Suddenly the pain was gone, disappearing like a switch cutting off. Jaxson slumped on the floor, dizzy, but… he was still alive. He whipped his head back to Olivia. Her aunt was bent over her, and she was moving again, shaking her head, eyes still squeezed shut.
But she was alive.
Jaxson’s whole body sagged with relief.
Olivia’s aunt twisted to give Jaxson a hard look. “Do you love her?” It was a tight whisper, and Olivia was still fighting to wake up.
Jaxson straightened quickly. “Yes,” he said without hesitation.
“Good. The magic will take better that way.”
He frowned because he didn’t understand any of the details on this. And Olivia still wasn’t awake. “Is she all right?”
The witch released Olivia’s cheeks, conjured another ball of blue magic, and dripped it over her. “Yes, but she still has to fight her way back from the brink. I can help her with that. Boost her own magic, mixed with yours, to kill off the last of the poison magic.” The witch peered at him as her hands floated over Olivia. “She was near death, Jaxson. Your magic saved her.”
He let out a breath. “You’re sure?”
“I’m sure,” she said, her face serious. “But you need to know something before she wakes—she’ll forever have a connection to you now.”
“Because she carries my magic.” He looked at Olivia’s face with wonder. The gray of death was rapidly fading, replace by her normal rosy skin color.
“Yes. It’s not quite a mating bond, but…” She looked expectantly at him.
“But she’s a witch. They don’t bond… do they?” The wolf inside him had perked all the way up. This was… this was impossible and amazing and… perfect. If it were real.
“Not normally,” the witch said. “But Olivia was half witch, half human.”
Jaxson nodded. “Her human side can bond.”
“If you choose it.” Her eyes narrowed. “You’re still free to choose another mate. A shifter mate. And I hear your kind can mate more with more than one female.”
Jaxson snarled his disgust. “My kind mates for life. With one woman.”
Olivia was rousing, squinting her eyes, and sucking in a breath.
The witch nodded and whispered quickly, “No matter what, she’s forever connected to you. But if you don’t want her for a mate, tell me now, wolf. And leave us. I will tell her you’re free of the curse, off to seek your true mate, and then I’ll bring her back to my coven. Her sisters will give her a new home. We’ll care for her, give her everything she needs. We’ll teach her to be the witch she was always meant to be.”
Jaxson stared at her, mouth hanging open during her furtive offer. “I’m not going anywhere. If she’ll have me, I’m hers. Already. And now…” He gazed at her beautiful face as she opened her eyes. “Now she’s given me something I had never dared to dream was possible.”
The witch seemed to scan the air around his head—reading his aura, like Sybil used to. All she would find there was that he was telling the truth.
She smiled a little. “I was hoping that might be your answer.” The witch turned to help Olivia up to sitting, but Jaxson was instantly on the other side, lifting her up and pulling her into his lap.
“Jaxson.” Olivia’s voice was shaky and breathy. She peered up into his eyes. “Did it work?”
He brushed her disheveled hair back from her face. “Getting rid of the curse? Yes. Your attempt to die for me? No.” He couldn’t hold back his smile anymore, and it stretched his face with all the joy bursting out of him.
A shudder ran through her, the leftovers of the trauma. “Oh, thank God.” Her shaky hand found his shirt and bunched it in her fist. Then she leaned her head against his chest, still breathing hard. He closed his arms around her, holding her tight and safe. The feel of her in his arms was like nothing he’d ever felt in his life. Happiness. Gratitude. An unfathomable connection, even without the skin-to-skin contact that had been so magical before.
That probably was magic, now that he thought about it.
The woman who was Olivia’s aunt rose up from the floor. She gave Jaxson a tiny smile and an even more subtle tip of the head before she slipped out the door.
He would find a way to thank her… later.
For now, he was absorbed by the woman in his arms.
His true mate.
She was alive.
Olivia could hardly believe it. It worked! As the final shakes of the battle against the poison left her body, she reveled in this closeness with Jaxson. It might be the last time she could have his arms so securely around her. He was grateful to her for releasing him from the curse, and she would take any hugs he might want to give for that. Happiness flooded her body like a drug, making her heart soar. She had done good… and she had used magic to do it. It was freeing, lifting the burden she’d carried all these years—and it was enough to permanently anchor that happiness in her heart. It would even be enough to float her through the coming time when Jaxson would move on. Now that he was free, it would take no time for him to find the perfect mate. And she would be happy for him. Heartbroken, but strangely… truly happy.