Pack Captive (Moon Called Book 1), page 17
The smells of lavender and mint hit me in the nose, and almost immediately my shoulders relaxed.
I hadn't realized how tense I was until I sat on a wooden bench and just breathed, forgetting the past few hours and the horror of once again seeing a Warrior torn apart.
Yasemin picked up a wooden scoop and ladled water on the mound of glowing coals in the brazier, sending up another plume of scented steam.
"Two more weeks until the full moon," she said, and Kadin and I both looked at her. Even Kadin looked more relaxed now, though it was clear from her pale face and drawn features that she was drained.
The younger Caller glanced at me. "Now that we have you, we can crush them."
In any ordinary time, the weight of that responsibility would've felt like a boulder on my shoulders. But these days, I wanted to rise to meet the challenge.
Unless there was something wrong with me.
"Have either of you ever seen...um, ghost wolves in the temple?" I asked, the words running out of my mouth without my permission.
Both of them stared at me like I'd grown a third head.
"In the necropolis," I clarified, my face burning from more than the steam.
They were going to think I was insane, but I was one hundred percent sure of what I'd seen. I hadn't imagined the trio of dead Warriors in my pack's vault.
"You saw them during the burial rites for your pack?" Yasemin asked, staring at me intensely.
I forced myself to tell her, no matter how crazy it sounded. "While I was burning their blood. Three wolves appeared, and I felt...a strange connection to them. Like I knew them."
Kadin covered her mouth, her eyes showing light for the first time all evening. "They were the ancestor spirits! There's stories about that—some Callers could use the power of the moon to bring the spirits of the pack back from the dead to protect them."
"The old stories say entire packs rose from the grave, generation upon generation of wolves, to defend the Caller who summoned them." Yasemin pursed her lips. "There is a precedent, a link between the moon and death in our rituals."
Now they were both staring at me like I was the answer to their prayers.
"Maybe I hallucinated them," I mumbled, but Kadin scoffed.
"No, you didn't. If you can really call up the ancestors, then we could have an army a hundred times bigger than Fenris's!" She was sitting straight up now, her grief and tears replaced by vindication. "Let's try it at the full moon. If you can call your pack's spirits back to us, then that proves the stories are true."
I thought of the jolt in my chest and stomach when I'd seen the ghost wolves—the ancestors—and wondered what it would feel like to do it deliberately.
Or maybe they were just desperate and grasping at straws. I'd never heard any stories of Callers summoning the dead.
I didn't want them to develop ideas that I couldn't live up to.
"I'll think about it. I'm going to head to the cold pool," I muttered, getting up and sending the steam swirling around us.
Kadin tried to follow, but I saw Yasemin shake her head from the corner of my eye, grabbing the younger girl's hand before she could get up.
I just needed a moment alone to think about the concept of raising the dead, let alone the fact that Kadin seemed to be gearing up to believe that all of Lykos's hopes rested on my ability to do so.
The pool room was beyond the steam room. The pool itself was set into the floor, the bottom covered in ice-blue tiles that made it look as cold as a glacier.
I hung my towel on a hook on the wall and plunged in.
The iciness froze my lungs, and I had a moment of ridiculous splashing trying to get back to the surface, where I gasped for air and clung to the edge.
It took several minutes to unfreeze myself enough to swim a few laps, and by the time I was almost feeling warm again, I'd managed to come to an agreement with myself: I would attempt to call my pack's spirits on the full moon.
If I failed, then we'd drop this whole concept of an army of the dead.
If I succeeded...then I guess I'd owe Kadin a little more faith in her next crazy plan.
I scoffed at myself as I climbed out of the pool and blindly reached for my towel, swiping my wet hair out of my eyes.
I barely knew the first thing about being a Caller, and now I thought I really had a chance at raising the dead like it was nothing?
My hand hit the hook on the wall, but my towel wasn't there. I opened my eyes, water dripping from my eyelashes.
All I saw was a flash of furious eyes and auburn hair as the female Claw grabbed me by the throat and slammed me into the wall.
25
Ayla
Sorana slammed her forearm against my throat, holding me tight against the freezing stone.
Her amber eyes were bright with fury, auburn hair clinging in damp tendrils around her face. Her lips drew back in a sneer as she looked me over.
"It's the dirty little traitor," she growled, and when I heard small, cruel laughs, I realized we weren't alone.
Two other females, Warrior-caste wolves, were on either side of her, and both of them were looking at me with hatred.
I felt completely vulnerable, naked and no match for the claw-tattooed woman holding me fast.
"I didn't betray any of you," I tried to say, but Sorana dug her arm in harder, making me choke for breath.
She leaned in close, hissing under her breath so no one would overhear. Her arm was pushed against me so hard I couldn't howl. Just breathing was hard enough.
"You broke the seals on the Bloodfang's prison, and then you let him out." Her breath was unpleasantly hot against my ear. "Who else would do that but a traitor? You gave him everything he needed to escape after Ryden spent so much effort keeping him locked up."
"I swear, I had no idea what he was planning," I gasped, gripping her forearm and trying to pry it away from my throat. Her muscles were like iron bars. "I don’t even know him!"
Sorana just huffed out a disbelieving laugh. "Mm-hmm. We all saw how you treated Ryden after he brought you back. He gave you everything you could've wanted, and he still needed to tie you down to keep you from running off to Fenris."
I just stared at her, still struggling, amazed and horrified by what she'd said.
Did they really believe I was being held captive to keep me from Fenris? From the wolf who'd destroyed almost my entire pack?
They were insane.
"And now they're letting you take care of Darius's body and funeral rites?" Sorana growled for real this time, the sound ripping out of her throat. "It's an insult to his memory! You released his killer, and you're in on it with him. We tried to warn Ryden, but he wouldn't listen to us—you're nothing but a snake, and you'll destroy Lykos from the inside."
I realized I was shaking, not from fear, but from anger.
I'd suffered every bit as much as they had, had felt the same losses, and I would never willingly ally with someone who I knew was on my enemy's side.
You could've turned Merikh in.
I could've, but I hadn't because my gut told me there was something more to him. That he wasn't responsible for Darius’s death.
So I was furious, even though I could understand why Sorana and her kind would be suspicious of me.
"You've got it all wrong," I told her coldly. "But you're so determined to hate me, you probably wouldn't bother to listen to reason."
"Why would I listen to you?" she asked. "Darius is dead because of you, and you don't deserve to become the Alpha female."
"You're delusional." I could've laughed if I was able to take more than shallow sips of air.
Me, the Alpha female?
But then I remembered Ryden cornering me in my room, and how much I'd wanted him to do it again.
Sorana seemed to read the change on my face.
"Maybe you've put a spell on Ryden." Sorana looked me over, sneering in disgust. "You Callers and your magic, who knows what fuckery you do up in that temple of yours?"
She leaned in a little more, putting a tiny bit more pressure on my windpipe. I was going to black out soon if I didn't get out of this; dark flowers were beginning to bloom at the edges of my vision.
"Leave Ryden out of it." I had to choke the words out. "I wouldn't do anything to him, either."
Sorana raised an eyebrow. "I'm going to make sure he doesn't look at you again. You're not meant to be his mate."
She raised her hand, extending a sharp claw towards my face. I struggled hard, but with the other two Warriors boxing me in, there was nowhere to go.
Sorana drew her claw down my cheek. Bright, hot pain sizzled through my skin, and I felt the warmth of welling blood.
Then she spat on me.
Disgust welled up when I felt her warm saliva spatter across my wounded cheek and drip down my neck, but then Sorana's eyes went wide as something huge and dark crashed into us.
Calian, as always, moved so quickly he seemed barely visible. One of the women stumbled back towards the edge of the pool as he blew past her and dug his claws into Sorana's arm, tearing her away from me.
Blood splattered to the stone floor, both mine and hers, and I gasped for breath now that Sorana's grip on me was gone. I pressed a hand to my cheek, and it came away wet and red.
I wasn't sure which hurt more, my face or my pride.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" Calian snarled. His handsome face was completely contorted.
He looked almost like more of a devil than Merikh, those dark eyes glittering with fury.
He shook Sorana and she winced as his claws tore through her skin a little more, ruining her claw tattoos.
"She's a Fenris witch," she hissed back. "She's got both you and Ryden bewitched. The fucking Bloodfang is coming to her, following her around after she freed him, and you think you're not being played?"
Calian didn't answer at first. His expression was flat, merciless and cold.
Sorana winced, and I realized he was driving his claws deeper into her flesh.
"Maybe Ryden and I know more about the situation than you do," he finally said, his voice as toneless as his face. "Maybe we have a plan that you're not privy to, and maybe, if you lay a hand on Ayla again, I will rip your fucking arm out of its socket and piss into your chest cavity."
The female Claw went pale, all the blood draining from her face in half a second. I wondered if Calian had ever actually done that.
My face was beginning to sting badly, and I found myself not caring too much if he made good on that threat right now.
"You're on probation as of right now," he said, releasing her roughly. "Don't bother asking Tiberius for leniency. You'll find none."
"But sir—" Sorana cut herself off, gritting her teeth as she got to her feet. She held her injured arm stiffly at her side. "Yes, sir."
She shot me a look full of pure venom and stalked away, followed by the Warriors, who seemed much meeker in Calian's presence.
Calian held out a clean towel to wrap around me, and that's when I realized he was half naked, as well.
His towel had slipped low around his waist during the altercation, and sweat and water gleamed on the broad, hard planes of his chest and stomach. There were dark Claw tattoos on his shoulders and back, running down his arms.
I couldn't help but swallow when my eyes slipped down towards the hard V of muscle and dusting of dark hair on his lower stomach.
Despite the pain in my cheek, my face heated up when I imagined what was under there, and knowing Calian, it was probably something to be proud of.
"Put this on," he said gruffly, wrapping the towel around me. "I'll get Yasemin to look after your face, and we'll go back to the Palace together."
I wrapped the towel around myself tightly and sat on one of the benches lining the walls as he left. Minutes later, he came back with Yasemin and Kadin in tow.
The little girl winced at the blood soaking through the towel I'd pressed to my cheek. "I hate her," she muttered. "She's almost as bad as Tyra."
"No one's as bad as Tyra, child. Now be quiet." Yasemin sat next to me and dabbed carefully at the wound with the only part of the towel that was still clean. Calian watched intently from my other side, his fists clenched against his lap. "It's not too deep."
I closed my eyes as she ran her fingers over the wound, and bright blue light spilled from beneath her fingertips.
A moment later, the stinging had faded, and nothing but a pink line was left.
"Goddess, you're strong," I whispered, touching the scratch that now felt like a week-old scar. "Not even my mother ever learned to heal with a touch."
Yasemin snorted. "I'm old. I've had a lot of time to learn."
Still, she looked pleased.
Yasemin and Kadin ended up allowing Calian to escort us back to the Dawn Palace. No one had wanted to risk getting a group of Claws—who would now be angry about Sorana as well—as their mandatory escort while Merikh was loose.
I couldn't help but notice Marila had vanished from the foyer when Calian passed back through. I was willing to bet she'd told Sorana I was in there.
I said goodbye to the other Callers when I got to my floor of the Palace and realized Calian was still on my heels when I opened my door.
"I'm washing in here," I informed him. We'd left in such a hurry, I didn't even have clean clothes to wear.
Instead, I'd just pulled on a thick robe, because I couldn't stand to wear the dress I'd had on while tending to the dead.
"You can wash after I check your face," Calian said, his gaze going around the room.
Then, oddly, he looked over his shoulder into the hall, making sure it was empty, before he shut my door.
And locked it.
I swallowed again, my voice coming out in a squeak. "It's fine. I'm okay. Really."
"Not until I say you are." Calian stepped forward and took my face in his hands, cradling me gently. His thumb ran over the pink scratch, the corners of his lips turned down with disapproval. "She shouldn't have laid her claws on you like that."
"I understand why they'd hate me," I whispered. "I'm an outsider. Ryden was too optimistic, thinking they'd accept me with open arms."
Calian's brow furrowed. "Don't talk about Ryden right now," he growled.
The sound shivered through me, going from the top of my head all the way down to my toes, and my nipples hardened with the command in his voice.
I licked my lips, taking a deep breath of his delicious scent.
His hands slipped downwards, trailing my throat and grazing my shoulders.
Calian pushed the bathrobe over them, and when I didn't stop him, but reached for the edge of his shirt, he pulled the tie around my waist.
His movements got rougher, pulling the robe down and quickly stripping off his shirt.
I sucked in a breath at the flex of his muscles, then pushed him back onto the bed.
He laughed, grabbing my hands and pulling me on top of him. I wanted him so badly I was almost shaking, the heat of his hard cock against my thigh driving me crazy.
"Ride me, pretty girl," he whispered roughly, gripping my hips and grinding his cock against me. I was already wet, my muscles aching to buck against him.
Calian was as big as Ryden, thick enough to make me nervous. I positioned myself over him, moaning when I felt his head brush the wet lips of my pussy and part them, sliding over my clit.
He groaned and pushed upwards, sliding over me again and sending a tingle through my stomach.
I braced my hands on his shoulders, my breath coming quicker.
I knew I wanted him; despite our rough start, he'd made the effort to get to know me and trust me first.
I wanted Calian to think of me as a potential mate, someone who would be by his side no matter what.
The next time he pushed forward, his cock pressed against my pussy, I slid down, working myself down his shaft.
Calian's groan was sexy as hell, sending another shiver of pleasure through me. His muscles tensed up beneath me as I sank lower, slowly taking his entire length.
"Fuck," I whimpered. He was splitting me apart, his cock stretching me wide. It felt so good I was afraid I'd come if I moved at all.
Calian's fingers sank into my hips. He moved me forward, sinking deeper and making me gasp when my hips bucked against him.
My whole body tingled as I squirmed against him, trying to hold back before I went over the edge completely. His breath hitched when I ran my fingertips over his chest and abs, feeling iron muscle beneath his smooth skin.
“You’re holding back too much,” he growled, driving his cock upwards.
My whole body shook as he slammed in, and he sat up, catching one of my nipples in his mouth.
The wet warmth of his tongue swirled over me, his teeth skimming the sensitive nub and sending a jolt of heat right into my belly.
Before I could stop myself, I was riding him hard, slamming him onto the bed with every stroke. Calian grunted in pleasure, biting his lower lip as he watched me undulate atop him.
He finally hissed, his cock throbbing inside me. I was so close to coming—
But he lifted me right off him, practically throwing me onto the bed. Several pillows went flying as he swept them away, climbing over me gracefully and covering my body with his.
I moaned and gripped the sheets, arching my ass towards him so he could take me. The slickness of his cock plunged in, surging forward until his hips were flush against my ass.
“Do you trust me to protect you?” he breathed, sweeping my hair out of my face. He kissed my shoulder, his tongue running up my neck.
“Yes,” I whispered, my voice strangled. All I wanted was for him to claim me entirely. “I trust you completely.”
He pulled out, then pushed back in, sending another thrill through me. “Would you take me as a mate, to protect you forever?”
Calian’s hips arched, and his cock hit a sensitive spot inside me that made me feel like I was turning to liquid.
His hands wrapped around my fist, squeezing me tightly. “I would never let you go. You would always be mine.”
