Jaxson
The Dark Wolf God—a creature of nightmare and legend. Now he was here, separated from us only by a small expanse of water.
An ocean wouldn’t have been enough.
He wore the form of a man, but I knew that was a lie. There was no humanity there, only cruelty and malevolence and hate for all of us who walked on two legs.
Awe nearly overcame me. His signature was like the rumble of an earthquake, and stronger than that of any mortal I’d met. He was like the Moon, but everywhere she was bright and warm, he was cold and dark.
Every part of my soul wanted to charge forward, to wound and slash and kill or die trying to protect my mate. But I had no doubt that we couldn’t stand before him.
“Time to go,” I growled.
Sam exhaled. “I’m with you on that. Let’s get the fuck out of here, Savy.”
The god cocked his head like a predator and closed his eyes. His mouth moved, and even though I couldn’t hear what he whispered, I could read his lips. Take her.
Savannah rushed over to a fallen log and pulled her jacket out from beneath. “One sec. The talisman is in—”
Her voice cut off as one of the Fae creatures burst from the underbrush and grabbed her by the throat. My mate kicked and fought, but she was off balance, and the creature hauled her toward the forest. Then they were gone.
Everything turned red as rage filled my mind, and my wolf fought for release. All thoughts of the Dark God vanished, and without hesitation, I charged to where she’d been.
Their scent was gone. Had they teleported?
Fear clawed in my chest, and I looked around wildly, scanning the trees, but there was no sign. Suddenly, with a flash, they reappeared briefly at the base of a large oak thirty feet away. Savannah struggled and elbowed the Fae creature in the face, and then they disappeared again.
What the fuck was going on?
“Get Savy and open the portal,” Sam growled from behind me. “I’ll try to buy time.”
I flipped around. Triple fuck.
Sam stood rigid, her moonstone gripped in her palm, staring down the Dark God as he approached.
“No, you’re not! Get the fuck over here, Sam!” I bellowed, infusing my voice with command. She was beyond brave, but I wasn’t going to lose either of them.
Savy materialized, this time alone. She staggered back, claws dripping with blood. “How do you like that, tree bitch?”
I charged to her side, my protectiveness in overdrive. “Open the portal!”
I turned to make sure Sam was with us, and my blood froze.
Like prey transfixed, she hadn’t moved an inch. The Dark Wolf God stalked toward her with a predatory curiosity that made my skin burn.
“Run! Now!” I roared, unleashing my presence.
That snapped her out of it.
She turned and bolted. But the Dark God chased, delight in his eyes. I charged to intercept, with Savy suddenly at my side.
She threw up her arms and raised a black wall of shadowy bands between them—but the Dark God simply ripped his way through and was on Sam in a matter of strides.
She stumbled, and my heart stopped.
As she landed in the dirt, Sam whipped around and hurled her moonstone. It slingshotted through the air, striking the god in the chest. A flash of light detonated, and a forcefield of blinding magic swept outward like an impact wave.
Stones, leaves, and branches tore free and whizzed through the air. I braced Savy and myself against the trunk of a nearby tree and turned my back to shield her from the blast.
My ears were still ringing after the light died away. Sam climbed to her knees, and shock and disbelief flashed across her face.
A shimmering sphere of light wrapped around the Dark God, caging him like a beast.
The Moon’s magic, meant to power the binding spell, now bound him instead.
I had a sinking feeling that it wouldn’t last long.
The Dark God’s gaze locked on Sam, and there was no question that he intended to murder her. Rage radiated off him, and he roared. The ground shook, and the surface of the pond churned, but his prison held.
“Release me!” he growled. His voice was thunder and fury, yet cold and imperious like a mountain. “You do not know what you are doing. I would free you from your cages of concrete and steel and lies.”
“Fuck that!” Sam yelled as she scrambled to her feet.
Several glowing cracks formed in the shimmering sphere as he threw his shoulder against it.
“Let’s go!” Savy twisted free of my grasp and darted toward Sam with the crescent talisman in hand.
As I ran to join them, the Dark Wolf God turned his hateful glare on Savannah. “You.”
Savannah paused and bared her teeth. “Yeah. Me.”
His glacier-blue eyes flashed with bright light. “You are mine.”
Savannah screamed.
Reeling backward, she doubled over and dropped the talisman in the dirt.
What had he done?
I was at her side in a second, and I shouted at Sam, “Get the talisman! We need to go, now!”
Savy looked up with a distant and volatile expression.
My blood curdled. Something wasn’t right.
Savy’s fangs released, and her body began to quake as she seemed to struggle against it. Violence and rage flashed in her eyes, and before I could react, she tore free of my hands. Her claws burst from her fingers, and she lunged for Sam. “You will pay!”
Sam screamed in surprise as Savy struck her, and she stumbled back, landing in the dirt. Four red gashes of torn flesh glistened from Sam’s chest. Horror and pain cut her face, and she looked up at Savy in disbelief.
Fuck.
I dove for Savy as she dove for Sam, clamping my arms around her like iron bands. But her free arm swung wide, and she sank her claws straight into Sam’s neck.
The color drained from Sam’s face as blood streamed down her front, and yet, she still struggled to free Savy’s hand from her throat.
“Stop! That’s Sam,” I growled, as I tried to pull Savy free without hurting Sam. Savannah’s skin was hot and trembling, and her signature had changed. She wasn’t present any longer. The Dark God had taken over.
I poured my magic into her, letting my alpha signature envelope us. “Let her go, Savy. Now.”
A cry tore from her throat, and her body trembled. I sensed her magic fighting against that of the Dark God’s. I kept my touch firm and gentle and pushed more of my magic into her. “Come back to us, Savy. Come back to me.”
She contorted her spine and squeezed her eyes shut, then screamed as she released her grip. Sam stumbled back with a gasp, and then her legs buckled.
“Oh, my God…” Savy whispered, and sank to her knees. She blinked a few times, as if clearing a haze from her eyes. “What have I done, Jax?”
A roar of rage tore through us as the Dark God bellowed in his cage. There was a resounding crack, and streams of light began pouring from fractures in his golden prison.
We had seconds before he broke free.
Savannah frantically crawled to Sam’s body. Blood flowed from her neck, pooling under her shoulder in the mud.
“Savy!” I seized the Moon’s talisman and tossed it to her the moment she looked up. “We’re in the Dreamlands. If she falls unconscious, she’ll be transported to gods know where! Get us out of here!”
She caught it, and with tears streaming down her face, she shouted the words of the spell. The sky tore open as a shimmering silver portal formed.
The air shook as the golden sphere groaned and cracked again. Rays of light streamed around us as the Dark God began to break through the wall of magic. Fuck!
Savy helped me carefully lift Sam’s limp body from the mud, and we rushed through the portal as the golden sphere exploded behind us, followed by a deafening roar.
We hurled through the ether and stumbled out into the temple in Delos, covered with blood and mud.
The Moon leapt up from a recliner that hadn’t been there before. “What happened?”
“Help us!” Savannah shouted. “She’s dying!”
The loremaster hobbled over. “My dear Sam, no!”
“Put her down!” the Moon commanded.
I brought Sam over to the recliner. Her arm slumped over the edge, and a glistening trail of blood streaked down her fingertips, dripping onto the stones below. The blood flow from her neck had slowed, and she wasn’t breathing.
The Moon knelt and traced her hands over Sam’s body, then shook her head. “It’s too late. She’s too far gone.”
