Wolf Marked (Magic Side: Wolf Bound Book 1)

by Veronica Douglas

  She strained against her straps in fear as I approached.

  “It’s okay. I’m Savannah. I’m going to get you out of here,” I whispered as I undid the heavy straps binding her ankles and wrists.

  The woman’s body slammed into my chest, and her arms wrapped around me. “Thank you,” she sobbed. “What day is it?”

  I shook my head and began unhooking the wires that attached to her chest. “I’m not sure. You were taken a week before I was captured. I saw you on the news.”

  “It’s only been a week?” She pulled out the IV in her arm. “It felt like longer. They’ve done awful things to me. And those creatures…”

  She choked up, and I bit my lip. “Are there others down here? I’m looking for a friend, a shifter, she would have been brought in a few hours before I was. Her name is Sam.”

  “There were others. But I haven’t seen anyone for days.” The girl shuddered.

  My stomach sank, but I squeezed her hand and forced a smile. “We’re going to get out of here. Do you know your way around this place?”

  She started to speak, but at that moment, the door behind us swung open as man in a stained lab coat stepped in. “No one is supposed to check on—”

  His eyes widened with shock. I lunged forward and slammed him into the corner wall a couple times before he could react. He crumpled to the floor, crawling in a daze.

  Madison kicked him in the jaw, and he flipped over.

  “That’s for jabbing me with all those needles,” she hissed, then kicked him in the balls. “And that’s for injecting me with that shit.”

  Crap. I hoped that magic inhibitor was the only thing they’d injected me with.

  I nodded to Madison. “Let’s tie him down and get some answers.”

  She was so drained that she wasn’t much help heaving him up on the table, but for some reason, I felt like I was surging with strength.

  “Fates, you’re fast. What are you?” she whispered.

  “A sorceress, I think. You?”

  “A witch.” Madison secured the arm bands while I ripped off a piece of the man’s shirt and stuffed it in his mouth.

  His eyes widened as I sunk my nails into the side of his face. “If you scream, I’ll rip your eyes out. So be quiet and answer our questions. Got it?”

  He squirmed, and when he saw it was useless, he nodded.

  I slowly removed the gag, ready to shove it back in and knock his lights out if he made a peep. “Who is the asshole running the show?”

  “Billy.”

  “No. Who’s the sorcerer?”

  “I don’t know his name! He just sends us the blood, and I keep people alive for his pets. He doesn’t make them here.”

  I growled. “I can smell lies.”

  “Then you know I’m telling the truth.” He squeaked as I dug my nails in.

  “What are you? Some kind of freaky doctor?”

  “I just make the inhibitor. I’m not into the blood sorcery, I swear.”

  “Is there an antidote for the inhibitor?”

  “Ah…”

  I slammed his head against the table.

  He groaned. “Check my pocket. Red for inhibitor. Green for stimulant.”

  Madison dug around in the pockets of his coat and pulled out five syringes wrapped with a rubber band, three red and two green. “Also, he’s got keys.”

  “How do the drugs work?” I asked.

  “Just inject it in your arm.”

  Truth. I could smell it, along with his abject terror.

  “Do you trust him?” Madison asked. “They used the red ones like that on me.”

  I nodded. “I don’t think he’s lying.”

  She popped open the top of the green syringe, rolled up her sleeve, and jabbed it in her arm. “Here goes nothing. I want my magic back.”

  She offered me the other, but I shook my head. I was suddenly feeling pretty damn good, all things considered. Actually, great. Had the inhibitor they’d given me boosted my magic, somehow? Or maybe they’d given me the wrong one.

  “Why do they want me?” I asked.

  The man writhed against the bonds, and I started to slip a finger into his eye socket.

  “Stop! Your blood is special. I think it’s like his. Maybe he’ll use it to make more, but I think it’s something else. We’re not supposed to let the demons feed on you.” The man reeked of fear and piss, and I didn’t think it was me he was afraid of.

  Madison touched my arm. “We need to go. We’re making a lot of noise.”

  I pushed my face close to the man’s. “Where is my friend, the she-wolf you just brought in?”

  “There’s a werewolf woman in 5B. We were told not to drain her, just sedate.”

  My heart leapt. Sam was here.

  “How do we find her and get out of here?”

  He gave us directions to a lab, which had a door that opened to the main compound—our ticket out. If we could get to that door, we might have a chance.

  I ripped his key card off his neck and shoved my shirt back in the man’s mouth as he squirmed. “Let’s go.”

  Madison nodded. “They’ve moved me a lot. I think I can find the way.”

  I shadowed her down the hall, glancing behind us to make sure nobody rounded the other corner. We reached the end and turned right onto another hall lined with rooms.

  Halfway down, I stopped and grabbed Madison’s arm.

  “What?” she hissed, alarmed.

  I put my finger to my lips and inhaled slowly through my nose. The place reeked of mold, refuse, and neglect. But for just a second, I’d sworn I caught a familiar scent or signature. I concentrated as hard as I could, trying to ignore the sickly odors of blood and despair.

  There. Recognition stirred in my chest, and I quickly moved down the hall to one of the doors. 5B. Sam.

  I unlocked the deadbolt.

  “Savannah?” a voice croaked. “What are you doing here?”

  My heart froze.

  Sam was lying strapped down to a bed. Her eyes were glassy. I crossed the room, undid her straps, and pulled her into a hug. Her body tensed, then slowly relaxed.

  I scanned her quickly. She looked pissed as all hell but wasn’t visibly injured. “We’re busting out of here. You good to run?”

  “I’m fine,” she growled, and grabbed my wrist as her eyes narrowed. “Billy is behind this,” she spat, her words laced with venom.

  I placed my hand on her shoulder. “I know. We’ll get the bastard.”

  Her fists were clenched, and she was visibly shaking with rage. “Let’s go.”

  Sam jumped off the bed, and I noticed that she was limping. “You’re hurt.”

  “I fought back. Fuckers gave me something that blocks my healing.”

  Magic inhibitor. Madison pulled out the other green syringe. “This might help. It’s a stimulant. I already feel my magic coming back.”

  Sam nodded, and Madison injected her with the stuff, then tossed the needle.

  We slipped out of the room and wound our way through the halls until we reached a large door with an electronic lock. “I think this is the lab,” I whispered, then tapped the quack’s keycard. The door slid open, but the room beyond looked nothing like a laboratory. There were a few derelict computers on the benches, but they hadn’t seen use in ages. The walls were the same pocked concrete, and a layer of dirt coated the floor—everywhere except in the center, which was covered with arcane symbols. Bloodstains were everywhere.

  Different kind of laboratory.

  Two confused faces turned to us—a couple of shifters, judging by their amber-tinged eyes. One was the bastard who’d tasted my blood earlier, while the other had long hair and looked rough.

  Before I could react, Sam lunged for the long-haired guy, claws extended from her fingers. She slashed his face, and streaks of blood rose across his ashen cheek. He hurled her aside, but Madison charged into the room, picked up a monitor, and threw it into his chest. “Experiment on this!” she cried, and he cras
hed backward into the table.

  The blood-licker growled and stepped toward me. The creepy look on his face had my skin crawling, but I loosened my body and raised my fists, remembering what Jaxson had taught me. When he charged, I ducked to the side, but he managed to get a grip on my bicep. I brought my other fist down onto his wrist with more force than I’d ever had, breaking his hold. He turned and faced me, his hand twitching. “Why don’t you give me a taste, little pup?”

  Anger flooded my senses, and oddly, the beds of my nails itched. I sprang forward, tackling his torso. A surprised look crossed his face as we hurtled into a table with several keyboards and monitors, sending them to the floor with a crash.

  He clawed at me, and pain shot through my arm.

  A frenzy took over me. It was like an out-of-body experience—I could watch what was happening, but I wasn’t in the driver’s seat. I punched him square in the face, feeling a crunch, either from his nose or my knuckles, but I just kept punching until he slumped back and slid off the desk. I’d never felt like I had this much strength.

  I staggered back from the unconscious man, wincing at the deep throbbing in my hand. There was way more blood than there should have been. His shirt and skin were shredded. I glanced down at my blood-covered hands, stunned.

  Holy shit. What had they injected me with?

  I turned in a daze. On the other side of the lab bench, Sam climbed off the shifter she’d attacked. His neck was twisted at an odd angle, his eyes staring blankly.

  Madison was already at the service door, fumbling with a set of keys she must have found in the room or on the dead shifter. She turned to us with a wide grin on her face. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”

  40

  Savannah

  Madison pushed open the back door to the lab. Late afternoon light illuminated a yard fronting woods. Freedom.

  “Come on!” I cried, and we slipped outside and sprinted toward the trees. We made it about ten paces before alarms blared inside the building. Shouts erupted from the lab, and all three of us turned and tore into the woods.

  We sprinted for safety, leaping over bushes and underbrush. I tried not to dwell on the fact that I was moving faster and more nimbly than seemed possible, and I wasn’t wearing my speed boots. That was a future me problem, and right now, we were racing for our lives.

  I heard trickling water nearby. A stream.

  Howls cut through the forest behind and beside us, and two blurs flashed through the trees. Panic and fear colored my thoughts. How could we outrun them?

  You can’t.

  I looked at Sam and the witch girl. It was my fault they were in this mess, Sam because she’d been assigned to protect my ass, and Madison simply because she looked like me. I had to make this right. If I could lead the wolves away, these two might survive this. I could tell from Sam’s strained movements that the magic inhibitor antidote she’d taken hadn’t yet kicked in. Sam was a fighter, but there was no way she’d have the strength to ward off these jacked-up shifters.

  The trickle of water was louder now.

  “This way.” I grabbed Madison’s hand, and we turned right, sliding down an embankment. At the bottom was a small creek, fifteen feet across.

  “You two go,” I whispered, pushing Madison into the water. “I’m going to lead them away.”

  She jerked to a stop. “No!”

  “Go! They’re after my blood. This is your one shot at getting out of here alive.” I met Sam’s eyes. “Do this for me, please. You’re strong enough to get her out. Tell Jaxson what you know. Stop Billy.”

  Sam hesitated, then grabbed Madison’s arm and waded across. She paused at the other side of the stream and nodded.

  I smeared some of my sticky blood on the leaves, then took off up the stream bank, brushing against trees and making as much noise as possible. My bare feet stung as I clambered over rocks, but my resolve dulled the pain.

  Once I was certain I’d put enough distance between us, I paused, chest heaving. Two howls echoed from the right, and then a crash in the forest. Close.

  They’d be on me in seconds. I scanned the bank for a place to hide, but there was nowhere that they wouldn’t sniff me out. My gaze landed on the stream.

  Adrenaline coursed through me, and I waded into the dark water, tripping over the rocky bottom. I scrambled to a deep bend underneath some overhanging brush, took a few full breaths, and slipped under the surface just as a wolf bounded out of the trees.

  The shock of the cold water made my muscles ache, but I tried to simply imagine it as my magic flowing through my body. The water was only a few feet deep, so I laid flat and held on to a large root protruding from the bank. Water flooded my nose, and my hair floated around me.

  Between the murky water and the setting sun, I could just barely make out the surface. My lungs began to burn, and I fought the urge to swallow, but the burning only grew.

  Just a little longer.

  My fingers dug into the rocks and roots, and dizziness drifted over me. I’d always imagined I’d die in a blaze like my parents, but considering the circumstances, drowning didn’t seem so bad.

  A dark shape loomed overhead. A cloud, maybe. I closed my eyes. Something nudged me and then gripped my shoulder, pulling me up. Sharp but not painful.

  My head broke the surface, and I launched into a coughing fit. A rock shifted underfoot, and I slipped, but a massive wolf ducked his head under my arm. My heart stuttered, and then I recognized the silver-gray fur.

  Jaxson.

  My shoulders slumped with relief, and tears streamed from my eyes. The wolf looked back at me with honey eyes, and I somehow knew what he wanted. I ran my hands through his fur and held tight as he dragged me from the stream.

  I collapsed on the bank, and my cheek pressed into the mud as my lungs drew in haggard breaths. Jaxson nudged me with his face, and my chest tightened.

  Several snarls sounded around us, but I was too exhausted to move or care. My strength from earlier had vanished, washed away in the cold water.

  Jaxson bounded over me and collided with a black wolf who stepped out of the trees. They rolled several feet, and then Jaxson pinned the smaller wolf and tore out its throat, blood spilling onto the shore.

  Just then, a white wolf sprang from the forest and landed on Jaxson’s back, sinking its teeth into his side. Fear arced through me. Jaxson let out a heart-stopping growl and latched onto the attacker’s haunch, dragging him off. The wolf yipped, and then Jaxson’s jaws sank into its neck and twisted. With a snap, the wolf collapsed, lifeless.

  I blinked in horror.

  I spun, looking for new assailants, but the bank was quiet apart from the gentle burbling of the stream. Heat pulsed over my skin, and I shivered and looked up.

  My breath hitched as Jaxson stepped toward me, still in wolf form. Blood stained his back, and worry filled my chest, along with that aching tightness that always arose when he was near. He paused only a foot away. My chest heaved, unable to get enough air, and the itching under my nails grew again. He tilted his head, scrutinizing me with impossible golden eyes.

  Jaxson tilted his head and howled, and shivers raced down my spine. The world spun as howls echoed in the distance. Some part of me knew that they were friendly howls.

  Jaxson’s wolf looked at me with an expression that seemed to be telling me, Rest. You are safe.

  It was like a compulsion. The last of my strength drained from me, and I slumped back onto the bank, exhaustion weighing me down. The fading light filtered through the trees, and I closed my eyes.

  41

  Jaxson

  I scooped up Savannah. Her skin was cold against my chest, and I breathed in her scent. Tangerines, and the taste of cool water flowing over my lips.

  She smells delicious.

  She was unconscious and shivering. Her clothes were still wet from the river, and she was probably in shock.

  She’d sacrificed herself so that Sam and Madison could get away. She didn’t even like
Sam.

  My wolf stirred, and my heart ached. She’d saved one of our pack.

  I brushed a strand of hair from her face. At my touch, she pinched her eyebrows, and her lips trembled. Protectiveness and anger raged inside of me, and my wolf strained to break free.

  I glanced down at her as I wound my way through the trees. She looked so delicate in my arms. So fragile. And so alluring. There was something about her. Maybe it was her blood.

  Fuck, what was wrong with me?

  She was a goddamned LaSalle…but she was also something else, and I’d have to figure out what that was.

  A branch cracked, and Sam stepped out of the trees with Regina and Tony, favoring her right leg. “You all right?” I asked.

  She nodded. “Just a torn muscle. I’ll heal soon.”

  “And Madison?”

  “She’s a little shaken up, but she’s fine.”

  “We’ve secured the sanitorium. Captured two of the blood junkies.” Regina glanced at Sam and paused. “There’s something else, Jax.”

  A cocktail of scents emanated from her—anger, betrayal, and sadness. Whatever it was, it wasn’t good.

  I steadied my will. “Tell me.”

  Sam’s jaw tensed. “It was Billy, Jaxson. He was behind it all. The abductions, grabbing me, Savannah. He’s been working with the sorcerer.”

  Her words pierced my heart, and my body shook. Regina surged forward and plucked Savannah from my arms as my vision blurred and my bones began snapping. With difficulty, I reined in my wolf. I needed to think clearly. “It’s not possible.”

  “He’s the one who grabbed Savannah and brought her in.”

  “Maybe he was trying to make a trade…” I growled. “For you, or for the captives. He didn’t like how—"

  “Jaxson. He was the one giving orders,” Sam said coldly.

  I read her scent. It was undeniable. Truth.

  “But why?” It made no sense. Billy would never work with a sorcerer, even if they weren’t LaSalles.

  “I don’t know. But he’s looking for vengeance against the LaSalles, and I think he made a deal.”

  The world spun around me. Billy was a brother. A member of the pack. My family.