Call of Shadows - Book 1

Chapter 19

Phoenix

I stood over Malachi staring into his eyes. This was a life I had taken. This was someone else who has lost their life because of me. I felt Lauren walk towards me. She ran her hand from my head to my shoulder and left it there. She didn't ask questions, didn't say anything, just stood with me. I don't know how long we stood there but the sun had begun to rise by the time I began to process what had happened. I knelt down and let Lauren climb on and slowly made my way back. Nobody said anything as we passed and as soon as we got to our house I shifted and headed to the shower leaving Lauren in the care of Quincy.

~

Everyone needs to meet in the living room now. By the time I had gotten downstairs everyone had gathered. I put my arm around Lauren who had been allowed to stay the night thanks to Arielle's mind control.

"First let's acknowledge what happened last night."

"Outrageous, the two surviving should be executed." Blaze exploded.

"Agreed." Apollo was nodding with everyone but ended up saying something different.

"I think we should show them mercy. There is no reason to spill wolf blood when so much as been split already. Part of me also believes that they may not have had a choice in the matter."

I turned to Ezekiel who had been silent the whole time.

"What do you believe?"

"Do you remember Jaxson? I think we have a situation like this." He said but earned a few confused glances.

"Jaxson was in our old back. He challenged my father for no reason ad lost. When we examined his memories we found he had slowly been persuaded by another pack's Alpha who wanted Chaos in our ranks. The other Alpha believed with chaos in our pack he could take over."

"You believe he was influenced not only to challenge you but to cheat our most sacred law?" Quincy said astonished. "That would have to have been some powerful magic." I knew it had to be something, I knew anyone in their right mind wouldn't challenge me. Not to be cocky but it's true.

"Very well. I will look into their minds in a few hours. I need each of you to check on the other packs and make sure everyone is okay. If anything stands out please see me and make sure that we an quell anything like what happened."

Turning to Lauren I pulled her away. "You need to go back to your house. If your mother begins to ask questions she may make her way down here which will prove difficult for us all." It was clear she didn't want to leave, and don't get me wrong I didn't want her to leave either, but right now it was the right thing to do.

Quincy can you manage the packs for a bit I'm going to take Lauren home.

"Common love." As I drove she kept my hand on her thigh and stoked her thumb over my hand. My wolf continued to howl in frustration, but I knew I had to wait until she was an adult before we could Bond. Though in our tradition pups could Bond as young as 12 if they found their mate. It was a lot easier back in the 1800's because rules weren't as strict as they were. It was normal for young to Bond. The evolving cultures were making it nearly impossible for us nowadays. Kids couldn't just disappear with a lover like they did centuries ago.

"You still want to know about becoming a wolf?" I asked. She turned and nodded eagerly waiting for my story. I sighed, this was complicated.

"Alright. You can't become a wolf by a bite...at least none that I've ever known, and I'm sure that became a rumor through the humans at some point. Humans can become a wolf though. Should a human be on the brink of death no matter how bad the wound, they can ask a wolf for a piece of them...part of their soul if that makes sense. If the wolf is willing they can change the human to a wolf causing the first transformation. The process is dangerous and very few ever make it through. I only know a handful who have survived. Half the time they can't handle the mental break of shifting to a different animal much less the physical break as well." Lauren looked lost in thought.

"Do you think I could survive?" I looked her dead in the eye.

"I don't know. But let's never find out, yeah?"

~

After I dropped her off, I headed to the house and walked back to the house we were keeping the numskulls in. It pleased my wolf to see both clearly still in pain from the wounds I had inflicted. One had his right arm casted though I knew he'd never regain full use of it even with his healing. The other had his arm in a sling - his shoulder still torn up.

"Your names?"

"Gabriel and this is Lucas." The one with the cast answered immediately.

"Why?"

"Malachi told us if we didn't he'd kill us himself. He said, 'rather die by the Great Alpha then his hand'. You'd make it quick, he wouldn't."

"Why did he want to attack me?"

"I only ever heard him talking about the glory he would have when he won. I don't think he expected to lose." I knew they were telling me the truth, but I wanted to dig deeper. "So you fought on his behalf because you were scared he'd kill you, and because he boasted he would win. Did he give any reason, motive, anything as to why he wanted to challenge me, other than glory."

"Maybe, I don't know...I saw something..." Lucas said slightly frightened. "Show me." I locked eyes with him and dove into his mind.

***

He was sleeping but some raspy voices were speaking, it woke him. There was something not right, the voice wasn't of his Pack. He stepped out of bed and into the hall quietly to listen.

"Master are you sure?"

"Yes. You will challenge Phoenix." The raspy voice answered. It seemed as though a dark cloud spoke. There was no physical form to the cloud. It rolled in the air, seeming to warp his vision.

"I could die." He could hear Malachi's heart rate accelerate and voice waver.

"Yes. But you'll die with honor. Your pack will always back us now that you've given a bloodbond to me. You'll be protected to an extent and my magic will be powerful enough to break the sacred oath of only one wolf fighting." Malachi had nodded but he looked unsure.

"But what if I lose?"

"Then that'll be unfortunate for you. Better win." They stopped talking suddenly, and Lucas's heart jumped he had shifted his weight and the board underneath had creaked. He froze, unsure what to do. The door in front of him flew open and he came face to face with the black thing.

"He'll be perfect." It rasped and the memory went black.

***

My mind returned to my body and I saw Lucas sitting on the floor in pain. He held his head in pain and soon passed out. I sighed. I was getting nowhere with these thoughts and there were no answers to find. I needed to know what this was.

"Very well you are both free to go. Stay with your pack and let me know who your new Alpha is."