Wolf's Soul (17 page)

He was about to go back to sleep again when he heard the familiar sound of cars and motorcycles. The sound was faint, but he heard it.
What took them so long?

Careful not to wake Marisol up, he slowly moved her leg. He lifted her arm to his lips and kissed her soft skin. Marisol didn"t wake up. She just curled on her side. He didn"t" want to leave her, but if his brother"s paid him a visit they meant serious business.

Here we go. Ass whipping.

His brothers Victor, Ty, Rodolf and stepbrother Zambro were already waiting in the living room. Callum had to laugh. Man, they need to find a different profession other than modeling for Abercrombie and Fitch. Tall and lithe, all men wore dark sunglasses, black shirt, shiny Chippewa boots, and low rider jeans.

Unlike the models on television or magazines, his brothers were different. When provoked they"d kill without blinking, without fear, without regret. Each one was skilled in their chosen weapons.

Like him, they were sentries living amongst the humans, bound by the ancient code they strictly followed. A code he"d recently ignored.

Except for Zambro with shoulder length blond hair, the men were sporting the same gray-blond colored hair as his, cut unevenly, and shoulder length. Over 177

six feet, the men seemed to have filled the room. They were called the Heartthrobs.

As far as Callum were concerned, the name Heartbreakers would be more apt.

Callum couldn"t think of anyone more anal when it comes to following rules than his brothers. And he had a good idea that it was those rules that made them all come here today.

“Hello, bros. To what do I owe this visit?”

“Your stupidity. What the fuck are you thinking?”

“I love you, too, Ty.” Callum met his brother"s angry stare.

“Cool it, Ty. Let your brother speak.” Victor, ever the peacemaker in the family inclined his head at Callum. “You know why we are here, Callum.”

“You got an email from Atos"s crib.”

“Yes. The asshole is livid about what happened to Pic.”

“He would still be alive if he didn"t dare come to Marisol"s home. He and two other Blood Robbers came in search of a sword.”

“You stopped them from taking the sword, but now Atos wants your head.”

“That"s old news.”

“Callum, we thought you"re dead. The snitch told us about Atos nearly cutting you in half,” Zambro"s gaze touched him from head to toe as if trying to see the truth.

178

“He did. But as you can see, I am still alive and kicking. Marisol helped me live. She used her poultice on me.”

“And you fuck her in exchange of your gratitude.”

“Oh? And you know that how?”

“Don"t insult my intelligence, Callum. I can smell her scent all over you.

Why did you bring her here?”

“To keep her safe and the sword. She can"t stay in her house anymore. You would do the same if you were in my situation.”

“Wrong. Because unlike you, I will never get involved with a woman and break the principle that we stood for.”

Callum grounded his teeth. His brother was right. He grounded the Midnight Howl"s principle beneath his heel when he touched Marisol.

“Wow, bro.” Rodolf grinned. “You broke the code so many times in one day.

And it"s all because of a woman.”

“What, you listen outside my bedroom door now?”

Victor laughed. “Bro, Rodolf"s talking about your new habit of leaving the den alone, bringing a human to a Shape-shifter"s home, and…Man, you just admitted that you slept with the woman.”

Callum wanted to wipe the grin off his brother"s face with his fist. “Bros, the sword safe. Isn"t that what we care about?”

179

“Yes, the sword is here
and
the woman who owned it. Guess you can"t fuck a sword so you have to bring the woman too, eh?”

“Ty, got a bee in your bonnet?”

“Callum, you know where Ty is coming from.” Victor gave him a sly smile.

“You"re living your last life, Callum. And you made a stupid move. If you die, you could turn. Do you think it would be fun for us to kill you if you become a Cancer?”

No. You have to, though, Victor—if it happens.”

“See, that"s the thing. Ty is angry because we don"t want to do anything to get us closer to that possibility.” Rodolf said in his slow meticulous speech.

“I know and I apologize for making you all worry about me.”

“Callum, by attaching yourself to Mark"s daughter, you put her in a far worse situation than she is in right now. She"s a liability. You won"t be able to fight with someone clinging on your pantaloons.”

“She knows how to fight. You should see how she swings her sword.”

“She"s still a human. Easily killed. She was lucky you were there to kill the Blood Robbers and save her.”

“Wrong, Ty. She killed them. Pic included.”

“What?” His brothers asked in unison.

“You heard me. She killed the sons of bitches.”

180

“I"m sure there are more humans who could swing swords or throw spears.”

Ty shrugged his wide shoulders.

“She is capable of fighting.”

“Send her to Iraq or Afghanistan.”

“Ty, you"re testing my temper.”

“Callum, listen. We coexist with humans to protect them from the Blood Robbers. Not to get cozy with them. Getting involve with a woman is strictly prohibited. Our ancestors already made that mistake. We are not going to have a repeat of that.”

“Victor, have you any idea how many Arcus and Crom married the humans?

How many children belong to our kind? Arcus and Crom"s descendants are everywhere. Including Marisol.”

“It has been thousands of years since the warlords prevented us from befriending humans.” Zambro interrupted. “The half-breeds are no longer half but whole again. Marisol is human.”

“I will protect her at all cost. Mark was a good friend of mine, of our clan.

How many lives had he saved using his poultice. And his wife, she helped out, too.

They both died helping us. I will not renege on my promise.”

“You"re forgetting why you befriended Mark, Callum.”

“I didn"t forget. Didn"t I get the job done?”

181

“You did. So there"s no need to get too close to his daughter. Bro, protect the humans, but do not cross the line between friendship and your duty as a Midnight Howl. We are here to stop the Blood Robbers from hurting them. If you really want to protect Marisol, take the sword now to keep the heat away from her.”

“With the Blood Robbers after her? How could I do that? She"s vulnerable.”

“And so as the rest of humanity. We can"t save each and every one of them.”

“What the fuck are you talking about, Rodolf?”

“The friendship between humans and Shape-shifters was the reason why Arcus and Crom clans fought each other. Don"t go softie on them.”

“Wrong, Rodolf. Humans were just the first step for Valdo. If the humans weren"t around, he would have gone after the Arcus instead.”

“He wouldn"t because Youven owned a sword as powerful as his.”

“He was a greedy son of a bitch, Rodolf. Just like Atos. That"s why he"s after Youven"s sword.”

“That"s beside the point. The Midnight Howl formed under the principle of sticking to our own kind. Protect the humans from the Blood Robbers, but do not sit at the same dining table with them or spend a fucking night in bed. We are of different breeding. Wolves and humans do not mix. Haven"t you learned anything from your history?”

182

“You"re being a hypocrite, Ty. You knew Mark as well as I. He helped more than a handful of Midnight Howls.”

“And we are doing the same thing. Every night we put ourselves at risk of stepping on animal traps, of get killed by the Blood Robbers and of turning into Cancer. As for Mark, we didn"t ask for his help. He took it up upon himself to continue his wife"s work.”

Callum took a step closer to Ty. “Mark died helping our kind. It didn"t matter if he volunteered or not, you fucking dick.”

“Fine! Yeah, I am grateful for his help. We are doing our job watching after them but I didn"t get physically involved and fuck his daughter.”

“You son of a bitch. Don"t talk about Marisol like—”

“Callum, enough.” Victor"s voice was soft, devoid of anger.

The opposite of what Callum felt at the moment. He wanted to punch, kick, and hurt someone but deep inside his brain, he knew his brothers were right.

“Stick to your purpose and that is to bring the sword to us. We need to keep it safe, away from the Blood Robbers.”

“Marisol has the right to keep it.”

“Oh fuck! Now you change your mind about the sword, too?” Ty shook his head.

“Ty, you ass. Did I say I changed my mind?”

183

“Talk to Marisol. Tell her we"ll keep the sword for her. She"s not strong enough to keep the Blood Robbers from taking it from her.”

“And where would she go. How can she defend herself if she didn"t have the sword? She"s Atos"s target now, Victor. I can"t just leave her alone.”

“This is exactly what we"re trying to avoid from happening,” Zambro said shaking his head.

“Somebody"s in love.” All heads turned to Rodolf. “What? Just stating the obvious.”

Callum didn"t comment. He didn"t know what to say. Mentally, he repeated what Rodolf said. In love? Impossible. He cared. In love—most definitely not.

Who would fall in love in such a short time? He"d known Viola since he was a pup, they mated so many fucking times, but in the end he realized it wasn"t love that had kept him awake all night. It was a strong case of infatuation. So how could Rodolf say he was in love?

“Brothers, our job is to protect the humans. Marisol is in need of protection as well as Callum here. They"ll need all the help they can get. Us.”

“Thanks, bro.”

“Don"t thank me, Callum. After what you"ve done, I should just let the council kick you out without a trial. But I can"t do that, can I?”

184

Shit. How could he forget about that? Callum looked at his brothers. Fuck, he couldn"t imagine the shame he brought on their heads especially Zambro"s.

“Sorry, guys.”

“I don"t give a fuck about the others, Callum, but Zambro will have to face Salazar and the other council members. If he fails to plead your case, you"re out of the Bluff. On your own.”

“I"ll make this work. Bring the sword to the Bluff, Cal. It might help the council"s decision about your action. And I"ll find a safe place for Marisol.”

“Thanks, Zam. I"ll call if I need help.”

“I hope so. One more thing. Don"t expect a warm welcome when you visit the chapters.”

Callum nodded. His thoughts were back on the woman upstairs. Was she worth all of this trouble?

Questions, plans about how to stop the Blood Robbers from coming to town and prey on domestic animals, and humans, covered their topic of conversation.

He returned their jabs, answered their threats seriously with half a mind. Callum"s mind kept wandering. He kept thinking about the warm spot beside Marisol and what he could be doing to her right now. For the first time, Callum didn"t enjoy his brother"s visit. Two hours with them seemed like an eternity.

185

An hour after his brothers left, Callum remained standing in the middle of the room. He"d never been in this position before. God damn it. His emotions roiled like a sea in the midst of a violent storm. How could he forget what the Midnight Howl stood for? What his callous actions would do to his brothers?

Callum turned on his heel and well-nigh ran back to his bedroom only to find an empty bed.

186

Marisol followed the grassy path she assumed was the way out of the woods. It seemed like she"d been walking for an hour already and yet couldn"t see any sign that she was getting closer to the main road. The trees where she stood looked wet and covered with moss. If she would make a guess, she"d say this area had never seen sunshine.

Lost. Without a doubt, she missed a turn somewhere or followed the wrong path. She looked behind her. The two-story cabin—if one could call it that since it must have had a dozen bedrooms—was no longer visible. Going back was out of the question since she didn"t know which way to go. If she could just find that damn road. Fudge it. She was exhausted, hungry, and in need of a hot cup of coffee.

She didn"t get a good night sleep last night, woke up super early this morning, fought snarling wolves, had her fantastic first time making love in the cabin, fell asleep naked beside a Shape-shifter, woke up hearing male voices, and she had never felt so damn stupid in her life.

Why she believed there was something special happening between her and Callum she had no idea. Maybe it was a normal stupid feeling a newbie always fell 187

for when meeting a dashing…Shape-shifter. Ugh! She knew him as a wolf for a month and as a man for nary a day. So what prompted her to offer him her virginity? Who knows? What kind of a woman would do that? A freaking idiot, of course. She wished she could talk to that wacky psychiatrist for celebrities she saw on television. Maybe he could dissect her brain and rattle some sense in there.

This morning, feeling lethargic and as content as a kitten that had a bowl of cream, she curled up beside Callum. Her body hadn"t adjusted to its new experience. She was a bit tender in between her legs and muscles she didn"t realized existed on her body hurt so she didn"t want to get up. All she wanted to do was lay there and not leave the room. She was half-asleep when she felt Callum leave her side. She decided to remain in bed, but then she heard voices. She listened, but could not quite make out the words. When curiosity won, she got up, and left the bedroom. She stood at the top landing hidden from the view down below.