by Leeda Vada
She sat down and covered her face with her hands. She realized that now that the two were together, it would not be long before Canaan found out about the letters and the phone calls.
One of Donoma’s household duties was the distribution of mail to the residents of Alpha House. She had intercepted the letters Calli had written to Canaan. Instead of placing them in his room, she had destroyed them, one of the strategies she and her co-conspirator had decided on as part of their plan to destroy the Powhatan pack.
Now that they were wed, Donoma realized that the couple were bound to discuss the interrupted communication between them. It would only be a matter of time until they realized that there had been someone in Alpha House conspiring against them.
What was she going to do? Despite the risk of discovery if she contacted Morrison Bland and his prohibition about any further contact between them, she would do so anyway.
After all, it had been his idea for her to infiltrate Alpha House and become a part of the household. He had arranged for several of his troopers to beat her unconscious and then place her battered body on the outskirts of Bakari.
Over the years as her grandson grew into a man, she advanced in the hierarchy of the household until she reached the level of chatelaine.
By listening to gossip and doing some research of her own, Donoma discovered that Apollo, when in his newly-elected position as Alpha of the Cumberland Nation, had given the order to show no mercy during the raid on the Monacan village in Virginia. Revenge needed nourishment, and the Powhatan raid on her adopted home had fed the long dormant blackness within her.
During their days hiding in the cave in the forest, Donoma’s vow of revenge was what had sustained her. She repeatedly reminded her grandson that the Cumberland Nation led by the Powhatan clan had killed his father and had led the attack that decimated the rest of their clan. Because Apollo had shown no mercy to her family, she was under no moral obligation to show any to his.
She reminded him of the screams of his ten-year-old siblings, Nokosi and Nita. Of his mother, Catori, covering the body of three-year-old Leena as the arrow broke through his mother’s back and pierced the baby’s heart, killing them both instantly.
She had hidden him and herself in the tall reeds that surrounded the creek that bordered the back of their village. They had been digging yams to make the small dessert cakes that were her specialty.
Pulling him flat to the ground, she stuffed the end of one of her scarfs into his mouth and circled his neck with the rest, forming a knot to prevent him from spitting it out.
When they realized the inevitable outcome of the battle, she had dragged him into the forest, refusing to release him no matter how hard he kicked and screamed. There, she fashioned a cave from the snow piled against one of the giant oak trees.
They huddled together, hot tears splashing down their frozen cheeks as the screams of the villagers curdled their blood.
He had finally fallen asleep, exhausted from the effort it took to breathe and keep his nostrils free of the discharge that continually clogged them. She rocked him, humming soothing words of comfort in an ancient language long forgotten.
Bringing her thoughts back to the present, Donoma was resolved that no matter what resistance the Hounds’ leader gave her, she would stand firm and make it clear that the next step in accomplishing their mutual goal would be his.
Chapter Twenty-Six
At Calli’s acquittal, Laura collapsed. Odin carried her to their bed and lay down with her in his arms. She curled into him, finally sleeping fitfully. Odin rubbed her arms, his chin resting on her auburn curls. Laura’s natural color was a fiery orange shade, but it drew so much unwanted attention that she kept it dyed the less flamboyant color.
Odin loved his mate deeply, but he knew she was experiencing unimaginable pain. They had lost two of their four children—one to miscarriage, while rescuing Canaan from kidnappers when he was a child; and the second, Nathan, a strapping, vibrant, spirited young Warrior—in the war against those who sought to destroy their kind.
Laura had stoically borne the loss. She had grieved as any mother would at the death of a child. But this was different.
A third child—their only daughter—was under attack. Again. Laura had survived the loss of the other two, but her daughter’s suffering was breaking her. The loss of the other two had been swift, a clean blade piercing her heart. But the campaign to destroy Calli had been long and relentless, and it was breaking her.
And she laid the blame at the feet of Apollo and Odin. Both men had been so self-righteous in their judgement that Calli had been too young at sixteen to be claimed by Canaan, who was ten years older.
However, Laura had warned them that Mother Nature brooked no interference, and that she would strike back and strike back with a vengeance.
When Laura had discovered Odin and Apollo’s interference, she had taken them before the Powhatan Council. Lupa Belen and Duncan Montauk, the security chief, fought her suggestions ferociously. They insisted that Calli was not emotionally or physically mature enough to handle the effects of Etrus, even if the effects were presented in weaker stages.
Just as Oedipus had flaunted his arrogance in the faces of the gods, so had the members of the Canid Council flaunted their arrogance by ignoring the basic tenet of Canid society: interference with a mated couple was expressly forbidden.
Their argument, that Calli was too young at sixteen to comprehend the circumstances associated with Canid mating, was flawed. Laura had argued that Calli could understand the ramifications if they were presented to her in terms commensurate with her age.
Then, with proper guidance from her and other mated Canid females, her daughter would be able to navigate the changes in her body until the time came when she and Canaan could physically act on his claim.
Dr. Arjan of the Meherrin clan had made gigantic inroads into managing Etrus. She would be able to work with Calli as the symptoms began to show themselves and then be able to suppress or ameliorate them.
Unfortunately, Canaan had agreed. As Calli’s prospective mate, the final word was his and he supported the decision of the Council. Though Laura knew he meant well, she still resented his interference in what she felt was the decision of Calli’s parents since she was not legally an adult.
Odin, or course, would not nay-say any decision by the Alpha first family. Loyalty was such an inbred part of who he was, which, of course, was an absolute necessity for the Commander of the pack’s military forces. Laura understood that for any soldier, unquestioning loyalty and obedience were essential.
Even so, Laura still resented his total commitment to the Canid community, a commitment that superseded his responsibilities to her and their children. To be fair, Laura knew it would be that way. Odin had made it clear to her before he claimed her as his mate. But she was so in love with him that she accepted the conditions of Canid life. Though at the time she had no idea of the enormous price she and her children would pay.
But Odin knew this latest assault on Calli was stretching Laura’s control to the limit. His wife had sacrificed so much to be with him and live in his world that it was tearing him up inside to see her hurting like this.
She had lost her closest friend, the one person she needed to confide in during this time. That friend, Belen, she now saw as her nemesis and the source of Calli’s persecution.
Odin knew that some of what Belen felt toward Canaan’s future mate was something Belen could not help. Though born human, when Belen mated with Apollo, her body chemistry changed, and over the years she had become more and more physically Canid.
The Lupine social organization was a two-tiered one, male and female, so Belen’s rank paralleled that of Apollo, the male pack alpha.
In the Lupine psyche, it is biologically imperative that the female Alpha defend her position in the pack. There can be only one Lupa, and the Lupa is herself an alpha. Not a submissive to her mate, she reigns alongside him.
Belen coul
d sense that Calli was also an alpha and that ultimately, she would challenge Belen’s authority. So, her hostility toward Calli began as soon as the lupine DNA she had absorbed from Apollo sensed a possible threat from the younger female.
Odin believed that Belen was not a bad person and that she struggled with her negative feelings toward her prospective daughter-in-law. The older woman understood that Canaan had to mate for the continuation of their line. Most of the time, she was able to suppress her feelings of resentment, at least in public. But in times of stress, they would sometimes reveal themselves.
#
As Laura began to extricate her body from Odin’s embrace, he attempted to pull her back, but she stiffened. She never denied him her body, willingly performing her duty as his mate.
Odin desperately wanted to make love to his mate, but he had sacrificed that right two years ago at the graduation ceremony when he chose his Alpha over her. He had believed that, in time, Laura would be able to come to terms with his actions and forgive him.
But the wounds were too deep.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Calli had fallen asleep as soon as they had taken off. Canaan had one stop he needed to make before they reached Aragon.
Canaan landed the Varul chopper behind the Lakota cabin. Calli woke as he lifted her into his arms.
Laura ran to her daughter and pulled her into her arms, tears streaming down her face. She moved her hands to Calli’s face, then touched her forehead to that of her daughter’s. She raised her head to stare into her daughter’s empty eyes and said, “I’m so sorry I wasn’t there for you.”
“Mom, you are always with me,” Calli tried to reassure her. “It was my request that you and dad not attend. I couldn’t have borne it if you two had heard the things they said about me in court. And you helped me get to Scythia when I desperately needed a place to go. That was all you could do, mom.”
Calli clasped Laura’s shoulders and took two steps, enabling her to look into her mother’s eyes. “Your spirit has always sustained me and always will. Do not carry the burden for my decision.”
“I’m taking Calli to Aragon, the castle grandfather bequeathed to us. She will be safe there,” Canaan informed them as he drew Calli back into his arms.
“And how do you intend to ensure her safety?” demanded Rand. “You’ve done a lousy job so far. Abandoning her over and over when she most needed you,” he taunted. “You cannot honestly expect us to trust her welfare to you again.”
His right arm securing Calli to his side, Canaan fixed on his brother-in-law, a growl forcing its way from his throat. “Hear me, Rand. I will brook no interference in my marriage. No one comes near my mate. No one talks to her, calls her, approaches her in any way without going through me first. I have claimed her as my wife and my mate, and I will destroy anyone—anyone— who interferes in our relationship.”
“And have you made that clear to your mother, Canaan?” Laura asked, her voice tinged with scorn.
“I will,” responded Canaan, “to her and the rest of the members of the Council.”
He led Calli through the door and onto the waiting heli-jet.
#
Tamby, Dakota, and several other members of his team had met Canaan and Calli at Aragon.
As soon as they disembarked, Tamby led Calli up to her suite. She helped her with her bath, then cocooned her under the covers in the giant bed.
Trusting his sister to watch over her, Canaan went to his studio. Before Sebastian had relinquished the Varul jet to them, he had given Canaan a copy of the full tape of Calli’s assault, an unedited version.
This was the fifth time Canaan had replayed the video. He needed to experience Calli’s pain to make it as much a part of him as it was of her. Maybe his absorption of it would help lessen his guilt.
His mate was the foundation of a male Canid’s existence. She was his underpinning, his present and his future. And, since Canaan was Apollo’s heir, Calli was the vessel to carry the Powhatan nascent line of the Canid species.
The priority for every Canid male was the security and happiness of his mate. Canaan had failed, and no amount of remorse was going to undo what had happened.
Calli’s rape had been the result of actions that he initiated, a burden that was his to bear. He could not ask her forgiveness because he could not forgive himself.
“Hold it, Canaan,” Dakota directed from behind him.
So engrossed in the scenes unfolding in front of him, Canaan had not heard Dakota enter the room. As Dakota stepped up closer to the screen and leaned forward, he said, “Rewind a few seconds.”
Canaan complied.
“Now, pause it,” Dakota directed.
“She said something,” he commented. “Run it again. More slowly this time.”
Canaan did, and sure enough, as Devil mounted her, it did seem as if Calli said something.
Slowing the video even more, amplifying the sound, and zooming in on the images, Canaan lip read her comments.
“Canaan,” she whispered. “Forgive me. Please, forgive me.”
Then, for first time since the attacks began, Calli stopped fighting. Canaan watched as she yielded not only tears as the assailants took turns violating her body.
#
Calli had not spoken since they arrived at the castle. She seemed numb to everything around her, allowing Tamby to arrange her limbs as if she were a many-jointed doll.
A knock on the door signaled Canaan’s entrance into the room.
“How is she?” he asked, placing a tray with a decanter of brandy and two small glasses on the small table in front of the fireplace.
“She’s still out of it,” Tamby replied, pouring herself a drink and swallowing it in one gulp. “That’s not unusual after all she’s gone through,” Tamby said to reassure her worried brother. “She’s still in shock.”
Canaan moved to the head of the bed and looked down at the sleeping Calli, “What can I do to help?”
“Mostly just give her time,” Tamby responded, giving his arm a squeeze. “You can’t rush time.”
“How much time are we talking about?” whispered Canaan, lightly touching an errant curl on Calli’s forehead.
“No one can answer that,” Tamby answered patiently. “You know about the trauma that accompanies battle fatigue. Calli has been in a war the last few days, and the trial undoubtedly awakened memories of the attack. She’ll have to recover from those memories all over again in conjunction with the trauma of the trial.”
“You can go now. I’ll take over,” Canaan said, as he drew up a chair to the head of the bed. “I’ll stay with her. There is food downstairs.”
“Okay,” Tamby said. Hesitating at the door, she added, “Please, call if you need anything.”
“Sure,” Canaan responded, his eyes focused on Calli’s raven hair as her face was hidden under the comforter.
“Canaan?” His head rose as he turned to his sister and friend. “You’ve also been through a lot.” She walked over, kissed the top of his head, and exited the room.
“I’ll call Dad and let him know all is secure.”
Canaan nodded before turning back to his wife.
#
Calli was not sure where she was. She also did not know how long she had been asleep. It took her a few seconds to recognize the picture of Aragon on the wall directly across from the bed.
It depicted Aragon of 1300s Scotland as it was when the Alexander ancestor built it, before any of the renovations to the structures and landscaping by subsequent generations over the centuries. It stood on the highest promontory, a solitary vanguard against anyone foolish enough to dare attempt to breach the forbidding fortress.
Calli desperately needed the protection the impregnable fortress provided. She wished she could stay in her bed, secure in its walls, safe from all the pain outside of it.
Needing to relieve herself, she turned to rise and became aware of a sleeping Canaan by her side. His legs were stretched out, his
feet propped up on the lower side of the huge bed, his arms crossed over his chest.
The wrinkled shirt and suit pants from the trial and the days-old beard that shadowed his chin gave evidence that he had not seen to his personal needs since that painful day. His shoulders were slumped in defeat, and his furrowed brow set in consternation even in his sleep.
As if sensing her stare, his eyes opened.
“How are you?” he rasped, removing his feet and sitting up. “Do you need anything? You must be hungry and thirsty.” He turned to reach for the water pitcher and cup on the nightstand.
“I need to use the bathroom first.”
Canaan stepped up to help her as she threw the covers back and swung her legs over the side.
“It’s okay, Canaan,” she protested, putting up a hand to stop his approach. “I can do this by myself.”
Canaan stepped back. A wounded expression flashed across his face.
Realizing she had hurt him, Calli said quickly, “I didn’t mean any disrespect.”
“None taken,” he assured her. He turned his back to give her some privacy. “I’ll go down and see about a light meal.”
“I’m not really hungry.”
“You have not eaten in two days,” he said, exasperated. “Whether you want to or not, you have to eat,” he insisted.
“Okay,” Calli acquiesced. “But make it very light, please,” she added, disappearing into the bathroom.
Waiting in the great hall, watching a playoff game, Dakota and Rand rose at Canaan’s entrance.
“How is she?” Rand asked.
“What are you doing here?”
“Mom and Dad may trust my sister to your care, Canaan, but I don’t,” his brother-in-law said bitterly. “I will be a burr on your ass until Calli is strong enough to look out for herself.”
Canaan approached him. “Obviously, you didn’t get the message about interfering in my business. I’m going to have to send it to you again.”
Dakota stepped between them. “You two, this is not helping,” he reprimanded. “Rand, we are all here to support Calli and Canaan. They have the right to work out their problems on their own. If the situation involved your mate, you would do no less.”