I glanced at Jaxson. “I need to find a way to free the pack—to break the spell I cast.”
Trepidation tightened my throat. It had taken seven other sorceresses and everything I had to cast the binding spell. And now my aunt, the strongest of them all, was too weak to even walk.
As if reading my mind, the strong arms of my mate wrapped around me from behind. “Don’t worry. I’ll help you put things right.”
Although I just wanted to collapse into him, I twisted around in his embrace and met his gaze. “I’m so tired, Jax. I don’t think I’m strong enough.”
He reached up and cupped my cheek, brushing my cheekbone tenderly with his thumb. “You’re the strongest person I’ve ever known. I have no doubt you can do this.”
I sank against his palm, savoring his warmth and the strength of his touch. “Magic is different, Jax. I could barely free my own wolf. How will I free them all?”
He shook his head. “This is your spell. You can break it.”
I pressed my head against his hand, then stepped back. “I’ll try.”
Striding to the center of the street, I opened my mouth to speak the words of the unbinding spell Laurel had taught me, but I paused. Breaking the spell had been so hard, like cutting through roots or chains. I’d nearly passed out from the struggle. There was no way I could do that for every wolf I had bound. But maybe I didn’t have to cut through the binds I’d created. Maybe there was a way to take them back.
Aunt Laurel had told me that with every enchantment, a sorceress left a little of their soul behind. Well, I’d scattered my soul across the city, bound to every wolf in Dockside. But they were my bonds—and they were mine to withdraw.
Closing my eyes, I reached out with my mind, feeling for the traces of magic I’d left. For a moment, there was only the darkness behind my eyelids…and then I saw them in the thousands, twinkling like stars in the sky, a thousand tiny shards of my soul.
I reached out as I would with my shadow wolf and called them to me. Come home.
I felt Jaxson step up behind me, his warmth and presence flowing through me, giving me strength.
Stretching as far as I could reach with my magic, I pulled. You are mine. Come home.
My body shook with the strain, and Jaxson’s hands braced against me.
Then I felt the magic chains I’d woven begin to slip. At first, it was just one or two, but it soon became a torrent. The spells unraveled and spiraled into me, a thousand tendrils of magic that flowed over my skin like ice water.
My eyes flew open, and I gasped. The world around me seemed to glow, taking on a richness I’d never seen before.
The wolves were free, and I was whole once again.