milling werewolves. So many bodies.

We’re going to get trampled to death, my wolf chirped with mad glee.

I straightened my shoulders and headed toward the crowd. It’s like a track meet or a marathon, I told her. Only this time, we’re all going to be snarling, panting, wolves.

My wolf’s irritation prickled. Honestly, when you used to run track, you did plenty of snarling and panting and wheezing, so maybe you shouldn’t throw stones.

I laughed aloud, drawing glances from several people as I passed. I had absolutely no idea where Sam was, and there were too many scents to single her out. I could sense Jaxson, though, with every fiber of my being. His magnetism pulled on me and guided me through the crowd.

Someone jostled me. I stumbled, but they grabbed my arm and set me upright. “Hey, you’re the new girl. Are you okay? I didn’t mean to knock you.”

It was a guy I’d never seen before. White-blond hair, blue jeans, bulging wolfy muscles. Not bad, if I’d been anyone else.

I shrugged. “First time. Just a bit lost, looking for Jaxson and Sam.”

The guy grinned. “Have you ever seen one of those stampedes of African wildebeest? It’s like that. Don’t get trampled.”

Great. I was just hoping I could keep up. “Honestly, I don’t even know where we’re running to.”

“Ah, we kind of all memorize the route. Just follow the pack. We run out to the point.” He winked. “First one to jump in the lake wins.”

“Thanks.” I wasn’t sure how I felt about diving into the water as a finish line.

I pushed through the crowd of muscles and asses until another voice called out, “There you are! I turned my back, and you disappeared!” Sam grabbed my arm and started pulling me forward. “Where were you?”

“I just went for air. Ended up having a chat with Regina.”

She stopped and planted her hands on her hips defensively. “Was she giving you a hard time?”

“No. Actually, she wasn’t a bitch—to my surprise. And I guess I got a better perspective on things. Pack history.”

“Cool. Reggie has a little loremaster in her, so she doesn’t tend to forgive and forget. Glad you guys are working things out. She’s good people. Fierce. Loyal.”

Sam pulled me out of the crush of bodies and over to the side under a tree.

“What are we doing?” I asked.

She tossed me a cheap pink nylon bag that had my name on it: Savannah “Fury” Caine.

Not LaSalle. Caine. I’d forgotten that for a time.

Sam yanked her T-shirt over her head and then popped off her bra.

“Whoa, lady!” I gasped.

She laughed. “It’s go time. Throw your shit in the bag, and Regina and her people will make sure it gets to the bonfire.”

“Isn’t she running?”

“Nah, she’s supervising the bag team tonight. Glad you guys have made up so she doesn’t order them to accidentally misplace it,” Sam added, laughing.

I really hoped she was joking about that.

I looked around as Sam unclasped her jeans. Half the werewolves were stripping. Wolfborn, like me. The others were shifters and could transform, clothes and all.

If I was going to be a werewolf, why couldn’t it have been the other type?

Because being wolfborn is more fun. Who needs clothes, anyway? They’re kinda silly and pretentious, Wolfie observed. Now get naked. I want to run.

I glanced at the mass of bare asses. Men, women. Nobody seemed to care. This was going to take a long time to get used to.

“Come on, slowpoke,” naked Sam said. “It’s cold, and I want my fur coat.”

I sighed and stripped as quickly and discreetly as possible, then stuffed all my shit in the pink bag. Clothes, wallet, cell phone. I assumed it would be safe, or they wouldn’t do it this way, right?

Where was Jaxson?

I looked around wildly, then saw him among the trees. A massive wolf, staring back at me with deep golden eyes. A shiver ran over my skin.

It felt like he was looking through me, into me, seeing whatever was truly inside.

Then he put his head back and howled.

It was unlike any howl I’d ever heard. Low and unearthly, it vibrated the world around me. But the howl wasn’t for me—it was for my wolf. I gasped as she leapt in my chest, and then the transformation came, swift and fierce, like ripping off your lover’s shirt.

One second, I was a woman, then every part of me broke at once. The breath was ripped from my lungs, and I didn’t even have time to scream. I collapsed onto my hands, and when I landed, I was a wolf.

Holy. Shit.

All around, the werewolves shifted in a great wave of fur and fangs. Jaxson had called us all, commanded us all. And we had obeyed instantly as one.

My wolf staggered forward, dazed. I think…I think it’s better shifting quickly, but “holy shit” is right.

Suddenly, I understood.

Jaxson had been treating me with a gentle hand. His presence and touch had always made shifting easier, but he’d only used his power to give me the barest support I needed. He could have called my wolf out in a second, but he’d let me fight through the shift each time, pushing me to master it on my own.

The truth was, he could control me with a single howl—God, with a single look.

In that moment, I knew his power for what it truly was: complete. I was his to command, body and soul, whether I liked it or not.

And I didn’t like that one bit.

Yes, you do.

It wasn’t just me. The entire pack had shifted. A wolf nearby snarled and yanked a pair of torn jeans off her leg with her teeth. Apparently, she hadn’t finished undressing when the call came.

Sam followed my look, and I could almost read her thoughts: Yikes. Those were expensive. That’s what happens when you spend your time chatting.

A single howl, and we’d all obeyed instantly. I shivered.

Sam shook her silky fur with joy, then gave me a look. You okay?

I nodded, understanding her intent in my mind. It wasn’t quite telepathy that we shared—there were no words, really—but something deeper, more primal. Meaning conveyed by a myriad of small motions and scents and expressions I never knew existed, but that I could somehow read.

She flicked her head around, and I followed her gaze.

Jaxson was waiting at the far side of the clearing, staring back with impossibly gold eyes that said one thing: Come to me.

Instantly, we were padding across the grass. I felt my wolf’s excitement mix with my own.

He could call me anytime.

The wolves watched me pass. I must have stood out with my red and brown fur.

I ignored them all. Jaxson was a whirlpool, drawing me in and consuming my attention.

While the pack had wolves of every shape and size, Jaxson stood head and shoulders above the rest. Some were lithe and lanky, but he was all tightly bound power and muscle—a beast from a prehistoric age. A monster out of legend.

Our mate.

The fates had bound me to a savage that could break my neck with a single bite.

Jaxson took a step forward, and I found myself trembling and down on my belly, looking up at his powerful jaws.

He met my eyes. You are beautiful, red wolf.

His praise sent a shiver of pleasure though my body, and the fur on my back trembled.

Our mate approves.

I hadn’t realized we’d stopped breathing.

Are you ready to run? Jaxson asked in my mind, speaking with his eyes and his posture and the primal voice that wasn’t words, but images and sounds.

The feel of the grass, the thunder of paws, the scent of a hundred wolves all around me.

Do not be afraid. Once you run, you will know what it is to be one of us. You run with your family now.

The voice of Jaxson’s wolf was strange. So much more formal than that of the man. He spoke as a king to his queen, not as a man to his lover.

Jaxson cocked his ear as if hearing my thoughts. We do not know each other yet. I am eager to know you in this form just as well. Are you ready?

I just hope you can keep up, my wolf replied.

Had I been in human form, I would have clapped my hands over my damn sarcastic mouth.

Jaxson’s eyes just sparkled with laughter. Can you?

Then, without warning, he turned and ran.