Pack Captive (Moon Called Book 1), page 16
I brought the moon lantern to the very end of the vault, where an untouched brazier waited.
The door was so thick I couldn't hear Yasemin talking to the stonemason anymore. I hung the moon lantern on a hook above the brazier, lowered my normal lantern, and placed the bloody clothes in the brazier.
Then I blew out the normal flame, leaving myself in the black. It was so intense I could almost feel the darkness pushing on my eyes.
So I closed them, and drew in even breaths, focusing on my meditation state. The power flowed from me, sensing a ritual object nearby.
When I opened them again, the room was lit with pale blue light. The moonstone in the center of the moon lantern was gleaming brightly, and wouldn't go out again until I died and a new Caller took my place to tend this crypt.
Then I put my hands on the rags.
This was the part where I always felt lost.
What could I possibly say to make up for the fact that these wolves had died? Sometimes it felt like no words could be worthy of them.
"Trion, Ersen, and Nicu of Pack Vesper," I breathed, remembering the three Warriors whose bodies I'd stolen from the forest that day, right from under the noses of the shadow wolves. The Warriors had bled on me all the way back to the temple, but I'd carried each one of them, believing that just maybe I could save the next one.
I hadn’t saved a single one.
"We're a long way from home, but you won't be lonely for long. You were brave, and you believed in me..."
My throat tightened painfully. I'd once thought I'd cried out all my tears, then I'd discovered that there never really was an end to them, like we all contained a vast ocean of grief inside us waiting for its chance to break free.
I let the tears slip out now. I couldn't hold them back. "You believed in me, and I'm not done trying to make you proud and do right by the rest of our pack. Go to the moon and become its light."
My power flowed through me, reaching through my hands and towards the blood-soaked rags.
There was a blinding flash of light, and I pulled my hands away as cold blue flames consumed the cloth on the brazier. Then I blinked.
I could've sworn I saw three wolves on the other side of the brazier, made of the same ghostly light as the flames, watching me.
But there was nothing there.
A chill went down my spine.
Once the fire burned out, I forced myself to take my time and carefully sweep the ashes into an empty urn that had been left for this, then placed it carefully on one of the shelves.
All of my senses were screaming that something else was at work here—something that wasn't quite my lunar magic, but it didn't feel evil, either.
Just different.
I touched the urn, then frowned at the shadows behind the brazier.
Nothing. No wolves, no sign that anyone had been in here but me.
When I came out, the stonemason looked down at me. He was sketching the outline of the pack name to carve in later.
"You look like you've seen a ghost," he said.
I held back a rude retort, even though it was in horrible taste to make a joke like that in the necropolis, but Yasemin gave me an odd look. “You do look rather pale.”
I was about to ask if anyone had ever seen ghostly wolves in here, but the stone beneath our feet hummed.
Yasemin and the mason exchanged a grim look, all talk of ghosts forgotten.
“The warning bells,” she said. “Hurry.”
23
Calian
The scent of blood drowned out the smell of the rest of the world.
I paced the clearing, my paws moving lightly over the dead leaves and broken twigs that were all growing sticky as the blood dried.
Merikh. I smelled his scent here; the Bloodfang had passed through our forest, our city, without anyone stopping him.
And now he'd done this.
The Warrior hadn't stood a chance. He'd shifted to human form before death, and one of his legs was draped over a fallen branch, his hand sticking out of the fork of a tree.
He'd been completely savaged. Hot rage licked at my veins as I walked through the carnage.
The scent wasn't just that of normal blood—all Claws were trained to recognize the bitter tang of corruption, the rot that spread through a runed wolf when the light of the moon was burned out and Fenris's darkness replaced it.
I paused on the edge of the clearing, breathing deeply.
Someone with corrupted runes had done this to him, and Merikh was the only possibility...
But it didn't fit.
I snarled under my breath.
Merikh killed quickly, sometimes a hundred wolves in a single night, but he was efficient and clean. He didn't brutalize kills or prolong deaths for his own entertainment.
That was what made him dangerous; he never gave you time to figure out what you were doing before he went in for the kill.
Whoever had done this, had done it gleefully. They'd played in the fucking blood after strewing the Warrior's parts everywhere.
I found his head behind a bush and rolled it over with a paw. Dirt was caked in the dead male's mouth and eyes, but I knew him.
Darius, one of Azura's newer Warriors. He was too young to have died this way.
Fucking Merikh. We should've sealed the doors to his prison and let him starve to death inside.
And now the rumors were flying thick and fast.
I'd heard Ayla's name more times than I could count this morning. Of course people wanted to talk now that it was something to smear her name with—their adoration had shifted to suspicion overnight.
But I was sure she wasn't in on this.
Not only were her runes uncorrupted, but she was so worried for her own pack, and she'd joined us perfectly on patrol, like she was always part of us...there was no way someone like that could turn around and disembowel a wolf after that.
I knew what I needed to do now, even if it meant defying the Alpha's orders.
She wasn't going to stay here and thrive, let alone survive, if we kept her in a shackle. We might as well have put a blazing sign over her head that said we didn't trust her if we kept it on.
Ryden could fucking deal with it. If she wandered out of bounds, we'd hunt her down and find her.
And I was going to tell her the truth of why that shackle was so important.
It was going on evening when the rest of the Claws arrived, with two Callers in tow.
Yasemin was slower, her fur more silver than black now, but Ayla kept pace with her like a dark shadow, her eyes gleaming a vivid blue.
The pack gathered around, ears quivering and nostrils twitching at the thick smell in the air.
Who did this? Yasemin asked, sitting stiffly on her haunches. She raised her nose and sniffed. The Bloodfang passed this way.
It was Merikh. I felt Ayla look at me when I spoke but didn't meet her eyes. I'm sure of it. I've done all I can, so you can take Darius's body and hold his rites.
Yasemin nodded, then began ordering some of the Warriors to shift and gather the pieces. They did so, and we all looked away from the tear-streaked faces, giving them privacy for their grief.
How can you be so sure? Ayla asked softly.
One of the Claws nearby raised his lips, displaying his sharp teeth. The fur on Ayla's back rose, but she didn't look around or cower.
He ran around all night and touched no one, she continued, sounding heated. Then he just chose to savage someone like this? For no reason at all?
He's the Bloodfang. He doesn't need a reason. I wanted to tell her to be quiet, because the tension radiating from the Claws was putting me on edge.
One of the other wolves interjected before I could do so, and several others picked up the thread with dissenting murmurs. Maybe she let him out on purpose.
She's a spy.
She belonged to Fenris before you brought her here. It's some new magic to hide their corruption.
I snarled, snapping at one of the wolves who'd spoken and opening a shallow cut on his cheek. Get the fuck out of here. Don't stop until you find Merikh.
I stood up and jerked my head at Ayla. You. Come with me.
To her credit, she didn't slink away from the rest of the pack. She came with her head held high, radiating disgust with her posture.
I took her closer to Lykos, finding a thicket where it was more or less private. There was a small lotus pond to drink from and wash the smell of blood out of my mouth.
You believe me, don't you? She stepped delicately over the moss and joined me. I would never help someone do something like that.
I believe you, I told her shortly. Now shift.
Ayla stared at me. Why?
Because this shackle gives the wrong impression. I trust you, Ayla. This was never to keep you hostage, but to keep you safe.
She let out a soft bark. What bullshit.
I know. My ears went flat. I was genuinely sorry for my part in it, and the way I'd treated her. You would've come with us as long as we had your people. But we needed a way to track you...just in case.
This has something to do with the shadow wolves, she guessed. They've been behaving oddly.
I hesitated, even though the words were on my lips.
If I told her...what was the worst that could happen? She would be in the know, as she rightfully should be.
But Ryden had given that order for a reason.
Because we had seen the worst happen.
And if it wasn't for the fact that I didn't smell Tyra around here, I would've said the handiwork in the clearing was hers.
I trusted that Ayla was pure of intention, and that was why touching Merikh didn't hurt her.
But if she ever did decide to turn down a darker path...Merikh would happily speed her along.
It was better if she didn't know that path was available at all. Her origins, her ignorance from being trapped in that valley her whole life, might be her saving grace.
But I felt wrong, not telling her about the Void Callers.
The shadow wolves behave oddly on occasion, I told her briskly, swallowing the original words I'd been about to say. It's nothing new. But we can't risk any more of our Callers being kidnapped and killed. If you wore the bracelet, we'd be able to find you much faster, but it's not worth having half the city wondering if you're on Merikh's side. Now it just gives the impression that we don’t trust you, that we’re keeping you caged like him.
Ayla shook her head, the shiver going all the way down her shoulders to her tail. I can't believe they'd think that just because I was a prisoner.
She sounded bitter, and rightfully so.
In times of fear, not everyone thinks with common sense. They want someone to blame because they're afraid. I stepped closer, my shoulder brushing hers. Now shift. Just long enough for me to take this off.
Ryden will be furious, she said, looking up at me. A moment later she barked again. I'm being ridiculous. Please take it off.
She shifted, returning to her smaller human form. She was wearing nothing but a thin temple dress, her dark hair loose around her shoulders.
I was glad I was in wolf form and staying this way. If I'd had human hands, I wouldn't have been able to resist touching her this time, letting my fingers roam under the thin clothes that taunted me even in my dreams.
She stretched out her leg, showing the heavy gold bangle, and I put my paw on it.
The magic within was keyed to both Ryden and myself, and it was the work of moments to let the locking curse trip.
The bracelet clicked, and Ayla wasted no time. She tugged it off, rubbing her ankle where the skin was a little red.
"I hated that fucking thing," she muttered.
Then she reached out, shocking me into stillness. I held myself like a statue while she wrapped her arms around me, burying her face in my fur.
She smelled delicious, and it was all I could do to stay in wolf form while she squeezed me tightly.
I wanted to shift and push her down into the grass, bury myself inside her and tell her that she would be mine, not Ryden’s.
When Ayla released me, her face was pink.
She shifted back a moment later, her tail wagging slightly. Thank you, Calian. That was all I ever asked for.
So you're not going to run off on us now? I teased, trying to hide my feelings as I picked up the bracelet in my mouth.
Ryden was going to be furious. I'd be the one to deal with it instead of her.
Of course not. She took a drink of water, avoiding my gaze as she shook her fur out, then eyed the bracelet. I need to help Yasemin with the burial rites.
For a moment, I thought about telling her what she should know.
That Fenris didn't want her dead—he wanted her because she was valuable, to become one of his dark daughters.
That every moment she spent outside the city walls was dangerous not just for her body, but her mind and soul as well.
I'll come with you, was what I told her instead.
24
Ayla
It was clear to me that Calian was still lying through his teeth, even though he obviously wanted to tell me whatever it was.
But I never got the chance to ask again and press him while he was open to me.
I spent the rest of the evening in the temple with Yasemin and Kadin, the three of us preparing Darius's body for burial while Calian watched, a silent shadow stalking the corners.
At times he would vanish, prowling the lush plateau outside while we worked. Yasemin wouldn't allow him to help with this part.
I knew he was out there looking for Merikh...and I also believed, for some reason I couldn't identify, that Merikh had nothing to do with this.
"I hope they catch him," Kadin whispered. She shook out a length of burial shroud that Yasemin and I would roll the body into. "And kill him this time."
I looked up at her and saw dried tear tracks on her cheeks. "Was he...family?"
Kadin shook her head. "No. Kind of. He was my older brother's best friend. He used to call me Bean because I was the littlest one in the pack."
It wasn't the best time to air my unprovable suspicion that Merikh hadn't killed him. I kept my mouth shut and reached out to squeeze her shoulder.
Now the body on the slab was more than just a nameless, faceless wolf to me.
He was someone to her the way Trion, Ersen, and Nicu had been to me. I was starting to understand what Yasemin had meant, that we were supposed to protect all wolves, not just our own.
A moment later Calian stalked back in.
It was hard to concentrate on my work while he was there, drifting close enough that he could've reached out and touched me. The smell of him wrapped around me like a warm blanket.
I pushed all thoughts of Calian to the back of my mind, determined to give Darius the rites he deserved, especially while Kadin cried over him.
It was after midnight when we finished wrapping the shroud. Yasemin stretched, making a face as her back popped.
"We'll hold the rite tomorrow when the moon rises." She rested a hand on Darius's chest for a moment. "Now it's time to take care of us."
Kadin and I also stretched. My shoulders were aching and tense from spending hours bent over, piecing him together, washing and wrapping him.
The youngest Caller scrubbed her cheeks, but she still looked sullen. "It feels wrong to be hungry when he's dead. He'll never be hungry again."
I held out my arms, and she snuggled against me. I felt her back hitching under my palms, trying to hold back more tears. "All we can do is send him to the ancestors, and he'll be watching over you, Kadin."
"And we work harder and make sure this doesn't happen again," she whispered.
I nodded, although I had no idea of how the three of us could hold off Fenris at all. It seemed like an impossible task.
"There is always more work to do," Yasemin agreed. "To the bath house, now. We'll wash off, eat, rest, and be ready to give him a proper rite tomorrow."
Calian cast one dark look back at Darius before following us out of the temple and over the sky bridge.
As bad as I felt for Darius, I was desperate for a bath. I felt like the stench of death clung to me after hours in there, up to my elbows in congealing blood.
The bath house was down in the main part of Lykos, with marble columns lit by hanging lanterns. My body felt like I was dragging a wagon of bricks behind me by the time we mounted its steps.
A female was stationed at the entrance, and she handed each of them a stack of towels as we came in. Clearly, Yasemin and Kadin were well-known here.
But when she got to me, she did a double take, her mouth turning down in a twist of distaste. She hesitated, not holding the towels out but looking at me as though she might ask me to leave.
A moment later, Calian was at my shoulder, practically breathing down my neck.
"Is there a problem, Marila?"
His low growl echoed through the quiet foyer of the bath house.
Marila looked up at Calian with big, wounded eyes, and I had the feeling that they'd once slept together. Nobody could look that hurt over a stranger.
She opened her mouth, a series of expressions crossing her face like she couldn't decide what to say first. I knew she wanted to accuse me of being in league with Merikh and the reason for a Warrior's death.
"No," she said, but she said it sullenly, not meeting my eyes as she handed me the towels.
I thanked her, but my lips were pressed together as I walked away. I didn't want to have to rely on Calian growling at people for them to not treat me like this.
I glanced over my shoulder before Yasemin led us down a corridor going left, and saw Calian disappearing into the right-hand side, still stalking like he wanted to kill someone.
A smile tugged at my mouth despite myself. Of course I wanted to earn respect on my own, but after he'd taken off the shackle, he'd made it his mission to stay nearby and protect me.
I appreciated it more than I could say.
We showered off the debris of the forest and ritual preparation in a room that rained water from overhead, then wrapped ourselves in towels and headed into a sauna full of steam.
