by J. K Harper
Caleb let his tongue loll out for a second in pure joy at the thought. Once, Rielle had denied her own wolf so much she'd been in danger of losing that side of herself forever. Now, she seemed pretty damn excited every time she shifted into four paws. Running through the desert canyons southwest of the pack's den, where the snow was less deep than in the mountains rising immediately behind their little house on the den property, she seemed as thrilled to be a wolf as he was.
At least she could defend herself better when in her wolf shape. His human muttered, That's for damn sure. It was a good thing, Caleb mused as he pulled up to a stop when a deep slice in the earth yawned open before them. He couldn't be around his mate to protect her all the time, even though that was part of his duty. Knowing she could at least fight back in wolf form if anything happened calmed him. A little.
Rielle stood beside him, panting slightly as they gazed out over the crinkled, rumpled earth, carved into canyons and mesas and buttes and covered in a white blanket of cold. Last night's storm had draped even more snow over the desert, much to the pleasure of those who worried about water all the time. Another storm was due in tomorrow. Caleb shrugged. He didn't care about water. What interested him was that running in snow was a better workout. It helped keep him fit and strong. Ready to fight.
Ready to train fighters, his human reminded, although a slightly wistful tone echoed in Caleb's head with those words.
Yes. He trained other fighters, now. And he was very good at it. Good enough that the one-time rogue, Rawlins, had come crawling to him, begging to be trained by the master.
Rielle reached out and thwapped him with a little paw.
“Hey!” His voice didn't speak the way it did in human form, but of course his mate could understand everything he said while a wolf. “What was that for?”
His sweet, kind little mate sat and began to wash her paw with delicate focus. Glancing at him sideways before returning her attention to her paw, she said, “Because I can read your mind. You were thinking about how mighty you are, getting Luke to come to you for training.”
Caleb stared at Ree, ignoring the glare of the early sunlight bouncing off the freshly fallen snow. No way, his human said, though doubt crept in. She can't read my mind.
Could she?
His dark little mate huffed out a laugh and suddenly bounced back to nip at his tail, nimbly darting away when he instinctively reacted by whirling on her, playful growl on his lips.
“Gotcha!” she said, laughter bubbling from her voice. “I have you snowed, big wolf. Get it? Snowed?” She batted some cold whiteness at him, spattering it across his chest.
If Caleb could roll his eyes in wolf shape, he would. “You've been hanging out with me too long, mate,” he said, rubbing affectionately against her, careful not to tip her over with his much larger size. “You're starting to sound like me. I don't think that's a good thing.”
Ree's tongue lolled out as she grinned. “I've picked up a few tricks from you, yes. You are a good teacher, Caleb,” she added in a suddenly more serious tone. “You worked hard for this. You've earned every bit of your recognition, love.”
As usual, Caleb felt suddenly bashful in the face of his mate's praise. Sitting down again, he stared out over the sprawl of the canyons before them and leaned into her. She leaned back, and they stayed that way in companionable silence for long minutes as they contemplated the view. It was spectacular, for sure. Empty land stretched out for miles in every direction. Most of it was free territory—unclaimed by any wolf pack and unbound by pack restrictions.
But soon it wouldn't be that way anymore. His human hmphed as he looked out of Caleb's eyes, calculating. Way to go, Rawlins, he thought in Caleb's mind. Pretty sweet deal here to get for your very own pack. The immense desert sprawl was wide open and mostly empty, giving wolves plenty of room to roam and hunt away from human eyes. A small but valuable portion of this free territory was part of the new pack lands Luke was being handed to govern as a new pack alpha.
Rielle murmured, “He'll have a lot to handle out here. This is a lot of space to manage. Especially for someone coming in with as little backing as he has.” Her dark tail curled around her front paws.
Unable to help himself, Caleb barked in disbelief, the noise sending out another white blast of air from his mouth into the cold morning light. “He's got plenty of backing. From my own father.” He bit off the last words, afraid they sounded pathetically whiny.
Pathetically sad.
Ree slid her face against his, nuzzling him for an understanding moment. Thankfully, she didn't respond to his comment directly. Instead, she said, “He's having a hard time getting anyone to want to be part of his new pack. They're all afraid he'll be crazy like his sire. Or that he'll turn them all into rogues or something equally silly.”
Caleb didn't answer except for a single tail lash.
Unperturbed, Rielle continued, “He needs your help. Do you think it was easy for him to ask? You, of all people, have the skills and credentials. He's an alpha, yes, but it sounds like his old pack fought pretty dirty. He wants to learn all the solid skills from you so he can really prove he's worthy of his new role.”
“It's probably some rogue trick.” Caleb knew he could safely express such thoughts around Rielle. She wouldn't scold him for it. “Besides, I didn't turn him down flat. If there's one thing I've finally learned, it's to never say never.”
Even if that went against his deepest instincts. Rawlins hadn't appeared surprised when Caleb had said he'd think about it. Actually, his poker face never changed. At least that was something Caleb could match him for, look for look.
Rielle settled deeper into the snow beside him, gaze firmly on the landscape spread out beyond them in all its barren yet strikingly beautiful mass. Taking a deep breath of the chilled air, she simply said, “There's only way to find out why he really wants to hire you.”
Caleb heaved a big sigh. Rielle pressed her sleek little head into his side.
“New you, my love,” was all she said. “New you.”
Right. Even so, Caleb was going to be on his guard for any tricks from Rawlins. He hadn't worked this hard getting to a place of better reputation just to let some former rogue break him down again.
And just maybe, his human thought very quietly from the most hidden part of him, being the bigger wolf and helping Rawlins would somehow help him get reinstated as a Guardian for the Black Mesa Wolf Pack.
Maybe.
* * *
“To your left. Now!” Caleb leapt to the side as Rawlins came at him again across the mat. Caleb had seen the man fight before, although it was in his wolf shape. With a grudgingness born of the newfound adult side of himself, which sometimes irritated him to no end, he had to acknowledge the other guy was quick on his feet and watchful of every single move Caleb made.
A born fighter. Or one trained in a very nasty pack where underhanded, dirty fighting was the norm.
Rawlins blocked too late. Caleb clipped him hard on the side of his head, sending him spinning away to land on all fours right at the edge where the mat met the hard concrete floor of the shed training gym Caleb had set up behind a friend's business in town. But he sprang up again so quickly, despite slightly swaying on unsteady feet, ready to come at Caleb again, that Caleb was once more impressed.
Damn it all.
Caleb had called Rawlins back to accept his offer after Ree's quiet yet pointed note that a potential client shouldn't be kept waiting too long.
Being a grown up was frigging annoying at times, but it sure was a hell of a lot better than being the idiot of the pack who made stupid mistakes all the time instead. His wolf huffed at that, affronted, but kept his main focus on Rawlins.
“Hold,” Caleb snapped, breathing hard.
Rawlins stopped, taking fast, shallow breaths, his cold eyes never once leaving Caleb's.
“No.” Caleb shook his head. “Don't breathe like that. You'll pass out. Breath in deep but carefully. If you make yourself pass out, you're
not gonna win anything.”
This was their third session in as many days. With each one, Caleb had grown more quietly impressed with Rawlins's natural fight talent, as well as the deep-seated knowledge that the one-time rogue was hiding something. Damn if he knew what, but he was keeping a close eye out for any trickery.
Rawlins finally responded. He'd been mostly silent during the entire session, which unsettled Caleb more than he would ever admit. His wolf had paced and paced all morning in agitation, finally driving Caleb nuts enough that he shoved the wolf to the back of his mind. Yes, he needed the physical skills of a wolf predator while training. But he also needed the thinking skills of a human predator. For that, his wolf needed to simmer down.
His wolf sulked only a little as he was banished to a back corner of Caleb's mind. His eyes, however, still peered out of Caleb's with what he knew was a slight golden glow.
“Perhaps I would win by the element of surprise, were I to pass out during a battle.” Rawlins's voice was a smooth as Caleb's was gravelly, as cultured as Caleb's was forceful and direct.
Caleb paused. Then he narrowed his eyes. “Was that a joke?”
Rawlins didn't crack a smile. “Yes. Couldn't you tell?”
Damn, the guy had a great deadpan.
Sleet slapped the shed door and rattled against the eaves. Caleb breathed in steadily himself. A Colorado winter, with its usual fickleness of cold and sunny one day, cold and blustery the next, was actually the perfect time to train. It gave those restful from forced inactivity a way to blow off steam. And it cooled hot heads.
That was something Caleb had learned a hell of a lot about in recent months. He had to admit, life was little easier when he didn't go off half-cocked. It sure made things easier when it came to Rielle, too. He allowed a single image of her soft lips, sweet smile, and soothing words to flash across his mind before he firmly pushed it away. Focus on the present.
This week, the quiet time between Christmas and New Year's, was also a great one for training because there was little traffic in town to distract him or his fighters. The pack was all in holiday celebration mode—Caleb had been on so many joyous pack runs in the moonlight lately it practically was making him forget he was also human—and the rogue wolves who'd been harassing his pack for the past year hadn't been seen or heard from since the fall.
In other words, it was the best time of year to train a fighter. And maybe the best time of year to figure out this particular fighter's hidden agenda. Because Rawlins had to have one. Caleb knew it. No way the guy would turn to Caleb, who'd almost gotten him killed last summer, for help otherwise.
“Huh,” was all he said in reply. “All right. Set up again. From the top. You need a much stronger left hook. Let's work on that for a while.”
“We already worked on it for nearly an hour.” The shed door rattled again from the force of the wind in ragged accompaniment to the former rogue's slightly challenging words.
Rawlins didn't sound too concerned, but Caleb's hackles raised anyway. He forced himself to shrug. “Doesn't matter. Do as I say. You're paying me to train you, right?”
Rawlins nodded. Without warning, he came at Caleb again, who parried with ease. Deep down, though, that tickle of being impressed stirred again. Damn it. Fine. Luke Rawlins was alpha pack leader material through and through, no matter the fact that Caleb still didn't really trust him. He wouldn't give up, and he was deadly serious about learning to fight better.
Caleb guessed that meant the guy's new pack had a quarter of a chance of being a successful pack. Maybe half a chance if the guy was really lucky.
The two wolves fought for another half hour, warming the shed and sweating buckets.
“Not bad, Rawlins,” Caleb gasped out at one point when his opponent finally managed to knock him off his feet, though he leapt up again almost immediately. “You're finally learning without wondering why the hell I'm asking you to do what I'm asking.”
“And you're finally teaching me without wondering what the hell I'm up to,” Rawlins replied in his smooth voice, drawing Caleb up short. Something dark and edgy underlaid the words. Almost like a challenge.
Caleb slowly circled the edge of the mat, keeping Rawlins firmly in his sights. Rawlins did the same. A car door slammed outside. Ree, here to pick him up because his car was in the shop. It must be nearly five. He caught a faint whiff of her scent. His wolf prowled forth from the dark corner. As usual, his protective instincts went into overdrive when she was around, even though she hadn't even made it inside yet.
Driving snow, the nearby river, a myriad of town scents, and Rawlins' own slight tension spilling forth into his biting sweat all played havoc with Caleb's sensitive nose. He usually filtered out smells unless he was specifically hunting, but when his mate was around, every sense he had was on full alert.
Rawlins was looking at him with something Caleb couldn't figure out. Almost as if he was—assessing his opponent. Sizing him up. And not just because they were training.
Well. There was only so much restraint a wolf could handle.
“Nope,” Caleb said, watching Rawlins closely. “I'm still wondering what the hell this is all about.”
“Penny for my thoughts, then?” Rawlins taunted him with the words, but his voice was totally steady. Calm. Waiting.
Caleb snorted. “More like a plugged nickel in your case.”
He was taken completely off guard when Rawlins busted out a laugh. A genuine laugh. He sensed Rielle quietly come into the shed through the side door, gently stamping off her snow boots on the welcome mat just inside. But she didn't say anything to distract either man.
Well, hell. Rawlins actually looked like a regular guy when he laughed. Almost someone Caleb might want to play poker with someday.
Maybe. If he was feeling particularly adult that day.
Rawlins studied Caleb with a suddenly razor sharp examination, his icy blue eyes taking in every detail and seeming to look down into Caleb's bones. Caleb knew that sort of look well. It wasn't that of a fight adversary sizing up the immediate scene. It was that of an alpha sizing up the entire, extended scene. Rawlins was trying to figure him out. His hackles raised just slightly as his wolf pushed through his restraints and bounded to just beneath the surface of his control.
But he did have control. He really did.
“People were quite right about you,” Rawlins finally said.
“How's that?” Caleb asked suspiciously.
The wind snapped something outside with a crack and all three wolves started. Caleb instinctively took a step closer to Rielle, even though logically he knew there wasn't any real danger.
“You do have an excellent sense of humor,” Rawlins said, still watching Caleb closely.
That took Caleb by surprise. He sensed Ree's sudden relaxing as she dispelled her breath.
“You are also an excellent trainer. You balance your client's needs with your knowledge of what they must do in order to succeed.”
Caleb's poker face slipped at all this praise. Rawlins noticed and raised an eyebrow. “What? I give commendation where it is due. You also,” he added thoughtfully, “think very well on your feet and do not attack without a plan. I can see how you must have been an excellent Guardian, Caleb.”
It was the first time Caleb's name had passed Rawlins's lips. But the comment before that gnawed at him. He heard Ree's pulse speed up just a bit, and the scent of her sudden spike of worry wafted over to him.
“Well, I sure proved that I can attack without a plan sometimes.” Caleb's voice snapped, although his face was firmly set again. “That would be the reason I'm no longer a Guardian.”
Rawlins's next words slammed Caleb's world right off its axis.
“But you can be one again.”
“What the f—” slipped out before he caught himself. Ree hated it when he swore. But a quick glance revealed her similar shock at the other wolf's words. “What are you saying?”
Rawlins stood a little straighter. His ga
ze bored into Caleb's, who stared him down right back. Rawlins twisted his lips then and shook his head once, hard. His next words dragged out of him with a hesitance Caleb recognized. It was the reluctance of stating a difficult truth a wolf didn't want to admit, but had to. “I'm saying, there is a pack that needs Guardians. It has none at the moment. It only has me.”
Caleb heard Rielle's quiet intake of breath at the same moment the understanding of Rawlins's words hit him.
“And I'm the pack's Alpha, not a Guardian,” Rawlins went on, his alpha gaze not letting Caleb go. “But you, Caleb Bardou. You are a Guardian, no matter that your current status says you are not.”
Rawlins paused to let the weight of his words sink into the silence that pounded at Caleb's brain, broken only by the irregular screams of the growing storm outside.
“You,” he went on, “can indeed be a Guardian for this pack. For my pack. What I have seen so far is enough. Caleb Bardou,” and his voice suddenly sounded like sheer alpha as he said the ancient, ceremonial words, “you are hereby requested to join my new pack as a Guardian, to protect it against all who would bring it harm. As its lead Guardian, in fact.”
Very quietly, he added, “Please. I ask because I genuinely need your help.”
Silence seemed to suck the air out of the room as Caleb stared at the other wolf in total shock.
He had no idea how to answer.
4
After Luke's bombshell offer to make Caleb a Guardian, he retreated to let them discuss it.
“But be sure to let me know soon,” he said just before he left, looking at both Rielle and Caleb. He clearly realized her voice would factor into the decision as well. She'd known he was smart from the first moment she met him. “We have a reprieve now. But once the holiday season is done, I'm afraid our time of grace will be ended.”
Caleb drew his brows together, about to launch into questions, but Rielle took the moment to finally speak up. “I understand, Luke,” she said, although she looked at Caleb when she spoke. “I'm sure there will be a lot of questions we can't even think of right now.”
