Wolves' Bane (The Order of the Wolf, #3)(56)

Cal gulped down the lump in his throat and nodded. “She will betray us—that has been foretold.”

Luther shook his head and laid his finger down on the book in front of him. “It isn’t written here.”

Cal frowned as he gazed down at the text. He couldn’t decipher the meaning of any of the words there, but he recognized the inscriptions. He’d seen the texts before, watched as they wrote themselves—the language and the code difficult to master even for the most experienced of the scholars. “No, the Oracle has decreed it will be so. My Huntress will betray us.”

Luther nodded as he laid his shaking hand down, his palm flat on the page in front of him. “That is a truly unfortunate thing. I would not wish it on anyone, let alone my son. I am sorry, Caleb.”

Cal fidgeted in his seat, wanting so badly to get the hell out of there, hating the intimacy of their conversation—hating the pity he felt rolling off his father. He gulped down a rising lump of bile. “How did you do it? How could you kill your Huntress, my mother?”

Luther turned his palm upward and shrugged. “There is only one way.”

“I won’t know how to do it if you don’t tell me. I can’t separate myself from her. I’ve tried but she’s under my skin. She’s in my heart. I want to be with her constantly. I can’t get enough of her.”

Luther nodded, his eyes soft, his lips downturned. “You must break the bond with her.”

Cal sat back. “What?”

“You must break your bond with her in order to rid yourself of those feelings.” He sighed as he closed the book in front of him, causing a cloud of dust to rise. “You must sleep with another—that’s the only way. If you betray her with another woman, the bond will break and you’ll stop feeling that connection—that need. It will make it easier for you to do what you must do.”

Of course, so simple. Destroy the link by betraying her in the flesh. Basically, his father was admitting to adultery and the idea of it made Cal’s stomach roil with disgust. “What about her powers? Did breaking the bond make her weak?”

Luther raised his gnarled hands slightly as if to indicate indifference. “Physically, no. Her powers remained. She had strength, magic, all her training intact.”

“Emotionally?” Cal gulped his revulsion at the idea.

“She will be…” He paused, wiped his mouth. “Distraught, perhaps slightly disoriented, as you will be. It passes with time.”

Cal raised his hand to cover his mouth, hiding his look of horror.

“I pity you, boy. It would be best if you fall on your sword after it is done. Otherwise, you’ll live the most horrid life. The guilt is more than I can bear some days, even with the bond severed.”

Cal pushed his chair back. “You regret it, then?” He choked back his next words, unable to ask Luther if he truly regretted murdering Cal’s mother and condemning him to the stigma of being the only son of a Huntress killer.

Cal’s father ran his hand along the leather binding of the text, his eyes trailing his finger’s movement. He shook his head. “No, I did my duty to the Order. The sight of her lips on that beast’s mouth was all I needed. She was not fit to be a Huntress. She was not fit to be my mate.” An edge of anger lined his words. “You’ll know as soon as she sees him. If she is truly his bride, you’ll know right away. My advice to you is to make the killing blow then. Don’t wait. It only gets more painful the longer you wait. Your mother betrayed us and she paid for it with her life. Her death had honor and I do not regret bringing her that honor.”

Cal flinched at the words, not liking the connection his mind was making to his mate, imagining Morgan’s lips meeting Lazarus’s. “And if we’re wrong? If she isn’t his?”

Luther shrugged. “Then he’ll kill her anyway. Be merciful, because if you aren’t, Lazarus will use her ruthlessly. Only his bride can get close enough to wound him—you know that.” Luther raised his eyes to meet Cal’s. “You must break the bond so that you don’t fail, Caleb. If she betrays the Order, she deserves to die.”

Cal nodded, his lips clenched tightly as a sickening feeling rolled over him. “I’ll do what I must do.”

His father nodded as he shifted his eyes back down to the texts. “You’ll do your duty.”

Cal grimaced, not liking the old man’s command, but not being able to deny it either. Without another word, he left the den and quickly made his way out of the underground. He needed to get some distance from the eerie catacombs, at least while he still could.

Because before long, you’ll be down there for good and there will be plenty of father-son bonding time, he thought bitterly as he closed the hatch, locking away the scholars and ridding his mind of their doomed existence—for the time being anyway.

Chapter Twenty-Seven





Broken


I felt like crap. Not the flu or cold kind of crap, but the emotional stress kind of crap. My body yearned for Cal and yet my mind fought that craving every step of the way. He wanted me, but he didn’t. He cared for me and yet didn’t. I was confused and hurt and most of all, just wished it could be easier. Why was I doomed to such a sucky love life? Why couldn’t Cal just set aside whatever ridiculous reason was behind him being so fearful of loving me? I couldn’t understand, and wondering about it made me conjure up the millions of faults he must have found in me in our short time together to make him want to behave in such a deplorable way.