Theon.When Callista lunged I was pretty sure she was coming for my throat. My hands were already up to defend myself, but not to fight her. I’ve hurt her enough. All I had to do was contain her before she hurt herself, I didn’t care if she managed to punch me or something Goddess knew I deserved it.But all she wanted to harm was air.She falls down next to me with a thud, punching at the ground. Her knuckles hurl at the stone floors over and over again at a speed that would envy a full werewolf, until blood sprouts off them. For a moment, I can only stare at her in horror and surprise, but then I snap into my senses.“Callista, stop!” I try to wrap my arms around her torso and take her off the ground. But she squirms worse than a fussy newborn, and with her size, she manages to wiggle out of my grip to punch the floor a couple more times.One of her elbows catches me in the jaw, making me stumble back. She’s surprisingly strong as well.Callista doesn’t even notice what she’d done,
Theon.Kellin’s tone is purposefully even as he utters that name. His tone only gets even when he has really, really bad news to deliver. Considering how the name Edwin Kane doesn’t ring any bells, I can only assume that what he’s going to say next is going to be my next headache.“And he has promised the pack revenge.”Bingo, right on the bullseye.I curse. “That’s rich, coming from the pack that made the first move. If they kept their hands off one of my wolves, nothing like this would have happened.”“The situation is delicate considering Callista’s status in our own pack. Technically, she was never initiated into the Rexellen pack.” Kellin reminds me.I hate politics.“We need to get that issue fixed, then. In the meantime, keep a heavy lookout on everything.” I order him. “Close off and monitor the pack borders closely, control the number of people going outside. Trade routes need to be monitored very, very closely. If anyone wants to commute, glamour them.”“Yes, Alpha.”“And ke
Callista.When I wake up, again, Dr. Haeger tells me what had happened.I had no memory of the event. In fact, I didn’t remember what happened after he left the room the other day, leaving me alone with Theon. And then thunder had cracked and…Black. That was all there was. Apparently, I’d forgotten who Theon was and tried to attack the phantom of my sister who was taunting him and attacking him. That’s why my knuckles were busted, and there was a smear of blood on the floor next to me. That’s why I feel so exhausted already, I’d gone head-to-head with a phantom of all things. A hallucination.As if being like I was already not enough, fate just had to go and put the proverbial cheery on top of the shit-sundae by fucking up my brain.Figures.It irked me how I could not remember, frightened me because this was not supposed to happen. And the explanation the doctor gave me chills me to my bones.“So, it’s an effect of the Chamber of Despair?” I ask him as we walk out of the laboratory.
Callista. I felt sorry for Dr. Haeger, I really did. Not knowing the answers on how to treat your patient must suck for a doctor of his caliber. The man just wanted to help me. Which is why I decided to redirect his attention. “I understand your concern, doctor, and I really am touched that you care so much about my wellbeing,” I tell him as earnestly as I can manage. “Maybe we can put that issue to the back burner for now and focus on my mental issues instead? Advanced healing is a good thing, right? Maybe it’s just a lucky side effect of the whole affair, maybe my wolf would finally make an appearance…” Dr. Haeger shot me a look before shrugging. “Alright. Let’s focus on your mental issues. You forgot me and Theon, but you remembered Ruelle. But then again, you’ve known Ruelle for far longer than you knew us.” He muses. “Which is why I thought it was retrograde amnesia at first, you know, forgetting your most recent memories. But you remembered that Ruelle had died.” “It’s selec
Callista.I don’t know who this woman is. I’d never seen her before. Yet she watches me with the intensity of someone I should really watch my back with, because a woman who confidently wears a sword like that in this day and age? She definitely knows how to use that, and I do not want her to use it on me. And don’t get me wrong, her face is so impassive, not showing any emotion at all.But I know she’s watching me with interest.I don’t know what to focus on more, the sword or the hair, because both of them are equally fascinating. The hair is the exact shade of fire in the night. The sword looks lethal. Hell, I’d never seen anyone wear a sword period. Not in the 21st century.I’m curious about her.“Are you Callista Leander?” She asks me in a sonorous voice.My guard rises up immediately. She knows me, or at least, knows about me, and I know nothing of her. That’s enough for me to be paranoid. I’m not exactly in my right mental state here, and that’s making me antsy dealing with peo
Callista.There it is. Morbidly, I pat myself on the back for guessing that before. Internally, of course. Externally, I stay frozen, staring at her with wide eyes. I don’t try to talk, because I had far too much experience with the skittish type wolves and did not want to set off the same person who admitted she wanted me dead for killing my sister who tried to kill me.Oh, man, I’m going to be offed by a sword in the middle of a hospital compound, aren’t I?“But then Theon tells me that it isn’t true.” She shakes her head, and I breathe just a little. Theon had told her that, which means he believes me now. This very thought brings me joy, but not without bitterness. Took him too much time and too many sacrifices on my part to realize that didn’t it? I had to bleed on a stone slab for him to even entertain the idea. “He tells me that you didn’t murder your sister. That you just wanted to get away, and she chased you. Makes one wonder, how exactly did her death occur if it wasn’t wit
Theon.“Have you seen Valencia?” I ask Haden who I’d found on my search, checking the machine guns on the castle walls, “I can’t find her anywhere.”She disappeared after chatting in my office after the Council had called a meeting, and when I returned, she was nowhere to be seen inside the castle. At first, I was concerned, but then I remembered that Valencia knew this castle like the back of her hand, there’s no way she would get into any sort of trouble by getting lost.Haden stills upon hearing that. Slowly he moves his incredulous gaze from the gun he’s checking at me.“Valencia?” He asks, “Valencia Everheart? Galdine pack’s Valencia?”I wince. “You hadn’t heard, have you?”“Damn right, I hadn’t heard, what the hell is she doing here?” Crossing his arms, he demands. “Now of all times!”“She came to visit after hearing about Ruelle’s death.”Valencia Everheart was not someone I thought I would see ever again. One of the best sword-fighting wolves there was, who was the daughter of
Theon.After a lifetime of having the notions of duty, responsibility, and royalty engraved to me from the start, I didn’t want to disappoint our father or the pack that relied on our family to provide it with leadership. Had I simply been the prince still, I might have considered it, but it was only mere months ago that my brother had abdicated from his position as the heir to the throne, because he trusted me to do a better job at ruling than he would have done, and father had started training me in the royal and diplomatic affairs. I realized that I had been using this relationship as a means of escape from all the expectations that were weighing down on me. While I loved Valencia, nostalgia drove our relationship more than love. She was my last connection to the life I led before I had to step up and fill the position my brother left, but I wanted her to be my present and future too.But I was not just Theon Rexellen the wolf. I was Theon Valenti Rexellen, first of my name, the he