Chapter 24

Chapter

Twenty-Four

Callista

M y mind raced as I paced along the river. Kael. Where the hell was he?

Blake would've been yelling at me for running off into the woods without a plan. He probably wanted to yell at me about a thousand things this weekend. A million more if he knew what Kael and I had been up to in my bedroom. Especially if he knew how much I wanted a repeat performance.

But following him here was more than that. Kael was two opposites in my head, and I needed to know which one was real. How I was going to discover that, I had no idea, but I couldn't sit in my room after what Lana told me. He was running his wolf for a reason, and I wanted to hear it.

My wolf whined in frustration, watching the river gurgle past under the gray sky. Then the wind shifted, and she instantly turned her head. I smelled it, too, girl. My heart started to race.

There he was. His coat thick and full, standing next to the river. His eyes locked onto mine as he lowered his head and padded over the soft grass and wildflowers toward me. I waited for him to say something, but when he was a few meters in front of me, he cocked his head to the side, then started to shift.

My wolf seemed confused, but I couldn't look away. The fur on his back rippled, and his eyes, those piercing eyes, stayed locked on mine as his snout shortened and his fur receded. His limbs elongated, and his spine straightened.

And then, there he was. Standing in front of me in all his naked glory. I should've given him some privacy, but I couldn't. I was mesmerized by the transformation, the raw power and grace of it. Why had he done that in front of me? Why was he still standing there?

Kael didn't seem to mind my staring. He didn't move to cover himself. Was he waiting for me?

As if reading my thoughts, a slow smile lifted his mouth, then he turned and strode to the water's edge. As soon as his back was to me, I shifted. My wolf wasn't happy. She'd just gotten to stretch her legs and there I was sending her back again. I mentally inspected her as she settled into my head. She wasn't hurt. I rubbed a hand over the still-raw skin on my arm and breathed a sigh of relief.

Kael waded into the water, and I took a step closer. The clouds were growing darker, making the water nearly black. He walked in up to his waist.

I curled my toes in the grass. "Where are you going?"

He turned back, his eyes traveling up my body. I resisted the urge to wrap my arms around my chest. He'd already seen it. This wasn't anything new.

My body wasn't convinced.

"Going for a swim."

Of course. As you do on a Saturday afternoon after delivering slow pleasure to the woman standing in front of you and, you know, a baby. My pulse quickened as I stepped closer to the water. It was going to be freezing, and the water was already up to his waist.

I dipped my toes in and winced. Ice cold. "Kael?—"

He turned back, grinning. "What?"

I gave him a look. "You know what. You're going to get hypothermia in thirty seconds."

"I'll be on the other side in thirty seconds." He watched me. He hadn't asked why I was there or what I wanted, so I didn't question him.

I exhaled and sat down on the bank. "Fine. I'll wait for you."

He smirked and dragged himself back through the water. "Come here."

I pulled my knees closer to my chest. "I don't want to get in."

"I'm aware." He rose out of the water and stood in front of me. My eyes were at waist level, and even though the water was cold?—

"My eyes are up here."

I jolted, heat staining my cheeks. Kael laughed as he reached down and tugged on my hand, lifting me from the grass. He squatted, and in one motion, wrapped his arm around my back and scooped my legs from the ground. I gasped and threw my arms around his neck.

He exhaled. "Thanks. That's helpful." Without another word, Kael turned back to the river and walked in.

My eyes widened. "How deep does it get?"

"Not deep enough for you to worry."

I clung to him, watching like a crazy person for any hazards under the surface. If a rock or log popped up, I wouldn't be able to dodge it. "Why do we need to cross this? Couldn't we have talked on the other side?"

"Is that why you're here? To talk?"

I swallowed hard. I didn't know why I was there exactly. Only that it felt like I needed to be. "Yes."

"Talk about what?"

About Lana overhearing your phone conversation. About who you really are and what you want. About this thing between us that I can't stop thinking about. "About what happened this morning."

He grunted as his foot hit a rock. "You did well."

"You gave good instructions."

Kael lifted me higher in his arms as we hit the center of the river. The water barely brushed my butt, and I shivered. He met my eyes. "Good chat."

I shot him a look, but couldn't think of anything else to say as he crossed the final stretch of water and set me down on the bank on the other side.

"Thank you." I rubbed my arms. Even dry, the chill in the air was seeping through my skin.

"You're welcome." He stood in front of me a second longer, his chest and stomach wet and covered in goose flesh, then walked past me up the bank.

I followed, not bothering to ask where we were going. He would either tell me or he wouldn't, but we both knew I was going to follow. Unless there was another frozen river to cross. Despite the cold, my body felt glorious. I took in every tree branch, every late blooming wildflower, every new tree sprouting from the forest floor. I'd missed this. All of it. For nearly a month I'd been stuck in my house staring at a computer screen.

The world was beautiful. And I'd been missing it.

I gritted my teeth to keep the burn in my eyes from turning into tears, but wasn't successful. Tears pooled against my lower eyelids, and I blinked, trying to clear them before Kael turned around.

Then his hand was on my elbow. "Slow down."

I stumbled back and looked at the ground. I'd almost walked right off a ledge. The drop wasn't far, but the rocks were jagged. I quickly wiped my cheeks. "What is this place?"

Kael watched me a moment before clearing his throat. "Hot spring. I found it as a pup." He walked along the edge and dropped into the small semicircular pool.

It wasn't large, and wasn't deep enough to submerge without crunching up, but the water was crystal clear. A vent at the bottom sent ripples through the water, bubbling at the surface.

I bit my lower lip. "This makes me think of that movie."

"Which one?"

"I can't remember the name, but people were skinny dipping in a hot spring and then magma superheated the earth beneath them and they boiled to death."

Kael raised an eyebrow. "Hmm. It's a good thing wolves run hotter than humans." He dropped lower and leaned back against a rock, closing his eyes. "Water's nice. Not boiling."

I rolled my eyes and crouched, slipping in next to him. I exhaled as the sudden heat made my skin tingle, then turned and rested my arms on the rocks, letting my body float. Steam curled around me, sticking to my exposed skin.

I jerked my foot back when something brushed against it.

"Sorry." Kael opened his eyes.

I turned to look at him. "Who were you talking to? When you were on the phone earlier."

His eyes widened a fraction. He straightened in the water. "Were you listening?"

I shook my head. "No. But Lana was."

He nodded once. "My friend. With the alphas."

I considered this. Was there a chance he was telling his friend what he wanted to hear? Was I hoping that's why he'd said what he did? "You have a lot of friends."

Kael scrubbed his hand over his jaw. "I'm lucky, I guess."

"Why don't you have a pack? And why are you willing to do all of this for a 'friend?'"

"Wow, we're just getting right into this."

I leaned closer. "Is killing really such a nothing task to you that you'd knock off a few people anytime, anyplace, or is this more than a friend to you? And you know how to deliver babies? And Bill seems like more than a friend, too, for that matter?—"

Kael held up a hand. "You're more talkative than you were last night."

That shut me up. My skin started to flush, and not from the hot spring.

Kael cocked his head. "Why does it matter?"

"Why does what matter?"

He shrugged. "Any of it. As soon as we can get to Swan Lake, you hopefully won't be tied to the dagger?—"

"So you are going to take it? You're going to use it again?" My shoulders curled in, and I wrapped my arms over my chest.

Kael's jaw worked. "That's the plan."

"Because of your friend. You're going to kill people because of?—"

"He was like a father to me. The alphas knew that. I was working over in Europe when I got the call."

I moved to my left and rested against a rock. "Okay. They knew you?"

He nodded. "I grew up about an hour north."

"Which pack?"

His expression darkened, and for a second, I wondered if he wasn't going to answer. "Didn't have one."

I frowned. "Why not."

Kael pointed at his opposite shoulder, watching me as it sank in. My stomach dropped through my middle, and I couldn't keep the look of horror off my face. "Are you serious? They rejected you?"

He dropped his hand back into the water. "Six years old."

My mind reeled. Six. I'd heard of packs ending pregnancies when they didn't think the pups would be strong, but allowing them to live, only to abandon them? "That's horrible."

Kael stared at the water's surface. "Bill thinks my mother tried to keep me. That's why I was so old."

It made sense. She probably suffered just as much as he did. "Which pack?"

"It doesn't matter."

"It does matter. Which pack?" I hadn't meant to growl, but something wild and feral rose within me. How dare they do that to him? How dare they leave him helpless?

Kael put his hand out and pried my clawed fingers from the rock. "I'm fine, Callista."

His touch sent a swoop through me, starting at my wrist and diving into my middle. I pulled back.

Kael cleared his throat. "Destin was like a father to me. He's the one the Alliance got their hands on."

"Alliance?"

Kael looked up. "You don't know about them?" I shook my head. "It's a group of three, maybe four alphas up north. They work together to maintain their packs, share resources, get through the winter. It's tougher up there."

"And they're the ones who hired you." Pieces were starting to click together. "Did you work with Nathan?"

Kael shook his head. "I was just there to clean up his mess."

That stung like a slap. Kael was hired to do what Nathan couldn't. Because he'd tried to kill me, tried to control Evelyn, and Rowan had ripped out his throat. This wasn't a game, and Kael, though he sat relaxed next to me, wasn't innocent. "I'm Nathan's mess," I whispered.

"That's not what I meant."

My eyes flashed. "But it's the truth." He didn't argue, and words bubbled up my throat before I could stop them. "Why didn't you kill me, Kael? In the tent. Why didn't you let me take the dagger and finish what Nathan started?"

"You heard me answer Rowan." Kael pushed up, standing in the water.

"Right. You said you needed to be sure."

"Exactly." He turned and pressed his hand on the rock, readying himself to get out, but I wasn't done with this conversation.

"Why can we talk? In wolf form?"

Kael hoisted himself up onto the rocks. "That's a great question."

"Kael." I struggled up to the bank, storming after him back into the trees. "You don't have any thoughts on that?" He didn't turn. Didn't answer. "Kael?—"

He spun and pulled me against his chest, his hand snapping around my waist like a bracelet. "You want to know my thoughts?" His head bowed toward me, his body rock hard against my stomach.

"Mmhmm." I wet my lips, and his eyes turned liquid as he tracked the motion.

"I can't take a mate."

My breath caught as his hips rocked into mine. "I never said I wanted?—"

"I don't have a pack. Zero stability. I don't even have a home base."

"Kael, I didn't?—"

He brushed his lips over my jaw, and my eyelids closed involuntarily. "I'm sorry," he whispered, then took my hand and walked me to the river.