Untamed Fate (Magic Side: Wolf Bound Book 2)

by Veronica Douglas

  atop white sheets. She whimpered and set her head on her paws, then closed

  her eyes.

  “She’s still in shock, but I think she’ll shift back sometime tonight. I need

  you to be here when that happens. If necessary, I’ll help her through, but

  you’ll need to clean her up. Calm her down. Get her clothes. And if you have

  to, explain what happened.”

  Sam frowned. “I don’t think she’ll be happy.”

  Savannah whined faintly.

  A morose half laugh escaped my throat. “You think you’ve seen her

  angry before? She’s going to be livid. Good luck.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “Dig into some of our old books of lore and see what I can learn about

  lycanthropy. And ways to reverse it.”

  My wolf strained inside of me, and I felt my claws extend, but I pulled

  them back.

  A flicker of concern crossed Sam’s face, but she gave me a small grin.

  “Okay. I’ll hang out here and wait for her to go nuclear while you go read a

  book. Got it, boss.”

  I narrowed my eyes. “Sam, this is vital. No one can know about this.”

  “What about Regina?”

  “Not now. I’ll tell her and Savannah’s guards as soon as possible, but we

  have to control the information here. That’s your specialty.”

  “Okay.”

  “And Sam, no sleeping tonight. The sorcerer is hunting for wolves, and

  none of us can risk it. We’ll take shifts tomorrow during the day if we have

  to.”

  She nodded. “We got the memo. What about Savannah, though?”

  I frowned and growled low. It was a fucked situation, but we didn’t have

  much choice. “She needs her rest. We’ll have to gamble that the sorcerer is

  trying to capture her and not incapacitate her. If he tries that stunt again and

  she starts to sleepwalk, we’ll be here to stop her.”

  “Got it.” She didn’t sound convinced.

  I headed for the door. “Watch her.”

  “Of course. I know what she means to you.”

  I froze halfway out of the room, but my pulse started running.

  There was no way Sam didn’t catch my reaction, but I pitched my voice

  as calmly as possible. “Savannah is a liability. That’s what she means to me.

  If we don’t handle this right, everything could go up in flames.”

  “Jaxson,” she said with deep incredulity, “I know she’s your mate.”

  My gut wrenched with shock, and I spun around. “How? How do you

  know?”

  Her gaze was steady. “I’m a master of information for a reason. Plus, I

  know the signs of bonded magic. I suspected it when you dashed out of

  Eclipse like that. But I’m sure this started long before tonight—I’ve seen the

  way you’re pulled to her. You can’t resist.”

  I braced myself against the door.

  I’d been a fool to try to hide it from her. Sam’s parents had been fated

  mates—she’d grown up with it. And she’d known my sister and Billy well.

  She intimately knew what to look for. And although she’d never spoken of it,

  I’d always assumed that she hoped to find her mate one day.

  Why she would wish to tie herself to another’s fate was beyond

  understanding, but it was none of my business.

  I stepped very close, so my shadow fell across her. My voice was low and

  laden with warning. “You tell no one—not Regina, not Tony, not the guards.

  No one can know. We’ll find a way to reverse this, to change her back.”

  My wolf tore at my chest, but I growled to rein him in.

  Sam glanced over at Savannah and avoided my eyes. “Is that even

  possible? And if you could reverse the lycanthropy, do you think that would

  solve the mate problem?”

  I scrubbed a hand through my hair. “I don’t know, but I didn’t feel the

  bond with her until she started shifting. From everything I know, the mated

  bond doesn’t just develop. It’s always there, and I would have sensed it the

  first time we met. This has to be lycanthropy. Or some kind of curse.”

  Could this have been a perverse trick by the sorcerer? The thought was

  too much to even contemplate.

  Sam searched my eyes. “You’ve always been drawn to her, Jax. In the

  bar, in the woods…”

  “No,” I growled. “Not like this. Yes, she’s gorgeous, but I don’t want her.

  She is not my mate.”

  My wolf began to struggle, demanding to be let loose.

  Sam rested her hand on my arm. “This could be a good thing for you.”

  I pulled away. “A good thing? This is a fucking disaster! The worst

  possible thing at the worst possible moment.”

  She crossed her arms and cocked her head. “Maybe, maybe not. This

  could be a bridge to the LaSalles.”

  I wrapped my hand around the doorframe and let my claws sink into the

  wall. It took all my restraint not to rip the molding off.

  I tried to steady my breathing, but I was on the verge of shifting. “Are

  you insane? Do you have any idea what Laurel will do when she finds out

  that Savannah was infected with lycanthropy? On our watch? And potentially

  by my brother-in-law, who was also plotting to murder her entire family? It’ll

  be a war like we haven’t seen in generations.”

  Her eyes dilated as the gruesome reality sunk in.

  “There’s no option. We have to find an antidote. And until we do, we

  cover this—” My fangs erupted, and fur bristled along my skin as my wolf

  began to tear itself free. He was growing more desperate to get out every

  second that I was near Savannah. I staggered back.

  “Fuck,” I rasped. “He wants to meet her. Now. That can’t happen.”

  Our mate! my wolf growled from deep inside of me.

  Sam gripped my shoulder. “I’ll take care of Savannah. Go. Run your

  wolf, clear your head.”

  Barely able to control my wolf any longer, I grabbed my keys and headed

  to the door. But I turned before I left as the chill of dread trickled through my

  veins. “Watch over her, Sam. And remember, do not fall asleep.”

  14

  Savannah

  I woke with a gasp. Another fucking nightmare.

  At least the sorcerer hadn’t invaded my dreams this time.

  I turned over to go back to sleep, but I froze, eyes wide. These weren’t

  my sheets.

  Every sense in my body screamed at me. I sat up, and my heart clenched

  as I looked around. Holy shit. Where was I, and how did I get here?

  Clutching the white bedsheet around me, I scanned the room.

  Think, think, think.

  Light streamed in from the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the lake,

  and I squinted. It was almost blinding. The décor was minimalist and sleek.

  Expensive. White floors, gray walls.

  I racked my brain for any memory of how I had gotten here. Fragmentary

  images of last night filtered through my mind like rain. The sound of cicadas.

  Casey. The bonfire.

  Panic flickered in my chest. Oh, shit, had I had a one-night stand with one

  of Casey’s friends?

  I squeezed my eyes shut. No. I’d been pissed, and I’d left.

  After that, all I could remember was my nightmare of running through the

  woods. A shiver ran down my aching spine, and I shoved the dream out of

  my
mind.

  I slipped out of bed and wrapped the sheet around myself, sucking in a

  breath as pain trickled through my nerves. Not only did I have a massive

  hangover, but every bone in my body ached like I’d tumbled down a

  mountain a few times.

  Whatever had happened, it wasn’t cool.

  A quick search of the room revealed neither my clothes nor my phone.

  Shit. I’d left the phone under the seat in Casey’s car. Where my clothes were

  was anyone’s guess.

  I crossed the room and picked up the framed picture that sat alone on the

  dresser opposite the king-size bed that I’d just awoken in. A woman with

  dark, curly hair smiled at the camera. My blood froze. She was beautiful and

  had the same eyes as Jaxson.

  The bedroom door creaked, and I spun, holding the framed picture out

  like it was a weapon.

  “Sam?” I released my breath but didn’t put down the picture. “Where am

  I, and why the hell am I buck-ass naked?”

  “I think you should have some coffee.” She stepped into the room and

  smiled, but I could read the concern on her face. She gave me a wide berth

  and set the mug on the bedside table. “Do you remember anything from last

  night?”

  My mind still came up short. “I went to a bonfire with Casey, but the rest

  is missing. Tell me what the hell is going on.”

  My voice sounded distant and panicked. I realized that I’d set the picture

  down and was clutching my arms so hard that my nails were digging into my

  skin.

  “You might want to take a seat,” she said.

  “Tell me!” I knew that whatever Sam was about to say would be bad, and

  I didn’t need her pussyfooting around it. Better to rip the band-aid off

  quickly.

  Irritation flashed in her eyes, and her kind demeanor vanished. “You’re a

  werewolf, Savannah. You shifted for the first time last night, and Jaxson

  found you in the woods broken and nearly dead.”

  Silence settled over the room, and then I broke it with a guttural laugh. I

  couldn’t explain it—it was like the floodgates of a dam opening, and I just

  couldn’t stop laughing. The absurdity of Sam’s words was hilarious. Was she

  joking? Was I dreaming? I doubled forward, tears gushing down my cheeks

  as I cackled like a madwoman. It felt good, like a release of pent-up tension.

  The tears kept falling, though, and soon, my laughs turned into heart-

  wrenching sobs.

  I dropped to my hands and knees, ignoring the pain because as the

  memories of my cracking bones and tearing muscles bombarded me at last, it

  was all I could focus on.

  My vision blurred.

  Sam dropped beside me. “Breathe, Savy!”

  My lungs screamed, but I couldn’t draw a breath.

  I sat upright and pushed her away, gasping for air that never came. Now I

  remembered everything from the night before—the argument with those

  jerks, the bathroom where I’d begun to shift, my escape through the woods.

  And the pain. The excruciating, endless pain that had nearly split me in two.

  Maybe it had.

  I clutched my hair and screamed through my gritted teeth—at the

  circumstances that had landed me here, at my parents for leaving me in this

  shitty world, and at God for making this my cursed fate.

  How was I ever going to face Laurel? And Casey?

  I’d just met my estranged family, and I’d actually liked them. Now? Now

  I had turned into one of the monsters they hated so much.

  The room faded around me, and every sensation was drowned with gut-

  wrenching fury. My fingernails itched, and my skin burned, but my rage

  dwarfed it all. I was like a star imploding on itself. I was going to burn this

  fucking city to the ground.

  But then, somewhere in the distance, I heard his voice. Jaxson. He was

  upset and yelling, but his signature enveloped me like a weighted blanket,

  pushing away my sinking despair. My panting breaths eased, and the pulsing

  in my temples slowed.

  A tingling warmth spread through my cheeks, and my rage and pain

  slowly ebbed like a fading tide. I opened my eyes and met Jaxson’s

  unyielding gaze. He was kneeling before me, clutching my face in his hands.

  Mine.

  “Savannah.” He gently rubbed the dampness from my cheeks, and I

  realized that I was a sobbing, leaking mess.

  I pulled away and rubbed the tears and snot from my puffy face. His jaw

  was set, and his brow furrowed as he watched me closely, either trying to

  read my thoughts or evaluate my sanity.

  I climbed to my feet, brushing aside Jaxson’s hand as he tried to steady

  me, and hurled myself into the bathroom. I slammed the door behind me and

  bent double with my arms across my aching chest.

  Why was this happening to me? Of everything I had to face—abductors,

  demons, an insane sorcerer—why this as well?

  “Savy? Are you okay? Can I come in?” Sam’s voice came through the

  door.

  “No. And no.” I stumbled to the sink and stared at the reflection in the

  mirror.

  I didn’t even recognize myself, and it wasn’t because of the swollen eyes

  and disheveled hair. My life had changed since that night at the Taphouse,

  and I had changed since coming to Magic Side.

  What was I going to do?

  I slumped down and put my head in my hands as I tried to grip the bull by

  the horns.

  So, I was a werewolf now.

  I tried the thought on for size, like a new pair of jeans. I didn’t like it one

  bit, but I wasn’t sure if this was something I could just return.

  Inhaling deep breaths, I let my chest rise and fall. Okay. Where did being

  a werewolf leave me, other than screwed?

  Worst-case scenario, this was now my life. Overwhelming sensory input,

  agonizing bone-snapping transformations, lots of hair everywhere. Potential

  for fleas. Benefits: none.

  Best-case scenario, there was a way to fix this.

  Either way, I still had a madman trying to abduct me, and being a

  werewolf didn’t change that.

  Impending death really had a way of putting things in perspective. I

  clambered to my feet with a low growl as my aches and pains reasserted

  themselves.

  There was going to be a way to fix this. And after I found it, I was going

  to find whoever was responsible for this shit and make them pay.

  I cleaned myself up as best I could and returned to the bedroom with the

  bedsheet wrapped around me like a toga. Sam was sitting at the foot of the

  bed while Jaxson stood by the window, arms crossed. He turned to me, worry

  and exhaustion clouding his face.

  “Right, then, I’m a werewolf. How do we fix this?” I looked between

  Jaxson and Sam, feeling unexpectedly rational about the situation. Well,

  rational and pissed.

  Jaxson took a step forward, but I shook my head as I stepped back. “I

  need answers. Is this lycanthropy? Is there a cure?”

  He flexed his hands. “I’m not sure. Lycanthropy is extremely rare.

  There’s a potion master who might know more.”

  “That’s a start.” A sliver of hope peeked out of the darkness in my soul.

  “Next question: how the fuc
k did this happen?”

  Sam approached. “Did a werewolf ever bite you? The she-wolf whose

  mate you killed at the Taphouse? Billy? Someone you didn’t tell us about?”

  “No,” I snapped.

  Both of them were quiet, and Jaxson looked murderous. I suspected I

  knew why.

  “Billy did it, didn’t he? They injected me with some kind of lycanthropy

  serum while I was trapped in the sanitorium?”

  “Possibly,” Jaxson said, his voice gruff and strained. “We’ll know for

  sure when we meet with Alia, the potion master. If we’re lucky, she’ll have

  an antidote.”

  I rubbed my face and took a deep breath. Somehow, I could face this. I’d

  faced blood demons and nightmares and murderous werewolves. I could face

  myself. Right? “Let’s call her now, then. I need to know how screwed I am.”

  “Don’t worry. We’ll find a cure,” Jaxson said. His words bit, and he wore

  a visibly pissed expression. Sam looked almost as upset.

  And why wouldn’t they be? They detested me to begin with, and now I

  was some sort of werewolf abomination. I was sure that the sooner they got

  rid of me, the happier they’d be.

  But their feelings didn’t matter right now. The sooner we got the cure, the

  better for me.

  “How do you feel?” Sam inquired.

  “Like I binge-watched horror movies all night, and then lost a boxing

  match.” My stomach growled, and I shifted awkwardly. “That, and hungry.”

  Ten minutes later, Jaxson and I were sitting at the far ends of a black

  granite bar while Sam whipped up scrambled eggs and bacon in the most

  expensive-looking kitchen I’d ever seen.

  She’d brought me a fresh set of clothes, thankfully, since the toga look

  didn’t suit me. The jeans fit like a glove, but the sweater drooped over one of

  my shoulders. Fortunately, Sam lived on a lower floor, so the errand had been

  just a quick elevator ride for her.

  “A lot of werewolves live here,” she explained. “We like living together

  and near the alpha. Plus, there’s a rooftop pool and bar and good amenities.

  Though my place is about the size of Jaxson’s closets.”

  “I pay you better than that,” he grumbled.

  “Yes. But I like my view.”

  If it was anything like Jaxson’s, I wouldn’t blame her. His windows

  looked out over a vast green park and Lake Michigan.