Page 29 of Pack Captive

"I was in the northlands when Fenris came to power. We weren't a small pack, and we had a strong Alpha. There were more male Warriors than females, which was becoming a problem. The Alpha decided we needed to assimilate some fresh blood into the pack. I was young, but I was placed on the raiding party for that night."

I was listening so hard I realized I'd stopped scrubbing, staring at his face. He was still looking at me, but his eyes told me he was somewhere else.

"We were only miles away when it started. Fenris himself came to us before we began our raid. It took one night for him to burn our pack's settlement to the ground. Our raid leader turned us back when we smelled the smoke, and we came back to find...everything and everyone gone.

"Fenris was still there. It took him less than ten minutes to crush the entire raiding party. I only escaped because I was still small, and the raid leader sent me into the forest to survive and report to the other packs."

Calian's mouth twisted in distaste. "I ran for days without stopping. Ryden's father found me where I'd collapsed in the wastelands. By then, the entire northern settlement was gone. After several years here, and a few expeditions back to the northlands, I realized I was the only survivor of Pack Tempestas. Everyone else, down to the very last pup, had been slaughtered."

My mouth was full of a bitter taste. I had lost most of my pack, but at least we'd saved our pups.

"I'm sorry, Calian."

Calian blinked, seeming to come back to himself. He focused on me again, those dark eyes as unreadable as ever.

"Don't be sorry. What's done is done. I just need you to understand: a single Caller makes the difference between Lykos surviving or becoming a smoldering ruin like Tempestas." He leaned forward, bracing his arms on his thighs. "If you starve yourself, we die. If you throw yourself out the window, we die. If you fight the Alpha on every order, we die."

I clung to the rim of the bath and looked up at him, held in place like a mouse hypnotized by a snake.

"That includes your pups. Your elders. Mine are already gone," he said gruffly. "You might despise our methods, but if keeping you prisoner means every wolf outthere—" He waved a hand towards the window, indicating all of Lykos, "—survives, then I will happily endure your hatred to my grave."

I swallowed hard, feeling small.

Like he'd reduced me to the size of a grape and then crushed me under his heel.

"I don't hate you," I breathed. Goddess knew I should, but I didn't.

I just understood him a little better now.

Calian's harsh expression softened. Just a touch, but it was enough. "I don't hate you, either. I just wish you'd understand...if we'd had a strong Caller, maybe my sisters wouldn't have died screaming for mercy. You've been given an opportunity I would've killed for in those days."

His sisters. Moon above, and I'd thought him a soulless bastard.

But now...if I was willing to forget how they'd taken me and put a shackle around my ankle...maybe there would be common ground to find between us.

I bit my lower lip, worrying it as I thought. "Your ancestors are still in the northlands?"

Calian nodded slowly, studying my face.

"If...if you were to come with me to my temple one day to retrieve mine, then I'd be willing to help you retrieve yours. We could hold the rites for them here in Lykos...together."

It was the largest peace offering I could think of, and not easy to accomplish, but Callers had a duty to ensure our ancestors were laid to rest and given the proper rituals, blessing their spirits and guiding them to the moon.

He was silent for another long moment.

I thought I'd offended him somehow, even though this was one of the few things I knew for a fact that Callers were meant to do.

Then he reached out and laid his hand over mine, squeezing hard.

Calian released me, then stood up and strode to the door.

I stared after him. The touch was so brief, I could've imagined it.

Maybe Ihadimagined it.

"Thank you, but there's nothing left to bring back," he said quietly. "I'll be waiting outside for you."

Then he stepped through, leaving me alone.

---