Wolves' Bane (The Order of the Wolf, #3)(65)

Cal cocked an eyebrow. “Did Lance tell you?”

Andrew nodded as he turned to face him, his black coffee steaming. “Yeah, he told me that you intended to break the bond.” He frowned. “Did Luther tell you that’s what he did?”

Cal nodded. “Yeah, he said that I would have to break the bond in order to…” He shifted his eyes to the door, not wanting Morgan to walk in on them and overhear what he was about to say.

Andrew lifted his hand for Cal to stop, then shrugged. “I’m glad you didn’t.”

Cal nodded as he blew a heavy breath out. “Yeah, so am I.”

“But you’re not keeping your distance any longer, either. I’m not too stoked about that.”

Cal pursed his lips for a moment, contemplating his next words. He’d known that Andrew would be pissed about him reconnecting with Morgan. It had, after all, been Andrew who’d insisted that Cal stay away from her, create some distance for what might have to happen later on, namely planting a dagger in her heart to keep her from running off with Lazarus.

“Listen,” Cal started. “I know that you don’t think this is right, but—”

“Cal? You’re back.” Lance waltzed into the kitchen.

Cal winced with the memory of how he’d last seen his friend writhing on the floor of the training room, his face bloody and his eye swelling shut. To look at Lance now, he would never guess. His face was completely healed, a testament to his Hunter genes, and he wore a wide smile of greeting, his hand extended.

Cal shook his hand tentatively, half expecting to get clocked in the jaw. Not that he didn’t deserve it. Cal had been a lousy friend as of late. “Hey, man. Sorry for the, uh, well, for hitting you and stuff.”

Lance snickered as he stepped away and poured himself a coffee. “Yeah well, I guess I had it coming. I was goading you a little,” he said over his shoulder. “I passed Morgan on the stairs coming up. She wanted me to tell you that she’ll meet you in the training room.”

Cal tensed. “She look okay?”

Lance turned to face him. “Hell yeah. She said that you guys worked things out. She was so bubbly that I wanted to tease her about sounding like Candy, but after the week she’s had, I thought it was a nice change.”

Cal grimaced. “That bad?”

Lance whistled. “If you didn’t come home last night I was going to go out and search for you.” He ran his hand through his hair. “Yeah, it was that bad. She was a mess, man. I’m glad you came home and did the right thing.”

Cal shifted his gaze from Lance to Andrew. It was clear that the two men did not see eye to eye on the Morgan issue. Andrew was silently seething as he sipped his coffee while Lance wore a smirk of satisfaction.

“It’s dangerous for him to be with her,” Andrew said, his tone edged with annoyance.

Lance scoffed as he jerked his eyes toward Andrew. “It’s dangerous for him not to be with her, Andy. She’s his Huntress. Don’t you think there might be something to that? You’ve read the history books, you know what happened in the past when the scholars downplayed the role of the Huntress.” His smile was suddenly gone, his brow furrowed with frustration. “I mean, it’s easy for you to say. You have your Huntress, she’s not going anywhere.”

Andrew flinched. It was a low blow and everyone knew it, but Lance had a point. Andrew never had to fear that his Huntress would betray the Order.

Cal stepped forward. “Listen, guys, I appreciate your opinions.”

Andrew’s eyes snapped from Lance to Cal, a look of smoldering anger burning in them. “The Order comes first. You’ve vowed it—we’ve all vowed it.”

Lance shook his head. “How far would you go to follow that vow, Andrew? ’Cause it seems that at this point you have nothing to lose. Not like Cal does.”

Andrew placed his mug down in the sink and moved toward the door. “I vowed to give my allegiance to the Order above all others, and that includes Kelly.”

Lance’s frown deepened, the look he gave Andrew was one of total confusion and disbelief. “Well, that I don’t understand. Our existence is rooted in protecting our Huntress when we find her—it’s what we’re born to do. No vow should overrule that. It’s like going against instinct.”

Andrew opened his mouth to argue, but Cal stepped forward, his hand raised to touch Andrew’s shoulder. “I’ve got it under control, Andy.”

Andrew shrugged Cal’s hand off and left, his cold glare the only response he gave.

Cal shrugged as he turned back to Lance, his hands raised in a gesture of defeat.

“Well, I think you’re doing the right thing, buddy. Follow your instinct on this one.” Lance dumped the rest of his coffee down the sink and put the mug in after it. “You’d better get downstairs and start your workout. She’s been holed up in your room since you’ve been gone. Her body is gonna need some intense training to get her ready for the battle.”

Cal nodded. “Do me a favor?” He put his own cup in the sink and followed Lance out of the kitchen.

Lance glanced at Cal over his shoulder. “Yeah sure, anything.”

Cal smirked. “Keep your filthy hands off my woman. And if I ask you to train her again, could you knock some sense into me?”