Free Wolf's Soul by Tierney O’Malley

And right now, he could tell she was doing it again. He waited until she looked up again.
    “So Valdo abused the sword?”
    “Yes. With the friendship between him, Youven, and the humans broken, he led his clan pillaging the villages, fed on humans, killed those who refused to obey him, and raped women. He believed to have the right to rob anyone of their lives.
    Valdo declared that immortals were above humans. To him, he became god. The 86

    power of Valdo"s sword poisoned his mind. The war gods didn"t like what they saw, what had become of the sword. So, the war gods summoned Youven to give him the task of retrieving the sword from Valdo.
    “They should have done it themselves and hung Valdo upside down.”
    “Gods designate jobs, Mari. Anyway, they also gave Youven the secret on how to heal the wounds caused by the sword.”
    “Let me guess. Poultice.”
    “Yes.”
    “Wow. Nice gods. Very generous. How about a hundred magical swords to end Valdo and his cronies" life?”
    “And end up having more Valdoses running around with a sword so powerful it can take over your soul? The gods were smart not to make that kind of mistake again.”
    “Obviously, they weren"t smart enough. Some gods they are. They should have thought about the consequences first before handing out powerful swords.”
    “Marisol, the swords history is what brought your mother and father together. Let"s say the war gods made a mistake, but without it you wouldn"t be here. Everything in the past happened for a reason.”
    Marisol didn"t say anything, but her brows slammed down again and drew deeper together. Callum decided to continue with his retelling before Marisol 87

    started talking to herself again. “Youven had a soft spot for humans. After all, his wife was one of them. So he took the poultice. He and his wife Kurah and their daughter Kyra made more and distributed it to the villages. Valdo learned about the poultice and tried to put a stop to it. Youven refused. Cunning as he was, Valdo burned Kurah"s village. A trick to make Youven leave his home, his family.
    While Youven was gone helping to save the village, he came into Youven"s house, raped, and killed Kurah.”
    Marisol"s knuckles where white from gripping her coffee cup and her eyes conveyed the rage inside of her. “Bastard.”
    “I can think of other names worse than that.”
    “I take it Youven didn"t just sit and mourn his wife.”
    “Right. Youven sought Valdo out. He found him and his wife in bed. The two fought. Rage consumed them both. Youven, being stronger and better, defeated Valdo. He meant to kill Valdo that night, not the wife. But he accidentally killed her when she threw herself around Valdo. Youven didn"t have the poultice with him to save Leanne. Both died leaving their son, Elam. That night was the beginning of an all out war between the two clans.
    “At his age, Elam was already skilled in fighting. He took Valdo"s sword and challenged Youven in a fight. Stronger and younger, he inflicted a fatal wound on Youven. It was told that Arnulf, Youven"s second hand along with other Arcus 88

    came to save Youven. Everyone heard Elam swear that he would kill all of Youven"s family and would not stop until Youven"s blood dried. Youven was found dead on his wife"s grave. Elam looked for the sword but it was gone and so was Kyra and Arnulf.
    The war gods were beyond furious. Since both leaders were dead, they punished the following generations of Shape-shifters by ending their immortality that night. Giving them only five lives.”
    “Five lives in exchange of immortality. That"s better than having only one life. Once we, humans, die, we stay dead. I didn"t realize this, but it sucks to be us.
    Too bad we have only one life. Dad would still be here if we have five lives. And Mom, too.”
    Callum wanted to tell Marisol that the war god"s punishment didn"t end by ridding them of immortality, but he held his tongue. When the right time comes, he would tell her what