Page 39 of Blade's Battle
“Only once.”
“Only? Once is too many.”
“I won’t let it happen again.”
“I’d like to believe that. I’ve put down enough wolves to know it’s never about the shifter’s will, it’s about the wolf’s power. Each time he escapes and tastes that freedom, he’ll gain more power, making it harder for you to contain him the next time. Eventually, your wolf will take full control.”
Blade sank to the bed. “That’s why you need to take Anna back with you. Convince Liam. He can punish or do whatever he wants to me, just get her out of here, Callen. Please.”
“You think she’s in danger? Liam isn’t the type—”
“The WSSO was shooting at us on the way here, but they didn’t want me. They were targeting her. And Liam has been listening to that asshole Ravirez. That shifter’s a low-life, as bad as Drake.”
“I doubt he’s as bad as Drake, but the point is moot. He’s here and he’s a complication.”
“He plans on taking Anna back to Drake.”
“She’s one of the WSSO,” Callen said, resting his hands behind his back in a classic non-emotional Callen stance.
“She’s not one of them!”
“Then why did Drake take her?”
“I don’t know the whole story yet. We sort of had a fight and then everything went downhill from there. I’ve been stuck in here ever since. Liam won’t let me see her.”
“I’ll speak to her.”
Blade opened his mouth to object, then quickly shut it. Callen wouldn’t make any snap judgments.
“Out with it, Blade. Whatever you wanted to say, do it now.”
“She calms my wolf.”
The corner of Callen’s mouth kicked up. “Now that’s interesting. Okay, I’m going to talk to Liam and your female—”
“She’s not my female, at least not yet.”
Callen raised a brow but said nothing, until he glanced at the broken window and the glass on the floor. “You’ll stay away from her.”
“Callen, don’t ask that. You know I’d sacrifice myself for you or anyone else in the pack, but if it comes down to choosing between our pack and Anna. . . Hell, Callen, = I can’t let anything happen to her.”
It wasn’t something Blade ever pictured himself saying, that he would essentially give up the pack for Anna, but he wouldn’t lie to Callen. Blade couldn’t lose Anna.
“You think I’m doing this to punish you, Blade? Open your eyes! The shifters here are pissed off at you, and several want you dead!” Callen wasn’t hiding his anger as he usually did, which emphasized the severity of the situation.
Blade knew he’d have to be put down, eventually. He simply hadn’t expected it to be this soon. Perhaps it was best if it happened here, at the hand of Liam’s guards and not Callen’s, and away from Blade’s pack. In his six years with Damien’s pack, Blade had seen the aftermath of Callen putting down a shifter twice. The enforcer handled the task with grace and dignity—on the outside. No, Blade would spare Callen, if he could.
“Promise me, Callen, no matter what happens to me, you’ll get Anna out of here.”
Callen’s lips thinned as he straightened his body, taking on the air of an alpha. “You don’t move from this spot. Understood?”
“But Anna—”
“If she means anything to you, you’ll do as I say and stay away from her. Don’t tie her fate to yours.”
Bladed nodded, but Callen didn’t look convinced. “Your word, Blade. From this point forward, you’re on your best behavior.”
Callen would help Anna, even if he couldn’t save Blade. “You have my word.”
