Wolves’ Bane (17 page)

I shook my head as I snagged my bottle of water from the treadmill and plopped down onto the floor. My heart raced from my run, which felt great, but my head was reeling from my troubling thoughts, which did not.

Lance frowned as his gaze slid over my expression. “Everything okay?”

I snorted, taking a gulp of water in an attempt to disguise the tears that welled in my eyes. No, everything was not okay. I shrugged again as I lowered the bottle, my gaze downcast and my bottom lip trembling.
Ah shit, suck it up.

“Morgan?” Lance sat down next to me.

I curled my legs up to my chest and rested my chin on my knees, my gaze still riveted to the ground in front of me. “I’m just feeling a little drained.”

“Drained in what way?”

His concerned tone had me trying to force a smile. I failed miserably and instead focused on staring straight ahead, fighting against the tears that threatened to burst free.

I shrugged. “It’s just so much to take in all at once, you know?”

“Yeah, I’m sure it doesn’t help that your Hunter is being a total jackass, either.”

I snapped my gaze to meet Lance’s. “What?”

He smirked. “Cal’s being a total shit. I don’t think it’s right. What he’s doing to you, that is.”

Fresh tears welled. “You don’t?”

Lance’s smile faded and he shook his head. “No. And as much as I respect Cal for his loyalty and his sense of duty, I think you should come first. His Huntress should be his first priority. At the moment, he’s putting the needs of the Order in front of you.”

My bottom lip trembled. “He is?”

Lance laid his hand on my knee and smiled. “What’s really shitty is that if you succeed in killing Lazarus, you’ve got an eternity of dealing with this shit from him. I mean, maybe if you do succeed, he’ll stop acting like such a prick but—”

“What?” I pushed my legs down and straightened my spine, my heart kicking up. “What do you mean I have an eternity?”

Lance’s eyes widened. “He didn’t tell you?”

“Tell me what?”

Lance ran his fingers over his mouth and briefly closed his eyes, murmuring a few curse words under his breath as he did. When he opened his eyes again, they were filled with pity. “Ah shit, Morgan, he didn’t explain that the bonding process was for an eternity? You become immortal in the sense of halting the aging process. You can die as a result of violence, but you’ll never get sick, you’ll never get a terminal illness, you will heal faster and most importantly, you simply will not age or change while your Hunter lives.”

My mouth gaped as each of Lance’s words rolled over me. When he finished talking and laid his hand on my back, I totally lost control. The tears I’d been fighting burst out of me like a torrent. I sucked in gasping breaths of air as my body shook. An eternity of this? An eternity of wanting, of craving, of feeling like shit? Lance pulled me toward him, wrapping me in his big arms and bringing my face to rest against his chest while I blubbered like an idiot. How could Cal do this to me when he knew that he wouldn’t be able to give me what I wanted, what I needed from him? How could he be so cruel?

Lance’s soothing whispers and gentle hand running down my back brought on a fresh batch of wrenching sobs. Why did I get stuck with such a heartless Hunter when Lance was so nice to me? Why did I have such shitty luck?

In the middle of another bout of wracking sobs, I found myself abruptly torn from Lance’s grasp. Huge hands encircled my waist and brought me to my feet, yanking me away from Lance and almost halfway across the room before letting me go again.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Cal bellowed.

Lance stood to confront Cal, both men’s hands clenched in tight fists, both wearing equally pissed-off expressions. I looked on, my whole body still shaking with my emotional breakdown as cascading waves of fear rolled over me. I’d never seen Cal this angry.

“Did I ask you to comfort her?” Cal demanded as he shoved an angry finger into Lance’s shoulder with enough force to cause him to sway back.

“I wouldn’t have to comfort her if you weren’t acting like such a dickhead,” Lance spat.

Cal’s already red face seemed to take on a brighter glow as he raised his fist. “I asked you to train her, not to maul her.”

“She was crying, man, because of you. I was doing what you should be doing—I was giving her what she needed, just as a Hunter should do. If you weren’t such a total idiot, you’d know what she needed and take care of it instead of focusing on what the Order wants.”

Cal reeled back and punched Lance squarely in the jaw, sending him sprawling to the ground. I cried out as Lance hit the mat and Cal climbed on top of him, pummeling his chest and face as Lance raised his arms in defense.

“Stop!” I screamed as I raced toward them and swiped at one of Cal’s arms.

He shook me off without even glancing at me. Lance was doing his best to block the punches, but Cal was so furious, so intent on kicking the shit out of him that he wasn’t giving Lance a chance to recover from the initial sucker punch.

“You crazy son of a bitch,” I yelled as I jumped on Cal’s back, my hands clawing in his hair and slipping around his face to cover his eyes and scratch his cheeks. “Get the hell off him. He hasn’t done anything wrong.”

Cal reacted instantly. He jumped up from Lance’s body and swung around, using his hands to pry me away and bring me into a bear hug, his huge arms enclosing me until I could no longer fight him.

“Let me go!” I screeched as I shifted my head to the side and bit the flesh of his bicep.

He grunted as I dug in my teeth, then released me, sending me flying to the side.

Lance pushed himself to his feet, his face a bloody mess, one eye already swelling shut. Cal rubbed at his arm, my bite leaving an angry red welt. Everyone was panting and looked ready to go on the attack once again. Fists were clenching and eyes were narrowed, lips curled into sneers.

“He has no right to touch you other than for training.” Cal’s voice was still edged with anger, his breaths coming out in giant heaving pants.

“Why? Does it make you jealous that he was comforting me, Cal? What right do you have to claim me? You don’t want me, remember?” I snorted. “Other than to satiate your needs in the bedroom.”

Cal glared at me. “You’re
mine.
”

“No. I’m. Not,” I growled. “You don’t own
me
and I don’t want
you
. There’s nothing you could do to convince me to sleep with you again, you fucking asshole. And now, I find out that I’m supposedly stuck with you for eternity. What a shitty deal that is. I’d much rather be bonded with someone like Lance. At least he gives a fuck about me.”

Cal flinched at my words, and Lance whipped his head toward me.

“You don’t mean that, Morgan,” Lance warned.

I was nodding before he even finished his sentence, my eyes never leaving Cal’s. “Oh, yes I do. You’re everything a woman could want in a partner. Caring, compassionate, respectful. Everything that Cal is not.”

Lance took a step toward me but froze when Cal shifted his murderous eyes in his direction. “No. Morgan, you just don’t understand Cal’s reasons. He can be all those things too.”

I frowned as I turned my gaze toward Lance. Despite the fact that Cal had just kicked the shit out of him, he was defending the man?

“That’s okay, Lance, I understand.” Cal’s cold words rolled over me, forcing me to look back at him. “I guess it’s for the best that I go ahead and break the bond then.”

“No, Cal, you can’t.” Lance’s voice sounded desperate. “She doesn’t understand what she’s saying. Maybe if you explain yourself…”

Cal’s icy glare pierced me. “No, this is clearly what she wants, and I’ve found out how to do it.” A muscle ticked in his jaw as he clenched his teeth.

“What do you mean?” Lance asked.

My gut roiled with a sudden feeling of dread. This was only a fight, wasn’t it? Everyone was just saying things out of anger, right? All I wanted was for Cal to react, to say the things that we were both really feeling.

Cal gave me one last hard glare before heading to the door. “I’ll be back in a few days, and when I return, the bond will be broken.”

Lance trailed after him. “What do you mean, Cal? What are you going to do?”

Cal paused at the door but didn’t turn around. “I’m going to betray my Huntress and sleep with another woman. That’ll break the bond and free her, just as she wants.”

Lance rushed toward him, but Cal spun around and slammed his fist into Lance’s gut, sending the air out of him in a whooshing moan. He pointed his finger in my direction and sneered. “You won’t have to worry about an eternity with someone like me, Morgan. I’ll take care of that tonight.” Without another word, he left and let the door slam closed behind him.

His words hit me like a train.
Betray my Huntress. Sleep with another woman.
I collapsed to my knees, my legs suddenly too weak to hold me up. “Lance?” I whispered. “What have I done?”

I raised my hands to my face. I wanted Cal to get angry. I wanted him to get so angry that he would finally admit that he cared for me. Instead, I had pushed him so far he vowed to part from me permanently. His words were enough to shred my heart. What would his actions do to me?

Lance lay sprawled on the floor, panting as he regained the air that Cal had punched out of him. He made no attempt to rise and comfort me again.

Cal was gone. Deep down in my new Huntress consciousness, I knew that if he did what he said, if he broke the bond, a part of me would die inside. Would I lose my will to live? No, no man was worth that. But the thumping of my heart would change because there’d be a hole and nothing would ever fill it again. The idea of it brought fresh tears to my eyes, mourning the loss of something I’d just discovered in that moment. I cared for him, with all of his flaws and despite the fact that he was acting like a total asshole. A façade that didn’t hide the fact that there was a man in there who was honorable, courageous and who cared about me. It also didn’t hide the fact that I knew he wasn’t being truthful. My instincts screamed every time he rejected me, not only because it worked against our bond but also because I just didn’t believe it was true. When he said hateful or hurtful things, he was lying, maybe to himself, definitely to me. But none of that mattered now. What could have been, I would never know because I’d lost him.

“What have I done?” I cried as I slumped to the side.

What have I done?

Chapter Twenty-Eight

The Right Girl

He’d been away for a week and it had been the most miserable week of his life. He’d been determined to end his torment the second he got into the shitty little town of Redwood, known for its loose women and ample booze. Both of which he needed, only one of which he’d so far partaken in.

For the last three nights Cal had trolled the bar for a willing partner, and each night he’d found one. Eager women who all but jumped into his lap the moment he showed the least bit of interest. None of them had bothered him about getting to know them or making a commitment. None of them wanted anything more than his dick. Every night he’d taken one of them home, determined to get it over with, to break the bond that gnawed at him constantly. The bond that was actually screaming at him to go back to Morgan and fix things. The bond that tormented him with such a feeling of overwhelming sadness that he had to wonder what state he’d left Morgan in. But he was resolved to do this so that she could be free, just as she wanted.

Besides, what could he offer her anyway? So far, all he’d managed to do was drive her away, reject her repeatedly. No, the bond needed to be broken so that Morgan wouldn’t be condemned to any emotional binding to him. Maybe, if she survived the battle with Lazarus, she would go on to find someone who deserved her. Unlike Cal, who didn’t deserve shit.

Depressing thoughts of loss threatened to drown him and once again derail his mission. What he needed was to shove that gnawing ache aside and do what he came here to do, what he’d attempted to do many times over already. The town had plenty to offer.

Although each woman he’d taken home was beautiful in her own way—and very, very ready for him—Cal simply could not do it. His body would not react to the thought of another woman’s hands or mouth on his skin, even the thought had him wanting to vomit.

He clenched his jaw as he swirled the beer in his glass, his resolve to break the bond ebbing away with every moment. He couldn’t understand how his father had done it. How could he have betrayed Cal’s mother so easily when
he
was having such a bloody hard time? Sadly, it made Cal feel inadequate in some way, like his father had set a macabre kind of standard for him to meet and he was failing.

“You ready for another one, cowboy, or are you just going to nurse that one for another hour?”

He glanced up from his brooding. A new bartender had taken over, and this one was tall, curvy and definitely more appealing than the last.

“I’ve seen you here for the past few nights,” she said. “You’ve got the girls in a tizzy.”

She was smiling at him, her green eyes sparkling with mirth as she set a new beer down on the coaster in front of him. Her brown hair was pulled into a ponytail that bounced with her movements. His eyes were riveted to her as he swept her body—or what he could see of her body. Large breasts, small waist, nice ass. For the first time since he left Morgan, his cock stirred to life.

He shoved away the sudden stab of betrayal and smiled back. “Thanks for the beer,” Cal said as he downed the last of his old beer then set the glass on the bar. He wrapped his hand around the fresh brew, determined to numb any lingering doubts.

After filling a few more drinks for the other men at the bar, she returned. “No problem. You looked lost in some serious thoughts. Figured you needed something cool and fresh.”

“My name is Cal.” He extended his hand.

Her smile widened, showing perfect white teeth. She shook his hand. “Becca.”

After staring for a moment too long, he released her hand and nodded toward the dance floor. The place wasn’t busy by any means, but there were enough people around to suggest that it would be soon. “I haven’t seen you here before. How’d you know I’ve been here the other nights?”

Becca nodded as she took an order from one of the waitresses and quickly began drawing another beer. “Oh, I’m one of those pathetic losers who like to come to work on her days off.” She shrugged as she placed the pint on the waitress’s tray and started another. “It’s a small town, not much to do. I saw you sitting alone, drinking. Trust me, a guy that looks like you gets noticed. You’ve got all the women gossiping.” When she finished filling the order, she turned back to him. “What brings you into town?”

Before he could answer, she was called away by one of the patrons at the other end of the bar. He cocked his head and studied her as she busily set up a row of shot glasses and began pouring out measured amounts of some liqueur. She was nothing like the other women he’d targeted over the past few days. She seemed smart and nice and not at all loose. But that didn’t concern him—he knew when it came down to it, he wouldn’t have a problem convincing her to sleep with him. She was obviously interested. What bothered Cal was that he wasn’t
bothered
…the bond seemed to ebb away every time he talked to her.

When she turned toward him he realized why.
She looks like Morgan.

His mind clicked on line, his dark goal coming into focus. That was the secret.
That’s how Father did it.
He found a woman who resembled his Huntress and tricked his body. And Cal’s body was definitely tricked. His cock was hard for her already, a state of arousal he hadn’t experienced with the others.

“So?”

A sly smile spread across his lips. “Would you believe that I’ve got sorrows to drown?”

Becca raised an eyebrow. “Oh yeah? Who doesn’t?”

He motioned for her to lean forward, beckoning her with a crooked finger. When she did, her breasts grazed his forearm, shooting desire straight to his cock. “I’ve come here to drown myself in other things as well.” He boldly ran his finger along her cheek. “Like drown myself
in
someone.”

When she pulled back from him, she licked her lips. “Oh yeah?” she said again, her words breathy.

He moved toward her, ready to brush his lips against hers, but hesitated at the last moment, merely inches from her face. “I’ve got a terrible itch that needs scratching.”

She moved a fraction back but held his gaze, her breaths coming out in short pants. “I don’t usually have one-night stands.”

He pushed himself back to sit on his stool. “Who said anything about one night? I’ve got all the time in the world and nowhere important to be.”
Go big or go home, right? This is what Morgan wants. It’s what she needs. Free her.

Her eyebrows rose and she laid her hand over her collarbone as if trying to calm her rapid heart.

“What time do you get off work?”

Becca hesitated, and in that moment, he stood from his stool and dropped a twenty down on the bar. Her eyes roved his body from his face down to his waist, growing wider as she caught sight of the bulge in his pants. When her gaze traveled back to his eyes, a deep blush was painted across her cheeks. “I get off in an hour.”

He smiled and reached over to snag her hand before bringing it to his lips for a brief kiss. “Until then, Becca,” he said as he let her hand go and slipped his room key across the bar. “I’ll be waiting for you at Hollow’s Hotel, room 102. And I will make it worth your while.”

Cal strolled out of the bar, knowing that her eyes were on him and also knowing he gave an impressive showing from the rear as well as the front. For the first time in five days, while talking to Becca, he’d felt burden free, the tug of his bond only a faint pulse…but as he moved farther away from the bar, it returned with a vengeance.

His heart palpitated with the need to go home to Morgan. He replayed her final words once again, that she preferred Lance to him. That Lance was a better Hunter for her. And she was right. Lance was nothing if not a gentleman, honorable and deserving of a Huntress’s love and admiration. Cal had nothing to give her but his devotion to the Order and a fucked-up legacy of murder that he wished with every beat of his heart wasn’t his destiny. His gut twisted, doubt pounding him. He’d cure himself of it for good after a night with another woman and rid himself of the gnawing impulse to go back to Morgan. She didn’t want him, and after tonight, he’d at least be able to give her that.