Chapter 7
Cal was trying to clear his mind. The girl had bothered him with her reaction to how they took care of humans that were bit. It had been that way as long as he could remember and even before that. There was nothing wrong with it. They couldn’t let them continue to get bigger and stronger. If they did, they could easily be kicked out of their own forest, and then the vampires would take over. Cal couldn’t let that happen, but that didn’t mean that he wondered if there was another way to deal with them.
“What weighs so heavily on your mind, Calum?”
He looked up to find Michael standing there in front of him. He wasn’t sure how the old man got there so quickly, but he knew not to question it. Michael was very old, no one knew his exact age because he wouldn’t disclose it, but he was older than all the rest. His skin was wrinkled, and even when he changed, his bear form was now gray. It was hard to think of him as agile, but Cal knew that he was. The fact that he had gotten one over on him was testament to how sneaky he was and how into his own thoughts Cal had been.
“The fight was a bloody one.”
“Not for us.”
“Yes, but for the humans it was. How can we justify what we do if it kills so many of them?”
“You’ve never questioned our ways before, Cal. What’s changed your mind now?”
Cal wasn’t going to say it out loud because he didn’t have to. Michael already knew what was on his mind. He was just being polite by asking.
“You care for this human?”
“I don’t even know her.”
“That wasn’t the question.”
He was speaking in riddles and Calum was getting irritated. He didn’t know how he felt about Ali, just that he wanted to keep her safe.
“She needed to be saved.”
“More than Trenton needed to be killed?”
Cal stopped and finally met the old man’s eyes. He should have known that he would know. Michael knew everything because he could investigate anyone’s mind, whether they wanted him to or not. That was a power that wasn’t taken away with age. It had only gotten stronger with the years.
“You knew?”
“Of course, Calum. You seem to forget who I am sometimes.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
“Because they wouldn’t have understood.”
“And you do?”
“I was in love once, a long time ago. I was mated.”
It was something that Michael never talked about, and Calum wanted to know more, but he knew not to press. The old man said what he wanted, only when he thought it would help the situation. Right now, that didn’t appear to be the case.
“Your plan is not a good one. You’re going to use the woman that you love as bait and regret it.”
It was exactly what he was going to do, and Cal felt terrible about it, but at the same time, he knew that it was his best bet. He couldn’t let his feelings for the human put the rest of the tribe at risk. It wasn’t fair to all of them.
“It is safer to do it this way for the pack, and I never said I loved her.”
“You will, Calum. I see things, and this girl is going to change everything for you and the rest of us.”
Cal didn’t know what he was talking about, but there was a secret in the elder’s eyes that was hard to deny. Cal wanted to know what that secret was, but he didn’t want to know in one way either. He was torn between the unknown and keeping it that way. It was probably better.
“Care to elaborate?”
He grinned and shook his head no. “No, but your strength and faith will be tested.”
