Untamed Fate (Magic Side: Wolf Bound Book 2)

by Veronica Douglas

  The moon glinted in Jaxson’s eyes. “Welcome to the sacred wood, garden

  of monsters. Don’t worry, it’s safe at the moment.”

  The “at the moment” clause rekindled my nerves, and I wrapped my arms

  around myself as a light mist chilled my exposed skin. At least I’d brought a

  jacket. “What are we doing here?”

  “This is the closest portal to the mage’s tower. Amal will meet us soon,

  but I wanted to get here early so you had a chance to shift and get

  accustomed to your wolf form.”

  My stomach dropped. Shifting hadn’t been part of the plan. “I don’t think

  I’m ready for that.”

  “I’m sure your wolf is.”

  Hell, yes, the wolf voice in my mind said.

  I swallowed hard. “Is it necessary?”

  “According to Amal, the mage’s tower is in a tiny village without car

  access. We’ll need to head overland through the woods, and we’ll be faster

  and stealthier if we travel as wolves. You also need to know what it feels like

  to shift and how to change back. The transformation can be triggered by

  anger and fear, and the worst possible outcome would be for you to shift in

  the midst of danger.”

  I was definitely not ready for this.

  I shook my head and lightly rested my fingertips on his muscled arm,

  pleading with my touch. “Jaxson, no. The first time I shifted, I passed out

  from the pain, and I’ve been exhausted all day. How can I face the sorcerer

  after going through that again?”

  He leaned forward and whispered in my ear. “Because I’m here. I’ll guide

  and help you through the pain. Most wolves wouldn’t go through their first

  shift without their alpha near.”

  Jaxson was so close that the scent of his body overwhelmed my senses,

  and each breath I took sent liquid heat pooling in my core.

  I licked my parched lips as a queasy sensation overtook my body. “So

  you’re my alpha now?”

  “Yes.”

  No, I didn’t like that one bit.

  Trust him, said the wolf voice in my mind.

  That didn’t help. I didn’t trust it, whatever the monster inside of me was.

  My heartbeat kept accelerating.

  “It’ll be okay,” Jaxson said as he placed his hands on my shoulders. “You

  can’t be afraid of your wolf. You need to work together.”

  I shivered under his touch. “Work together? Aren’t we the same?”

  Well, I’m cuter, faster, and smarter.

  My eyes went wide with surprise. It wasn’t a part of me. It was like a

  completely different being. “I don’t think I can deal with this right now.”

  “This is important. You need to be ready.”

  My palms felt as clammy as a dead fish, and my gut knotted even as I

  nodded consent. “All right, fine. What do I do?”

  He unslung a small bag from his shoulder and laid it at my feet. “For your

  clothes.”

  My stomach plunged, and I gave him an apprehensive look.

  “I’ll turn away, but you’ll need to take my hand when you’re ready so

  that I can help guide you through the transition.” He turned his back to me to

  give me privacy.

  My mouth was as parched as the Arizona desert, and my heartbeat

  pounded in my chest. Unable to speak, I nodded, then tentatively began

  unbuttoning my shirt and listened for any sound of movement.

  All was still.

  Jacket, boots, jeans, bra, and panties—I dropped them one by one into a

  pile until I was clothed only in shadow and soft moonlight.

  I crouched down and unzipped the bag. There was a pistol with a silencer

  packed in there, plus three clips of ammunition. Water. A few snacks. The

  oddity of the situation made me almost laugh. I was completely naked,

  crouching in a garden of stone monsters, prepping to turn into a wolf, and

  then, if I got lucky, find and murder a blood sorcerer. My life had gotten so

  strange, so quickly.

  I stuffed the whole lot of clothes into the bag, and then, after a deep

  breath, I stood and wove a dress of shadows around me. “Okay. Let’s do

  this.”

  “Take my hand,” Jaxson said, his voice strained.

  I turned around and stepped up behind him. My stomach spun. I was

  cloaked in shadow, but I was still naked and only inches away from Jaxson

  Laurent.

  He held out his hand, and I clasped it. “Don’t be afraid.”

  “I’m not,” I snapped.

  Liar.

  “Is your wolf ready?” he asked.

  Oh, my God, yes please, I’m dying in here.

  “She says yes,” I snarled.

  “Good. Your wolf will know what to do. This time, let her come all the

  way forward and take over. I’ll slow things down and push them along where

  I need to. It’ll be easier every time.”

  “Oka—”

  The monster inside slammed against my chest. The breath burst from my

  lungs as my ribs erupted in agony. Doubt strangled my thoughts. I couldn’t

  do this. I wasn’t a werewolf. I was just a girl from Wisconsin way out of her

  depth.

  I fought back.

  Release me! the wolf voice snarled.

  I gritted my teeth. I’m not ready! This is too much!

  Jaxson’s voice brushed over my skin. “It’s okay, Savy. Let her out.

  You’ll still be you. It’s time.”

  I screamed in protest and arched my back as the wolf inside took control.

  Hair ripped across my bare arms and legs, and I dropped to my knees. My

  skin stretched and my tendons strained as my muscles writhed. I cried out in

  agony as I dug one clawed hand into the earth and the other into Jaxson’s

  palm.

  The alpha turned and dropped to a knee beside me. He pressed his free

  hand into the small of my back, and his power sent wave after wave of relief

  through my body. His touch was warm and cold at the same time and felt like

  the ocean rolling across my skin.

  I shivered in delight as much as I shook in pain.

  The scent of the forest around us mingled with his signature, and in my

  daze, I couldn’t tell one from the other. My skin was more sensitive than it

  had ever been, yet somehow, I couldn’t feel where his hand stopped and my

  own skin began.

  For a moment, we were one together beneath the stars—Jaxson, the wolf,

  and me.

  His hands held me steady as I pitched and bucked, and his power drove

  through me, pushing me forward to the end. I gasped as my spine cracked

  and fur erupted around my back. And finally, sore and spent, I staggered

  forward on four clumsy paws and howled—a long, mournful cry that echoed

  with relief and release, agony and ecstasy.

  I’m free.

  The world was new.

  My human senses paled in comparison to my out-of-this-world wolf

  perception. Hundreds of strange and exciting aromas hung in the air. Some I

  could pinpoint. Mushrooms. Moss. Different types of trees. Others I only had

  a vague idea of.

  Suddenly, I had my nose against the ground and was sniffing. Shock

  rolled through me. I didn’t have control.

  I was supposed to think differently, but wasn’t I supposed to be in

  control?

  Apparently not. I was out of the driver’s seat, and someone else
was

  steering.

  Fury and resentment boiled up inside of me, and I forced the head of my

  body up—but it went right back down as the wolf mind took over again.

  It’s my turn, the lupine voice snapped.

  Jaxson crouched down beside me and held out his hand. “Hello, beautiful

  creature.”

  I sniffed it. Or more to the point, the wolf in control made me sniff it. A

  part of my soul withered with embarrassment, but the rest was filled with

  wonder as hundreds of aromas raced up my nose.

  His scent had a clarity that I’d never imagined possible—the deep, earthy

  aromas of his skin and the salty and intoxicating depths of his sweat. His

  scent told me more than I’d imagined possible. His strength. Virility. Power.

  Status. I could barely interpret the information flooding into my mind.

  Before I could gather my thoughts, I was trotting over the grass toward a

  sculpture of a stone elephant. With every part of my soul rebelling, I seized

  control and turned to the left—or at least I tried to. Instead, I stumbled and

  landed snout down in the grass.

  I’m the expert here, the wolf voice growled. You handed over the keys, so

  let me drive.

  Jaxson laughed. “Four legs takes a little getting used to.”

  It wasn’t the four legs I was worried about. It was the wolf in control. My

  wolf.

  I didn’t think I’d get used to that thought. How was I even supposed to

  think of myself now? We were sharing a body—I saw what the wolf saw and

  felt what she felt. But was I walking or was she walking, or were we

  walking?

  My mind spun in confusion, but the wolf’s voice came through. Relax,

  Savy. Just enjoy the ride.

  Fat chance. I was tired of others ruling my life.

  Jaxson began unbuttoning his shirt, which immediately transfixed my—

  well, our collective attention. “I’m going shift now, too. Amal will be here

  soon, and we’ll need to hurry as fast as possible. Normally, I would want you

  to have days running in the woods to get used to your new form, but we can’t

  afford that luxury. Our clock is ticking.”

  Dread weighed down on me. What would we find at the tower?

  Alessandro il Mago or a corpse? The Soul Knife or the sorcerer?

  Nothing good, my instincts told me.

  Jaxson pulled the shirt free from his shoulders and dropped it onto the

  ground next to my satchel. Then he unlatched his belt and met my gaze. We

  averted our eyes, and he turned his back to us.

  You were staring at him! That was so embarrassing! I thought, brimming

  with annoyance.

  No. That was all you.

  Was it?

  Damn. This was going to take some getting used to.

  Jaxson slipped out of his trousers in the corner of my vision, and the

  wolf’s voice practically purred in my mind. Look at those buns. He’s going to

  be an amazing wolf.

  My heart froze as trepidation began to trickle through my veins. What

  would meeting Jaxson’s wolf even be like? When I’d met it before at the fair,

  it had been a thing out of nightmares.

  Jaxson met my eyes as his flashed gold. “Don’t be afraid, pretty wolf.

  Just don’t run.”

  Those were not the words I needed to hear.

  With a low growl, he shifted.

  His arms and legs bent and twisted, and silver-gray fur erupted across his

  moonlit back. His handsome face transformed into the muzzle of a beast, and

  sharp teeth sprang up, glinting white in the moonlight. He was enormous—

  two or three times my size, if not more, and rippling with muscle and power.

  Then the beast that was Jaxson turned its glowing honey-gold eyes on me.

  We cowered and began to back away over the grass as my wolf’s fear

  entwined with my own.

  This was not Jaxson. It was a monster out of legend.

  We backpedaled, then darted left beneath the legs of the elephant statue

  with no destination in mind.

  Jaxson snarled and chased. He was past us in a second, and with a few

  deft moves, he cornered us against a giant statue of a seated goddess with an

  urn on her head.

  The silver wolf growled, and I understood the meaning, almost as if it

  was speaking in my mind: Submit.

  Screw that! my wolf and I thought at the same time.

  We jumped up onto the statue’s lap, and when Jaxson stalked forward, we

  leapt into the air and landed on the grass behind him. We ran blindly, pushed

  by fear and the desire to run.

  A strange, tilted shape loomed out of the darkness—a stone tower house

  that was listing to the side. Then Jaxson was on us, trapping us between the

  house and the terrace wall.

  Submit, Jaxson commanded as he prowled forward, his unmistakable

  presence washing over us.

  No! I said, but his power was a drug, compelling the wolf side of me to

  obey. Growling, she lowered her tail and sank down on all four paws. Then,

  with a noise somewhere between a snarl and whine, she bellied up.

  You’ve got to be kidding me! I protested.

  Jaxson lowered his massive head to sniff us, and then his bared teeth

  finally relaxed.

  Resentment stewed in my chest.

  I did not like wolf Jaxson. Not one bit.

  21

  Jaxson

  My heart raced as my eyes drank in Savannah Caine. She was beyond

  beautiful, with a gray and auburn coat the likes of which I had never seen

  before.

  I drank deeply of her scent, so different than when she was a woman.

  Richer, deeper, and utterly mesmerizing.

  I wanted her to run, and to hunt her endlessly through the dense woods

  that surrounded the gardens. But there was no time.

  She is ours. We should claim her.

  Our mate connection was far stronger, but I knew it was a lie. She wasn’t

  a wolf. She was a LaSalle.

  Bitterness wound around my heart. The fates had ripped my sister from

  me and given me Savannah in return, making me relive the memory of what

  her family had done every time I looked at her.

  Sorrow crushed in on my chest, and when I could bear it no longer, I

  tilted my head back and howled a long, mournful cry that tore its way out of

  my lungs.

  Savannah sat up and tilted her head back, revealing the soft white fur of

  her neck. She howled, too. The thread between us pulled tighter, and my own

  howl caught in my throat.

  She is one of us now. Part of the pack.

  A voice echoed from the portal. “Jaxson!”

  Amal was striding toward us.

  Savannah’s wolf went over and immediately sniffed her. I snarled, and

  Savannah looked at me, confused. We were definitely going to talk about

  manners.

  Amal laughed it off. “Nice to meet you, too, Savannah, but we need to get

  going. Ready?”

  She nodded.

  Amal’s eyes flashed gold, and a breeze of magic surrounded her, hot like

  the desert wind. Her signature flowed around us—a scent of fresh dates and

  apricots, and a taste like rich wildflower honey.

  In a blur of radiance, she transformed into an Egyptian wolf, the dark fur

  along her back tinged with highlights of gold.

  Unlike wolfborn, shifters
like Amal transformed through magic, clothes

  and all. It meant she didn’t have to lug equipment around, and she could shift

  almost instantly, without pain. Very useful for an assassin—though the

  senses, strength, and healing of wolfborn were far superior. We thought

  differently as well, so I kept advisers from both species in my inner circle and

  used teams of mixed operatives to exploit our different talents.

  I was glad we had Amal with us tonight.

  I lowered my head and snagged the strap of my gear pack. Savannah

  looked at Amal and then at her bag with a huff.

  Yes. There were times where I was also a little jealous of magic shifters,

  too.

  Heretic. You should be thrown from the pack, my wolf teased.

  I laughed inwardly. Bite me.

  With a burst of acceleration, Amal ran into the forest, and we raced after.

  The thrill of the chase rose within me, and I glanced at Savannah. I could

  smell her elation.

  This is what we’re meant to do.

  We dashed along faint game trails and wound our way through the hills,

  though I kept my eyes peeled. I could smell the traces of ancient things in

  these woods—ogres and goblins and worse. At least the soft light of the

  moon filtered down through the dark branches of the trees and lit our way.

  After an hour, we crested a forested hill that overlooked a wide

  confluence of valleys. Our destination was an isolated plateau topped by a

  dense cluster of stone buildings. The mage’s tower loomed above the edge of

  the town, a spire of golden-gray stone lit by the waning moon.

  Our descent was heinous. It had rained recently, and cloying valley clay

  quickly caked around our paws. By the time we reached the base of the

  plateau, Savannah was wet and smeared with sticky gray muck from snout to

  tail.

  She caught the laughter in my eyes and snarled. At least there had been a

  small drainage at the edge of town where we were able to wash off.

  Amal paused as we neared the village and shifted into her human form

  again. The mud-coated Egyptian wolf disappeared, leaving a gorgeous dark-

  haired woman with bright yellow eyes in its place. Her clothes and boots

  were as clean as a whistle—another boon of her shifter magic.

  Savannah looked down at her own feet and whined.

  “We better proceed on two legs. They might shoot at wolves here,” Amal

  whispered.

  I dropped my filthy bag on the side of the road and shifted while Amal