Wolf Untamed by Alexis Calder

24

The three of us headed back to her basement where Alec, Sheila, and Kyle were gathered. Alec was sitting up now and he looked so much better than when we’d left.

His smiling face didn’t last long, though. “What happened?”

“You gave me vampire blood, that’s what happened,” Star snapped.

“No, I got the blood from Spencer, himself. He handed it to me,” Alec said.

“Did you watch him draw the blood from his vein?” Star asked.

Alec’s shoulders sagged. “No.”

“Fuck, Alec. Such an amateur mistake.” Star ran a hand through her cropped hair. “That creature could have killed all of us if I’d completed the spell.”

“He played me,” Alec said.

“Sounds right,” I said bitterly. “Now I know why him and my mom got along so well.”

“So now the shunned prince knows about his alpha kid and he knows there’s a witch willing to use blood magic against him?” Star sounded pissed. “Are you trying to get all of us killed?”

“For once, I’d like something to go right,” I said.

Star tensed. “Who else was with your group?”

“What do you mean?” Alec asked. “Do you sense something?”

“We’ve got a visitor.” Star turned her head toward the staircase.

“Tyler?” Even as I suggested it, I wasn’t sure it was possible. I couldn’t feel him at all and I’d had hardly any thoughts about him since he took off in the woods.

Malcom, Kyle, and Sheila moved in front of me, pushing me out of the way. I walked around them, lining up next to them. If it was Tyler, I was going to fight him, myself. I couldn’t keep letting my friends fight my battles for me.

Footsteps sounded on the stairs. Whoever it was, they were making no effort to hide their entrance. I balled my hands into fists, grateful that they’d already healed from my blows against Tyler.

The figure who emerged from the stairway was not Tyler. I took a step back, physically recoiling from the monster of a man staring out at us.

He was probably seven feet tall and twice as wide as any male I’d ever seen. Between the dark hair, shaggy full beard, and wild expression in his eyes, he looked more animal than man. He made a low, rumbling growl that made even my friends take a step back.

I had no idea who the intruder was or why he was here, but I wasn’t going to let my friends get hurt anymore from my actions. I took a step forward. “Who are you and what do you want?”

I couldn’t see his mouth under the tangled beard, but his eyes almost appeared to be smiling.

“Answer us.” I kept my tone stronger than I expected.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that Alec was getting up from the table. I glanced over at him. “Sit back down. We’ve got this.”

He shook his head and shuffled over slowly. Each step looked like it caused him pain. “Lola, meet Spencer Lupton, your father.”

I turned back to the newcomer, unable to hide my surprise. “What are you doing here?”

“You look just like your mother,” he said.

“Never say that again.” I now knew my mom had sacrificed everything to try to hide me from this man but I still didn’t want to be compared to her. Especially not by him.

“I suppose I expected a warmer welcome,” he said.

“You gave my friend vampire blood. You could have gotten us all killed.” I took a few steps toward him. “Unless that was your plan. Well, newsflash, it failed. You didn’t win.”

“Calm down, I wasn’t trying to kill you,” he said. “I didn’t think you actually had a witch who would do the spell.”

“Then why did you give him any blood, at all?” I demanded.

“Because I used it as a tracer,” he said.

“Fuck me,” Alec said. “You tracked the vial.”

“Are you here to kill me?” I asked.

“Why would I want to kill you?” I asked.

“Because of the king,” I said.

“You think I give a shit about some punishment my brother threw down?” He scoffed. “I served my time. I don’t think my kid needs to pay the price for my failure.”

“So, why are you here?” Kyle asked as he took a step closer to me.

“I need a favor,” he said.

“Why would I help you? Do you have any idea what my mom’s life has been like all these years? The extreme steps she went to so I wouldn’t be found by you? Not to mention my life? Did you even try to find her or help her?” I didn’t even know what kind of a guy he was. For all knew, he treated my mom badly and that’s why she fled.

“I didn’t even know she was pregnant,” he said.

“Would it have changed anything?” I asked.

“No,” he admitted. “I’d still have done what I did.”

“Then had she stayed with you, both she and I would likely be dead.” For the first time, I felt nothing but respect for my mom and her choices.

“Well, I can make it up to you if you do something for me,” he said.

I should have known it was too good to be true that he’d want to help me break the claim out of the kindness of his heart.

Sheila, Malcom, and Kyle moved in front of me, blocking me from his view.

“You should go,” Alec said. “You’re not wanted here.”

“This is between me and my progeny,” he said.

Malcom stepped forward. “Then you can speak to me and I’ll discuss it with her.”

I had a better view now of Spencer’s reactions. His expression went from anger to confusion to realization in a second. I wasn’t going to leave Malcom alone in this. I moved forward, pushing in-between Sheila and Kyle. “Neither of us need you. We’ll figure it out without your help.”

“There’s two of you,” Spencer said. “Imagine that. Well, I could use the extra help.”

“We don’t want your help,” Malcom said. “We’ve managed fine without you.”

“Listen, I just pissed off a whole shit ton of vampires to get here and the both kings have to be hot on my tail. You think they’re not going to come after you once they realize you exist?” he said.

“How would they know?” I asked. “You didn’t know about us.”

“If my brother kills me, he’ll be your next of kin. So unless you both have mating bonds, he’ll connect with you eventually. When he does, he won’t hesitate to kill you. You’re a threat to him. Just like I was,” he said.

“He didn’t kill you,” Malcom pointed out.

“He couldn’t kill me without losing too many alliances. Keeping me alive made him look like he had a heart,” Spencer said. “He doesn’t have that problem with you.”

“So break your claim on us,” I said.

“Sure, as soon as you help me,” he said.

I growled and glared at the scruffy, giant male in front of me. “I will not be bullied by anyone. I don’t care if you are my blood.”

“That’s the fight I need.” He smiled. “You’re going to be just fine with this task.”

“What’s this favor?” Malcom asked.

“You help me overthrow the king. Then you won’t even need the claim broken. You’ll be safer than you ever have been in your life,” he said.

“No,” I blurted out. “I am not going to help you kill someone.”

“She’ll help,” Alec said.

“What?” I stared at him. “I am not committing regicide.”

“If he’s right and the king is that deranged, breaking the claim might not be enough. If word leaked about who you really were, the king could still kill you,” Alec said. He turned to face Spencer. “It doesn’t have to be murder, right? You can overthrow a king without that.”

“Whatever makes you sleep better at night,” he said.

“My mate is trying to kill me, my pack is hunting me down, and you think it’s a good time for me to make enemies with the royal family?” I asked.

“You are part of the royal family, like it or not,” Spencer said.

I shook my head. “No. You’re not family. They are.” I gestured to my friends. “We don’t get to choose the family we’re born into, but I am not going to deprive myself of choosing a better one.”

“If she helps you, will you help her in return?” Sheila asked.

I turned to her. “Not you too.”

“This could be exactly what we need for you to claim your pack,” Sheila said.

“It wouldn’t hurt to have help,” Kyle added.

“Whose side are all of you on?” I hissed.

“What do you know about your family history?” Spencer asked.

“I learned most of it in the last few weeks,” I admitted.

“You know what your grandfather was working on?” Spencer asked.

I nodded.

“You know who financed that?”

“I can guess,” I said.

“After my brother got what he wanted in that toxin, he’s the one who had the witch curse him. It was supposed to wipe his memory entirely, but his witch wasn’t always accurate. Gorgeous, yes; good with spells, not so much,” he said. “My brother wanted to make sure nobody else would get the recipe. Which meant that the mind who created it had to be silenced.”

“So? He’s the one who agreed to create something so awful,” I said.

“Yeah, cause your mom was being held as collateral,” he said. “She was locked in our family estate for three years while her dad worked in our lab downtown. That’s how I met her.”

“If you’re trying to paint yourself as the good guy while you sat back and did nothing to release my mother from captivity, you’re no better than him,” I spat.

“You’re right. It took me time to figure that out. Once I did, it unraveled everything my brother was doing. I freed your mom and your grandfather. The recipe wasn’t erased from his mind, but his sanity was slipping,” he said. “As soon as they were out, I tried to take my brother down. I failed.”

If what he was saying was true, it made sense that my mom had cracked in Wolf Creek. Living there was a lot like living in captivity.

“Lola, I believe him,” Malcom said.

I looked over at him, surprised to see he looked genuine. “You do?

Malcom nodded. “I think maybe you’re supposed to help him.”

“And just like that, your future is stronger,” Star said.

“That’s right, you can read the future.” I looked at her, hopeful that she could give me some kind of guidance.

“You have choices,” she reminded me. “Nothing is set in stone.” She lifted her chin toward Malcom. “His was looking bleak, but it just changed. There’s hope there now.”

“Well, fuck,” I said. “Does that mean if I don’t help him something bad will happen to Malcom?”

Star shrugged.

I glanced over at Kyle. “What do you think?”

“The new shifter king would be a hell of an ally,” he said.

I looked back at the mountain of man in front of me. He was disheveled and worn down. While his size was intimidating, everything else showed that he’d been neglected for a long while.

“You’re asking a lot of me,” I said. “You’re asking that I trust you.”

He took a few steps closer to Alec and extended his arm. “Take the blood.” Spencer looked back to me. “Use it anytime. No strings attached. But give me a chance.”

“If you’re in, I’m in,” Malcom said.

“I have a needle and a vial,” Star offered.

“Do it,” Alec said.

“Get enough for two,” I said.

I waited until Star filled the vail with Spencer’s blood. The room was deathly silent. Everyone’s attention was fixed on me, waiting to hear what I’d say.

Star stuck a bright pink band-aid on Spencer’s arm, then she nodded to me. She had what she needed. If we did the spell again, it would work, and both Malcom and I would be free of his claim.

“Alright.” I said. “But as soon as you break my trust, I’m out.”

I had a bad feeling about this, but it wasn’t like things could get much worse, could they?