Caleb's head roared with the accusation and its implications, although he kept his body perfectly still, tightly coiled and ready to explode forth at any moment.
“As for you,” the other wolf went on in an entirely conversational tone, swiveling his gaze to Luke, although the cruel grin tainted his features. “Nobody remarked on your leavetaking from the Pack. Although one certain tasty little wolf you left behind did seem to mourn your loss for a while. But she's found new ways to enjoy herself. Hasn't she?” He gave the wolfish equivalent of elbowing his speckled companion, who huffed out crude laughter while setting his eerie bright yellow gaze on Luke.
Luke's entire body abruptly seemed even bigger as every single strand of his coat stood up on end like tiny daggers. The growl he emitted came from a place Caleb knew well—one of pure, blind rage. The speckled wolf suddenly crouched to spring forward. Caleb's head snapped from side to side as he coolly assessed where the biggest danger lay.
“You forgot one thing, brother,” Luke said, staring at Bash with burning fury in his eyes, his voice little more than a primitive snarl. “You always played the hapless fool to our sire's every wish. And he always played you damn well in return, since you are little more than a pathetic puppet, Bashar.”
On the breathless tail of those words, Luke launched himself straight across the small patch of hot, dry earth toward the two rogues.
~
Rielle thought she might be sick to her stomach. Staying by the window in Alpha's office, trying to make herself small and unnoticeable, she couldn't look directly at Otsana. She and the Alpha's mate were alone in the large room after the flurry of activity that followed Rielle's revelation to the Alpha about what had happened. Not that she was entirely sure what exactly had happened, or was happening now. All she really knew was Caleb might be in danger, he had flagrantly disobeyed clear orders from the Alpha, and the crazy speed at which so many things had just changed with life-shaking force in the period of only weeks was making her dizzy.
Her wolf whined soft encouragement, pressing in a supportive way against her mind. The now constant reminder of her wolf's clear presence did manage to provide some comfort. She'd take all of it she could get right now.
Otsana, generally the picture of capable serenity, stood by the Alpha's massive desk, restlessly tapping her foot, face pinched with concern. She caught Rielle sneaking a quick, equally worried glance at her and offered a strained smile. “He is quite the hothead, isn't he?”
Rielle didn't have to ask to know she referred to Caleb. Dropping her nervous gaze back to the window mantel, she twisted her lower lip in something approximating agreement. Yes, his fuse was extremely short. It was part of him, and she'd known that her whole life.
But to defy the direct orders of his Alpha...that was unacceptably foolish behavior. Caleb himself wasn't a fool, not by a long shot. Ever since the rogues had appeared in Black Mesa territory, however, his choices had gotten less and less well thought out.
Now that she and Caleb were lovers—she shivered in remembered thrill, shocked that the last time had been only that morning, which now seemed like eons ago—his deepest protective instincts had been triggered. She'd been the one to push him over the edge into this stupid, desperate act of insubordination.
“It's my fault.” Her voice sounded low in its misery.
Otsana made a disparaging noise with her lips, causing Rielle to look up in surprise. “Nonsense, child. You may in fact be my youngest's saving grace. He'll certainly need one after Alpha deals with him.”
Rielle couldn't help the tremor of worry that rattled over her.
“Will he—Alpha won't banish him from the Pack, will he?” she dared to ask, voice a whisper, feeling even more sick with every word.
Nothing in Otsana's face soothed Rielle's distress. “I don't know what Alpha will decide,” his mate said in an austere tone. “He is Alpha, and he leads this Pack. He will do what is best for it, as always.”
Rielle swallowed hard. She remembered Kurt Tunstall's assertion that the Black Mesa Alpha was a fair man, but that he too had once been a hothead. Despite the tempering years since then, she knew Alpha was not only fair, but relentlessly just. He would be certain to mete out the perfect justice for Caleb's flagrant thumbing of his nose at the rules. Whatever that justice might be, she knew it would not bode well for Caleb's position in the Pack.
Heart aching for the wolf who'd touched her soul and helped set it free, mind still reeling as she considered all the possible ramifications and consequences, Rielle could only nod at the Alpha's mate as she sat and waited, powerless to do anything else to help the big, courageous wolf who had so unexpectedly captured her heart.
~
The thud of heavy bodies colliding reverberated through the dry landscape. A cloud of yellowish dust powdered up into the air as Luke and his brother crashed to the ground, rolling and growling and snapping for each other's throats.
A split second after they lunged at one another, the obnoxious speckled wolf looked at Caleb and curled his lip. It was the only warning before he leaped forward, but Caleb was smarter than that. Already in the air, he met the rogue halfway.
The air filled with snarls, howls, and occasional yelps at a well-landed claw or tooth. With his paws full fighting off the wolf with the bright yellow eyes, Caleb couldn't pay any attention to the vicious drama unfolding between Luke and his brother. The speckled wolf landed a solid thwack on his shoulder before Caleb feinted back to the right, then left again. He bowled over the other wolf and instantly spun, jaws seeking an unguarded jugular. But the other wolf was fast, too, despite his size. Caleb couldn't get a real grip on him, even though he pulled out every fighting move he knew and then some.
Barely aware of the other fight going on, although some calmer part of his mind filed away that whole scene under the general heading of Secrets and Lies From the Canadian Pack of Crazies, Caleb felt himself deep inside the zone he always entered when fighting. Real fighting, cage fighting, mock fighting, it didn't matter. When he relied on his lethal paws, claws, and jaws, the world shrank to a tiny sphere of violence and strength, in which there could be only one winner.
The speckled wolf drew back for a moment, vaulting off in what Caleb had to admit was a pretty sweet overhead somersault. He landed on all four paws behind Caleb, who had to whirl to face his opponent.
“You're a good fighter,” the speckled wolf said, panting roughly. He rubbed a paw over one eye. To his satisfaction, Caleb noted he'd left a thin line of blood welling from a swipe he'd landed on the rogue's face. “But today's outcome has little effect on anything. I have a secret and you don't know it,” he ended in a nasty singsong.
Caleb narrowed his eyes but remained silent. He preserved his strength while the other wolf wasted his stupid breath on words.
“It's the future that matters. And you have no idea what that future holds for you and your pack. But I do. And it won't be fun for you. Any of you.”
The wolf laughed, his tone cruel and mocking. Caleb itched to end the sound. Permanently. Quicker than thought, he exploded full throttle and charged. Unprepared for Caleb's lightning quick jump, the rogue slammed hard onto the ground, Caleb a fury of snapping teeth and ferocious snarling on top of him. They locked jaws onto limbs, punted one another away with massive shoulder blocks, left bloody gashes down legs and dove for each other's throats again and again, grim and outraged.
They won't touch our Pack again! Caleb's human shouted in his head, the force of it fueling him on despite the day's relentless sun beginning to drain his energy.
With another one of those incredible flips, the speckled wolf disappeared from Caleb's lunge as he flung himself off to the side. Before Caleb could charge him again, though, the rogue froze. With a sudden upward snap of his head, he alerted strongly to the north, flaring nostrils seeking a scent. Nearly falling over his own feet to stop himself in the face of a possible new danger, Caleb did the same, while still keeping a baleful gaze on the rogue.<
br />
The scents revealed themselves to both wolves simultaneously, then the sight. The Alpha of the Black Mesa Pack appeared in human form through the trees to the north, flanked by ten other wolves, half of whom were in wolf form. They sprinted toward the combatants.
With a sharp cry, the speckled wolf alerted the one called Bash. Caleb leapt forward again, barreling into the rogue with all the force he could. This time, though, crazy yellow eyes was ready. He stood solidly rooted to meet Caleb's leap. When they crashed together, Caleb felt as if he'd smashed into a cement wall.
An agonized yelp told him Luke had been injured. Wondering who the hell he could trust in this mess, he kept fighting. He had to kill this bastard before Alpha got here. Or at least keep him captive.
Suddenly grunting with pain as a heavy weight landed on him from behind, he felt his legs knocked out from under him, tossing him off the speckled wolf. In the same instant he plowed into the dirt, the weight vanished as quickly as it had come. Spitting out pebbles and twigs, he lurched back to his paws, shaking his head to clear the sudden dizziness before he could look around.
His opponent was gone. Whirling, he saw two furry shapes pelting over the hills, racing away to the west. The cowardly rogues were fleeing in the face of the approaching Pack.
“Damn it!” he roared, taking off after them.
Before he could take more than two steps, something again tackled him from behind. Growling, almost hissing in his thwarted bloodlust, he flipped himself around, ready to tear out a throat. Any throat.
Rafe's enraged eyes stared back at him. Fearless, he snapped right back at Caleb, warning him off with all his damned alpha-to-be power. Snarling, eyes still filmed with bloodlust, Caleb still struggled for a minute before he managed to force himself with every last ounce of willpower to lay still. Rafe shook him by the scruff of his neck, hard, making his point very clear. Caleb jerked his head once, though his entire body still trembled with fury. Slowly, Rafe stood up and backed away from Caleb, though his lips remained lifted in a snarl.
“Do. Not. Move. Again.” Pulsing fury radiated from every line of his body. Coat bristling, he stood a few feet away and glared at his brother with a look born of rage and terrible disappointment.
Caleb didn't move. When Alpha reached him, his steps measured, he didn't even look at Caleb. Instead, he went past him. Straight to Luke. Caleb stiffened, setting his jaw. Even if he could have twisted his head to look behind without wondering if Rafe would decapitate it, he wouldn't have done it. The sight of the Alpha checking first on Luke rather than his own kin wasn't something he would handle well right now.
Since I usually handle things so well anyway. His human's voice sounded suddenly weary. Swallowing a whine, he pushed away all thoughts.
The low murmur of Alpha's voice came calmly as he issued instructions to the other wolves. Caleb could hear the extra mild, almost bland tone to it. Despite his steely resolve in the face of all danger, the sound of his father's smooth, almost toneless words sent sudden unease rippling down his hide. The Alpha never raised his voice. But when it was so soft it almost disappeared—then it was time to really worry.
Finally, the Alpha stepped over to him. Without looking down, he said to Rafe, “Take him to my office. Get him cleaned up first. I will speak with him in an hour.”
With that, he went back down the hill. Caleb stared after his father's retreating back. A confusing scatter of emotions ricocheted through him, each one worse than the other. He could feel his tail droop a little, even in his position flat on the ground.
“Get up.” Rafe's bark was almost as toneless as the Alpha's, although from the way it also shook with anger there was no mistaking his views on the matter. He clearly saw Caleb as the world's biggest idiot.
Maybe that made two of them.
~
Rielle almost tripped over her own feet running for the door when the vehicles pulled back into the den property and up to the main house. She'd been perched in one of the upstairs alcoves for the past hour, staring out the window and trying not to visualize all the horrible things that might be happening.
Behind her, though, Otsana called out, “Just wait here, Rielle. I suspect Alpha will need to deal with Caleb before he allows you to see him.”
Rielle turned and drew breath to protest, her wolf whining in agitation. Otsana shook her head, expression as serious as it had been hours earlier. Heart smacking against her ribcage, wolf pacing restlessly in her mind, Rielle sank back into the window seat, shaking with her need to see Caleb for herself, to make sure he was okay. She sniffed the air. His scent came to her: rough, like pine bark, accented with angry sweat and sandy dirt and blood. Some of the blood was his.
Otsana flashed a brief, consoling smile at Rielle before she hurried downstairs. Biting her lip, Rielle sat on her hands and tried to take comfort that the blood she smelled wasn't an enormous amount. She wondered about the strange wolves. Who they were, if they'd been killed or captured. Her veins felt chilly as she contemplated Caleb facing Alpha about his actions.
During the agonizing wait earlier, she'd paced the hallways, the kitchen, her room, the woods just outside, all the way back to Caleb's little place. Ana Lyall had sat with her for a time in the den's kitchen, pushing glasses of iced tea into Rielle's hands and chattering about anything except whatever was happening miles away. Catching up with her was a nice distraction, actually. Rielle had forgotten how relaxing it was to have a friend who was also a shifter. Someone from whom she had no secrets to keep. She didn't have to hide things the way she did with her human acquaintances. Even so, while Rielle appreciated the gesture, it hadn't soothed her completely. Nothing would soothe her until she could see and touch Caleb herself.
Now, she sat, trembling, feeling like a jittery stick of lit dynamite. Her wolf pawed at her mind, worried and wanting to see Caleb. She scented Ana coming back down the hall to her. The other wolf settled onto the window seat next to Rielle. She said nothing at first, just placed a hand on Rielle's shoulder and squeezed gently.
After a moment, she said in kind yet hushed tones, “Did he really kill anyone?”
Rielle shook her head. “I don't know yet,” she whispered. “And that's what scares me. He has such a hair trigger temper. I know I'm the one who set him off. He thought he had to protect me, so he went after them. He'd never be able to simply bring them in to face a tribunal. Caleb is jury, judge, and executioner in one.” Despite herself, she felt a surge of pride in his strength and his desire to keep her and the Pack safe. If only he had told her first. Maybe she could have talked some sense into his big, ox-like brain.
“Don't blame yourself for his choices,” Ana said firmly. “Look. It's pretty obvious there's something interesting going on between you two.”
Rielle blushed, although she hitched her lips up in a bare smile as well. Indeed, there was.
“However,” Ana continued, “the guy's a grown wolf. He's responsible for his own decisions. You have to let him make his own mistakes, Ree.” Ana began to rub Rielle's knotted back. “Besides, he's got a lifetime of practice doing that, right?”
“You're right,” Rielle said in wry tones. She let Ana's comforting hands dispel a tiny bit of the tension in the muscles between her shoulder blades. “It's just different now.”
Ana sighed. “I can tell. Don't worry. He'll know you're still on his side no matter what.” She paused. “You are, aren't you?”
Rielle couldn't answer for a moment. No, she never could betray Caleb or turn her back on him, not after what they had shared. He had her heart, and every bit of her ached to be with him right now. Still, her conscience tormented her with agonized trepidation at the thought of a wolf who would allow his temper to make such potentially disastrous decisions for himself.
~
After Rafe marched him to Alpha's office and practically shoved him in, the door shut behind him with its usual forbidding sound. For a moment, Caleb felt spun back to his younger years. He'd spent a fair amount o
f time in this very room, facing down his Alpha in the aftermath of some stupid stunt or other of his. Okay, a ton of time.
The vision of a small, dark little wolf drifted through his mind. His memory told him she smelled like cedar and cinnamon and sunshine. Closing his eyes, he focused on thoughts of Rielle. He knew he'd have to face his father alone. Would have to own up to his actions. He only hoped when he stepped back out of this room, regardless of the consequences, Ree wouldn't look at him with the sheer disappointment he'd seen on his brother's face. Or, worse yet, disillusionment.
His wolf stood like a sturdy beacon inside him, tail half drooped but ears erect. He'd known deciding to go after the rogues with intent to kill was direct disobedience, but he'd had a good reason for doing it. Yes, it was the wrong choice. But he wouldn't be ashamed of his actions.
Well, at least not until he heard what his Alpha intended to do with him.
The door opened again on its heavy, well-oiled hinges. The hairs on Caleb's neck told him Alpha entered the room. Standing as still as he could despite the throbbing pain on his left leg and across his ribs where he'd caught a slamming blow, he waited for the Black Mesa Alpha to chew him out and make some kind of example out of him. Or worse.
Channing Bardou rounded the edge of his intimidatingly huge mahogany desk and settled his long, rangy figure into the equally impressive dark green leather chair behind it. Steepling his fingers under his chin, face expressionless, he regarded Caleb as he waited. This was his favorite tactic, not to mention probably his most effective one. Anyone who had secrets to spill usually told them pretty fast when in the mercilessly patient presence of the Black Mesa Alpha.
Hunting Wolf: Black Mesa Wolves #3 Page 17
