Page 52

Felix opens his arms for a hug, and I hug him back with joy. I can feel this unreasonable anger pounding in my head, so it’s clear that Jaxon doesn’t like what I’m doing. He should be mad; I’m still not over what he did to Felix. I love Jaxon and let him mark me, but that doesn’t mean I agree with or even like all of the choices he makes.
I don’t even realize it, but I’m crying and my tears are staining Felix’s hospital gown. He pulls me closer so that I’m sitting next to him on the bed. He tells me not to cry and that he’s fine while rubbing my back. I step back from him and look at his neck. The bruises are new, so they look a lot worse than I thought they would.
“I’m so sorry, Felix. It looks like it hurts a lot…” I wipe away a tear that falls from my eye as I look at the other injuries Felix has. He still looks like he got hit by a bus, but at least he’s not as pale as he was yesterday.
Next thing I know, Jaxon’s hand is on top of mine. I would have been grateful for his touch in any other situation. It’s even more painful for me now because it reminds me that I’m to blame for this whole thing. If it weren’t for me, Felix would be happy and healthy with his coven. I don’t know why I did it, but I hit Jaxon’s hand away from me.
He looks shocked, and his eyebrows are so high that they are hidden by his dark, messy hair. He probably thought that since I was newly marked, I would get lazy. Not at all. I might not be as affected by the marking as Jaxon is because I’m not a werewolf. That’s why he needs to touch me all morning.
Felix puts an arm around me and says, “Oooh… Looks like you’re in the doghouse, buddy.” I know Felix is making fun of Jaxon, but I’m more angry with Jaxon than I am with the blonde warlock. Instead of saying anything, I look down at the bedding and play with my fingers.
When someone else touches Jaxon’s mate, he growls loudly in the room. But when I glare at him and raise my eyebrow, he clenches his fist tightly and stops himself from ripping Felix apart.
Felix smiles in victory and lies back down on the bed. He winces when he tries to move, so I lean over and help him get more comfortable. I make his pillow fluffy and tuck the blanket around him.
A soft knock on the door makes me stop what I’m doing. Ezra’s head sticks out of the room.
“Is everything okay in here? You didn’t kill the warlock, did you?” Ezra and Skyler walk all the way into the room, ready to fight if they need to.
“No,” Jaxon says quietly. He starts to walk slowly around the room, never taking his eyes off of me. I can tell he wants to pick me up and leave, but I’m too stubborn to let him.
“Thanks for coming, everyone. I have a request that would make Calla feel better about you almost killing me yesterday.” Felix sits up slowly to look at the big bad Alpha, and I’m surprised that he doesn’t look scared. He shows bravery even though he is weak and vulnerable. Or maybe he’s just a fool… That could be it.
Jaxon crossed his arms over his chest and clenched his jaw. He comes closer to us, and I can feel him slowly losing it. His eyes are a little bigger than normal, but that’s the only thing about him that looks like a wolf right now.
“You don’t get to ask for things. I saved your life for one reason and one reason only: Calla. You’re on thin ice. If you keep talking, I might just break your neck.” Jaxon’s teeth are slowly getting longer as his anger grows. These threats make me so angry! Why can’t they just get along? Or just learn how to not bother each other? Felix clearly knows what he’s doing, and he loves getting on Jaxon’s nerves.
“You would break my neck in front of your innocent friend? She would never forgive you. Also, if I don’t help you, you’ll never know what the coven is up to, and Calla will die as a result.”
Jaxon punches a hole in the wall, cutting off Felix’s sentence. I flinch at the noise, and when Jaxon comes over to us, he pushes me right behind Felix. Felix whispers some words in Latin with the little strength he has, and a shield protects us from Jaxon. Jaxon hits it head-on and falls back in a way that surprises him.
This forcefield doesn’t look like the one he and Elise made before. This one is more see-through and has cracks and holes all over it. The longer Felix holds it, the more it looks like he’s in pain. I shake him to get him to stop thinking about it.
“Stop, Felix! You’re hurting yourself!”
Jaxon, Skyler, and Ezra have all moved as close to the forcefield as they can, and Jaxon looks like he’s about to change into a wolf right now. His claws are out again, his canines are longer, and his eyes are all black. Felix’s chest is rising and falling with each breath, and if looks could kill, he would be dead before you could say “squirrel.”
Felix grunts, “I’m not stopping until I know he won’t hurt you.”
As he looks at Felix, Jaxon’s breathing stops right away. His head tilts to the side in a cute way. When he scrunches his eyebrows together, two lines appear between them.
Jaxon quickly says, “I would never hurt Calla. I love her. I was coming for you.” Skyler and Ezra stand a little behind him, watching the back-and-forth with care. Skyler looks at me, and I nod to let him know I’m fine. He only relaxes a little bit.
“It’s so easy to hurt innocent people when you’re with these f*****g mutts. I’m not going to let her get hurt because you can’t control yourself.” Felix gasps for air and gets paler and paler. He looks like he’s about to pass out, and all I want to tell him is that he’s the only one who might get hurt. I’m really worried that all of Felix’s progress in the last 12 hours will have been for nothing. Magic takes away his strength, and he needs all the help he can get.
Jaxon’s eyes go back to their normal color when his human features come back. He calms down enough to meet Felix’s gaze.
“I’d rather die than hurt her in any way that could hurt her.”
Felix and the other person look at each other, and then Felix nods and whispers words to break the spell. Jaxon walks over to us and picks me up right away. He makes me wrap my legs around his waist and holds me protectively against his chest. He puts his nose in my hair to smell it. I let him hold me so he could calm down. I knew that this was Jaxon’s best chance to see that Felix was on our side.
When Jaxon calms down, he lets me go but keeps one hand on my waist. He walks over to Felix, and for a second I’m scared he’s going to cut off his head or something. If I see him reach out his other hand for Felix to shake, I wouldn’t be surprised if my eyes popped out of their sockets. They’re giving each other a handshake. The two kinds of animals that don’t get along.
“I appreciate your effort to protect Calla, even though the idea that I could hurt my own mate is ridiculous.”
Felix nods and then leans back against the hospital bed to get back some of the energy he just lost.
“Do you believe me now? I want to save Calla just as much as you do. My coven isn’t full of nice people, and we’re not taught to care about others. I don’t know why I want to protect her, but I won’t let my coven kill her. So, let me tell you my plan to save her so we can work together.”
Felix tells us the plan, and Jaxon shakes his head right away.
“Not at all. You might have Calla’s best interests at heart, but I won’t trust your bitchy twin to help us either.”
Felix rolls his eyes and groans. He moves his platinum blonde hair out of his eyes as he tries to talk to Jaxon.
“Listen, I need to be at full strength if we’re going to catch the coven off-guard. I can use any magic except healing magic because the coven would instantly know that I disobeyed them and chose Calla’s side. We need Elise to tell us what the coven is up to and heal me so that you have two strong coven members on your side. Without her, this plan won’t work.”
“Then I guess this plan won’t work,” Jaxon says with finality. He doesn’t like to compromise and always gets his way. I think we need to do what it takes to keep me safe, even if that means bringing Elise into the fold.
“It’s the only choice!” Felix’s voice gets hoarser as he gets more and more upset. “Elise can tell us when they plan to attack so we can be ready! We’re the strongest magic users besides the coven leader. If you and your dogs come with us, they won’t be able to fight back for long!”
“Don’t call my pack f*****g dogs, you worthless, magic-whore!”
The argument gets worse, and Skyler and Ezra stand quietly behind their Alpha, clearly backing whatever he says or does. I don’t feel that way.
I don’t really trust Elise. The few times I’ve talked to her haven’t been great, but if she’s anything like Felix, I think I can count on her to help us. I should believe that because Felix trusts her with his life.
“I think we should do it,” I say softly. They stop fighting like I yelled at them. Four people turn to look at me, and I quickly duck my head and smile innocently at them all. I clear my throat and say the same thing again, this time with more confidence, even though eight pairs of eyes are burning through me.
“I think we should do it. If Felix trusts Elise, she could help us. She could also heal Felix so he doesn’t hurt anymore.”
“Don’t let your guilt over how he is now affect your decision, baby. I know you feel bad that he’s hurt, but he knew what he was getting into when he helped you,” Jaxon says, but I cut him off.
“I’m not, Jaxon. I do feel bad, but that’s not why I agree with him. You need to fight magic with magic. Without them, I might as well just give myself to them right now. You saw how easily Felix grabbed me yesterday, and he was almost dead. Any of those coven members could do the same thing in an instant. We need her.”
Jaxon seems to be swayed by my reasoning and upset that someone might take me away from him. He puts his chin on top of my head and wraps his arms around me from behind. He takes a slow breath through his nose, gathers his thoughts, and then looks at Ezra.
“What do you think? I really value your opinion.”
Ezra stares at Felix, paying close attention to how he moves. He rubs his face with his hand after he finds what he is looking for.
“Look, I think witches and warlocks are dishonest, selfish beings who only care about themselves. But for some crazy reason, I believe he really cares about her. I think it’s worth the risk.”
Skyler agrees with his friend in one of his more serious moods. It’s always weird to see Skyler in a professional way instead of the jokester way I always see him. There must be a lot more to him than I first thought. Jaxon walks up to Felix with a sigh.
“Okay. I’ll let your sister legally enter my pack land. But, and I mean this, if either of you does anything to betray us, I will give you a death so painful that you’ll wish you were never born. Ezra loves causing pain even more than I do, so don’t test us. Okay?” Jaxon raises an eyebrow at Felix as he reaches his hand out to shake, but Felix’s gaze is locked on Ezra, who has a murderous glint in his eyes and an evil smirk that rivals the Joker’s.