The seer’s prophecy echoed in my mind: Without her at your side, you will not discover the answers you need. But be warned—your adversaries hunt her, too. If you do not stop them, she will be dead before the full moon rises, and with her, the future of your pack.
If I wanted answers, if I wanted to protect her, I had to keep her close and under control. They were coming for her. If I wasn’t there to stop them, we’d lose everything. I was tempted to tell Savannah what the seer had told me, the details of the cards she had turned. But the prophecy was for my ears only—that was the way of the magic. The fates gave you a glimpse of the future, then made you face it alone—and I wasn’t going to cross the fates.
“You’re an asset,” I said. “I’m going to protect you, but I can’t do that when you’re with them. I want you close.”
Her eyes dilated. Arousal? Definitely fury. An interesting cocktail.
Savannah stepped so close that I could feel her breath on my chest, then looked up to meet my eyes. “You want to put me in a box, Jaxson. To lock me in a hotel and strand me here without my car. You want control, but you’re not going to get it. I’m not going to be in some creepy werewolf witness protection program, sitting in a motel room with guards outside. I’m not going to be beholden to you.”
I could practically feel my wolf pacing back and forth in my soul. It liked the challenge. Wanted to fight. I, however, was tired of Savannah’s obstinance, her constant resistance to logical requests. She’d steer off a bridge just to prove to everyone that she didn’t have to drive straight.
I’d had it.
“Here’s the truth, Savannah: you are beholden to me. You want your car back? Then you’re working with me. You want any information about why those werewolves attacked you or what these tattoos mean? Then you’re working with me—and working with me means going back to your motel and staying on pack land so that I can keep these rogue wolves from ripping your entrails out, like they’ve already done to
three others.”
I left her there, shaking in rage and fear, but turned back before I stepped out the door. “Tomorrow afternoon. One p.m. We go to meet the potion maker, and you’re going to figure out what these people are up to. Until then, motel.”
I slammed the door on the way out.
15
Savannah
A cab dropped me off at the LaSalles’ and sped away. I sure as hell wasn’t going straight back to the motel. I was too pissed, too confused, and I didn’t know what else to do.
Casey answered the door. “Where’s your wolf pelt?”
“What?”
He grinned. “You said you were going to go skin yourself a werewolf king. I don’t see a car, either, so things apparently didn’t go according to plan.”
How much should I tell him?
I grimaced. “Jaxson’s holding my car hostage, just like you said. He’s not going to give it back unless I agree to work with him.”
Casey ushered me in. “That’s some serious bullshit. No way can you let a wolf leverage you like that. We should steal your car tonight.”
“Are you kidding? Like, break into the auto body shop and just take the car?”
He closed the door and fastened four locks, one of which started to glow. “Yeah. You gotta stand up to wolves—otherwise, they’ll walk all over you. It’s a dominance game. You can’t let him win. Trust me, we’ve been dealing with this kind of shit for years.”
I had the distinct feeling that Casey and Jaxson were drawing me into a feud that I wanted nothing to do with, and I shook my head. “Look, breaking in is crazy. I’m just pissed. I’ve got an unknown number of bloodthirsty werewolves after me, and I want to bring them down. Clearly, Jaxson does, too. I just—I just hate him using my car against me. It’s the only thing I’ve got left from my folks.”
Casey rolled his eyes. “They’re wolves, Savannah. If you submit, they’ll expect you to submit every time. And if you try to negotiate, it’ll turn into a game of keep away. He’s toying with you to see if you have a backbone. It’s their way.”
I’d pulled off a similar car heist when I’d grabbed the Gran Fury from Randy’s shop. That had gone okay. But then again, I hadn’t had to break in that time, and the car was paid for. It would be a lot different smashing our way into a shop owned by werewolves in the middle of pack land.
Nope. It would feel good, but it was reckless. I sighed and leaned against the hallway wall with my arms crossed.
Aunt Laurel came home an hour later with bags of groceries. She wanted to get the extended family together for a big welcome dinner, but I talked her down. I’d had too many new things today, and I didn’t have room for anything more.
I was tempted to ask her about a scrying potion, but the moment I mentioned Jaxson, she grew cold. “You shouldn’t have gone to meet him. I’m not telling you what to do, but hear this—no sane woman would risk working with that man.”
My Uncle Pete—Laurel’s husband—came home soon after. His signature had the scent of fresh tobacco and tasted like bread cooked in a wood-fired oven. I joined him for a whiskey in the living room. While Laurel and Casey were chatterboxes, he was quiet and reserved, for which I was deeply thankful.
We ended up with Chinese takeout for dinner. I’d braced myself for greasy noodles, but it was actually pretty good, though I didn’t have much chance to eat. Laurel bombarded me with questions, mainly about my dad. I hadn’t really considered that when I’d lost my parents, she’d lost a brother. They’d obviously been close, but after I’d been born, he’d left Magic Side and dropped out of her life. Then he’d died. I was probably her last chance to connect to him and those lost years.