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Xander POV
Silence builds between us for a while, and it becomes almost uncomfortable to sit here in the stence, but don’t breake Right now, I need her to sit with this information and realise how much it can impact everything I need her to track about the fact that what happened, wasn’t just unusual, it’s unheard of it.
It’s new, something no one has ever heard of before, and for that it means it’s nothing normal at all. My wodor’s deat entirely since last night, not truly anyway. He hovers beneath the surface. He’s alert, focused and constantly turning bark toward her.
It’s not normal, not how last night went or how he’s acting. He feels different and I can’t understand why and it’s not like can talk to my wolf. I just have to try and understand his actions.
How he’s reacting to her isn’t normal. It’s like he’s pacing her, sitting at her feet, like he’s the own bowing down for her
I can feel it, the way he’s watching her wolf, waiting for something, or maybe something has already happened, and that’s why he’s like this?
Leaning back into my chair more, I drag a hand down my face and force myself to speak. I don’t want her thinking that I’m angry at her again, I’m not. The fact she thinks I was, isn’t right, neither is the fact she’s looking at me like she thinks I’m about to punish her.
This just proves what I did was wrong and fucked up. It’s too late to take it back now though.
Still, I don’t want her sitting there thinking she’s in trouble. “I’m not accusing you of anything, Serding. You need to hex that clearly.” She can’t have done anything to cause this. She wasn’t even planning to participate in the Calling so why would she do anything?
She doesn’t respond, her hands tighten slightly in her lap and her eyes watch me. They are guarded and I can tell she’s wondering if this is a trap, it’s not.
“I’m not looking for someone to blame, I add, slower this time. “I just need answers. Not just me, both of us. We both need answers as to why this is happening.”
Tilting her head slightly, she looks at me, but says nothing. She’s just waiting, still wary,
“I’ve spoken to Garrick,” I begin, and I watch the way her brows furrow at the name. She’s likely to wonder what he has to do with this. “He’s been through far more callings than I have. So I thought if anyone would know, he would. He’s got no idea, he’s never heard of anything like what happened to us.”
I wait and give her time to take that in and understand what it means. Garrick has participated in over twenty Callings, his first one at eighteen; now he’s forty.
“He’s not heard stories of a wolf ever resisting others entirely, not even those who are bound to each other. I also asked Killian, he’s been my second for years. he’s been in packs before this one, and he’s traveled a lot between territories when he was younger. If there was something to compare this to I thought he may have heard of it.”
She nods and listens. “And the result?”
I assumed that would be obvious, I’m here asking her, so clearly he hasn’t, I don’t say that though as it sounds rude. “He hadn’t,” I reply. “He said it’s not just rare, but it’s unheard of, unrecorded even. The Calling doesn’t care about bonds, titles or promises. Wolves follow instinct, not the rules set. You know that, and so does your wolf.”
She drops her head and looks down. Her frown grows, but she doesn’t say anything.
“I have also spoken to Elda,” I add. “She’s the oldest living member of this pack, and she was a healer as well. She’s been a healer in three other packs before she came here. So for her, she’s seen what happens when the bond breaks, when wolves reject, or when one mate dies. She said she’s never once heard of two wolves. Fated or not, she’s never heard of them locking onto each other during the Calling, not without influence or suppression.”
Her eyes lift to mine again, wide now, less defensive and more uncertain. Good, she should realise how serious this is. How dangerous it can be. How are we defying what we’re meant to do? What the moon is meant to make us do?
No one else had issues last night. I checked, everyone else mated with others and never with their mates. So why us?
Letting out a long and slow breath, I finally lean forward and rest my elbows on the table. “I’ve got people searching. Every archive we’ve got access to, every record book we have. I’ve also sent out requests to allied packs under the guise of a ritual inquiry.”
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I look at her and she nods, letting me know to continges
“I need to know if this has happened before, ever, no matter how long ago. If there’s even a hint of it buried in some old text no one thought to read closely, then I’ll find out.”
She’s quiet, just sitting there, but I can see it. I can see the thoughts moving behind her eyes. She’s considering it, thinking
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about what this all means. I don’t talk. I give her the space she needs and wait for either her fear or her denial. Maybe it will be something else? She looks at me like she’s got a question.
“Do you think it’s dangerous?” she asks. It’s only one question, but it’s quiet and controlled.
My head shakes immediately, dangerous isn’t what I’m thinking. “No, but I do think it’s significant, purely because of how
rare it is.”
She looks at me, and I see something like mockery, but it’s gone just as quickly. She exhales, and her shoulders sag just slightly. I can see the tension pulling at the corners of her mouth, the lines that weren’t there before this.
“I’m aware that you didn’t ask for this,” I say. “I didn’t myself, neither of us did. I also know that you don’t trust me right now, not after everything that I have said and done. The fact is, this thing between us… It’s not following the laws the rest of us have always lived by. That means that we can’t just ignore it.”
“So, what do we do now?” she asks, and I consider that question to be likely the most important one ever.
“Now?” I say quietly and look at her for a long moment before I answer. “I keep getting people reading, I keep asking for more and more packs. We pay attention to everything because whatever this is, it isn’t over. The last thing we can afford is to be blind when the next Calling happens. We need to go into it prepared.”
She nods once, slowly. “I will help,” she says.
“Help?” I look at her in confusion.
She nods quickly. “I can help research it, find out the truth.”
My head shakes instantly. “You can’t help,” I say.
“Why not?” She looks at me, confused.
. “Unless you can tell us every book, journal and such that ever mentions the Calling, you can’t help. Others know how to
read these books and where to look in them for answers. You would delay things.”
Her head shakes. “How could I possibly delay anything?”
“Because you may take the book that has the answer and not realise. You might skip the answer, and others are delayed because you have that book. Please just leave it to those who know about these things.”
She sighs loudly and nods before leaning back. She doesn’t look pleased with it, but it’s the way to do it. I can’t have her with a book, and it holds the answers, and no one knows or finds it because she’s got it.
“Look, this is important, which is why I’ve got a lot of people checking for answers and looking everywhere. Let them do their job. We don’t want to be distracting them so much that we don’t get answers. You should focus on your wolf, how she feels, if anything changes.”
“Well, what about the books I already have? Are they needed?” She waits, and my head shakes.
“We have multiple. They are used for teaching children. So it’s fine to keep them.” It is, we’re not going to need those books or that journal thing she has either.
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