“I am. Want to know why?” he rasps. “Because, lucky for you, when my father was killed, I became a bloodhound.”
I swallow. Well, that explains why Bloodhound never bothered to learn how to fight. Who would be dumb enough to mess with a pack who could hunt you for the rest of their life?
Oh, right. Me.
“If you have this capability, then how come you didn’t track me down sooner?”
I gave him plenty of motivation to track me down. Unless this generational power he speaks of is only a rumor.
“Time and place, baby girl. Time and place,” he says as he drags me farther up a steep incline.
He called us baby girl,my wolf swoons at the pet name.
I snap at her.Did you miss the part where he is talking about hunting us down?
But, Daddy, I love him,she whines.
I roll my eyes at her.So dramatic.
Standing in the woods, crepuscular rays beam through the trees tall enough to dwarf a dragon.
Caleb stops. Void of any emotion, he pulls a bow and arrow from the quiver strapped behind his back and points it straight at me.
“Whoa. Easy there.” I hold my hands over my head in surrender.
My heart races. I slowly back away, prepared to run. At the last second, he points it to the sky, closes one eye and lets it fly. The arrow launches and disappears in the sun, then dives into the forest, miles and miles away.
Caleb smirks. “Since you think you’re better than me, I’ll make you a deal.”
I lift an eyebrow. “A deal?”
“Have you ever played capture the flag?” Caleb asks.
“No.”
“It’s simple. Just capture the arrow before I catch you. In human form only, of course.”
I narrow my eyes at him.There’s gotta be a catch.“And if I do?”
“If you capture the arrow—which you won’t—I’ll let you go.”
My eyes widen, and my lips part. I close my mouth quickly and shake my head. “The king wouldn’t let you do something like that.”
Firmly planted in the ground, Caleb folds his arms over the top of the bow and leans. With a head tilt, he asks rhetorically, “Who said anything about letting me?”
I snort. “Yeah. Likeyou’dgo against your king. Right.”
“Wouldn’t be the first time.”
I narrow my eyes, sticking my neck out. “You’d let me go? Just like that? No tricks?”
“No tricks. I give you my word.”
He seems sincere.Would he really go against his king like that?King Dax didn’t seem to respect Caleb a whole lot.
“What happens if you catch me?”
His lips turn up into a grin. “I get to devour my prey any way I see fit. And you’ll let me.”
