CALIFF
Zarah appeared from the door. My hope rose up.
I’d seen the impossible happen since I met my mate. Maybe, just maybe, Zarah could do something to help my brother.
“Will you help us?” Shadow asked Zarah, more like begging her.
“Is this why you missed your training?” Zarah turned to Shadow, ignoring Sebastien beside her.
“Yeah. And I hadn’t slept since yesterday. I don’t think I can focus on our training when I know I have a job to do at the pack. I’m sorry, but I will be there tomorrow.”
“Focus on your problem right now. What happened to him?” She finally faced my brother, lying on the bed with Everlee beside him. “Everlee Ross. Let me guess, he’s your mate.”
“Yes. Can you help Calder?”
“Of course she can,” Sebastien said confidently.
“And you, Lycan, what are you doing here?” Zarah turned her head to him. Her tone was laced with disgust. “It’s surprising how you came running here helping a rogue.”
“I know you’re upset. That’s why you are not taking my call.” Okay. So there was really something going on between them. Hence, the sexual tensions swirled between them.
“Why would I?”
“Wait.” Shadow faced both of them. “What did I miss?”
“Nothing much.” Zarah snapped, but it looked like it was intended for Sebastien. “Let’s focus on what’s wrong with him.”
“It’s Calder.”
“I know, Califf. He’s your brother.” She took a deep breath before pressing her palm against Calder’s forehead. It didn’t take long, just like what Sebastien did. She pulled her hand as if she was burned.
“What’s wrong?” I asked her.
“Oh, no.” She stepped back, demanding Everlee, “Young lady, get up.”
“Why?” Everlee asked but remained seated.
Zarah glared at Sebastien. “Didn’t you see what I just saw?”
“I did.”
“Father, what are you not telling us?” Shadow came in front of her father.
“Call your enforcers to take him to a strong cell,” Zarah ordered me, which confused and pissed me off.
“Why would I put him in a cell, Zarah?”
She grunted, glaring at Sebastien. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell them, Alpha King. You’re putting them in danger, including my best friend’s daughter. Are you out of your damn mind?”
“It’s best just to tell us what you saw in his head, Zarah. So that I know what to do.”
Her head snapped at me. “I told you what to do, Califf before he wakes up.”
“Agh. What’s going on?” Shadow couldn’t hide her frustration anymore.
Shadow and Everlee gasped, turning back.
“Oh, Goddess. Calder?” Everlee sat back to be with her mate.
“What the hell?” My brother sat on the bed, pressing his temple. “Why do I have a terrible head, like I’d been hit by a freight train?”
“He doesn’t remember anything, does he?” Sebastien asked everyone.
“No,” Zarah replied. My suspicion became more clearer and clearer.
Calder then squinted his eyes at his mate. “Everlee? Oh, shit. What happened?”
“What did you remember, brother?”
He turned to me. “Cal?” Then he looked at us one by one. “Oh, my God. What happened? Why is everyone looking at me like I just-”
“Shifted,” Sebastien said.
“Did I?” he asked in confusion, but his expression looked like he didn’t have recollections of what happened.
“Guys, if you don’t need me, I’m going back,” said Zarah, seemingly insulted for ignoring her demand.
I held her arm and whispered, “Please, don’t go. We need your help.”
“Alpha?” Zack called me.
When I turned around, Lyon, Preston, and Sam were with him. I raised my finger to give us a minute.
“Your father just arrived,” Lyon informed me through the link.
“What did you exactly remember?” My father-in-law asked Calder.
“Who are you?”
“He’s my father. Alpha King. Sebastien Locklear,” said Shadow.
“Oh. Sir, I’m sorry.” His eyes widened a little bit, and then he thought for a while. “I was. Yeah, I was with Everlee, then I felt a sudden blunt pain in my chest, and then I went mad.” He adorably stared at his mate, touching her cheek. “Did I hurt you?”
Everlee shook her head, wearing a little smile on her lips. “No. I’m fine.”
“Then after that?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know. Why does my head hurt, Cal?”
“I don’t want to ask you something to upset you, but please, you have to tell us the truth before you lose control and shift,” Shadow said carefully.
“Of course, Shadow. Can I have a painkiller, at least?”
“Sure.”
Preston left to get it.
“Have you been having nightmares?”
“I remember you asked me that in the car. Yes, I had this terrible nightmare running through the woods. And then I woke naked in bed with my muddy feet, but I didn’t remember going out.”
When he mentioned his feet, my gaze landed on his webbed toes. Shadow was right, and I was wrong, denying the fact and the evidence that it had been there for days.
“How long has it been going on?” This time, Shadow asked.
Preston gave him clothes, water, and two tablets.
Calder took the tablet and drank the water empty. “God, I’m parched. Um. Not every day, but it had been going on for weeks.”
“About the Wolfsbane essence. Do you feel any different after you stopped taking it?”
“I guess I did feel different. I feel emotional like something in my head is telling me, and there’s this hollow in my chest. When I met Everlee.” He glanced at her. “It was the best thing that happened to me in a while.”
“Do you feel sick?”
“I don’t know, Cal. Why? Am I sick?”
I slowly nodded. “Your wolf is dying.”
“What?” He looked shocked, but the pain was more intense. “How?”
“You can talk to him in your mind. Call him.”
“That’s not a good idea,” Zarah interrupted us. “I’m Zarah. I know you don’t know me, but you can trust me. I’m a friend.”
“Okay.” Calder suddenly furrowed and looked scared.
“I’ll take Everlee away from you for a while to test my theory. I don’t want you to hurt anyone, but I have to do something.”
“You’re scaring me.” He chuckled nervously.
“It’s okay. I’ll be here all the time.” Everlee touched his face before she stepped back.
Zarah began chanting and pushed her hands in the air. “Step back, guys.”
Everlee came to Shadow. “Wait. What’s going on?”