Page 24 of Soul Fated

The man’s eyes snapped open as Kael's shadow fell over him. He snorted awake, his gaze darting around the room before landing on us. His face morphed from confusion to recognition and then to pure, unadulterated joy.

"Kael?" His voice cracked as he sat up, rubbing his eyes. "Is that you, boy?"

Kael nodded, a small smile tugging at his lips. "Hey, Bill."

Bill struggled to his feet, his limbs still clumsy with sleep. "Well, I'll be damned." He shuffled over and enveloped Kael in a bear hug, clapping him on the back. "I thought I'd never see you again."

Kael patted Bill's back, his expression softening. "You could’ve come up to visit."

Bill scoffed. “You wouldn’t have been there anyway. I heard you were in the Ukraine? Egypt?” Kael’s eyes flicked to mine as Bill finally pulled away. He looked at Kael like he was a ghost. "How long has it been? Five years? Six?"

Kael nodded. "Something like that."

Bill shook his head in disbelief. "Well, don't just stand there. Come in, sit down." He motioned to the couch, then his eyes narrowed as he took a proper look at me and Lana. "And who might these lovely lasses be?"

Kael's eyes darkened. "This is Callista and Lana."

My wolf stirred again, her ears perking up. She put me on high alert, hearing every creak of Bill's floorboards and the brush of Kael’s shirt as he settled back into his chair. I breathed in the faint scent of pine oil and wood smoke.

My wolf wasn't going to make this easy, apparently. Every time Kael moved, she was right there, like I was dangling a raw steak.

I mentally ran a hand down the fur of her back. It’s only the dagger. We’ll get that sorted, and you won’t have to worry about this.

She whined, but still, I felt more at peace than I had in weeks. It was like I'd been living my life in black and white and Lana, holding the dagger, had flipped the switch to high def. I could think again. Breathe again?—

“You’re grinning like a crazy person,” Lana muttered as we sat on the couch.

I couldn’t help it. I felt incredible. “It’s just such a good morning.”

Bill glanced toward the window. “Not morning yet.”

Kael watched me a moment, assessing, then turned to Lana. “Show him.”

Lana leaned forward, holding the dagger out in front of her. It caught the light from the lamp on the end table, and Bill froze. "Where did you get that?" His voice was a strained whisper, his eyes wide. He looked up at Kael, and his face drained of color.

Kael folded his arms over his chest. "It's a long story. Do you know anything about it?"

Bill shook his head. "Nope. Not a thing. Just that it's dangerous, and I want nothing to do with it." He tried to push up again from his chair, but Kael touched the man’s arm.

"Considering how much you talked about Shadow Pack growing up, I’m calling bullshit.”

Bill's gaze was determinedly fixed on the floor. "I told you. I don’t know anything."

Kael’s jaw ticked. "Remember when you caught me eating your expensive bacon in the middle of the night?"

Bill sighed. "That was a long time ago, Kael. I’ve moved on from?—"

"And then I told you about my mother, and you let me sleep on your couch?"

Bill's eyes flicked to Kael's face. "I remember."

Kael's voice softened. "I trusted you with that, and you can trust me with this.”

Bill's shoulders slumped, and he finally looked up. "Alright. But you have to promise me something, Kael. You have to promise me you won’t use it."

Kael’s eyes shuttered, but he nodded.

He was lying. He’d been about to use the dagger on me a few hours earlier, and he hadn’t told us what the rest of his plans were. Did he have other shifters on his kill list?

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