Shadow Kissed (Magic Side: Wolf Bound Book 4)

Jaxson

Rage shook my body as I glared at the weak-willed council of alphas.

Fools.

The anger was a mercy, because without it, my chest would have burst with pride. My mate was strong and fearless—and she was staring down two dozen alphas and getting the better of them. Any other wolf would have run.

But now was not the time for pride. It was the time to make the wolves fucking submit.

Camila crossed the distance between us in challenge. “The council will rule on this matter, Jaxson.”

The old steel battleship was the alpha of the Superior pack, and she was as cold as the water in Duluth. She wasn’t to be trifled with, which was why she was running the meeting.

I stepped up to meet her. “Go ahead and make your ruling, but we will end this discussion right here in the open. Not behind closed doors, where you can hide your shame and treachery.”

“That’s not what—”

I swept away from her and stalked before the council. “The Dark God is back. The fate of our packs, of the world, is teetering on the brink, and by seeking to punish us, you’re wasting time. It doesn’t matter what’s happened to bring us here, but this is the truth: without the two of us, there’s absolutely nothing standing between you and the Dark God.”

“The LaSalle woman is prophesized to take our souls,” my old friend Mac, the Michigan alpha, growled. “We can’t overlook that danger.”

I threw my hand out toward Savannah. “This LaSalle woman is the only reason we have the slightest chance. How blind has your hatred made you? She killed Victor Dragan before his cult could possess more wolves. She negotiated with the Moon and risked her life to go into the Dreamlands to try to rebind the Dark God. She fought him and lived! Which one of you can make that claim? Which of you could do the same?”

Werewolves shifted uncomfortably around the ring as they faced the truth.

I stepped up to Mac, but my words were for all. “The Dark God sent you a dream to turn you against us. Why? Because we’re your only fucking hope, and you know it.”

In the stunned silence that followed, I rode their surge of emotion—fear, confusion, desperation— like a wave. The time was right.

I raised my hand. “As head of this council, I call an open vote. I want to see hands right now—in the face of what’s coming, who votes to risk having us killed?”

Savannah stiffened but said nothing.

I let a minute of silence tick by. Not one wolf raised a hand or paw. They weren’t stupid, just desperate to have some sort of control in the face of the Dark God. But this wasn’t the time to cling to control. It was time to let go of old ways and prophecies and face the threat that existed here and now.

And that wasn’t Savy or me.

“Who votes we be exiled immediately?” I growled at the shame-faced assembly.

Still nothing. Not one. Camila looked away, as did my father.

I nodded. “Good. It seems you need us right now. And we need you. Help us protect Magic Side.”

“So what’s this plan of yours?” Mac grumbled as he sat back and crossed his arms.

I looked to Savannah and nodded.

She swallowed hard as the tension passed. “We believe the Dark God will return to Magic Side,” she said. “We don’t know where he’ll strike, but we think he’ll open a rift from the Dreamlands. The Order and the LaSalles are preparing containment and banishment spells. We need people to support and protect them—”

My father laughed. “Do you really expect us to work with the LaSalles after all they’ve done to our people? To our family?”

Bitterness worked into the set of my jaw. Of all of them, he should’ve had my back. The traitor.

Then again, he probably thought the same of me. My sister, his favorite, had died trying to wipe out the LaSalles’ wolfsbane operation. He’d never forgiven them. I hadn’t, either, until I met my mate. It would take him time to do the same, if he ever could.

I met his accusatory glare. “I haven’t forgotten what happened to Stephanie, not for one second. But our hands aren’t clean, either, and everything is on the line. I’ve spoken to Laurel. She’s ready to bury the hatchet. I am, too.”

He studied my face, then looked to Savannah. After a long moment, he shook his head. “I can’t.”

Then my father turned and left.

His quiet statement shook my heart. There was so much pain and sadness there, bound up so tightly. I wanted to go after him, but now was not the time. I wasn’t sure there ever would be a time.

“No fucking way I work with the LaSalles, either,” snapped another alpha. “Do you have any idea how much wolfsbane they push into our state?”

Murmurs of agreement boiled up all around, and suddenly, I was losing them.

“Please!” Savannah shouted. “Yes, you hate my family. And with good reason, I know. But we’re all in danger. My cousin wove a spell for our pack to protect them from Dragan. They’re willing to come to the table. Please, for the sake of all your packs, put aside your grudges until this is over and work with us.”

She studied their faces. “Before we left the Moon, she gave us a warning: the Dark God draws his power from werewolves. Don’t give him your power by fighting your allies, by quarrelling, by sitting here and doing nothing. Please, help us.”

The council members looked around, none wanting to show weakness.

Finally, Camila stood and smoothed her cloak. “What you say is fair, but I think that very few will be willing to work with your family. They might work with the Order. And for those who can look beyond the past, what is it that you need?”

A deep wave of relief surged through me, and Savannah closed her eyes as a heavy weight seemed to slip from her shoulders. When she opened them again, she was almost smiling. “We need knowledge. Everything your loremasters might know that could help us figure out how to stop him. If there are any diviners among you, we need to know where he will open the rift.”

Savannah looked to me, and I nodded. “If you don’t want to come to face him in person, fine,” I said. “But send backup. Weapons. Anything. And prepare your homes, because if we fall, you’ll be next.”

We spent the next hour in intense negotiation. Several packs bowed out entirely, but some were willing to send help, or at least to consult their loremasters—which was what we needed, more than anything.

Mac was already texting instructions from Savannah to his pack. After she walked away, he turned to me. “I’m sorry, Jax. I didn’t know what you two had done already. After the dream and your father’s call, I just got caught up in things.”

“I know. We all did.”

As the sun moved on, Camila took me aside. “The Superior pack will do what it can to help Magic Side. But make no mistake, you’ve not acquitted yourself here, Laurent.”

Gratitude died on my lips as she continued. “Necessary or not, what was done to Savannah’s wolf is unconscionable, and the council cannot abide it. I spoke with the high elders while you were making plans. We’re agreed—if you don’t undo what you have done, you won’t have a seat in this circle. We will not accept you as the alpha of your pack. Only your father. Frankly, I cannot imagine how your pack will follow you, knowing what they do now.”

I was to be shunned and replaced by my father? And they thought Magic Side would take that lying down?

I tightened my forearms to keep my claws in check and bent my head to hers. “You can tell the elders that if I can’t bring back her wolf once this is over, I’ll happily go into exile. But don’t you dare ever challenge me again in this way or try to use my father against me.”

“He agrees with us, you know.”

“I know,” I said, my heart aching as I started to walk away.

“And Jaxson…”

I paused at the way her words hung.

“Savannah is fierce and speaks strongly. But we cannot be blind to the prophecy, not when it’s been proven right once already. She’s a threat. We’re letting you both walk away now, but if for one second it looks like she’ll turn toward the Dark God, she will need to be dealt with. For the good of all our packs.”

I didn’t turn around, and when I spoke, my voice was more animal than man. “Let me make this clear. If anyone lays a hand on her, you’ll wish the Dark God had gotten to you before I did.”

Unable to restrain myself any longer, I left the circle of wolves.