CALIFF
“Who would do something like this to her?”
Margaret looked at Everlee. “The right question is why?”
Everlee blinked at where she tossed out her inquiry. “Then why? She did nothing wrong. Why is she targeted?”
“Because of him.” She pointed at Sebastien. “And she’s powerful, and when she masters her gift, she can be indestructible, and her father is well-connected, and she’s the heir to the throne.”
“And just like her parents, she’s a threat to the werewolves, witches, and the Lycans because it had been thousands of years since a Queen ruled the Lycan world, and Shadow was an easy target.”
“So it’s her fault that she’s born to royal blood? That’s unfair.” Everlee swallowed hard and began crying. “I was just dancing with her-”
Calder pulled her in his arms and hugged her. “She’s gonna be okay.”
“I don’t think so, Calder. She’s getting paler, and she’s barely breathing. She threw up but hasn’t woken up.”
“I want the name.” Sebastien’s voice was deadly, with no hint of emotion as he narrowed at the witches.
“This is not your problem anymore, Alpha King.”
“No! This is my child who’s suffering from her doings!” He sneered at the witch, his eyes glowing, blazing with fury. “I want to see the look in her eyes as she begs to end her miserable life. I want to be the one to rip her heart out and take the life out of her.”
“I know how much you crave revenge right now, but this is my problem. Don’t even try to go behind my back. I assure you that Shadow gets justice. You have my word. We signed a treaty, and I’m honoring it when one of my kind went to this great length to execute a high-ranking of the clan and a royal member.”
I hissed at the sudden burn on my palm. I looked at it, and the burn mark was gone. “I wanna do it myself.”
“No offense, Alpha Califf. You’re maybe an Alpha, but the one who did this is a wicked witch. She doesn’t care she wakes the dead, but I promise you, I will get the job done.”
I hissed, my hand flying to my neck as if something icy blazed the mark.
“Oh no.” Zarah looked shattered, and that broke my heart even more.
“What’s just happened?” My hand was still on the mark.
Margaret checked Shadow’s neck. “We don’t have much time. The poison is spreading faster than I anticipated.”
“Do something, please?” I felt helpless, and I went closer and begged them. “I will do anything just save her.”
“She’s clever.”
“She.” Sebastien roared.
“She’s clever, targeting Shadow’s wolf that gave her the strength so she ends up just an ordinary human when she ever wakes up.”
“What’s that even mean?” I barely blinked at Margaret.
“Stop asking questions!” Zarah’s voice thundered as she screamed in frustration. “I don’t have much strength left and can’t do this alone. You. Califf should decide because I can’t guarantee we can save them both. Since you are the husband, I’m asking you, but I’m warning you that she may not be the same when she wakes up.”
“No. You have to save her wolf, too, Zarah.” Tears rolled down my face, and I wiped them again and again. “Please? You can’t choose one.”
“Do you think I want to be in this position to make you choose? I know how much you love this woman and how much it hurts her, but that’s our only choice. And every second we waste, the lesser of chances of saving her, too.”
“You have to do something. I will do everything. Take whatever you need from me. I’m sure you can work this out.”
“I’m afraid that’s not possible. Her mark on you is fading, isn’t it?”
I dropped my gaze as I nodded. A single tear fell.
“Your connections and bond are fading.”
“Then what?” Calder asked. “Her wolf is dying?”
“I’m afraid it’s worse than dead. It will be gone forever.”
“Everlee gasped. “That can’t happen. It’s painful. It’s taking away what’s part of her, like losing her soul. What would that leave her?”
Zarah looked away, hiding the tears rolling down her face. I knew it hurt her, too. Shadow was like a daughter to her- we were all in pain.
“Decide now, or we lose both of them.” Margaret glared at me, giving me no choice and time to think.
“Save her, Margaret. She will hate me for this, but please save her.”
“Do it,” Sebastien seconded.
I couldn’t watch it anymore when the witches began their rituals.
“I need some air.” I sniffled as I walked out of the room. I didn’t know where to go, so I went to the backyard.
I screamed my frustration, but it didn’t even make me feel better. Not until I got revenge, and right now, I didn’t know where to start. One thing I was sure- Shadow would hate me for the rest of my life for deciding to save her, but her wolf. But I’d rather watch her hate me than look down at her grave.
“Hey.” Calder came. “I don’t even know what to say, and I couldn’t fathom what you’re feeling right now, but if you want revenge, by all means count me in.”
I faced him. “She wasn’t supposed to be there, but her father suggested she should have fun before we go back, and I also supported the idea. This is all my fault. If it weren’t for me, nothing like this would happen.”
“I hate to break it to you, Cal, but this is not your fault.”
“You don’t know the whole story, Calder. Since I met her, all I did was make her suffer, and she was exposed because I was full of myself. I am the reason why all these threats are out there. She was just living a normal human life before I met her, and that should have been her life. Not like this, Calder. She will lose her wolf, and you know what that means. It means she’s forever lost half of herself.”
“I’m so sorry, Cal.” He hugged me tight. “I wish I could help you take away the pain in your chest. I’m so sorry you and Shadow have to go through this.”
“Guys, you need to come back,” Everlee called us.
“Let’s go back, brother. We will figure this out. We still have her father and the witches to help us find that piece of shit who gave her the drink.”
We got back in the room, but the ritual wasn’t done. Alexander and Sebastien already helped the witches, and I didn’t know about Sebastien, but Alexander was once a healer until the witches took his power away.
I gasped and held my mark when Shadow’s body jerked and writhed in bed while she was surrounded by witches, with Alexander and Sebastien. She was like possessed by some evil spirit, but this time, she was herself in seconds, then transformed into her hybrid. Her claws and forehead protrusion were prominent, but she never shifted into her wolf.
“Fuck!” I hissed in pain, fell on my knees, and clutched my chest as I felt like someone ripped my heart out. My body began burning like I was about to shift, but it didn’t happen.
It fucking hurt- it hurt more than anything I’d ever felt before. I felt my bones were breaking, but it just settled back, like my inside was having turmoil, shaking, quaking, and my wolf urged me to come out.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, Calder,” I said, panting, sweat forming on my forehead. My heart pumped so hard it felt like it burst in my chest until it felt so uncomfortable. “Just step back. I might shift. I don’t know what’s happening to me.”
“Zarah, what’s going on with Cal?” Everlee asked, but I heard nothing from Zarah.
“Goddess!” I screamed out, an ear-splitting kind, fighting the urge to end the pain, but it got even worse, excruciatingly painful, like someone peeled off my skin, burning me alive from the inside- inside of my chest. One moment, I was on my knees. The next second, I was on the floor, clutching my chest and rubbing the side of my neck. My eyes shut wide and glowed. “It fucking hurt! Make it stop!”
“What’s happening, Cal?” Calder and Everlee came close to me, confused and shocked.
I gasped. Suddenly, it was gone. The pain was gone, and all I felt was extreme cold, making me shiver, but something was wrong- something was missing, and it left an enormous hollow in my chest.
I slowly got up, wrapping my arms around me, calculating my move as I ready myself for the pain to come back. But the witches were done.
“Is it done?” I went to bed, but Shadow was still unconscious. “Shadow, can you hear me?”
Nothing.
“Cal?” Everlee called me twice before I turned to her. Then she pointed at my neck. “Her mark on you is gone.”
“What the-” My eyes grew wide as I realized something. I felt it against my finger, and Everlee was right. It was gone.
“How is that possible?” Calder asked.
“What did you do?” I growled at Zarah and Margaret as I prowled in their direction and pointed at the bite. “Why is it gone?”
“Calm down, dog.” Margaret hissed. “One more step, you throw up blood all over the floor.”
“Califf, just breathe.” Zarah suddenly swayed, trying to hold on to something. Sebastien was fast enough to catch her before she hit the floor. When she touched her nose, there was blood.
“Are you okay?” I asked her.
“I’m just exhausted. I lost a lot of- I feel dizzy.”
“Sit down.” I grabbed the chair next to the bed. “Please?”
“Thank you.”
I looked at Margaret. “Is Zarah okay?”
She nodded. “She will be. When we use so much power, it drains us. Sometimes, it causes nosebleeds, or worse, the blood vessels in our brain will pop, and we die. It’s not easy to create magic.”
“I’m sorry. I want you to know that I’m grateful.”
“I know what I signed up for, and she’s Aurora’s daughter.”
“Will she recover?” Sebastien asked.
“Wake up, my dear.” Alexander kissed his granddaughter on the forehead. “You still have a lot to live for.”
“She will, but we have to wait. When she wakes up, you need to tell her the truth.”
“Why is my-” I stared at Shadow in shock. “No.”
I sat next to Shadow to test my theory and closed my eyes. “Fuck no.” I drew a deep breath, praying I was wrong or just too weak to feel her thoughts, but the more I did it, the more the reality hit me, and the faster I could accept the fact, maybe the better.
“Califf, what is it?”
I stared blankly at Sebastien through blurry sight. “It’s gone.” I could barely hear my voice, and I had no idea how I ended up on the floor. I cried even if it was the last thing I should do because I knew it wouldn’t help me. Our bond wouldn’t come back.
“But you still feel something for her, brother.”
I nodded slowly. “All I feel is cold and emptiness.”
“So, is this supposed to happen?” Calder asked them.
“Yes.”
“It’s gone.” I pulled my knees together as I curled to cry. I couldn’t completely feel her as if we’d never met, like we didn’t go through the mating process.
It was all gone.
What scared me the most was when she woke up, and she was entirely a different person and wouldn’t recognize me anymore.