Page 13 of The Bull's Head

As he grew older, he’d witnessed death in territorial combat between wolves or other shifters. He’d seen the older people as they withered and begged to be allowed to die. Not one thing he’d ever known had prepared him for the horrors that this place had held.

When Damon asked for volunteers to help save the lives of shifters, Ivan and Teddy had been at the front of the line. They believed it was a penance they’d had to pay for failing to protect Hiram’s kids from their father. They sat in the back of the truck, their foreheads together, with Ivan telling Teddy that this was good and right and would help balance the scales of their failure.

Then Alp had come forward and sat with them. He’d joined their huddle and told them that Cece and Damon wouldn’t want them to deny themselves a life. They would insist he and Ivan see about finding their own passions, and after he walked away, Teddy admitted to Ivan that he wanted that. He didn’t want to be a bodyguard. He didn’t want to deal in death.

Then they stormed Hyde’s compound. Whatever Teddy had seen before this was nothing compared to the truths that were laid bare. There were freezers filled with bodies or parts of bodies. Torsos without heads, heads with the mouths frozen in a silent scream, arms and legs bundled together in garbage bags. People who’d died midshift, their bodies preserved for sick experiments. And it wasn’t just a few. There were dozens, maybe hundreds of bodies spread throughout the complex.

It was on that day Teddy understood what true evil was.

When Cece suggested maybe he might want to assist the newly minted Wald pack get their operations together, Teddy had jumped at the chance. An opportunity to help the dead find rest seemed perfect to him. Dr. Hamilton had pulled strings to get the bodies cremated covertly, and they’d then spread the ashes throughout the Wald packland.

It felt good. Right. Helping those who’d survived to make a home and those who’d died without names to find their final rest was the best way to get back in the Maker’s good graces. Her children would know peace.

Even if Teddy was still tormented.

Chapter 5

The first rays of the sun brushed over Callum’s face. He blinked against the brightness, then realized he’d slept through the night. It was the first time in years he’d not woken from the nightmares that plagued him.

When he heard the soft snuffle behind him, Callum was ready to jump up, but then those fingers that had mapped his skin, stroked his hair, and helped to remind Callum that not all touches were meant to bring pain tightened on his flank.

“Good morning,” Teddy croaked out. He sat up with a groan, and Callum wanted to apologize for making him sleep outside in the stall. “I haven’t slept that well in a long time,” Teddy said, giving Callum a smile before he yawned and stretched. “I should head inside. I have to start my new job today. And before you wonder, I’m going to be putting all of Hyde’s files onto the computer so we can have easier access. Dr. Hamilton wants to know what was done to everyone, so she can help them.”

Dr. Hamilton? Callum recalled the woman who told him she was a vet and wanted to help him. How she’d pulled out a needle, and Callum, in a panic, had slammed her against the wall and she’d bounced off and fallen face-first onto the wet ground. There was so much confusion. People yelling, hands all over Callum, pushing, shoving him back into the pen. They did something to him that dragged him into that darkness he was used to. When he woke up, they were gone, but he noted his hooves had been scraped and trimmed. He was able to stand without pain and the tremors weren’t nearly as bad, but he figured that was just to get him ready for more experiments.

“I know you’ll have a hard time believing this, but these people? They’re good. They want to help. They’re sending the kids who Hyde had here to school, and they’re still trying to find their parents.”

Their parents were dead. All of them. Callum had heard their cries, the pleading for the lives of their children. Hyde telling them that their sacrifice was appreciated. And the sounds of machines that dragged screams from their very depths, and then they fell into an eerie silence. At least until the next person was pulled in and the process started all over again.

“Even if they never find their families, these kids will be cared for and loved by the family Alp and Mal are building here. Dr. Hamilton is great. She’s human, but she’s caring and kind. Everyone seems to adore her. She’s even gone so far as to bring in a jar of lollipops, and she gives the kids one after their appointments.” Teddy grinned. “I… might have found them and helped myself to one or two… dozen.” His eyes gleamed. “I’ve got a sweet tooth like you wouldn’t believe.”

Teddy seemed the type who’d like his sweets. Callum loved chocolate cake, especially with raspberry filling and chocolate frosting. That combination had always been his favorite. When Cooper’s birthday came around, he got a baked-from-scratch cake every year. Callum got something store-bought, but he loved the flavor and texture.

“You know,” Teddy said, pulling Callum from his thoughts. “I bet you’re a chocolate lover, like me. How about when you’re able to shift back, we go to town and I’ll buy you a chocolate bar or some cake or something.”

Before everything happened, Callum had wanted to cook. Or, more specifically, bake. All his life, Callum had bounced from one thing to another, never being sure of what it was he wanted to do. That changed one day when a teacher—Mrs. Haskins—asked him to help her put together things for a bake sale to benefit Cooper’s stupid baseball team. She was kind and patient as she taught him blend, sift, cream, and so many other things. When she saw how eager he was, she talked to him about culinary school.

She painted such an amazing picture of things Callum could learn, he actually fell in love with the idea. So much so, he asked his parents about going to school to learn baking. They’d snorted, telling him it—he—wasn’t worth the expense.

That was the day Callum finally decided what he wanted to do with his life. To prove that he had what it took. He pored over videos of people—especially his own age—who had cooking channels on YouTube or TikTok. The more he learned, the more he wanted to know. It was, according to his friend, Tamitha, a rabbit hole, and Callum didn’t want to get out of it. After a few months—and some encouragement from Tamitha and Mrs. Haskins—he decided to let his parents know of his passion and commitment.

His parents, unsurprisingly, shot that idea down barely even discussing it. So Callum decided he would make it on his own. That was what he and Cooper had been arguing about when they were taken. Cooper wasn’t happy that Callum was going to be leaving him alone with their parents. He thought Callum should stay too, because in the most important game, he’d played like crap and hadn’t been recruited by any decent colleges.

But there was a life out there. One that didn’t include his parents, one that helped him get away from Cooper. One that was going to allow him freedom to create beautiful things and know that he’d done it on his own. So, in order to make that life happen, Callum got a job. It wasn’t much, just lugging things at the small bakery in town. Thanks to his shifter strength, a fifty-pound bag of flour was fairly easy to heft and carry. The owners were pleased with his work ethic and gave him all the hours he wanted.

Then Cooper came and the argument started. It seemed neither of them noticed the men until it was too late. They swarmed Cooper and Callum, driving them to the ground. Cooper reared up, dislodging the men, and started fighting them. He’d screamed something to Callum, but with the blood pounding in his ears, Callum hadn’t heard it as he showed what a coward he was and ran.

“Hey, can I come back tonight?”

The words snapped Callum out of his thoughts. He turned to Teddy, who was giving him a hopeful look.

“I mean, if it’s okay with you.”

The man was covered in really nasty stuff. No one would ever willingly do that, right? Yet Teddy had. He’d stayed with Callum the entire night. He’d brushed Teddy, promised a bath, and they’d run in the woods together. Yeah, Teddy could definitely come back. Callum leaned forward and nudged Teddy, which led to another bout of giggles. Callum loved the fact that this big, strapping man had such a whimsical side to him.

“I’ll take that as a yes. Do you think you might want to try that bath tonight?”

Maker, yes. He wanted that desperately. To maybe wash away some of the crud that clung to his soul and watch as it swirled down the drain. He nodded, and Teddy beamed him a smile.

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