Free Wolves’ Bane by Angela Addams Page A

from my chair. “So when exactly am I supposed to fight this wolf?”
    Cal frowned, my detached tone clearly catching him off guard.
    I motioned for him to speak, sighing when he didn’t. “You said I was special, that I’m the only Huntress available to kill Lazarus. So when is this supposed to happen?”
    “The lunar eclipse is three weeks away. Lazarus is the most vulnerable on that night. It’s the one night that you have the best chance of killing him. He’s too powerful otherwise, even for a Huntress,” Cal said.
    “Three weeks! I can’t be ready to fight a monster in three weeks!”
    “You would be if you bonded with me. If you had my power.”
    I crossed my arms over my chest. “And I’m the only one who can do it?”
    Cal nodded slowly. “Kelly is incapacitated and Candy is too young to bond with Jeremy yet, but besides that, you’re the only Huntress who can get close enough to Lazarus while he’s vulnerable. The Hunters can wound the wolves, but they’ll always come back. It’s only the Huntress who can kill them.”
    “So the way I see it, there isn’t really a problem.” I tapped my fingers on my arm, my voice rising as I lost my cool edge. “You need me to kill the king of the wolves, to help you save humanity, but in order to absorb the power that I need to do that I run the risk of losing control of my desire and being intimate with you.”
    Cal nodded again, a flicker of hope crossing his face as he took a tentative step toward me.
    I glared at him. “And I’m not willing to take that risk. I’m not going to have sex with you just for the sake of killing Lazarus.”
    He stopped as if slapped, his eyes narrowing.
    “Do you have any idea how demeaning that is? How…how…sexist?” I pointed at him, stabbing the air with vigor. “I’m not loose, Caleb. All I ask for, all any woman would ask for, is someone to care about her. Maybe I don’t deserve that kind of respect and love, maybe it’s just not meant to be for me, but for the first time in my life I feel like I have some measure of control over what happens. The thought of having sex with you…” I swallowed uncomfortably, nearly choking on the words I was trying to force out. “Well, I’m not going to deny that there is something between us. I won’t deny that I want you like I’ve never wanted another man in my life. But I won’t warp intimacy just because it’s a byproduct of some magical bond, not if it’s supposed to be more. And I feel like it is…supposed to be more than just a physical thing.” I shrugged as I uttered my last words, suddenly feeling silly for speaking my heart to a near stranger.
    “It’s just the attraction you’re feeling, lust,” he offered, with no conviction in his voice. “That something you feel, the attraction between us, is supposed to be there. It doesn’t mean we’re meant to fall in love.”
    My anger flared, eradicating all other emotions as I glared back at him. “Don’t tell me what I’m feeling. I didn’t say I was in love with you. I’m saying that I can’t abide the idea that after all of this is over, after I’ve given up everything to become a Huntress, to go along with this crazy plan, that I’d have to give up my dignity as well. I’m not interested in a one-night stand. I’ve been down that road and I don’t like it. It’s insulting that you admit there should be a deep emotional commitment between Hunter and Huntress, but that you won’t allow it.” I turned my back on him. “What are you really scared of, Caleb? Me dying? Or me choosing the king instead of you? You might be some big, bad Hunter to the Order, but what I see is a coward.” I didn’t give him a chance to respond, storming from the room without a backward glance.

Chapter Ten
    Debriefing
    Cal sighed as he melted into the chair. “Well, that went well.” So much for the no emotion thing.
    A light knock sounded on the open door and he looked up to see Andrew hovering