I would've gaped at the inside of the Dawn Palace like a complete yokel if I wasn't trying my hardest to maintain a stony façade in front of my captors.

  Our temple back home had been carved from mountain granite, and it was the nicest building in the village.

  The Dawn Palace was all white, shimmering blue at the periphery of my vision. Lunar wards had been soaked into every stone, and a chandelier of icy diamond-like drops sparkled overhead as they marched me through the massive foyer.

  I caught a glimpse of the rest of the lake through one of the tall, thin windows, and the sprays of pink water lilies decorating its surface.

  If nothing else, the Dawn Palace was intensely beautiful. It was a cage that would be a pleasure to look at.

  The males steered me towards a set of stairs and gave me no room to slip away.

  I balked before I took the first step, walking backwards and bumping into Calian's hard chest.

  "We're not taking you to a prison," he breathed in my ear. Goosebumps rose over my skin as his lips brushed the shell of my ear, and one of his hands rose to cover my shoulder.

  It wasn't fair that someone I hated so much made my primal instincts clamor towards him.

  "If I have to stay here, I'd rather stay on temple grounds." I tried not to let him see how much his proximity affected me, even though it was impossible to hide the goosebumps on my arms.

  Ryden turned, gazing down at me. He took a step closer, then reached out and wrapped a lock of my black hair around his fingers, studying it as though it held some secret.

  "You'll spend plenty of time on temple grounds," he said, his voice a low growl. "But you will live with me, where I can keep an eye on you."

  I braced myself, planting my feet on the marble floor and trying not to think about the dirty footprints I was probably leaving behind. "Hmm...no."

  Ryden's blue eyes flashed.

  He moved so quickly I didn't realize what had happened until it was over—he’d scooped me up and gently tossed me over his shoulder.

  I braced my wrists against his lower back, unable to ignore the taut muscles under my hands, and looked up with a scowl into Calian's face as he followed us.

  "You really love to make things harder for yourself," he said in amusement.

  I growled, and he laughed.

  "Are you going to fight having a real bath, too?"

  I decided to change tack, smiling sweetly. My irritation only entertained them. "As long as you're not around, I'm sure I'll enjoy everything."

  But Calian only lifted one brawny shoulder in a shrug. "Too bad. Someone needs to make sure you don't try to escape through the window."

  "Ah." Ryden had already climbed three flights of stairs, apparently used to the steep incline. My window was going to be too high to escape through unless I wanted to break a leg and crawl out of Lykos. "Can someone less...well, less you keep watch over me, then?"

  To my surprise, the amusement faded from Calian's handsome face. "Less me? Oh, look. It only took you five minutes in the Dawn Palace to decide you were better than everyone else."

  I stared back at him. While he'd been laughing, the obsidian of his eyes had been warm. Now they were as cold as ice again.

  "I never said I was better than you," I said quietly.

  He showed a flash of sharp teeth, making his thoughts on my apologies clear.

  Fine. Fuck him, then.

  I wasn't going to apologize to a wolf who tied me up, anyways.

  I lowered my head, bracing it against my forearms and closing my eyes. Ryden's shoulder flexed under my stomach as he moved, and his hand and forearm were curled around my thigh, keeping me in place.

  If it inched any higher...

  I found myself fearing that despite my tent bath, I still stank, and his sensitive wolf's nose was going to be put off.

  Wait.

  What was wrong with me? They'd taken me captive, absorbed my pack, and now I was worried if he thought I smelled bad?

  I was about to berate myself for that when Ryden's steps leveled out.

  I raised my head again and found us in a long corridor, with windows overlooking the entire city. All of Lykos, and its numerous waterfalls and lakes, were displayed like a portrait.

  Calian gave me an unpleasant smile. "You can enjoy lording it over everyone else from up here."

  I stared out the window, doing my best to ignore him. It was easy until Ryden pushed a door open, then gently knelt down and lowered me to the floor.

  My bare feet touched thick, plush carpet. I looked down at the dark blue rugs underfoot, then at the wall of windows, and a massive bed piled with furs and blankets that looked like puffs of cloud.

  I'd never seen this much grandeur in my life. Back home, even in the temple, we slept on simple beds. Most of us chose to sleep as wolves on the ground.

  This was almost painful; a far cry from the home I'd left and would likely never see again at this rate.

  Ryden gestured to the far wall, and I followed his gaze. There was an enormous copper bathtub set on a floor of sapphire blue tiles.

  "We hold a celebration after the return of every raid," he told me. His good humor from the camp tent was gone; now he was the Alpha, giving orders he expected to be obeyed. "You will be there tonight. A Caller is a huge prize for our people. You will be clean, you will be pretty, and you will smile like you mean it."

  I gazed up at it, holding my bound hands against my chest. Every fiber of my being wanted to ask the obvious question—"What if I don't?"

  I managed to hold it back. Barely.

  Ryden seemed to realize I was backing away from him. He took my hands, untying the ropes and rubbing the sore spots again.

  I hated that his touch felt good, the warm roughness of his skin better than any soothing balm.

  "I wish I could make you understand the morale this will bring to the city." He was looking down at my wrists as he rubbed them, giving me a clear opportunity to watch his handsome face. His full lips had turned down at the corners, betraying his true discomfort. "Callers are rare enough; we thought most of your kind were dead by now. Finding you was a blessing from the Moon herself, and every other wolf in Pack Azura will believe the same."

  His blue eyes flashed up to mine, so quickly I couldn't pretend I hadn't been watching him.

  I thought of Reeva's words and the jubilation I'd felt in Fenn's head when he'd realized we were saved.

  It wouldn't kill me to throw Ryden a bone. Maybe he'd do the same for me.

  "I'd be willing to do these things," I began, my heart squeezing when his eyes lit up. "But on temple grounds. And unshackled."

  Ryden cupped my chin, searching my face.

  For a moment I thought he was going to kiss me again, and my heart began to pound faster.

  Then he threw the ropes on a burning brazier. They instantly turned black, charring into ash.

  "Your ropes are gone. You're as free as you can be, but the bracelet will keep you within Lykos's walls. As for temple grounds...the answer is no. You remain with me for now." His thumb stroked my jawline as he delivered my sentence. "You tried to escape in the wastelands. I don't trust you yet."

  "How can I trust you?" I snapped, losing my grip on my composure. "I was never given a chance to prove myself!"

  My cheeks colored when I realized a maid had entered the room, carrying a stack of towels and a basket of bottles.

  Lovely. Now she'd tell everyone their Alpha had picked up a spoiled brat before I could give my side of the story and find someone willing to get this damn bracelet off me.

  She averted her eyes as Ryden stepped closer to me. Maybe she saw this all the time.

  He was now close enough that my breasts pushed against his chest. If he'd been one of my Warriors, I would've wasted no time in choosing him as my mate.

  If he was one of Vesper's warriors, you would've just gotten him killed anyway, that snide voice inside me piped up, and I couldn't deny that.

  Ryden smiled gently. That was somehow more terrifying than his growls, because it meant I'd hate whatever came next.

  "You can be my prisoner...or you can be my princess. All you need to do is follow my orders to the letter. Calian will remain in here to ensure you don't jump out the window."

  With that, he released me and strode away. A sudden chill touched me where his warmth had been.

  And the coldness in Calian's eyes as Ryden shut the door behind himself wasn't much better.

  8

  Ayla

  The maid began filling the bath with hot water as I gazed at Calian in trepidation.

  "You're not really going to stay in here and watch me, are you?" I asked, forcing myself to remain planted where I was instead of backing away.

  I hated feeling so powerless about such tiny decisions over my own life. If I'd been free to choose what I wanted, I would've hit my limit with these wolves a long time ago, but they were making it obvious that I had no limits now.

  I wasn't allowed to set those boundaries for myself.

  Calian cocked an eyebrow at me, then strode to the corner of the room. He grabbed the back of a plush blue chair and dragged it closer to the bath, but aimed it towards the bed.

  Then he sank into it, leaning back, putting his arms behind his head, and closing his eyes.

  I tried not to look at the way the muscles in his arms flexed as he moved, or the long length of his entire body, which nearly dwarfed the chair.

  "There." He didn't open his eyes as he spoke. "I'm not looking. Take your bath."

  "I would've preferred complete privacy," I muttered, glancing at the steaming bathtub. There were no partitions to hide me if he decided he wanted to stand up and walk around.

  The maid was looking between the two of us, her eyes wide as though waiting for a fight to break out.

  "Too bad. You smell," Calian said, and I bared my teeth at the back of his head.

  Completely powerless.

  Besides, I did smell a bit. Even the basin Ryden had offered me hadn’t gone far.

  I edged towards the window on nearly silent feet, just out of morbid curiosity, and Calian cracked one eye. "Ah ah ah, I don't think so."

  A snort escaped me, but I moved away from the window anyway. I had no intention of plummeting to my death. "How does it feel to be downgraded to nanny status?"

  My barb didn't hit home. Calian only smiled, his full lips made more appealing by the dark stubble that had appeared on his jaw throughout the day. "Still better than captive status."

  Ouch. I'd walked right into that one.

  He closed his other eye, still smiling. "Ass in the bath."

  The maid looked at me pleadingly, and I let out an inward sigh, walking over to her with the air of someone expecting an execution.

  "I can bathe myself," I told her, but when it came time to take my clothes off...I couldn't do it.

  They were old clothes, worn and patched so often that by this point they were probably more ragged stitches than cloth.

  And they were stained. The dark splotches over my shirt and in the knees...those were stains that had never come out.

  My Warriors' blood had soaked into my clothes as I held their bodies, screaming at the dead Fenris wolves and knowing I'd have to bury the pack myself, carrying the burden of the dead on my shoulders for the rest of my life.

  "Caller?" The maid's soft voice interrupted my thoughts, which had been spiraling down into a dark place.

  I clenched my teeth and pulled the shirt over my head, and slipped out of the pants, practically scrambling into the bath as soon as I was naked.

  Just because Calian said he wouldn't look didn't mean I believed him.

  The maid had poured something in the water that created a thick, foamy layer of bubbles on top. I leaned in and sniffed suspiciously—it smelled like the soap Ryden had given me.

  I couldn't lie to myself. Having a hot bath—a real one, not just one out of a basin—was my idea of heaven.

  I even allowed myself to sit back for a moment and close my eyes, trying to wash everything out of my brain and just enjoy the feeling.

  I twitched when the maid poured a pitcher of water over my hair, which was followed with more of the vanilla soap.

  Her fingers began scrubbing into my scalp, and I found myself relaxing again.

  Perhaps this was what Ryden had meant by my 'rank', although I'd always washed my own hair.

  The concept of asking one of my pack to do it for me was laughable. They would've just asked if my fingers were broken if I couldn't do it myself.

  I heard Calian's voice clearly, since he was less than six feet away. "I'd like to remind you again about the reward system. You please the Alpha, you live like royalty."

  My eyes popped open, and the maid pushed my shoulder down, keeping me in the bath. "And I'd like to remind you again that I'm not your dog, nanny."

  Calian laughed. His deep baritone voice made it even more appealing, some of that hidden warmth peeking out. "You're much more interesting to be around when you're not crying about going on hunger strikes."

  This time, the maid almost didn't manage to keep me in the water.

  I clung to the edge of the copper tub, sending a few bubbles sloshing to the floor. "Crying about it? We had a plan, you bastard. Then you stole me from my home. My ancestors are in that temple. Who will care for them now?"

  "Your plan was suicide at best." His warmth was gone, replaced by the more familiar coldness. "At worst, they would've run through you and gone for your pack next. And you're not the only one with ancestors left behind."

  I bit my tongue before I could lash out again.

  There was truth in his words, and pain hidden beneath them.

  I settled back in the water, scowling at the back of his head as the maid lifted one of my hands and began cleaning under my grimy fingernails. There was probably a year’s worth of blood and dirt caked under them.

  "Where did you come from?" I finally asked.

  Several minutes passed in silence as the maid moved on to my other hand. Her eyes kept flicking towards Calian's chair, as though she too were curious to know the answer.

  There was finally a creak as he sat up straight in the chair. "You can go, Karina. I'll handle her from here."

  The maid began to protest, but Calian held up a hand. I shrank in the bath, keeping everything below my shoulders hidden under the bubbles.

  She let the sponge slip into the water, then rounded the tub and picked up my old clothes.

  "No!" I lunged back out of the water, reaching for them. "You can't take them!"

  The bloodstains were all that remained of the wolves I'd failed. I was sure they'd just incinerate them, thinking they were old rags.

  The maid held them closer to her chest, looking at me like I was insane. "Caller, these aren't appropriate attire for you..."

  "Leave them."

  Calian's command echoed through the room.

  The maid glanced at him once. From where she stood, she was able to see the look on his face, and whatever she saw there was enough to make her hurriedly place the ragged bundle on top of the dresser and scurry from the room.

  Calian stood up and spun the chair around.

  I sank below the bubbles again, but relief coursed through me that he’d stuck up for my desires.

  I might not have my family's bones, but burying the remains of their blood would be as close as I could come to honoring them during the full moon.

  He sat in the chair, braced one foot on the side of the bathtub, and surveyed me with his chin propped on his fist.

  His stare—and silence—were so intense that I finally grabbed for the sponge and began scrubbing my foot just to avoid his gaze.

  "You've seen the Fenris wolves." His voice was quiet. “The shadows.”

  My left foot was sparkling clean now. I moved on to the right one, frowning at the anklet as I worked. "Of course."

  "They're only his spies and outriders." Calian was still watching me intently. "They're nothing, Ayla."

  Hearing him say my name like that made me pause and look up. "They almost destroyed my entire pack. How can they be nothing?"

  He shifted in the chair, moving his knee so I could only see his face over it.

  I realized he'd just given me some privacy in his own way and began scrubbing more vigorously, determined not to waste the hot water.

  Calian finally spoke again.

  "I was in the northlands when Fenris came to power. We weren't a small pack, and we had a strong Alpha. There were more male Warriors than females, which was becoming a problem. The Alpha decided we needed to assimilate some fresh blood into the pack. I was young, but I was placed on the raiding party for that night."

  I was listening so hard I realized I'd stopped scrubbing, staring at his face. He was still looking at me, but his eyes told me he was somewhere else.

  "We were only miles away when it started. Fenris himself came to us before we began our raid. It took one night for him to burn our pack's settlement to the ground. Our raid leader turned us back when we smelled the smoke, and we came back to find...everything and everyone gone.

  "Fenris was still there. It took him less than ten minutes to crush the entire raiding party. I only escaped because I was still small, and the raid leader sent me into the forest to survive and report to the other packs."

  Calian's mouth twisted in distaste. "I ran for days without stopping. Ryden's father found me where I'd collapsed in the wastelands. By then, the entire northern settlement was gone. After several years here, and a few expeditions back to the northlands, I realized I was the only survivor of Pack Tempestas. Everyone else, down to the very last pup, had been slaughtered."

  My mouth was full of a bitter taste. I had lost most of my pack, but at least we'd saved our pups.

  "I'm sorry, Calian."

  Calian blinked, seeming to come back to himself. He focused on me again, those dark eyes as unreadable as ever.

  "Don't be sorry. What's done is done. I just need you to understand: a single Caller makes the difference between Lykos surviving or becoming a smoldering ruin like Tempestas." He leaned forward, bracing his arms on his thighs. "If you starve yourself, we die. If you throw yourself out the window, we die. If you fight the Alpha on every order, we die."

 

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