Jaxson (River Pack Wolves 1) - New Adult Paranormal Romance (20 page)

“Because I’m not rude enough?” Olivia winced. She was a kitten to Sybil’s tigress. How was she going to be able to pull this off?

“Imagine you loathe everyone except for the pleasure or power they can bring you.” Gwen’s expression was even more disgusted. “Talk to me like you’re thinking about turning me to ash just for daring to breathe your air. Like you’re the Queen of all magic, only no one has managed to appreciate your brilliance.”

“Pathetic peasants!” Olivia swept out a hand to her imaginary audience. It was jarring to see it look
exactly
like Sybil’s long-fingered one. “Can’t you see how glorious I am? You will suffer under my reign!”

Gwen gave her a skeptical look. “A little less…
medieval.”

“What do I care what
you
think? You’re a washed up witch in a dreary little coven.”

Gwen looked stricken. “Better.”

“Oh my gosh,” Olivia rushed out. “I didn’t mean that, Aunt Gwen.”

She rolled her eyes. “Olivia, dear… you need to
commit
to this ruse to have any chance of making it work. But it’s not too late to back out. In fact, I’ve half a mind to simply drag you back to my coven and lock you up until this…
insanity
of yours passes.”

Olivia pulled herself up to Sybil’s full, haughty height. “Try it,
Gwen dear.
We’ll see who’s the better witch.”

Gwen’s eyebrows lifted. “Impressive.”

The click of the front door was all the warning they had that Jaxson was coming. Gwen waved Olivia back toward her desk so Jaxson wouldn’t see her until he was already in the room.

“I’ll be right here,” she whispered. “If you change your mind at any time—”

“Gwen.” 
Olivia put all of Sybil’s disdain into that single word.

Her aunt cringed under it and retreated to the door.

Olivia schooled her expression into one of sultry power—as if she really was Jaxson’s old lover, ready to get one last taste of her favorite wolf before setting him free. Her story was simple: Sybil had obtained a better offer for Jaxson’s mating bond, and she was looking to parlay that into one last fling with her favorite shifter—something Sybil totally would have done if she was anywhere near as smart as she thought she was.

Jaxson was practically running when he reached the door of her office and hurried right in. “Olivia—”

He stopped cold when his eyes met hers—or rather,
Sybil’s.
He growled and swung a quick look around the room. When he saw Gwen at the door, closing it behind him, his growl ramped up to a hair-raising snarl, and his fangs and claws sprang out. Olivia’s heart lurched at seeing him this way, and she struggled not to let her sudden fear show.

Jaxson half-crouched and flicked looks between Olivia and Gwen, keeping his distance from them both. “What are you doing here,
witch?”
He spit out the last word.

Olivia steeled her expression. She
was
a full-fledged witch—at least as far as Jaxson knew—and he wouldn’t attack her for fear of being turned into ash. His look of loathing and anger, however, was breaking her heart… even though it was really directed at Sybil.

“Why, I’ve
missed
you, Jaxson,” she said, amazed that her voice was at all steady. “And I’ve got a little proposition for you.”

His eyes pinched in suspicion. “What are you talking about, Sybil?” Then his eyes went wide, and he scanned the room again. Now there was plain fear on his face. “What have you done with Olivia?”

“She’s safe.” It wasn’t hard to sound unconcerned. “Sleeping spell. Not far away.”

The fear was shoved off his face by a flush of anger three times as strong. He rushed at her, stopping inches away, chest heaving. “If you’ve hurt her, Sybil, I swear to God, I’ll make you pay.”

Olivia didn’t move a muscle… but only because she was paralyzed by fear. She desperately tried to turn that into the outrage she knew Sybil would have reacted with. “Don’t threaten me, little wolf!” She raised a hand, and he flinched away, backing up two steps.

The anger still seethed on his face, but he was holding himself back. No doubt because he thought Sybil could kill him with a single touch.

Olivia lowered her hand. “That’s better. You’ll have your little human toy back soon enough.” She swallowed. “Assuming we can make a deal.”

“What kind of deal?” His claws and fangs slowly retracted. He glanced at Gwen and frowned, clearly wondering who she was and why she was here. He turned back to Olivia. “You’ve already ruined my life with your curse, Sybil. What more do you want?”

“Ah, yes, the curse. That’s why I’m here, my sexy little Jaxson.” Olivia cocked her head to the side, trying for sultry but afraid she just looked demented. She breathed a sigh of relief inside—they were finally getting to the point.

“What the fuck are you talking about?” His glare was murderous, even though he was holding back. “Out with it, Sybil. Then tell me what you’ve done with Olivia.”

“So
impatient,” Olivia said, drawing it out the way she imagined Sybil would. “It’s quite simple, my delicious one. It seems another witch has taken a fancy to you, and she would like you released from your curse.”

“Another witch?” His brow furrowed.

“Yes, she works with one of your clients.” Olivia waved a hand in the air and pulled a name from Riverwise’s accounting. “Mr. Talos or something. What matters is she thinks you’re just her type, but she divined my mark upon you. She’s a fool, clearly, and was willing to pay far more than you’re worth, but we’ve worked out an arrangement.”

The confusion on Jaxson’s face deepened. “You’re saying you’ve sold me to another witch?” He glanced at Gwen, new fear on his face.

“No, no… not
Guinevere.
She’s my assistant.” Olivia waved at her aunt as if dismissing her, then she slowly stepped toward Jaxson, swaying her hips as much as she could without being completely awkward. “But once I release you from the curse, you should high-tail it out of Seattle, little wolf. Before Ismarelda can find you.”

Jaxson had been backing up in equal measure, but he stopped. “Release me?”

Olivia sauntered closer. “All you have to do is sink those sexy fangs of yours into me, and poof…” She fluttered her fingers. “Goodbye, curse.”

“You want me to
bite
you?” His bewildered look threatened to throw the whole ruse.

“Well, yes. I’m here because the bite is necessary. Unbreakable magic bonds, blah, blah, blah… I don’t expect your little wolfy mind to comprehend it all. Trust me that a bite is all I require to break the curse.” She looked him up and down as lasciviously as she could. “But a little gratitude for my sacrifice would be a delicious way for you to say thank you.”

He narrowed his eyes at her and threw another glance at Gwen, who was remaining as still as a statue, blank-faced, giving nothing away. “I didn’t think you were into threesomes, Sybil.”

Olivia sighed dramatically.
“Fine.
You’re really no fun now that you’re all grown up, Jaxson. I’ll settle for just the bite. Let’s get this over with.” She tilted her head to the side, baring her neck to him. Her heart thudded in her chest, but she held as absolutely still as she could manage.

Jaxson edged toward her until he was less than a foot away, but he was still acting as if she were a live electrical wire. “Why are you doing this, Sybil?” he asked quietly, expression still confused.

She gave him an impatient look. “There are things I want more than
you,
little wolf. Your curse has become
inconvenient.”

He nodded, still frowning, but closed the distance between them. His fangs grew until they were long and sharp and poised over her shoulder. He hesitated again. “Once I do this, you’ll tell me where you’re keeping Olivia.”

“Yes.” It was getting difficult to hide her heaving breaths. Fear was racing through her. This was it. This was her chance. Her first, last, and only chance. But only if Jaxson took the bait.

He grabbed her hair, roughly, bending her head even farther to the side… and sunk his fangs into her. The twin points pierced her skin and sent electric shocks racing through her body. She gasped and grabbed tightly onto him—the glamour had already vaporized, and it was only a matter of seconds before he would realize who she was. She had to make sure the bite took… but she only held him for a moment before her hold started to slip. Inky blackness flooded from her shoulder, weighing her down with impossible heaviness, rushing her head and making it hard to hold up. The darkness rushed her eyes and stole her sight. She felt her body go slack and heard the thump of it hitting the ground more than felt it… because everything was numb, so numb, and she was spiraling down and down and…

I’m a witch.

The thought fought against the thick sludge of the curse seeping through every cell of her body
. I’m a witch and I have power and I can fight this.

That thought dredged up something, some blue light from deep inside her. It did battle against the sludge the way a sunbeam fights through the fog. She urged it on, pushed it, tried for more, and for a brief shining moment, some of the darkness cleared.

She fought to open her eyes, still sealed shut with the heaviness of her body. Through heavy lids, she could see Jaxson hovering above her, shouting soundless words, horror on his face.

“Jaxson.” Her lips moved, but no air was passing through them, so no sound left them.
Jaxson, I love you.
She wished that thought could reach him somehow. But the darkness had crawled back up from the depths, shimmying the edges of her soul to grab her and drag her back down with it.

Back into the dark.

She wasn’t strong enough after all.

“Olivia!” 
Jaxson couldn’t believe his eyes.

One moment he was sinking his fangs into Sybil, the next he had Olivia collapsing in his arms and falling to the floor. She was convulsing and twitching in the most horrifying way, and just as he realized,
holy fuck, I bit Olivia,
the other witch came along and literally shoved him away. He was so stunned, it took him a moment to react.

Then he was back with a fury. “What have you done to her!”

The witch shot a hand at him that he barely dodged. Blue energy swirled in her palm.
“Do not
interfere, wolf!”

“What the fuck is going on?” Jaxson gaped at Olivia. She moaned and struggled to open her eyes… and failed. “What is
happening
to her?” Tears pressed against the back of his eyes.

“She’s dying from your bite, you fool!” She spit out the words, but all her focus was on the blue energy dripping from her hand and melting all around Olivia’s head. But it didn’t touch her, just pooled on the floor around her body.

Jaxson’s heart and mind were spinning, but the pieces quickly fell into place:
Olivia had tricked him.
She was half witch. For some reason, she had used a spell to pretend she was Sybil to get him to bite her. And now she was dying from the poison in his bite.

But why? 
“Why would she do this?” he whispered out loud, as much to himself as to the witch.

But she still answered, muttering as her hands floated over Olivia. “Because she was stupid enough to fall in love with a wolf. A
cursed
wolf. Only my sister’s daughter could be this stubborn
and
foolish at the same time.” Then the witch cursed in some ancient language—or maybe it was a spell. The energy pulsing from her hand turned green and continued to swirl around Olivia.

“Can you save her?” He didn’t really understand what was happening, but the only thing that mattered was keeping Olivia from dying.

“I’m trying, wolf, now shut up.” The witch muttered some more words in that strange language, then said, “Dammit!” She clapped her hands together, dissipating the green magic, then rocked back on her heels. Olivia’s body was still twitching, but less so. Not because she was getting better... because her face was slowly turning gray. The witch’s shoulders sagged.

Jaxson looked between Olivia and the witch. “You have to keep trying!”

“There’s nothing more I can do.” There were tears in her eyes—she meant it.

No, no, please, no. 
He reached shaky hands to Olivia’s cheeks, but she wasn’t moving anymore, and her beautiful skin was clammy to the touch. All this time, he’d done everything he could to keep the curse from finding its target. To keep some innocent woman from paying the price for his foolishness. And now, just as he’d found the one girl who stole his heart with her very first words, even as he tried to shield her from all the dangers in his life, the curse had
still
found her.

“Nooo!” 
he roared. All the fury and pain of his inner wolf came to the surface, and he nearly let his beast loose. The pain of this was
too much.
But he couldn’t give up.
Refused
to give up. He turned to the witch. “There has to be something you can do!”

“Do you think I would hold back?” she hissed at him. “She’s my niece! If I could save her, I would. This is
your
fault wolf! And hers for wanting to free you from your curse!”

That struck him like a cattle prod to the chest. Olivia had been trying to save him…
again.