Chapter 166: Soul Bond

Calix Pov

"We cannot wait for the morning," I said and I stood up so fast my knee knocked against the wooden water bucket.

"Where are you going, Calix?" Maddie asked and she tried to sit up but her shoulders dropped back down instantly.

"I am going to get him," I said.

"He is two miles away on the north ridge," she said.

"I do not care if he is on the other side of the world," I said and I grabbed my heavy leather coat from the cedar post. "He is going to break this soul thread tonight or I will tear his throat out of his neck."

"He said the link will kill me if you use your teeth," she said.

"He is a thief," I said and I stepped out into the dark camp.

Marcus was standing by the big fire log and he had three iron spears leaning against his hip. The rest of the wolves were sitting in a tight line with their blankets pulled up to their chins because the frost was getting heavy on the grass.

"Marcus, get the torches," I said.

"Are we hunting the old man?" Marcus asked and he picked up his mallet.

"We are going to the north ridge," I said. "Bring Elder Thomas too. He knows the blood laws."

We did not use the main dirt trail because the mud was too deep from the creek overflow. We walked through the sharp brier bushes and the thorns tore at the bottom of my trousers, but I did not stop to look at the cuts. My gold eyes could see the grey rocks of the ridge perfectly through the dark pine trees.

We found Kai sitting right in the middle of a small stone circle near the high peak. He had a small fire going between his boots and he was heating a flat piece of iron over the coals. He looked up when my boots crunched on the gravel but he did not stand up.

"You brought a lot of spears for a simple talk, young Alpha," Kai said.

"Break the bond," I said and I stopped three feet away from his fire.

"I cannot break it from here," Kai said and he rubbed his dry palms together over the heat. "I told you that before my projection left your camp."

"Then we do the ritual right now," I said and I pointed my hunting knife at his chest. "Thomas is here. He will watch the blood."

Elder Thomas stepped forward from the bushes and his old face looked very serious under the torchlight. He looked at the stone circle and then he looked at the iron piece in the coals.

"The law says a soul anchor requires the same blood that made it," Thomas said and he dropped his heavy sack into the dirt. "Where is the female?"

The bushes rattled behind us and Marcus came out with Maddie. He was supporting her waist with his big arm because her feet were still dragging against the stones. Her blue eyes looked very large in the dark.

"I told you to stay in the tent," I said and I ran over to take her weight from Marcus.

"I could not stay there, Calix," Maddie said and her teeth clapped together from the cold wind. "The thread was pulling my chest every time you walked further up the hill."

Kai stood up from the stone and his long grey coat flapped around his shins. He picked up the hot iron piece with a pair of deer horn tongs and the metal was glowing a dull red color.

"Sit her on the flat stone, Calix," Kai said.

"If you hurt her, I will end you," I said and I let Maddie slide down onto the smooth rock.

"This is going to hurt both of us," Kai said.

He did not wait for Thomas to start the prayer. He reached out and he pressed his bare left hand against Maddie’s right wrist while he held the hot iron three inches above her chest.

I did not think. I just moved.

I grabbed Maddie’s left hand to anchor her to my own body and I let my gold mate power flow straight into her shoulder to fight his current.

The moment our three skins connected, a horrible sound filled the clearing. It did not sound like a wolf growl and it did not sound like the wind. It sounded like a thick iron chain snapping under a heavy log.

A bright flash of purple and gold light erupted from the middle of the stone circle. The force of the power did not push Kai away this time. It sucked his hand closer to Maddie’s skin until their wrists looked like they were glued together.

Maddie threw her head back and her mouth went wide open in a silent scream. Her blue eyes turned completely gold but they did not stay steady. They started flashing between gold and a deep, dark silver.

"Calix, let go," Thomas shouted from the edge of the rocks. "The current is reversing."

"I am not leaving her," I roared and I clenched my teeth until the pressure rattled my ears.

My mate bond was burning like hot grease in my chest but I could feel the old man’s power pushing through Maddie’s bones and entering my own arms. The ritual was not cutting the thread at all. It was turning into a big knot between the three of us.

Maddie’s whole body went completely rigid and her fingers locked around my wrist like iron bands. She was looking at Kai but she was not seeing the ridge anymore.

"The white dress," Maddie gasped and her voice sounded like two people speaking at the same time.

"What is she saying?" I shouted and I tried to pull her away from the red iron but my muscles were totally frozen by the silver light.

"The white dress is too long," Maddie said and her head started shaking back and forth very fast. "There are candles on the stone altar. There are twelve Alphas standing in a circle."

Kai’s face went completely pale and he tried to yank his hand back from her wrist but the gold light was holding him tight.

"Stop her," Kai whispered and his voice was no longer flat. "She is inside my head."

"The old king is holding my hand," Maddie screamed and a big tear ran down her white cheek. "I am only seven years old. Why am I wearing the bride’s veil?"