Savannah
My mom slowed as she approached.
I was so overwhelmed, I could barely breathe.
She looked between us, a torrent of emotion surging in her eyes. You’re…alive.
A lump formed in my throat, and unable to articulate everything I wanted to say in wolf speech and gesture, I simply nodded.
She took a swift step forward and rubbed against me. Even though the sun still slightly shimmered through her form, I could feel her, just as much as I’d been able to feel Stephanie’s touch.
Joy flooded my body, and my heart began to sing. For a long time, we just nuzzled against each other, reunited after sixteen years apart.
I don’t know how long we stayed like that. There was so much unspoken, but we didn’t need to speak at all.
Finally, the ghost wolf alpha’s voice boomed in my mind. The sun sets. You must leave us now.
My mother stood back. You’ve come to take this one away from me.
A sudden dread began to rise in my chest. How could I do this to them? To myself? But I had to, and I hung my head. Yes.
Don’t leave, my mother pleaded. Run with us.
All the joy inside of me died. There was nothing I wanted more, but I couldn’t.
We have to go.
My mother rubbed against me. Come with me—your father will want to see you. I run with the pack, but I reside with him in the woods. I can take you there. The journey’s long, but his heart will soar to see you.
My heart wasn’t soaring. It was screaming toward the earth.
My parents. After all these years, this was my chance to reunite with them—to tell them about my life in Belmont and Magic Side, about Jaxson, about everything I’d become. To spend time with them—time I’d squandered when I was young.
I looked up at the ghost wolf alpha. Please, may I run with the pack? Just to see my father again.
Stay or go, I do not care, the alpha rumbled. The choice is yours. But it is permanent, and if you do not return to your world soon, that choice will be made for you.
The loremaster had warned me that the ghosts would try to keep me here. To seduce me into joining them, not out of spite, I knew, but out of love.
But I couldn’t stay, no matter how much I wanted it.
Tears welled in my eyes, and I buried my head in my mother’s fur. I need to return to Magic Side. Aunt Laurel and Uncle Pete, Casey, who you never knew, the pack—they’re all depending on me. I have a life there. A love there.
I nodded to Jaxson.
She inspected him with distraught eyes, then nuzzled me again, each movement pulling on my soul. I understand what you must do. Go—both of you—with my love.
I’m sorry, I cried.
I’m not, she said. I got to see you again for a moment, to know you’re well and have found love, that you’re doing great things in the world. One day, we will be reunited, my love. I’ll tell your father. He’ll be heartbroken with pride.
I could barely stand for my grief. Tell Dad I love him, that I think of him every time I sit in my car, that I’ll learn every spell he inscribed so that one day, I’ll understand what his magic was truly like. I love you both more than words can say. And one day, I promise, we’ll run together again.
The ghost wolf alpha growled from the ridgeline, and I could sense his growing anger. The pack is waiting. You have what you came for—now leave my lands.
Jaxson
I placed my head against Stephanie’s. I’ll miss you. Thank you. This means everything.
I’ll watch over you, but you must watch over our pack. They need you. Go. She shoved me with her head, then trotted away.
A stabbing pain cut through my chest as she melted into the pack of ghostly wolves.
She was never one for long goodbyes.
I looked to Savannah and her shard. Ready?
With a last mournful look at the ghost pack, they nodded.
Then you heard the alpha—let’s run, I said.
Reluctantly, we left the ghost pack behind and began the long journey back to the mausoleum, following the scent of our old trail.
I poured my strength into each stride and set a feverish pace. Savannah, never to be outdone, kept up, as did her shard.
We wouldn’t be able to maintain the sprint for long, but the loremaster’s warnings were burning in my mind. I wanted to get Savannah and myself away from the ghost pack before her shard had second thoughts.
The three of us bounded along through the trees and sparse underbrush of the wooded hills. I had no idea what time it was. The sun here kept doing tricky things.
Eventually, Savannah and her shard settled into a steady pace beside me—twin wolves, identical in every way, except one was just slightly translucent and allowed the light to glisten through. It was almost impossible to take my eyes off them, and I found myself slowing slightly just to keep them in the corners of my vision.
Before long, we entered the mist, but I didn’t slow our pace. I could still smell our path, and we needed to leave this place as quickly as possible.
As the sky began to darken and the light became more diffuse, Savy’s shard began to fade as well.
Focused on the grueling run, Savannah said nothing, so I kept my mouth shut.
Stride by stride, her shard disappeared, and Savannah began to take on a new glow—a life that had been missing from her since she’d been wounded. Without warning, she suddenly shifted into human form, swift and perfect as before. As I pulled to a stop, she stood and braced herself against a tree.
Then she began to cry.
I shifted in a split second, and she slumped into my arms. “It’s okay, darling.”
She dug her nails into my back and wept into my shoulder, her whole body shaking. My heart raced as I held her, and I tried to flood her with all the love and confidence and strength I had.
After a while, she sniffed and rubbed the back of her wrist under her nose. “God, Jaxson, look at me. I’m a mess. But I’m whole.”
My spirit leapt. “It worked?”
“My God, it worked!” She grasped my arms. “Do you know what this means? I’m free. The Dark God can’t control me anymore. I’m free!”
I looked down at her shoulder. “Your wound—it’s starting to close.”
Beaming, Savy threw herself into my arms, and I sucked in a sharp breath as she pressed her bare body against mine. Then, just as quickly, she was out of my embrace and pacing.
“I remember it all, Jax. All her memories of this land, they’re mine. Running with my mom and the ghost pack, and even seeing my dad again—their love, their pride. My heart is overflowing.” She closed her eyes as an expression of grace lightened the shadows of her face. “I thought the ghost wolf alpha had denied me a chance to be with them again, but all those memories my shard made in this land, they’re a part of me now. All the questions I was dying to ask, she asked. I’ll have it all because of her.”
She turned away and wiped her eyes.
Unsure of what to say, I gently traced my fingers down her back, then wrapped my arms around her and lightly kissed the side of her neck.
She reached up and ran her fingers through my hair. “I don’t know how to explain it. I’m glowing. I’m exploding from the inside out. I have my wolf and my shard, and I’m free of my bonds. Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever been whole before.”
I smiled. “I’m looking forward to knowing the whole you, but I’m afraid it might be more than I can handle.”
She pivoted so that I found her in my arms again, smiling up at me. “I know you can handle it.”
And with that, she kissed me. Not a hungry kiss filled with passion and lust, but a soft and tender touch.
Desire, adoration, and devotion flooded my chest, and I pulled my mate to me, dragging my fingers through her hair. I wasn’t used to these feelings, but they stirred something deep inside of me I couldn’t quite describe. I’d burn the fucking world down for this woman. And whatever the fates had in store for us, I’d spend every last breath making sure she was happy and loved.
Though the urge to make good on my word right then beckoned, reality came rushing back. We had to get the fuck out of here before it was too late.
I broke off the kiss and dragged my thumb over her jaw. “While I want nothing more than to disappear with you for a while, we’d better get home.”
Savannah closed her eyes and sighed forlornly. “I know. Just promise me something, Jax.”
“Anything, darling.”
She opened her eyes and gazed up at me with a look that slayed. She was so godsdamned beautiful. “Let’s make it out of this alive.”
My heart damn near shattered.
“I promise,” I said, putting on a smile, though my chest was cracking as fear and protectiveness and doubt tried to cleave their way out. I shouldn’t be making promises I couldn’t keep.
“Let’s go see what your crazy cousin and Sam have been up to,” I said, trying to lighten the mood. And with a single motion, I shifted and bounded into the trees.
Savannah was right on my heels, and we were running.
Eventually, we found our way back to the lake, and Savannah hurried to the tree where her clothes were still scattered like a mad racoon had rummaged through them.
She shifted back into human form, and I followed suit. “We can leave all that. We’ll be slower on two feet.”
“You will, but I have my speed boots, and I’m not leaving them behind. The Moon may not have wanted them, but they are my prized possession, thank you very much. We also can’t leave our phones.”
A fair point. With a grunt, I grabbed my clothes, making sure that my phone and wallet were still there—not like anyone here would steal them. Old habits.
Savannah pulled on her jeans, then slipped into her top. “Let me carry your things. You run as a wolf, and I’ll keep up in my boots.”
Once she was dressed, I passed her my bundle of clothes. “Okay, let’s go.”
With that, we were off and sprinting.
The tall pines rose from the dense ground mist that eddied around their bases. It was impossible to judge the time, but we must have run several miles when the clearing appeared ahead.
At the opposite end was the derelict mausoleum, covered in moss and leaves. Relief hit me when I saw the gray, churning emptiness inside—the portal was still up.
“Thank God,” Savy gasped, her chest heaving from exhaustion as she laid my clothes on the grass.
I shifted back into human form and quickly dressed, then took her hand. “Let’s go home.”
