Wolf Marked (Magic Side: Wolf Bound Book 1)

Savannah

I slowly raised my Glock and tried to steady my breathing. Don’t freak Savy, I tried to reassure myself. It’s just like shooting beer bottles.

The demon—which was distinctly not a bottle—shifted again, moving from shadow to shadow. Its cavernous eyes peered out at me from between two trunks.

I exhaled slowly and squeezed the trigger, and the Glock cracked and recoiled hard. The bullet ripped into the monster’s skull, right between the eyes, slamming its head back. But though the creature staggered, it remained upright.

My blood curdled as the demon slowly turned its head and glared at me with those dark eyes. Ooze dripped from the bullet hole. Then the monster’s mouth unhinged and spread in a silent, ghastly wail that vibrated my body and raised goosebumps on my skin.

I reeled, suddenly nauseated, and bile rose in my throat. What was it doing?

Jaxson shook his head and started firing as the creature lumbered forward. Despite the bullets digging into its chest, the monster didn’t slow.

My breathing turned ragged as my heart raced.

“Go back to hell!” I shouted, pulling the trigger three times. The demon’s head snapped right as a bullet sank into the side of its skull and another in its chest, squarely where its heart would have been, had it had one. At that, the monster stumbled. Jaxson kept shooting, and finally, under our combined weight of fire, the demon jerked and collapsed onto the forest floor. Black smoke poured out of a dozen or so bullet wounds, and its body slowly dissolved into a pool of dark blood.

Jaxson pivoted, gun raised, scanning the forest. “You weren’t kidding when you said you could shoot.”

“Those things don’t go down easy,” I muttered, trying to calculate my ammunition in reserve. The clips he’d given me held fifteen rounds each.

A burst of gunfire echoed from the north, but for a moment, the forest around us was still.

And then, deep among the trees, shadows moved. With keening shrieks that made my intestines churn, two more demons burst out of the underbrush and charged.

I raised my pistol and started firing wildly at the one coming from my left. Three bullets found their mark, but more lodged in the trees as it wove between them. The thing kept running, moving on two legs, then on all fours.

I tried to steady my breath and pick my shots. My clip had to be nearly empty.

Bursts of gunfire erupted from Jaxson on my right and then a crash sounded through the trees. I glanced over quickly as the demon before him stumbled to its knees, then leapt up again.

“Run! I’ll cover,” Jaxson ordered, putting two more bullets in the demon on the right.

I hesitated.

“Go!” he growled. His eyes turned a vivid gold, and his fangs descended.

I clicked on the safety and slipped my gun into my jeans. Then I ran.

The demon on the left was on me in an instant, but it flipped sideways as Jaxson ripped into its shoulder with claws that had sprung from his hands—just like the shifter who’d attacked me at the Taphouse.

I didn’t have time to wrestle with that image. I poured every ounce of energy I had into running. Concentrate. Just like we practiced this morning.

My feet pounded against the forest floor as I sprinted through the trees and sprang over downed logs. Within a few heartbeats, I was at a gully. A fallen tree made a bridge across, and I ran up the trunk, trying to get far enough to jump to the other side. My boot slipped, but I pushed off with my other foot and launched into the air.

I’d aimed for the far side, but the boots turbo-charged my leap, and I flew into the lower boughs of a tree. Branches lacerated my arms and face, but I clung on for dear life.

The sound of crashing brush from below told me the demon was nearly on me, and out of instinct and sheer panic, I climbed. Fortunately, there were several low branches that I could use to hoist myself up. Growls, snarls, and other inhuman sounds came from below, but I just kept climbing. No fricking way was I going to look down.

But then I did.

Black, cavernous eyes stared up at me from the foot of the tree. I lost my footing and slipped. Reaching out, I managed to partially land on the branch below, expelling the air from my lungs. I gasped and struggled to keep my grip as I watched my gun cartwheel down.

With the sound of tearing bark, the tree shook as the monster started climbing.

This isn’t happening.

Desperation set in, and I swung my body back and forth, gaining enough momentum to latch one of my legs over the branch. Maybe the demon would be too heavy to climb very high.

Howls echoed through the forest nearby, but not near enough.

I heaved myself up and looked down, and I was suddenly face to face with the creature. It scrambled upward impossibly fast, and I screamed with all my soul.

The demon’s eyes rounded, revealing tinges of red. Blood. Horror streaked through me, and my heart felt like it was going to explode.

A spindly hand reached up for me, inches from my shoulder.

Then a snarl boomed from the base of the tree, and the creature shot downward, towed by something.

I craned my neck to make out the forest floor below. Jaxson had ripped the monstrosity out of the tree and was slashing at its throat with claws on his hands.

I pulled myself onto the branch, and straddling it like a gymnast, I inched my way to the trunk. The terrifying noises from below suddenly quieted, and I dared a peek.

The creature lay motionless—a tattered pile of blood and sinew that began melting into a smoking pool of blood—and Jaxson was gone.

A screech rang out from nearby. A hundred feet, maybe more. I pivoted to look, but my boot slipped, and I had to cling to the trunk to stop myself from falling.

I should have bought boots for climbing if I was going to spend my days cowering in the treetops. The monsters could climb faster than me, so I was just a sitting duck up here. I needed to get down and find my gun before I broke my neck.

I slung myself downward through the branches as quickly as I could. Noises nearby indicated that whatever was coming was getting closer and heading my way.

Go, go, go.

I reached the lowest branch and dropped to the ground, landing in a crouch.

Where was my damn gun?

Where was Jaxson?

I waited, searching the trees, and listened. Silence, and the thudding of my heart.

Leaves rustled to my left. I panicked and broke into a run, leaving the Glock lost somewhere among the brush. My boots accelerated my body forward at lightning speed. Dodging a tree, I lost control, tripping and tumbling down an embankment. I hit the bottom and came to a stop, gasping from the pain. Thankfully, I’d landed on dirt and decaying leaves, and I sat up with nothing broken.

I’d fallen into a ravine a hundred feet wide. To my left, the space narrowed between a pile of boulders, but to my right, it was clear, and a small stream trickled slightly downhill. Was that the way to the lake?

Panting and pushing down the pain in my back, I climbed to my feet. Then I froze as something moved on the embankment above me. Snarls and shrieks rang out in the distance. The wolves must have been engaged with more of those monsters. Or other wolves.

Stay calm, Savy. Get out of the ravine.

The sides of the embankment were steep. I might be able to crawl out, but if one of those demons attacked again, I’d be a sitting duck.

Okay, change of plan. I’d follow the ravine to the lake. There, I could go along the beach and get my bearings.

A sickly feeling overwhelmed my senses. Time to go.

When I turned to follow the ravine down to the shore, the bitch from Belmont stood twenty feet ahead, blocking my path, with her claws extended. Fear iced my skin.

I was trapped.

“I was hoping we’d meet again.” A sinister grin cut her face as she rushed toward me.

I darted left, the boots accelerating me forward. Hope sprung in my chest as I wheeled around her, but then her claws sank into my arm. Blinding agony shot through me, and my body jerked to a sudden stop. I careened onto my back, towing the she-wolf along with me, then kicked her in the face and scrambled backward. She growled and crawled toward me, grasping at my legs with her claws.

My back hit a boulder. I panicked and flailed about for any kind of weapon—a loose stone, a branch, anything. The she-wolf gripped my ankle, and I screamed as her claws dug into my skin.

She pulled me toward her in one swift motion. A rock ripped into my back, and the world spun as she loomed over me, fangs out.

She’s going to gut me alive, I distantly realized.

I rammed my arms upward, trying to throw her off. The sensation of ice water trickled over my skin, and a jolt of energy shot out of my palm, blasting into the woman’s shoulder. She flew several feet and let out a blood-curdling scream. But in a split second, she had clambered back toward me. “You’re going to die.”

“Eat me!” I shouted as I raised my palm and tried to release my magic again. Nothing came, and I immediately regretted my choice of words.

In a blur of motion, the she-wolf pounced on me. She pinned my legs and gripped my neck, her claws pricking my skin. With her bloody hand, she grasped my hair and slammed my head against the boulder.

My vision swam with stars. I tried to scream, but only a gurgle came out.

She pulled my head back again, but before she could crush my skull, she hesitated for a split second as a blur appeared in the corner of my darkening vision. The woman screamed, and blood splattered across my face as a massive gray wolf sank its jaws into her neck and dragged her off of me.

Jaxson.

He threw the she-wolf’s body through the air like a rag doll, and she crashed into the ravine’s embankment. Leaping onto her, he gently clamped her throat, pinning her in place, one paw on her chest. Even I could read the wolf language here: Submit.

The woman locked me with her maniac eyes. “He’s coming for you.”

Then she jerked her head under Jaxson’s teeth, tearing out her own throat. Bright red blood seeped into the mossy ground.

I screamed as the nightmare unfolded. Panic whirling in my mind, I scrambled back against the opposite side of the ravine, anything to get away from what I’d just seen and heard.

What did she even mean? Who was coming for me? The faceless man?

Oh, my God.

Jaxson’s body rippled, and he growled deep and low. He approached and lowered his face to mine. His honey eyes blazed, and a deep ache grew inside me. Pain stretched across my breast, and I could barely breathe.

What was happening to me?

A howl sounded through the forest, and the wolf’s ears perked. He turned and took off up the side of the ravine.

I let my heart recover and then pulled myself to my feet. My muscles were tired and strained, but I managed to climb the steep sides of the embankment, yanking myself up one root at a time.

A few minutes later, Jaxson appeared, bare chested but wearing pants. My breath hitched. He was like Ares, god of war, with his blood-splattered muscles tensed and his shoulders heaving. Protectiveness and concern darkened his face. When he stepped toward me, my chest tightened and my skin burned as he scanned my body for injuries. “Are you all right?” he asked.

Physically? Or mentally? Because I was feeling messed up, either way.

“Fine,” I whispered, grasping for lies. “Why would she kill herself?”

Jaxson was quiet, which I took to mean either he didn’t know or shit was dire. I was betting on the latter.

“How many demons were there?” I asked.

His eyes still had a honey tint to them. “Four. All dead.”

I concentrated on breathing in and out. My mind was still having a hard time wrapping itself around what I’d just witnessed.

Another howl sounded through the trees, and Jaxson froze. “Follow me. We need to go.”

He took off into the trees in a blur. Hell, what now?