Pack Captive (Moon Called Book 1), page 12
The fear and sympathy I'd felt for Merikh, who hadn't been far from my thoughts.
I also thought of what Yasemin had told me. I needed to let go of pack loyalties; I could serve them best by being a proper Caller, and if I defended Lykos, I defended them.
I spun to a stop for the second time.
"Again."
I held back a sigh and began again.
When Yasemin finally let me stop, it was well past noon. Kadin had joined us, and she began to teach me slight changes.
By the time the Elder Caller had proclaimed herself satisfied enough for tonight's ceremony—I would dance the circle, Kadin would join me, and Yasemin would bind the power as we gathered it—I was ravenously hungry again.
They led me into the temple, where there was a small resting room. Maids had brought steaming dishes in for us.
We all sat down, and my mouth began watering. Kadin reached over the table for the butter and pushed a covered pot my way.
"Try the beef stew," she advised. "You'll need it for tonight."
I obeyed, and Yasemin picked at a plate of food as she watched.
"You need to put more weight on," she chided. "With the physical training, you'll be burning through your food as soon as you eat it."
I couldn't answer, because as usual, when I was around food, my mouth was stuffed.
The switch from sneering harridan to concerned fussing was a welcome one, although it had given me a bit of emotional whiplash.
Maybe once I'd proved I was willing to learn, I'd somehow shown them that I wasn't going to be a new Tyra.
I was still burning with curiosity to know exactly what she'd done, but I had a feeling nobody was going to be forthcoming in public.
The Elder brought me a small book as Kadin and I were finishing our meal.
"Meditation techniques," she said, putting the book on the table and tapping the cover. "This will be your next course of study, between physical training and the rituals. Once the dark moon has passed, we'll begin with basic lessons."
I pulled the book towards me and opened it, looking at the diagrams of different poses and breathing methods.
A loud bell chimed from the city below, and Kadin jumped up, rushing out of the room.
"Where is she going?" I asked, and Yasemin beckoned for me to follow.
"She's going to prepare for tonight, and you are going to go down to the training grounds." She led me back through the temple to the courtyard. Several maids were already trooping over the sky bridge, presumably to collect the dishes. "They won't run you hard, but you need to be able to keep up with the pack when they patrol."
"I'll be fine," I assured her. "Living in the valley toughened up my pack."
Yasemin hesitated, then reached out and patted my shoulder. I found myself actually grateful for this small bit of contact. "You'll do well. My fears were unfounded; I admit that I was not pleasant towards you."
"I can understand why." I looked down. A glittering golden moon sparkled underfoot. "It's hard to trust anyone these days."
I couldn't even trust what my own mother had taught me.
"Fenris is making monsters of all of us, and he doesn't even need to corrupt us to do it," Yasemin said bitterly, but she shook her head. "Go on. Report to one of the guards, and they'll escort you."
I did as she ordered, but this time I shifted before I crossed the sky bridge. I felt much more stable on four feet instead of two.
One of the Guardians brought me to the training grounds, taking me all the way down to the level of Lykos's main city, and towards a building that looked like an amphitheater that had been squashed into the exterior wall.
My stomach clenched when I saw the Claws there, including a long auburn ponytail that looked familiar.
I was this close to turning around and walking away when a wolf with a scarred face saw me. He came jogging over, shirtless and gleaming with sweat.
I wondered if Ryden and Calian were in that amphitheater, in similar states of undress.
"You're the new Caller," he said, giving me a respectful nod. "I'm Eryn, one of the Training Guardians. I have orders from the Alpha to test your physical condition and ensure you can handle tonight's patrol."
"I'm ready," I said with a smile, but it felt pasted on.
I was given a small room to change into loose pants and a cropped shirt. All of my jewelry except for the damn shackle came off, and when I was ready, Eryn brought me to a large track surrounding a green field.
He put me through my paces without mercy. So much for going easy on me.
After the twentieth lap, I was dripping sweat, and my cropped shirt was pasted to my skin. I stopped in front of Eryn, panting for breath.
"Have a drink. You're about done," he said, pushing a cup of iced water into my hands.
I downed it in two seconds flat, blinking as I looked at my surroundings. The sun was setting behind the wall, casting deep shadows over the field, and many of the training groups were gone.
"I'm not permitted to test you any more than this for today, but I'd say you'll be fine for a patrol outside the city." Eryn looked me over, frowning. I was beginning to feel like a specimen that everyone was dissatisfied with. "You need harder training. Your muscles need to be built up, and you could improve your sprint time. Your speed could mean the difference between life and death."
"You think I don't know that?" I snapped, dragging my arm across my forehead. It came away wet with sweat.
"The Alpha has assigned me as your personal trainer," he informed me, ignoring my outburst. "Once the dark moon has passed, we'll be going on a high meat diet and incorporating more strength work."
I huffed out a laugh. This male was impervious to my feelings.
"I've spent a long time on the run," I informed him. "I might not sprint very fast, but I can run for a long time on hilly terrain."
He opened his mouth, probably to tell me that I was going to cause the deaths of thousands if I couldn't sprint fast enough in human form to catch a rabbit, but fell silent, his eyes resting on something over my shoulder.
I finally straightened up, my breath coming more evenly now, and turned around.
Ryden strode towards us. Shirtless. Sweaty.
Goddess help me, completely sexy.
My heart fluttered a little at the sight of his scarred, muscular torso, the broad bulk of his shoulders. His blond hair was tied up, showing off the hard angles of his face.
I quickly realized my mind was going filthy places, and that it was a one-way trip.
"I'll take it from here, Eryn," he said, giving me the grin that always made my stomach flip-flop.
"Yes, Alpha," Eryn replied automatically, turning his back on us and leaving me with the Alpha.
Who was looking at me like he wanted to eat me whole.
And I was perfectly happy with that.
17
Ayla
I was suddenly self-conscious, which was very unlike me.
He'd found me covered in filth, my hair matted, and now I was balking because I was sweaty. My braid had come unpinned and hung down my back.
All I wanted was to wash and eat, but from the look in Ryden's eyes, he had other plans.
"I'll bring you back to the Palace," he said, reaching and putting a hand in the small of my back.
I mentally cringed away from the touch, not because I didn't enjoy it, but because I didn't want him feeling my sweat-soaked clothes or how hard I was still breathing.
Eryn was right; I was used to rough terrain, but for short spurts, not extended periods. I was underfed and not in the best shape of my life.
Or maybe I was still breathing hard because it was nearly impossible to unglue my eyes from the dips and valleys of Ryden's chiseled torso.
It was hard to say which was affecting me more, the exercise, or the sight of the half-naked Alpha.
Either way, Ryden clearly wasn't letting me go. He guided me towards the exit of the amphitheater.
"How did it go with the Elder Caller?" he asked, looking down at me. I was a whole head and a half shorter than him.
Unlike Calian's sidelong glances, he looked at me directly.
"You could've warned me she was your mother," I finally said.
Ryden laughed. "And ruin the fun? I was curious if you two would get along without me interfering."
We walked up the street, drawing eyes from passing wolves, but as usual I found I didn't have a care in the world when Ryden was around.
"We eventually came to an understanding. But I'm curious to know...what did Tyra do to everyone?"
I was looking at him when I asked, and his expression went from easygoing to closed off the minute he heard her name.
Whatever it was, it was bad.
A muscle moved in his jaw as he clenched his teeth. "It doesn't matter. She's gone now."
There was a hint of relief beneath the grit of his words, like he was happy she was dead.
Even Merikh had seemed put out with her. I hadn’t come across a single wolf who had respected the last Caller.
"Look, Ryden. Everyone compares me to her. I've already asked Calian, and he didn't give me a straight answer, but I am damn tired of everyone treating me like shit because they think I'm going to be her twin."
Ryden's hard gaze softened a little, but not much. He finally blew out a breath, and the hand on my lower back tightened.
"Ayla, if you asked me to take my hands off you, and never touch you again...I would do that."
I had a sudden foreboding feeling about what he was going to tell me.
"Let's just say Tyra didn't get that lesson, on top of everything else she did," he said bitterly.
Maybe I'd made a mistake in pushing so hard. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have pried."
Ryden shrugged, then gave me a half-smile. "I don't like to dwell on the past too much, but...she was something else. She left nothing but bad blood behind."
"Well...as long as people quit comparing me to her, I'll let it go." I wondered what she'd done to him.
It would be just about impossible for any female wolf, even a trained Claw, to get the physical advantage over a male as built as Ryden, but...there were other ways she could've violated his boundaries.
"You'll grow into your own here," he said gruffly. "We're used to new wolves coming in all the time. It's just unusual to find a Caller these days. You're bound to be compared."
His voice stuttered the tiniest bit when he said 'a Caller', and I found myself thinking he'd tried to say something else. There was something too quick about the way he'd said it.
But what else could they possibly be hiding?
Well, they have a Fenris wolf in the cells below the Palace, so...probably a lot.
I was beginning to agree with my acerbic inner voice on a far more regular basis.
And it was probably time I approached that topic without waiting for Ryden to punish me. "So... Calian might've told you, but...I sort of broke through the lunar runes and found a Fenris wolf below the Palace."
"He might've told me something about it," Ryden said. His grim tension was gone, at least. He looked like he was holding back another grin. "Although I'm not sure how you could claim you 'sort of' broke them when you completely shattered them. The Elder Caller wasn't happy about having to fix those."
No wonder she'd been grumpy with me this morning. "I was curious. Why do you keep him here? Why not kill him?"
It was my turn to stutter over what I said.
Last week, I would've said the only good Fenris wolf was a dead one.
After talking to Merikh, it felt a little too real. Somewhere under those bloody runes, he'd once been like any other wolf, and maybe it wasn't even his fault.
"Information." Ryden turned me towards the bridge to the Palace. "He was one of Fenris's closest lieutenants. If we break him...we might finally learn of a weakness."
That made sense, I supposed. I fell silent as we walked over the bridge, not wanting the Guardians to overhear my line of questioning.
Because I, too, wanted to know more about the wolf who had decimated my pack. And Merikh seemed starved for human companionship, whether he knew it or not.
Maybe, if the cell didn't break him, kindness would.
My thoughts came to a halt when I eyed the stairs.
There were a lot of stairs to climb, and I needed to conserve what energy was left for the dark moon ritual and my first real patrol.
I sighed and shifted to four paws, and Ryden did the same. He loped easily upwards, as though the exercise hadn't even affected him. He was probably used to it, since he seemed to be made purely of muscle.
I could've cried from relief when I dragged myself into my quarters and shifted, discovering that the maid had already filled the bath with hot water.
I reached up to yank the tie out of my hair, running my fingers through it.
The sound of the door closing and locking behind me nearly made my heart jump out through my ribs.
I whirled around, finding Ryden in my room.
"What are you..." I started to ask, but he strode across the room, catching me in his arms. My back was to his chest as he tilted my head back, running his own fingers through my hair.
"I've been wanting to do this all day," he growled, kissing the soft skin of my throat. Heat blazed to life in my abdomen when I felt the hard length of his cock pushing insistently against me.
After a day of being mentally and physically pulverized, being cradled in his arms was like heaven.
I braced my hands on the edge of the bathtub, taking a shuddering breath when his hips pressed against my ass.
His cock was throbbing, thick and heavy, and my body responded in kind. I had no room in my head for dissenting thoughts about my own pack; from the moment I'd met Ryden, every cell in me had clamored that he was an ideal mate.
For once, I let the doubts crowding my head fall away and let instinct take over.
I was already wet and ready for him. Sweat didn't even matter to me now, not when he ran his large hand over my stomach, running upwards to my breasts.
His fingers slipped under the edge of the cropped shirt and cupped one, his thumb rubbing over my nipple and teasing it to hardness.
I wanted him with a deep, burning need. No one had ever excited me like this before.
I wriggled my hips against him, inviting him to push himself inside me.
But Ryden kept teasing me, his soft lips moving over my neck, teeth grazing my earlobe. He let out a low groan when I wriggled again, his cock throbbing against my ass, but made no move to actually fuck me.
"Tonight is just a teaser," he breathed, leaving a gentle bite on my shoulder and soothing it with a kiss.
With that, his hand slid down, pushing the waistband of my pants aside.
I let out an involuntary whimper when his fingers parted my pussy and found my wetness. Ryden's growl was deeper this time, his hips pushed against mine almost painfully.
His grip in my hair tightened as he found my clit and began rubbing gentle circles around it, flicking it and making pleasure zip through me like lightning.
It almost hurt how badly I wanted him. The fire in my lower belly had spread through my veins, igniting my body so that I was hyper aware of every inch of skin he touched.
My knees were shaking as he kneaded my clit, then he slipped a finger inside me.
I gasped, my hips bucking against his hand. "Fuck," I hissed, writhing against him.
I wanted him deeper, harder. To fill me up instead of just teasing me.
"You get that when I say you're ready," he said, his voice husky. He pushed in deeper, his finger curling and hitting a place inside me that almost made my legs buckle entirely.
My breath was coming in short gasps, but Ryden released my hair, slipping an arm around me to hold me up.
My primal instincts were extremely clear on what I wanted. "I'm ready now," I moaned, and he pulled his finger out, sliding it over my clit again. The wet sound of his fingers playing with me was almost drowned out by my groans.
"If you can hold off on coming for the next ten seconds, I'll give you what you want," Ryden told me, but he was breathing heavily too, his cock throbbing.
I nodded, my hair spilling across my face, and he pulled me away from the bathtub and towards the bed.
He laid me on it and practically tore my pants off, dropping them carelessly and spreading my legs.
I didn't even have time to protest or be embarrassed. Ryden leaned in, running his tongue down my thigh, then buried his face in my pussy.
My back arched right off the bed when his tongue laved my clit, then he sucked the sensitive flesh between his lips, slipping two fingers in me at the same time.
I screamed, gripping the sheets for dear fucking life as he finger-fucked me, my pussy clenching tight around him. Sharp bolts of pure pleasure rocked me, making my whole body shake.
He didn't stop until my orgasm had finally passed, but when he sat up, his eyes were glittering with desire. "Eight seconds," he said, giving me a hungry look.
"What about you?" I asked, but it was hard to sound alluring when I was breathless from coming all over his mouth. I reached out, stroking the long form of his cock through the soft pants. "You can come on me, if you won't fuck me."
Deep inside, a voice whispered, who are you? What are you doing right now?
I ignored it. This was exactly what I wanted.
My inner wolf was gleeful, overjoyed to find true mate material.
Ryden looked torn for a moment, but his cock pulsed when I squeezed the swollen crown. With a snarl, he shoved the pants down, revealing the hard V of muscle at the base of his stomach, and the thick rod that begged to be licked.
Without thinking, I leaned forward, running my tongue over his head and lapping up the pearl of liquid that had beaded there. He gasped, his hips thrusting forward, and I opened my mouth for him.
He was too big to take much of him inside, but I closed my eyes and swirled my tongue over him, enjoying the hot, silky feel of his skin and the taste of him.
I stroked his shaft while I licked him, my pussy still aching for more. I could've come again if he'd just fuck me.
