78. Calla

78. Calla
Delicate and lively trills resounded from all around, the songs wonderful and gentle. They caressed my hearing, nudging me awake from the most relaxing and replenishing sleep I've ever had. I blew out a contented sigh, and the scent of rain, forest, and smoky wood filled my nostrils, as soon as I inhaled.
A gentle breeze licked at some areas of my skin, raising goosebumps, and I shivered, nudging myself closer into the warmth that surrounded me, its soothing touch. I remained there like that for another moment, reminiscing about the weird dream that I had.
It was about Leonidas, and his beast. He was with me, and I felt...entirely different. As if my body wasn't my own anymore. I could vaguely remember words, scents, and sensations. His pained voice, as he begged me not to leave him. The potent scent of blood. The sight of Athos' beast lying down in the grass, completely motionless. The fear that I felt.
Something moved beneath me, and my mind finally registered the sounds of the steady heartbeat that kept resounding in my ear. Those slow breaths. My eyelids fluttered open, and my gaze trailed over a valley of bronzed skin and corded muscles, landing on a thick and long appendage, that looked very much like a—
I sat up with a yelp and looked around me, wide-eyed, noticing the two males that flanked my sides, still asleep. The two very naked males.
My cheeks heated up so fast, struggling to keep my eyes averted from their manly parts and I looked down, my mouth falling open as soon as I noticed that I was also...stark naked?!?
I let out a sharp and short shriek and crawled away from them quickly, managing to startle them both awake in the process. They sat up and looked at me with confusion, until they too noticed the state of my dressing.
I squealed and covered my breasts with one arm, my pussy with the other as my heart beat so fast inside my chest.
"W-what... What happened? What's going on? W-why are we..." I breathed fast and hard, struggling to keep my eyes averted from their laps, as they both had yet to cover themselves. What was going on? And what was Leonidas doing here?!?
"It's okay, nothing happened, I swear. You're safe," Leonidas was the one to answer me with a placating tone, seeing as Athos appeared to be still a little dazed with sleep.
I looked at Leonidas warily, hating the way my heart fluttered at the sight of him, and those butterflies that erupted within my belly.
I swallowed, casting my gaze aside. "Then...why...am I...?"
"Naked?" he finished that sentence for me, and I tensed immediately, closing my eyes as I did not want to remind myself of what happened the last time the three of us were like this.
"So you don't...remember anything?" he questioned after a moment, his tone gaining a softer lilt.
I blinked, my brows drawing together as I racked through my brain for a few seconds. There was nothing there. Nothing about how I ended up sleeping between them, and butt-naked nonetheless. The only thing that I could remember, was those last moments of consciousness after Athos' beast had escaped from his cage back at that old building. The screams. The harsh and loud bangs, and that raw, excruciating pain that took over me.
I shook my head lightly, hesitating to look at him again.
Silence fell between us for a moment, and I adjusted my position, starting to grow even more flustered as I could feel their eyes on my skin...their powerful presences...and their heady scents...
"You...you turned, Calla. You shifted into a wolf..."
My breath hitched as soon as I heard his rough and masculine voice again, unable to suppress that shiver that crawled up my spine.
"Wait...So the shift was successful then?" I heard Athos ask him, with a hint of hope, the sound of his voice somehow eliciting the same sensation in my body.
"As you can see. She's absolutely stunning. And she's moon-touched," Leonidas answered reverently, and I raised my gaze to look at him even though I didn't mean to, my lips parting right before those words finally registered in my hazy mind.
"I...Wait...What?!?"
They both stared at me for a moment, one of them looking thoroughly confused while the other appeared rather sheepish.
Leonidas then turned to look at Athos, throwing him a disbelieving glower.
"You didn't tell her?!?"
Athos' gaze shifted between Leonidas and me, keeping that tense and guilt-stricken look on his face.
"What the fuck have you been doing all this time?" Leonidas shouted at him all of a sudden, raising his hands and I instinctively flinched, blinking rapidly. A low growl came from Athos, and Leonidas' gaze switched from him to me, his expression immediately turning remorseful and guilty.
Athos cleared his throat, his tone levelled as he answered after a moment, "I was trying to find the right time to do it."
I stared between them, feeling so distraught and confused as I struggled to understand what was going on.
"Wait, tell me what? What were you supposed to tell me?" I asked Athos, as Leonidas' earlier question remained stuck at the forefront of my mind.
But Athos' hesitation was so glaringly obvious as he just sat there, staring at me, that my heart began to pump faster again, starting to actually dread the answer.
His jaw clenched, lowering his gaze as he looked so conflicted. I wrapped my arm tighter around myself, shifting my gaze from him to Leonidas.
"Oh, what the fuck...You hate me already anyway," Leonidas said all of a sudden under his breath, and I blinked, forcing my tears away as for some reason, those words managed to provoke me an immense amount of pain.
He met my gaze, and his expression became solemn as he declared calmly,
"You've never been fully human, Calla. You have shifter gene running through your blood."
I simply stared at him for a moment, my brain outright refusing to process those words that just came out of his mouth.
"But...that's..." I wanted to say impossible, but my voice betrayed me by wobbling audibly.
I breathed through my nostrils, fighting so hard not to let out those tears, those tiny sobs that wanted to get out.
"This...is not funny..." I said shakily, my voice cracking. His expression softened, turning pained. He didn't say anything more.
"Why would you even say such a thing?" I questioned him angrily, my chin wobbling. Was this another mind game of his? Another trick? Another attempt to punish me, for all those things that I didn't do? For running away from him, perhaps?
"It's true, little flower. I should've told you this as soon as we found out," Athos intervened, sounding so low and apologetic, and I shifted my gaze to him, my eyes widening with disbelief.
"B-but...how? I-I...My parents are human, I was born in the human world!" I countered, and my voice continued to tremble, outlining the turmoil that was stirring up within me. The angst. That growing despair.
"I was born in the human world! I don't have any shifter genes...I...can't..." I shook my head, swallowing thickly as that boulder formed inside my throat. How could they be this cruel to me? Why would they even...
"Cassius is your father, Calla. Your real father," Leonidas said quietly, his eyes glistening as he stared at me with that pained look on his face.
I stopped moving entirely. My tears dried abruptly, that boulder disappearing without a single trace. I stared between them, observing those looks on their faces. The hurt and guilt glinting in their gazes.
I let out a single breath, lowering my chin. And when I looked between them again, I asked quietly,
"I would like to go home now. Please."