Dark Lies (Magic Side: Wolf Bound 3)

4

Savannah

I hurried down the hall, heart pounding, and tried to put just a little distance between us. Going to Eclipse had been a mistake. I should have just gone home and called until Jaxson picked up.

Clearly, no part of my mind worked around him. One second, he infuriated me, and the next, I was weak in the knees. Delusional.

The moment Jaxson had placed his hand on the door and locked me in, a treacherous shiver snaked down my spine. Some deranged, traitorous part of my soul had wanted him to keep me there—hell, to pin me against the wall and never let me leave.

If that didn’t go against every fiber of my being, and if things weren’t so complicated between us, then maybe I would have let him. Even for a moment.

God knew I wanted it.

But things were complicated. And I wasn’t about to face him and the apparent mate bond we shared—not when I could barely face my new four-legged reality.

I didn’t even know how I’d become a werewolf, and until I got answers about that, there wasn’t much more I could face.

Eclipse was bustling, but the crowd parted for us. Sam slid a cocktail across the bar to one of Jaxson’s visitors and gave me a quick smile before turning her focus back on the men from the meeting.

I cringed at how all that had played out and felt my neck flush. Why did I always end up with one foot in my mouth?

Sam was so composed, whether she was in a gunfight or at the center of a whirlwind of drinks and gossip. I was jealous. I could barely keep my head screwed on straight.

As we pushed toward the door of the bar, Jaxson pressed his hand to my lower back. It was soft—just a light touch gently guiding me through the crowd—but even so, it sent a torrent of heat rushing along my skin.

Had he touched me like that in his office, I would have melted. And even though I was frustrated out of my mind and had bikers to worry about as well as the alpha, my thoughts were entirely focused on the way his lips tasted.

I wanted a bite of cake.

You want the whole cake, my wolf remarked.

Fair enough.

We stepped out onto the street, the cool night air cleared my head, and I moved away from him. I could tell from the dark clouds that had consumed his features that Jaxson was disappointed I wasn’t staying. But just because I was a werewolf now and we had some kind of fated bond didn’t mean I would automatically pack up my life and move in with him. I had too much to sort out and needed space and time.

As I walked up to the Fury, Jaxson stilled, his gaze taking in the loose bumper and the spare tire. “What happened to your car?”

The damage looked a lot worse now in the lights of the city than it had in the shadows of the dark highway. My stomach twisted. My poor baby.

I gave him an uncertain smile. “Did I mention I rammed a couple bikers before one of them shot my tire out?”

Jaxson’s appearance turned lethal. Darkness flooded his face as his muscles tensed. The man that had swum with me in the pond in the Dreamlands was gone, replaced by a killer. His signature was clamped down, but everyone around us could feel the change. Conversations stilled.

No one looked our way.

Jaxson stepped toward me, his posture rigid and radiating with fury. “No. You didn’t think that part was important? That someone shot at you?”

Tearing my eyes from the hard contours of his chest, I looked up at him and shrugged. “I’m getting used to it.”

But I wasn’t, and I knew he could smell the lie.

Silence stretched between us as his anger hung in the air. I knew he would kill for me, and I hated how hot that felt, even as the terror of him trickled along my spine.

His wolf was so near the surface that I could see it struggling beneath the brilliant gold of his eyes. A part of me wanted it to come out, to see him off his tight leash.

Though the muscles in his jaw remained taut, the wave of rage began to subside. “Bring your car to Savage Body tomorrow. I’ll have it fixed.”

More dependency. More obligations.

I slipped around him and opened the car door. “I’ve already got a mechanic.”

“You sure you have the money for that?” Jaxson gripped the top of my door, and I glared at him even as my stomach dropped.

I was dead broke, and he knew it.

It was beyond embarrassing, and I couldn’t help but feel inadequate standing next to him—a man who acted like he owned all or at least part of Dockside. Who wore designer suits and bought new trucks on a whim.

I had a few hundred bucks. Several bucks less after taking the toll road home.

“I don’t take handouts,” I said sharply.

He studied me for a moment, searching, and then his dark expression softened ever so slightly. “I wasn’t offering a handout. I need help. I’ll fix your car, and you can pay me back by working the bar with Sam this weekend. We’ve got a couple big gigs, and we’re shorthanded.”

I narrowed my eyes at Jaxson, searching for any hidden catch. He was offering me a way out. I wanted to shut him down and keep my pride, but I was broke, not stupid.

And hell, I was a waitress, for fuck’s sake. I could tend bar. “Fine. And I’ll pay for the rest once I have a job.”

Jaxson nodded, and with that, I slipped into the Fury and pulled my door closed. I started the car, and Jaxson leaned down and rapped his knuckles on my window.

There was something about the way the massive man bent just a little to see me that sent the butterflies in my stomach fluttering like I was a teenage girl. Damn, Savannah, get a freaking grip.

I rolled down the window. “Yes?”