Wolf's Soul (21 page)

“Did I hurt you?”

“Like you said, you will never hurt me. No. You didn"t.”

221

Callum covered both of them with the sheet. He"d never tire of having her on his side. Too bad they didn"t meet before. When he still had lives left. When he knew for sure that they"d have more time to share and days to live together. As a Shape-shifter, his job was too dangerous. Chances of him getting killed was high.

Unless he stayed holed up down in this den, he was only one step away from becoming a Cancer. Yeah, he had only one last life left and he"d use it to keep Marisol safe and kill as many Blood Robbers and Cancers as he could. Feelings of sadness and regret crawled in every pore of his being. Emotions that never visited him before touched his heart. He knew what triggered his emotions—the woman breathing softly beside him. Marisol.

“What"s wrong, Callum?”

“Nothing, love.”

“You"ve been sighing.”

“I"m just thinking how lucky I am. Not everyone has a beautiful woman to keep them company.”

“Me, too. I am so lucky to have you—to soap my back.”

Gathering her into his arms, he held her snugly. As far as he could remember, he never asked anything for himself until this time. He wished for the time to stop ticking, for the sun to stay suspended in the sky. He wished for a lifetime with Marisol.

222

A knock on the door stopped his musing. “Must be our food.”

Callum picked up his clothes laid scattered on the floor. He noticed Marisol looking at him with a mischievous grin on her face. “Keep looking at me like that and we won"t be able to eat.”

Marisol snorted and covered her face with the sheet.

223

After another round of wild sex, he and Marisol finally got around to eating their already cold burgers and wilted French fries. If it weren"t for Zambro"s summon, he"d stay cooped up in his room. Callum couldn"t ever remember liking to be in a room for more than an hour. He preferred to be outdoors. But with Marisol on his side, he didn"t care. He liked cuddling with her.

However, there were important things to do other than making love.

Although, he couldn"t imagine meeting with his brothers being more important than loving Marisol.

It took great strength to leave the bed. Marisol didn"t help either. She kept nibbling his neck until he was hard and ready again.

Twenty five minutes after he received a message about his brother"s request for a meeting, he was finally able to leave.

Zambro"s office looked like an old library. It mirrored his personality—a big reader and fan of history. Old leather bound books filled his shelves. Behind him, a glass case held different types of weapons historians would fight for. His brother led the pack here. Known as a great fighter and just leader, everyone respected 224

him. Recently, Callum put a smear on that respect by hooking up with Marisol.

How could he ever fix that?

Zambro raised his brow when he walked in his office.

“You took your sweet time. Had a hard time leaving your warm bed?”

“Zambro, you didn"t call me to talk about Marisol.”

“Yes and no. We need to discuss your situation and hers. What part of our visit today didn"t you understand?”

“I"m not stupid. I heard and understood everything.”

“Then why bring her here? I said I"ll find a place for her. I didn"t say this is the place for her.”

“This is the only safe place for her, Zam.”

“Fuck, Callum. I"m still trying to think about how to get you out of the first mess that you laid on my door and now you add another one.”

“After you left my house, I found out that Marisol left. She heard us.”

“Son of a bitch.”

“She didn"t want to have anything to do with me, with us. So she decided to walk home. I followed her and so did the Cancers.”

“What were they doing in your neck of the woods? Ah, I know. Atos must have promised them something in exchange of your head. You just made your world smaller, brother.”

225

“I figured it was Atos that sent them to my property. So what do you want to talk about?”

“Nobody appreciates Marisol"s presence here. The moment you entered the den, you created quite a stir.”

“I don"t give a fuck about what others are saying right now. If they are curious and want to hear the details, I"ll be happy to explain.” He knew he wasn"t supposed to bring Marisol here. Or in any den for that matter. That was why he told her not to leave his apartment until he gets back. They"d lost brave members of their clan because the humans mistook them for big bad wolves. The family of those who died resented humans. “You would do the same thing if you were in my shoes. Here is the best place for her. Atos will not be able to reach her if she stays here. I would take her to Seattle but even with a short distance, anything can happen.”

“Did you notice how everyone looked at her? She"s not welcome here.”

“She will be if you show them you approved.”

Zambro stood up and walked around his desk to face him. “If you weren"t my brother I"ll kick your ass until you"re raw.”

“But I am.”

Zambro sighed. “And I can"t do a damn thing about it. Do you realize that you put me in a difficult situation?”

226

“I know. If you ask us to leave, we will. I am hoping you won"t”

“Believe me, I thought about it. Lucky for you, a Midnight Howl never turns his back on his family.”

“Thank you.”

“Don"t thank me. I"m doing this because I promised to keep our parents to keep an eye on you. On all of you.”

“I know.”

“This is one big mess you"ve created, brother.”

“I apologize, Zam. However, I"ll do this again if I have to.”

Zambro speared him with a look that showed how disappointed he was. “I never should have given you the task of getting the sword.”

“But you did. Now, I need your help.”

“I"ll help make Marisol"s stay here easy for her until I find another place for her. On one condition.”

“Anything.”

“You cannot patrol on your own. I"m saying this to save me from your brothers" rants especially Ty. And if Marisol insists on leaving, the sword stays here. We have Youven"s sword where we want it. On the Midnight Howl"s side.

And here it"ll stay.”

“Agreed.”

227

“Now, on a more serious and important subject. Atos threatened to attack the humans. Unless we give him Marisol and the sword, he will start killing.”

“Son of a bitch!”

“I called a meeting, but I wanted you to know about this before anyone else.”

“You know I will never give him Marisol. He"ll have to walk over my dead body to even breathe the same air she breathes.”

“Did you hear what I said? He will kill the humans. Rejects or not. We have a week to make a decision.”

“Did you hear what I said, Zambro?” he threw the words back at his brother.

“I don"t need a week to think. Atos will not get what he wants. Not Marisol.”

“You love Mark"s daughter.”

Callum paced the room. Of course he loved Marisol. How else would he explain the fear of losing her, of overwhelming happiness of being near her, of hoping to have a future with her? Some people would say he was a nut, and that loving someone in such a short time was impossible. He didn"t care. It only takes a heartbeat to fall in love with someone. He bet those who knew what love was would agree with him. “More than life itself.”

Zambro slowly got up. He walked to stand in front of him. “In that case, I give you my word that she has my protection.”

228

“Thank you brother.” He offered to shake his brother"s hand but Zambro pulled him for a big bear hug.

“Make a stupid move of going up alone and I"ll kill you myself. The heck with the promise I gave to our parents. Got that?”

Callum nodded. “I hate to say this, Zam, but Atos is not that stupid to ask something as simple as giving him Marisol and the sword. He knows what we stand for.”

“I thought about that. So what are you thinking?”

“He"s been after me since Alisha"s death.”

“You have nothing to do with her death.”

Callum took a deep breath. True, he had nothing to do with Alisha"s death, but deep down he felt somewhat responsible. He should have been stern and hard with Alisha. Then perhaps she would have not followed him back to his den.

“She died because of me, Zam.”

“The girl died because she fell in love with you, with what you stood for, the Midnight Howl"s principle. You spared her life. She admired that. She followed you home and exposed herself to hunters. She chose her path, Callum. You didn"t.

If fucking Atos refuse to accept the truth, the hell with him. You had nothing to do with the death of his sister. If anything, he should be blamed not you.”

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“Send word to him, Zam. If he wants blood then I shall give it to him. I"ll offer him a bargain.”

Zambro"s brows rose. “A bargain.”

“Yes. I"ll fight him to death. If I win, he would give up chasing Marisol.”

“And if he wins?”

“He can choose between letting me walk this earth as Cancer or chop my head off.”

“Callum, are you fucking nuts?” Zambro roared.

“This is my decision, Zambro. I have one life left. What better way to use it than secure the sword and Marisol"s freedom. Marisol is safe here, but she wouldn"t live here forever. I know her. She"d go up and live her life among her kind.

When that happens I want Marisol to be able to walk without having to worry that someone or something would attack her from behind.”

“You would gamble your life for her.”

“I already made my decision.”

“What about the sword, Callum?”

“It"s Marisol"s, Zambro. She has the right to keep it.”

“Fuck. I knew you"d say that.” Zambro ran his fingers through his hair. “We are facing a bigger problem now, Callum, because you have gotten yourself involved with Mark"s daughter.”

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“And I just told you how we should handle it.”

“You know what I think? The sword"s poison damaged your brain. You would strike a bargain with Atos? How would you know if the bastard would not renege on his promise of staying away with Marisol?”

“I don"t. I"ll try everything to keep her away from harm. I know you, Zambro.

You wouldn"t just hand Marisol to Atos. So how do you propose we stop the Blood Robbers from killing the humans? We do everything we can to uphold our promise. Besides it is time to shut the motherfucker"s eyes for good.”

“I understand. I can"t guarantee you that the clan would back us up on this.”

“Zambro, I"ll face Atos alone if I have to. The clan can stay here. I don"t give a fuck. Just keep Marisol down here until it is safe for her to go back up again.”

“God, so it"s true. Loving a woman could make one man"s dick as hard as a marble and his heart into mushy dough. It damages ones reasoning, too. Fine.

We"ll select who comes to fight with us. Practice in the arena in an hour. We"ll need all the skills in this world and luck. See you there.”

Callum went back to his apartment. He bet Marisol would want to watch the practice. Yeah, he"d ask her. If it were up to him, he"d rather that they just watch a movie, eat popcorn, and make hot love. Later. They would do all those things later. Thinking about what they would do tonight made his dick harden.

231

Damn, he"d walk around with a hard-on if he kept on thinking about Marisol naked in his arms. He became soft though when he found out Marisol wasn"t in his apartment. What he found was a note taped on the bed"s headboard.

“Gone for a walk.”

Dratted woman. He should have known she"d never listen to him. The Den wasn"t so big. He"d find her. Fresh face like hers had no place to hide here.
This is a
good reason to have a cellphone.
He was in such a hurry to go after her that he didn"t find the time to grab his cellphone.

He left the apartment in a hurry.
Now where did she go?
When he finds her, he"d wrap his fingers around her lovely neck. Yeah, maybe he"d do that while pounding hard on her sweet—

A loud whistle interrupted his line of thoughts. It was Carl and he didn"t look happy.

“Hey, Carl. What"s up.” The head of the Midnight Howl Patrol looked like he ate something bad and was now affecting his stomach.

“You need to go to the infirmary. You"re girlfriend is there,”—he formed his fingers like bent bunny ears—“helping. Dude, she maybe Mark"s daughter, but she ain"t a vet.”

“Dammit. Let"s go.”

232

They found Marisol wrapping a bandage on one of Midnight Howl soldier"s leg. The man was wincing but obviously enjoying the attention.

“There. I think that"ll hold. Next time, don"t use your leg to block a sword.