Dark Lies (Magic Side: Wolf Bound Book 3)
Dark Lies: Chapter 24

Savannah

My body contorted in the air as I plummeted toward the water—no longer a graceful dive, but rather an ungainly tumble of thrashing limbs.

Oh, Go—

A painful splash drove the breath from my lungs as I plunged into the cold darkness. I lashed out frantically with my paws as they turned into hands. My joints popped and bones cracked as the pain of the transformation tore through me. At last, I felt my face change, and the hair across my body retracted, exposing my bare skin to the chill of the water swirling around.

I kicked upward and broke the surface with a desperate gasp, and immediately directed my ire at my wolf. You should have warned me!

You were fine, she replied. Shifting is so much easier with Jaxson nearby, even when he doesn’t help us.

Treading water to stay afloat, I slicked back my hair and looked around. Where was Jax? He’d been right on my heels.

Jaxson stood atop the tiered limestone seawall, still in wolf form. His head was cocked curiously to the side.

Behind him, the rest of the pack was staring down at me with befuddled expressions. I whipped my head around in all directions. I was alone in the water.

Oh, goddamn it.

Nobody else had jumped in. Of course, they hadn’t. Wolves hated water. Some jerk had just made an ass out of me.

Jaxson descended the tiers and shifted effortlessly into human form. Why was it so awkward for me when he could do it so gracefully, like pouring whiskey into a glass?

He crouched down, completely unconcerned that he was stark naked in front of me. And his casual unconcern made it unbearably hot.

The faint light glinted over his muscles and left dark shadows that set fire to my imagination. He was a study in contrast, every curve of his body, traced in light and darkness. I wasn’t sure I could breathe, and it took all my strength to train my eyes on his.

“What are you doing in there?” Jaxson asked, his voice low and amused.

Well, that broke the spell.

I bared my teeth, barely able to repress my frustration long enough to talk. “Someone told me that everyone jumped in the water at the end. That the first one in was the winner.”

“But…werewolves hate water.”

“I know that!” I hissed.

Jaxson narrowed his eyes, rose, and turned back to the pack. “Whose idea was this?”

His roar reverberated across the stones, and all the wolves hung their heads with shame. I felt his alpha power wash over me like a thunderclap, and even I suddenly felt guilty for what had happened. Power and anger radiated off him in waves, and the air grew heavy and hard to breathe.

He loomed naked above me like a colossal statue of a Greek god, draped in robes of soft shadows. The view was frankly amazing, if abjectly intimidating.

Whoever sculpted those buns was a true master of their art.

Jaxson’s head whipped back at me, and his eyebrows rose.

Oh, God.

Had I directed that thought at my wolf or Jaxson? Or had he just caught the scent of my desire? Dread filled my veins, and I let myself sink down as low as possible in the water.

He turned back as the pack parted, and a silver-white wolf groveled his way forward over the grass onto the stones. Jaxson ascended a level and glared down at him. “Is this your idea of a joke? To isolate and trick a new pack member?”

The silver wolf whimpered, and the tenor of Jaxson’s voice set my stomach churning. I reached out. “Jaxson, it’s okay. I like swimming! It was just a joke, and I probably misunderstood. I’m going to get out. Don’t wor—”

He held out his hand to quiet me, then addressed the pack. “This is a good lesson to us all. The run is not about winning or being first. It’s about running with your alpha, running together as a pack. We are one, tonight and every night. We don’t turn on each other. We don’t take advantage of each other. Savannah is as much a part of this pack as any of you, and it is your duty to guide her on this journey.”

A few yips of solidarity erupted from around the pack, and Jaxson glared down at the silver wolf, deciding what to do.

I could feel the tension in the air. The whole pack was braced. Most had surmised by now that Jaxson had chosen me, which meant Blondie had just fucked with the alpha’s mate.

There was a sudden blur as a brown wolf raced forward, bounded down the steps, and leapt out over my head. It hit the water with a yelp and a sudden splash.

I wiped the water from my eyes, and seconds later, Sam’s grinning face popped up out of the water. “Man, that’s cold!”

“What are you doing?” I demanded.

But rather than respond to me, she turned to Jax. “I’m surprised you’re willing to settle for third place.”

His mouth opened, and surprise flooded his face. One of the wolves on the shoreline looked up at him and down at us, then plunged into the water. Sam cocked her head. “Fourth, then?”

Jaxson frowned. “But it’s not a race…”

A few splashes echoed from further down the seawall, and Sam gave me a wink. “Not even top ten?”

My heart leapt with every splash around me. I’d been alone. A fool. And suddenly, Sam was here at my side.

Jax looked down at the woebegone wolf before him and picked it up by the scruff. “Fine. It seems like we’re all going for a swim, per your suggestion. Therefore, you get to be the last one out.”

Then, with an enormous heave, Jaxson hurled the hapless creature skyward and out into the lake.

He smiled warmly down at me as more wolves plunged into the lake all around us. “It seems you’ve started a new tradition.”

He crouched, and then, with a powerful leap, he cannonballed himself into the air, spinning head over heels. Before I could react, he slammed into the water with a splash that washed me shoreward. Sam was cackling and trying to wipe the water out of her eyes.

Following Jaxson, the whole pack flooded into the dark, cool waters of Lake Michigan. Howls and hoots erupted around me.

Laughing as Sam splashed me, I whipped my head around, searching for Jax. He was nowhere.

Powerful hands grabbed me from below and thrust me into the dark sky. My subsequent unacrobatic bellyflop cut my surprised scream short.

I kicked my way back to the surface and found Jaxson watching with a wicked grin.

“You bastard,” I snarled playfully as I leapt at him. He evaded me with ease, and Sam laughed.

She wasn’t as fast as Jax or prepared for me to turn on her, and she let out a surprised squeak as I shoved her under the water. When she popped back up, she was laughing even harder than before. All around us, werewolves were playing in the water, wrestling, swimming, and doing flips off the seawall.

It was like a raucous adults-only pool party. Everyone was wet and naked, and having a good time.

It was perhaps the craziest thing I’d ever done—skinny-dipping with werewolves. But somehow, for the first time in almost a month, I felt inexplicably normal.