Chapter 118 Chapter 118: We Don’t Kill Flora Wolves
Kalev’s POV
I couldn’t believe what I had just heard. My heart raced and my mind spun. Kalen was a flora wolf? He’d been one all this time? And he’d been hunting other flora wolves to save himself?
Tare betrayals you understand even if you hate them. There are systems you accept even when they disgust you. This wasn’t either of them.
Kalen standing there, admitting everything. He was basically asking me to kill him. I think he knew, deep down, now that he’d confessed, he was as good as dead anyway.
His eyes were apologetic. I didn’t care. What he’d done was despicable. I understood that he’d done it out of survival. But other people were starving in Sector 6. And they didn’t go around hunting their own kind.
Korrigan’s hand was on his knife. He glared at Kalen. He felt the same way I did. Just because Kalen had confessed, it didn’t absolve him of anything.
“Let the rock go,” I said to Senna.
Senna was still standing very still. Junie was beside Isolde. Junie clung to her sleeve without speaking. She was shocked because she’d just learned she had a flora wolf too.
“Go ahead, Senna,” Kalen said. He wasn’t even trying to get out of the way. “You can let the rock go. It’s okay.”
“Verity’s holding it, not me,” Senna said.
My voice cut through the cave. Kalen finally looked at me directly.
“Kill him, Senna. He hunted your own kind,” I said. “Willingly. He can give us whatever lame excuse he wants. It doesn’t matter. We can’t let him live. Not after what he’s done.”
Kalen’s jaw tightened. He was bracing himself for the rock.
Orrin pushed against me. The fact that Kalen had hunted Verity’s kind did not sit well with him. I tried to push him back. But his rage washed over me.
“Release the rock,” I said to Senna. “My wolf wants out. I can’t keep him down long. Trust me. The rock is a much kinder way for Kalen to die. I could only guess what Orrin will do to him if I release him.”
Senna’s head turned slightly toward me. “Don’t,” she said. “Don’t shift. Keep Orrin in.”
Orrin pressed again. He was right on the verge.
“Senna,” I said, clenching my teeth.
“It’s Verity, not me,” she said. “She won’t let the rock go.”
My wolf flashed on my face. Korrigan and Isolde took a step back. Kalen looked at me, fear on his face. He knew what would happen to him if I let out my wolf. His eyes went back to Senna.
“I’m sorry,” he said, “I really am. I shouldn’t have done what I did. Please, show me mercy. Don’t let his wolf get me.”
In a burst, Orrin pushed again me. I couldn’t hold him back. He came out of me in seconds. All eyes landed on Orrin as he crouched down onto his hind legs.
Kalen closed his eyes. Then he shifted. It was not like Orrin’s transformation. Orrin came out of me with speed and force. Kalen’s transformation was softer. It was slower, gentler, like the wolf didn’t want to hurt him as it took its place.
When it was complete, silence returned to the cave.
His wolf was beautiful.
That was the only word that fit immediately, even though I didn’t want it to.
The wolf was lean. It had light, pale-toned fur. The wolf’s eyes were wide in a way that suggested awareness rather than dominance. It stood awkwardly at first, as if it hadn’t let its own legs in a really long time.
And then it saw Orrin. Kalen’s wolf dropped back instinctively. Its body lowered and its ears folded. It took a submissive position.
Orrin growled. He didn’t care that the wolf was showing submission. He wanted to sink his teeth into it. Orrin took a step forward. Senna stepped between them at the same time Orrin lunged.
“Stop!” she shouted.
And then she shifted too.
Verity came out of her, strong and regal. Her wolf stood between Orrin and Kalen’s wolf. All the others backed away, their backs pressed up against the cave walls.
.
Orrin growled at Verity. He was warning her to move aside. But Verity wouldn’t move. She hovered in front of Kalen’s wolf. She was protecting it.
“Stand down,” I said sharply to Orrin. It was clear that Verity was not going to let anything happen to Kalen’s wolf. I didn’t blame her. Kalen’s wolf was a flora wolf, just like her.
“Get your wolf under control,” Korrigan said from the wall of the cave. I was trying. But Orrin was strong and angry. I pushed against him. He pushed back, not allowing me to switch places.
Behind Verity, Kalen’s wolf whimpered. It trembled, its eyes wide. It was clearly very afraid. Verity turned around, her back to Orrin. She went the Kalen’s wolf. She licked its face. The wolf bowed its head, placing it head on its paws. Verity stood beside the wolf, her eyes locked with Orrin.
Orrin stopped. He wouldn’t go against Verity’s wished. And Verity wouldn’t let anything happen to Kalen’s flora wolf. Orrin had no choice but to step down.
Orrin snarled once, low and confused, but Verity did not acknowledge him anymore. She had made her decision.
Orrin pulled back first. We shifted. Senna was next. But then Kalen shifted back too. His wolf collapsed inward and Kalen’s human form came forth.
No one spoke immediately. Senna and I locked eyes.
“No more flora wolves can die,” she said. Her voice was low and authoritative. “Verity won’t allow it. We don’t kill flora wolves.”
It was not a request. It was a rule.
The rock fell to the ground with a hard thud. Kalen cowered near the cave wall.
“No one hurts him,” Senna said. “Do I make myself clear?”
Everyone nodded. Even though I could tell that Korrigan didn’t like this anymore than I did.