by Victoria Sue
Taegan beat him to it just as his hand touched the soft wool, and Caleb shrank back, his heart pounding thinking he was in trouble. Taegan just looked at him steadily. “Cy?” Taegan called and Caleb winced. “Go get him some warm clothes,” he ordered the man who ducked into the room. Taegan briskly shook the blanket out and then quickly draped it over his shoulders. Caleb stilled in shock as the big man tucked the blanket around him, and turned to the woman. “He’s freezing, mom.”
Renee clucked again and then appeared holding a warm bowl of water and a cloth. “Give me your hands,” she asked gently and Caleb’s jaw dropped in astonishment as she took each of his hands and wiped them clean with the warm water and the cloth. He couldn’t help the hiss as the water touched his wrists and Renee made a sound of distress and stilled.
He lifted his head after a minute. “Why?” he whispered, and in another instant would have happily cut his own tongue out to take back the word. “I mean,” he tried hurriedly. “I understand if you need to put me back in the cage.”
Renee lifted her hand slowly and cupped his cheek again. She was warm, soft. Exactly like every dream of a mother he had ever had, and he wished with everything in him at that second she was his. “Taegan will help you get clean properly after and will look at these wrists. I want to get some broth into you first.” Her hand dropped. Caleb ducked his head and belatedly remembered his manners.
“Thank you,” he whispered, feeling the loss as she tucked his hands back in the blanket. He had felt the tiny pulse beat in her wrist, and ached for her hand back, for the touch. He shrank back onto the pallet.
“Taegan.” Renee said the name almost as if it were an instruction and pushed a cup of the broth into his hands. Taegan sighed and sat down on the pallet and Caleb froze, his heart threatening to escape his chest. They were nearly touching. Caleb inhaled. The soup smelled wonderful, but underneath there was another scent. He’d smelled it in the clearing when those large hands were around his throat and he remembered it from his crazy dream. Smoky but not cloying. He took another breath and his heart settled. It reminded him of his childhood when his father would come back from the hunt and roast the meat on the fire. It was always a celebration, and even the servants would eat well. Of course, that was before his uncle took over. The only humans in Warwick’s pack now were slaves. His nose flared again.
“I can hold the cup, but it will warm your hands if you can manage it.” Caleb jerked and Taegan huffed. “Here,” he said almost crossly thrusting it at him and Caleb curled his fingers around the cup hardly daring to believe it was for him. He paused. Was it a trick? Would it be snatched away?
“I’m just going to see the children are up,” Renee murmured and Caleb looked up in surprise. He had forgotten she was there. She walked out of the cave.
Caleb looked at the soup again. “It’s not poisoned,” Taegan said and Caleb heard the mild annoyance in his tone and he sipped quickly before he thought better of it. He groaned loudly as he felt the heat in his belly from it trickling down. Taegan chuckled and leaned back seeming quite relaxed. Caleb ducked his head and gobbled the soup before anyone changed their mind and took it off him.
He raised his eyes when the cup was empty and looked longingly at the pot. Taegan stood up without saying a word and took his cup away, refilled it and handed it back. Caleb stared in shock but said “Thank you,” and this time sipped it slowly, wary of his belly objecting to more food than it was used to.
Taegan sat down again, but on the chair this time. Caleb tried not to be too disappointed. “I need to ask you some questions,” he started and cleared his throat. Caleb tilted his head in concentration and remembered what he had asked him before.
“You asked me about some missing children?” Caleb paused before Taegan had the chance to answer and smelled a wolf’s scent immediately. He gasped, nearly dropping the cup and struggled to his feet. “Quick,” he begged. “They’ve found you, run. Get your mom.”
“What?” Taegan stood in confusion glancing around just before Silas stepped into the room. Caleb snarled and without a thought for what he was doing leaped in front of the human shielding him. He would die, but he may give Taegan seconds to get away. He snarled again and put his back to Taegan, not thinking how odd the sound was coming from a human throat.
“Caleb.” Caleb jumped as Taegan’s large hand rested on his shoulder. “This is Silas. He’s a friend.” Caleb felt even more foolish and glanced warily at the wolf. Silas? He didn’t smell of any pack he recognized, but that wasn’t surprising. The wolf took a step closer and Caleb was just going to arch his neck to show submission when the wolf astounded him.
He took a sharp inhale and then sank to his knee baring his throat in exactly the submissive pose Caleb was just going to offer. “Alpha,” he said deferentially, and Caleb looked behind him, half expecting there to be another wolf.
“W-what are you doing?” Caleb stuttered and then a chill ran over him as he realized the wolf must be offering deference to the human. It was unusual, but if they were friends, and Teagan was in charge he had shown an incredible lack of respect. The human Alpha had cared for him.
“What are you doing?” Taegan repeated Caleb’s question but he wasn’t looking at Caleb, he was looking at Silas. Silas rose and gazed at Caleb.
“Forgive me, Alpha,” he said again and it was completely clear this time he was addressing Caleb. Caleb took a confused step back right against Taegan’s chest and Taegan’s hands immediately steadied him. Silas looked at them both.
“Renee told me you had just woken up. Perhaps we should all sit and talk,” Silas said mildly. Utterly bewildered, Caleb nodded but sat on the edge of the pallet.
“Silas, what’s going on? You called him Alpha,” Taegan asked immediately.
Caleb’s eyes flew to the other wolf brown ones gazing at him. “He is an Alpha. The scent is unmistakable,” Silas confirmed.
Caleb nearly laughed. Perhaps the wolf was old. It was ridiculous and Caleb tried to shrug off the hurt. He would have been the Alpha, once. “I am sorry,” he said quietly. “I am not an Alpha.”
Silas grinned showing a lot of teeth. “I have known a lot of Alphas in my time. Their scent is unmistakable and I had an overwhelming urge to submit. I have not felt that in a lot of years.”
Caleb took a breath and felt the shame curl deep in his belly. “You are mistaken, friend. I am not an Alpha. I do not have—”
“A wolf?” Silas interrupted. Caleb nodded, suddenly annoyed at the pointless question. “Let me guess. You felt his presence as a child, but as you grew and still didn’t shift, you began to ignore your wolf’s voice thinking it was merely your imagination?”
Caleb swallowed down his tight throat. “Exactly, and that is why you are mistaken.”
Silas smiled. “That is a natural assumption. Wolves like you have been chased into obscurity. Your very existence threatened by those terrified of what you represent.”
“What he represents?” Taegan repeated slowly sounding as confused as Caleb was.
Silas smiled and added. “But you are mistaken. You have a wolf, and he is responsible for your sense of smell at least, but you will never likely take that form. Your human side must be stronger, I’m afraid.”
“That’s impossible,” Taegan interrupted before Caleb got a chance to. “He’s the Alpha’s nephew. We know that. He’s a wolf, not a human.”
“He’s both,” Silas said calmly. “A hybrid. Your mother, I assume because you were raised in a pack, was human or may have been a hybrid herself. You were never meant to shift and you represent what every wolf fears the most.
“The future.”
Chapter Five
“I am an abomination,” Caleb said flatly.
“Well, it’s illegal, certainly,” Taegan responded cautiously. He looked at Silas for inspiration. Hybrids were forbidden. He had never heard of an Alpha daring to mate a human. They used pleasure slaves, certainly … but no wolf would be able to hide such a thin
g from the pack.
Silas helped himself to Renee’s soup and pulled the chair over settling in companionably. “I sense there is much to this story,” he said and waited expectantly. Taegan chuckled. He couldn’t help it. Silas’s interrogation techniques were better than his, and he imagined they involved less blood-spilling. He sat on Caleb’s pallet … and didn’t stop to question why.
Caleb stayed silent for a time and then took a breath and looked at them both. “My mother died giving birth to me. I was always told it was an arranged mating. My father never tried a breeder but she was pregnant within weeks of their mating so it was never thought of. I grew up spoiled, loved. My father was a good Alpha. The only problems he ever had were the other Alphas thinking he was too soft on the humans. He didn’t keep slaves.” Caleb could hear his father’s laugh as two human children had been chasing each other and barreled into him. They had been scared of the big bad wolf but he had just grinned and picked up the one that had fallen and settled him upright with a caution to look where he was going. “I wanted to be just like him.”
“When did you first realize something was wrong?” Silas asked.
“By the time I was sixteen, really. I know first shifts have occurred later than that, but it is rare. Couple that with my size and I knew something was wrong. Then my uncle, my father’s younger brother took a second mate. His first had been dead some months and Mason, his son, was unruly and forever getting into trouble. My father thought it would be a good idea, until they were introduced.
“My aunt was … strange.” Caleb whispered the word and felt the familiar chill when he thought of Jacind-aa.
“The witch,” Taegan pronounced and Silas nodded.
“There have been rumors,” Silas added apologetically.
“Almost overnight Mason changed. He was still the cruel, sadistic bastard he always was, but he stopped goofing off. He was a constant at my father’s side especially as there were increasing rebel attacks. It was my nineteenth birthday. Mason was the same age, and my father called a council meeting.” Caleb cleared his throat. He had never needed to tell this story to anyone. All his pack knew his shame. “He told me he was going to announce to the pack that Mason was to become the Alpha-heir.” Caleb rubbed his chest absently, the pain such a constant it was now an automatic gesture. “We fought. Bitter words because even though I goaded him, my father wouldn’t shift and fight when I could not. I accused him of giving up on me. Of favoring Mason.” He had accused him of worse. The last words Caleb had said to his father were that he knew he never loved him and blamed his birth for causing his mother’s death. He would never forget the stricken look on his dad’s face. Knew it was a false accusation but had wanted to hurt his dad in the same way he was hurting him. “I begged him for one last chance and I ran into the woods.” Two days later he had returned to the pack, tired, hungry, and ashamed of speaking to his dad the way he had.
He had walked into the clearing and gammas had circled him immediately. He had been thrown to the ground and Warwick and the elders had surrounded him. Did he know? Had he known of his father’s crimes, of his treason? Caleb had been bewildered and then angry. Demanded to see the Alpha and Mason had just sniggered and pointed to Warwick. “You are looking at him. The traitor was put to death yesterday.”
Caleb had been speechless, horrified, unimaginably hurt, and then furious. He had demanded explanations until Mason had lost patience with the lack of remorse he was showing and the gammas had then subsequently beaten him until he had lost consciousness. He had woken hours later as they had thrown water on him to bring him around. “I was beaten and then when I awoke I was told my aunt had recognized a likeness of my mother. My father had a painting of her in his rooms. No one ever explained how she had seen it, but she had shrieked and accused my mother of being a hybrid.”
“Your mom?” Taegan clarified.
Caleb nodded. “She said she knew her in Solonara where they had both come from. She said my mom had been sentenced to death but had escaped. It was a ridiculous, too convenient story except for me. She-wolves never shift without permission so it would have been easy for my father to hide that she could not, and she had enough wolf smell to fool anyone.”
“But you couldn’t shift?” Silas said, and Caleb nodded at the understanding in his eyes. “You not being able to shift was the proof they needed to condemn her. A hybrid would birth another hybrid.”
“I was told by Mason my father had been stripped of his Alpha status and he had demanded the right to challenge.”
“Which is?” Taegan asked.
“In this instance it is the equivalent of the pack rejecting you in favor of another Alpha. It could not be proved one hundred percent but the chance of my father not knowing my mom was a hybrid was near impossible. He had committed two crimes. Betrayed his pack by mating a hybrid and then committed treason by allowing us to live. Old law means the Alpha still has the right to fight the challenger. If he had won, he would have still been Alpha and while I would never have been allowed to be the heir, I would have lived.”
“Who did he fight?”
“The challenger — Warwick. Being under twenty-five, Mason would not have been permitted. I don’t know how Warwick won. I have heard whispers of cheating, and I cannot understand how my father would have lost a fair fight. Warwick is a coward and physically smaller and weaker than my dad. I was not there, though.” He had been off having a tantrum and feeling sorry for himself while his father had no-one to stand with him. He had died thinking Caleb hated him.
“I was cast out. Chained, starved, beaten. Whatever particular torture took the fancy of Mason when he grew bored. When I saw you at the choosing it was the first time I had been anywhere except the room where I was held.”
“For how long?” Taegan ground out, and Caleb shot him a wary look. It sounded like he was angering him, but he had no idea why.
“How long were you held, Caleb?” Silas asked, gently.
Caleb didn’t dare look up. He didn’t want to see in either a look of condemnation, or worse, a look of pity. He dragged the blanket closer to him. “The day of the choosing was the first time I had been anywhere.” He had tried everything to die. Taunting, defiance, refusing the little food he was given. Each time the punishment would be the same. Torture of another. For years he had tried to die and for years he had failed.
“I am twenty-five.”
He risked a look when the other two remained silent. Silas was breathing quietly through his nose and had his head turned to the window. Taegan was staring at him in horror, and shame coursed through him. He tried to explain. “The only times I tried to escape another slave would be beaten in front of me.” Or worse; he had seen Mason rape more than once.
“It is why I cannot tell you if there are any new slaves. I only see certain ones. Children, even slaves, would never be allowed anywhere near my room.”
“They thought you a risk to them?” Taegan asked, incredulous.
“No,” Silas interrupted. “Children do not have the self-discipline, especially pups. They would instinctively know that Caleb was suffering.” Taegan looked puzzled and before Caleb could stop Silas further embarrassing him, he added. “I don’t mean his injuries. Remember what we said was the worst punishment for a pack animal? The pups would be naturally drawn to touch Caleb, to offer comfort with their bodies. Simple cuddling.”
Caleb closed his eyes before any tears escaped. He had no idea before it had happened to him what a devastating loss all physical contact would be. The pain of being cast out was a hundred times worse than any beating.
“Who are the children that are missing?” Caleb tried to distract himself. His eyes flew open. “They are yours?” Goddess, Taegan must be going out of his mind.
“They are,” Taegan sighed. “But not in the way that you probably mean. We have many orphans here, but these are the ones my mom cares for personally. Wolves produce them in abundance.”
Caleb had no reply because Taegan
was right and he shivered. He couldn’t help the flinch as Taegan stood.
• • •
Taegan stood, the only way he could stop his hands from reaching for the blanket to tuck it around Caleb. He was sickened. Sickened at himself and sickened at the life Caleb had been forced into. He couldn’t imagine the horror of his miserable existence. He had to ask. “The day of the challenge. You were supposed to die?”
Caleb nodded but remained looking at the floor, and Taegan wished he had eaten more soup. He was gaunt and pale, but his eyes were beautiful, his skin soft, and his lips perfect. Eating properly and being cared for, he would be stunning. Taegan made a noise in the back of his throat in frustration. It had been so long since he had thoughts like this. Now, at thirty he had the occasional bed companion. Females mostly, but there had been a couple of men. He never stayed the night and he never saw them again. After getting involved with one of the rebels and quickly realizing that wasn’t a good idea, he also now only ever fucked strangers. The working girls and boys in the coastal towns were the best. Used to transient fishermen and never expected anyone to hang around.
Maybe it had been too long. Maybe that was why he was having all these ridiculous thoughts. Caleb was fragile. He wasn’t a quick lay — a quick anything — and getting involved with someone who, for what all intents and purposes, was an Alpha-heir would be a dangerous mistake. Besides which he had a rebellion to run. Taegan glanced at Silas and regretted it instantly. The wolf was looking at him expectantly as if he was waiting for Taegan to make a decision. What was he going to do? Caleb was right. They couldn’t bargain for him as he had no value, but it was incredibly risky him being here. Unlike Silas, who was a nomad for want of a better word; he had no pack allegiance and there were no Alphas going to come looking for him. Caleb was something completely different. He was painting a target on them all just by being here.