Page 21

CHAPTER 20

G ideon

W e’re fresh from battle.

Blood still on our breath. Meat still lingering in our teeth. Specks of crimson on our clothes and other places, if anyone looks closely enough. We cleaned up the best we could, so wouldn’t frighten Calla’s friends and our new traveling companions, but we weren’t thorough.

Another of Calla’s friends has joined the group. Abigail. Someone Calla knew before she was kidnapped and dragged into The Tangle. The women who were in the cage with Abigail seem dazed and confused. It’s understandable. They fell victim to something horrific, then witnessed something worse. I’m sure they’ll have nightmares and get pumped full of supplements when they get back to Haven North.

But they are not my concern. The only one I care about is Calla. My mate. Our mate. The one who will save our pack and give us a future. If it works the way it did with the other hybrids, and with us, our children will be better than we are. Fierce warriors. Mighty wolves. Our grandchildren will be even stronger and faster. They won’t fear anything in The Tangle.

“We’ll see the wall soon,” Jace says, catching up to me. “If Vance hasn’t howled for us or returned, then the way must be clear.”

“My thought as well.” I nod in agreement. “Calla seems be able to use the bracelet more than we realized.”

“Yes. But I’m not sure if we should be impressed or a little terrified,” Jace chuckles. “Next time it could be one of us tied to a tree.”

“Perhaps. Especially if the vines are as strong as the roots that came out of the ground when we were fighting the Gen-Lynxes,” I say. “That wasn’t spikeshade. I’m not an expert like Vance, but those were tree roots.”

“Which means that bracelet is more than just a piece of The Tangle, still resonating with life,” Jace growls. “But Calla’s our mate. We have to trust her.”

“It’s not her I’m worried about,” I mutter, kicking a stick out of the way. “Plus, I’m always a little uneasy when we get this close to Haven North.”

“Two cities built in the same place,” Jace spits out. “Both of them full of shitty memories and things I don’t even want to think about.”

“It wasn’t terrible before the Great War. Sure, we were lab rats, and they were more concerned about breeding us than anything else, and they treated us well,” I sigh. “Until they decided we were going to be soldiers.”

“We were still prisoners,” Jace grunts, shaking his head. “We rarely saw our mom. Dad was… well…”

“Yeah.” I bite my tongue. “Nothing left of our family now except the five of us. Calla will change that. Speaking of, we need to talk with Vance about some modifications to the den when we get home.”

“Like what?” Jace asks.

“We’ll have to baby-proof it,” I chuckle. “Can’t have our puppies chewing a loose wire and getting electrocuted, can we?”

“Do you think it’ll be a puppy?” Jace glances at me in concern. “Or will it just be able to shift right out of the womb? I’m… not sure which one would be easier.”

“This is uncharted territory, brother.” I shrug nonchalantly. “Whatever the challenge, I’m sure we’ll be up for it, even if she has a litter.”

“A litter?” Jace scoffs. “We weren’t a litter. Our mom didn’t even have any twins.”

“Like I said, uncharted territory. I have no fucking clue what to expect.” I glance back at Calla. “But I’m getting hungry again. How about you?”

“Absolutely,” Jace chuckles, glancing back at our mate as well. “Soon as we get the rest of them home, we get Calla all to ourselves. No more sneaking around. No more worrying about who can hear us. We’ll keep her on her knees, ready for us whenever we get the itch.”

“We’ll see how that goes,” I laugh. “Caleb should have her scent soon. I’m not sure how that’s going to go down.”

“Me either,” Jace admits. “I’m not sure he’ll join us like Knox did. He’s turned into too much of a loner since Silas died.”

“Knox may convince him. If not, we’ll figure it out. He’ll feel the same thing we do, even if we’re not as close as we used to be.” I motion ahead. “There’s the wall.”

“Fucking Haven North,” Jace growls.

It’s almost nightfall. Haven North is mostly unguarded. They don’t have much to fear with the wall protecting them. Still, I’m not leading them directly to the front gate. I’m not dealing with the fucking peace officers who will ask too many questions. They wouldn’t be much of a match for us, but they’ve got numbers and weapons. We didn’t come here for a fight.

“This way,” I call out, gesturing for the group to follow me.

“Wait.” Calla hurries to my side. “Why are we going this way? Can’t we just… walk in?”

“There are plenty of other ways into Haven North,” I say. “You don’t think the slavers are driving cages full of women through the front gate, do you?”

“Well, no, but…” Calla’s voice trails off.

“What is it, mate?” I question, glancing over at her.

“I know I promised I would go back with you, and I will, but I need to go inside,” she says hesitantly. “I understand if you don’t want to come with me.”

“No,” I state firmly. “We aren’t going inside. We made a deal to get them home. We’ll honor it. I promised my brothers we wouldn’t go any further.”

“It’s non-negotiable, Gideon,” Calla states, her voice as firm as mine. “The guy who jammed a needle in my neck is supplying drugs to the slavers. He’s helping them kidnap women. I can’t just walk away knowing other women could be in danger.”

“Damn it, Calla,” I mutter. “This isn’t what we agreed to.”

“What’s so bad about Haven North, huh?” she questions. “I’m not saying it doesn’t have its flaws, and I know you guys think it’s just a breeding colony, but it’s home to a lot of people. Good people.”

“Good people, hiding behind a wall, because they’re scared of what is lurking in the dark,” I growl. “So scared, they exiled the ones who helped them fucking build it.”

“Wait, you… you built the wall?” Calla’s eyebrows shoot up in surprise.

“More than that,” I grunt, my eyes flickering with anger. “We protected them. After the solar flare ended the Great War, the world was in chaos. We came home—well, to what was left of it. We weren’t leaders, but we tried to help. We fed them. We built settlements. We were still learning how to shift. Learning how to control the call of the wild. But we weren’t animals. Not entirely.”

“I didn’t realize…” Calla says.

“Once they had their wall, they didn’t need us anymore. Those in charge knew what we were, and they used it against us. Convinced people we should be thrown out of the city we helped build,” I sigh. “That should have been enough to make us hate humans, but it took losing Silas for us to finally be done with them.”

“What happened?” Calla asks apprehensively. “If you don’t mind me asking.”

“After we were banished from Haven North, we made our way south. Found other settlements. Blended in for a while. Helped where we could.” I blink hard, feeling the emotions stir. “We kept what we were to ourselves, but people noticed we were different. Not many well-fed giants with gold eyes running around back then. Still aren’t, I guess, except for the hybrids.”

“There were more of you then, right?” Calla moves closer. “Brothers and… sisters, too?”

“Yes,” I confirm. “Slavers were the first thing we had to deal with. They came for our sisters. Shifting was harder back then. It took a toll, and the slavers were heavily armed. We settled in The Tangle after that. Hybrids and trihybrids were the biggest threats. We got stronger. Learned to control the call of the wild better, so we could rely on our wolves a lot more. But that didn’t come without a price, and we dug more graves than anyone should ever have to dig.”

“Silas was one of them?” she asks.

“The last one,” I mutter. “We were down to six. The five of us and Silas. He was our leader. The winter was brutal that year. Our food reserves were running low. We went to The Outpost to barter. Trinkets, silver, and other things we had collected. We would have been fine with rations, even though we hate them. We were starving.”

“The humans didn’t want to trade?” Calla tilts her head, paying close attention to what I’m saying.

“They did. One promised us meat. Said he had some in his warehouse, so we made a deal,” I sigh. “Except it was an ambush. There was no meat. Not meat we wanted to eat. They were cannibals.”

“Oh, no!” Her eyes get wide.

“It was awful. They had people in cages, keeping them fresh. Until they were ready to slaughter them. The cannibals were no match for us. We killed them all and didn’t feel bad about turning them into a decent meal, despite their meat tasting foul.” I shudder and shake my head. “We helped the ones they were holding prisoner. Freed them and took them to Haven South, since that’s where most of them were from.”

“This was before Haven South burned?” she asks.

“Yeah,” I confirm. “We got them home, but they weren’t grateful. They fucking betrayed us. Silas didn’t have a chance to shift before the knife went in his back. All because they wanted our damn silver.”

“I heard things were rather bad in Haven South,” Calla murmurs. “Before the fire.”

“They were.” I blink a few more times as the memories come flooding back. “That’s why Caleb burned the fucking place to the ground.”

“Wow, really?” Calla blinks in surprise. “The entire city? He’s the one who set the fire?”

“There were no innocent people in that hellhole,” I growl. “Just a bunch of murderers, thieves, and bandits. We should have left the ones we found in their fucking cages instead of taking them home. That’s what Caleb wanted to do to begin with. Knox, too. But Silas was our leader. Jace, Vance, and I supported him when he said we should try to help them.”

“That’s why Caleb doesn’t talk much,” she sighs, looking in the direction of our midnight haired brother. “He blames you.”

“Yeah,” I mumble, then motion ahead. “We’re almost there.”

“I just see a wall,” Calla says, looking around. “There’s a way in?”

“Tunnels.” I point toward a shimmer of metal. “Most people don’t know they’re out here, but they’ll get us inside. Probably how the slavers are getting in, too.”

“Oh, I see it.” Calla nods. “It looks like the hatch at the bunker.”

“I need to talk to my brothers,” I say. “Take the others over there and wait for us.”

I make eye contact with my brothers and motion for them to peel off from the group. I’m not looking forward to this. Silas could decide, and we would fall in line, even if we did so begrudgingly. I may be going through some changes. Getting bigger. Stronger. An Alpha, according to Vance. But I’m no leader. I vowed I never would be.

“What’s wrong?” Knox asks as soon we are away from the women. “Calla isn’t trying to back out of our deal, is she?”

“No, but she needs our help,” I sigh, already dreading the backlash. “To take care of the guy who drugged her. The one who sold her to the slavers.”

There’s a murmur of disdain. I can sense the argument coming. The look in Knox’s eyes. The way Vance is shaking his head. What surprises me is that Caleb is the first to speak.

“Fuck that,” Caleb says harshly. “I sit back and let you lead, Gideon, even though you said you wouldn’t. I don’t say a fucking thing to anyone except Knox, no matter how pissed off I get. But we are not going inside.”

“We can’t roam the streets as wolves,” Knox mutters. “Which means we’ll be weak. Vulnerable. Just like before.”

“We can handle a bunch of humans with or without our wolves,” Jace scoffs. “Peace officers with guns? We handled a lot worse before we even learned how to shift, but we’ll?—”

“We’ll just shift at the first sign of danger, right?” Caleb interrupts. “That’s exactly what Silas said before he got stabbed in the fucking spine!”

“She’s our mate and our future,” I sigh. “If you don’t want to go inside, I understand. I’m going. Even if I have to go alone.”

“And Gideon has spoken,” Caleb spits back. “He’ll go alone, even if it costs him his life. And the rest of us have to fall in fucking line because we don’t want to bury another brother. That isn’t what we agreed to. Knox, back me up here. Fuck!”

Knox is quiet for a moment. He looks down and sighs before speaking. “You don’t have her scent. You don’t understand. You don’t… you don’t feel it.”

“I’ve had her damn scent since before we dealt with the slavers,” Caleb growls. “Sure, I want to fuck her, but it doesn’t mean I’ve completely lost my mind.”

Silence drops like a stone. Even Knox looks stunned. Vance finally takes a step forward.

“Guess that means it is only a matter of time for me,” Vance says. “Maybe if Caleb isn’t crazy, there’s hope for me, too.”

“I don’t think anything will be more interesting to you than the damn plants,” Jace says. “Even your mate. But I guess we have a decision to make.”

I nod and take a deep breath. “I’m not your leader. I know I act like it, and have gone off half-cocked a few times, especially since I got Calla’s scent. We’ll put it to a vote, like we agreed after Silas died.”

“Yes, Jace will vote with you. Vance too, because he believes we should have an Alpha. Knox and I will say no, but we’re overruled and congratulations, you get your fucking way. That’s why democracy never worked,” Caleb grumbles. “People will vote for the same bullshit, no matter how many times they see it fail.”

“We agreed to handle things as a pack,” Jace says. “We aren’t always going to agree.”

“We never agree, Jace,” Caleb growls. “You bicker with Gideon, but usually side with him after he wears you down.”

“And you never fucking speak,” Jace snarls. “Until now. Now you won’t shut your damn mouth.”

“My vote never matters,” I mutter. “If you had just stood up to Silas, he would have listened. He always did. But instead, he had yes-wolves who just wanted to be told what to do.”

“You’ve made your point,” Knox says. “But this time, I’m with them. I don’t like it, but I get it. I’m sorry, Caleb. I’ve tried to be there for you. I know you carry the pain differently because of how close you were with Silas, but we were all close to him. We all hurt in our own way. You’re being selfish.”

“Selfish?” Caleb snaps. “Because I don’t want to watch my brothers die?”

“It’s Haven North. The only thing they care about is how many babies they can make,” Knox scoffs. “It’s nothing like Haven South. Yes, I’m pissed off about how they treated us back then, but all those people are dead. Besides, most of the people in there are in a happy daze thanks to the supplements. They probably won’t even look at us unless we draw attention to ourselves.”

It’s logical. Knox is always logical. More than me, sometimes.

“Fine,” Caleb grunts. “You’re all going to vote against me, and I won’t let you go in there without me. Let’s quit wasting time and get it over with.”

We fall silent. The decision has been made. We’re going into Haven North. We’re getting involved in human affairs. Everything we said we wouldn’t do.

All because of her.