Chapter 168: Two Husbands

Calix Pov

I did not look down at the dark pine trees where Kai had jumped because I could hear his big wolf paws hitting the stones further down the slope. He was not running away toward the peaks anymore. He was circling back toward the flat rocks where Maddie was standing.

"Marcus, get the spears down the center trail," I said and my claws came out so far they drew a speck of my own blood. "Do not let him touch her again."

"We are moving now, Alpha," Marcus said and he ran down the gravel with his three guards.

Maddie was still standing by the old stone altar and her fingers were wrapped tightly around the front of her shirt. Her blue eyes were completely wide and she looked down at the paper contract lying in the mud.

"He said I am his wife, Calix," Maddie said and her voice was very small in the wind.

"He is a northern thief," I said and I stepped right in front of her body to block the cold air. "The valley earth gave you to me. A piece of old paper cannot change the mate bond."

"The soul thread is humming louder," she said.

The brier bushes behind the altar shook violently and a massive gray wolf leaped out onto the flat stones. It was Kai. His fur was covered in dry pine needles and his jaw was open wide with his long white teeth showing. He did not waste time to growl. He launched his entire body straight at my chest.

I did not think. I just moved.

I slammed my shoulder right into his neck and we both hit the hard gravel together. The impact rattled my ribs and the wind went out of my lungs for a second, but I rolled over quickly and caught his left ear with my teeth. Kai roared loud and shoved his back legs against my stomach until I flew off him and hit the side of the stone altar.

"Calix, stop," Maddie shouted from behind the rock.

Kai shifted back into his human shape before he even stood up completely. His long gray coat was covered in mud and his right cheek had a long red scratch from my claws, but his eyes were totally bright.

"She cannot stay with you, young Alpha," Kai said and he wiped the blood from his cheek with his sleeve. "The twelve Alphas signed the book. Every hour she stays in your cabin, the soul link will drag her spirit closer to the dark."

"I am going to kill you before that happens," I said and I got back to my feet and bared my teeth.

"You can try," Kai said.

He held his right palm flat toward the sky again and the tiny yellow speck of light sparked on his thumb.

Suddenly, Maddie let out a loud gasp and her body went completely stiff. She did not fall down this time. She walked right between the two of us and her hands were clamped over her own ears like she was trying to stop a loud noise.

"It is too loud," Maddie said and her gold eyes started flashing very fast.

"Maddie, stay back," I said and I reached out to grab her waist.

The moment my fingers touched her leather shirt, a hard shock of yellow power hit my hand and threw me back two steps. My palm felt like it had been pressed against a hot iron plate.

Kai took a slow step forward and his own eyes went completely gold to match hers.

"The merge is starting, Calix," Kai said and his voice stayed completely flat. "The ritual Thomas tried to do did not break the thread. It woke up the anchor inside her bones."

"Get out of her head," I shouted and I tried to push through the yellow air to reach her arm.

"I cannot stop it now," Kai said. "Our souls are pulling together because the winter is here. She is coming back to the peaks with me."

"No," Maddie said and she lifted her head toward the gray sky.

A massive column of bright gold light shot out from the middle of her chest and hit Kai right in the center of his ribs. A second line of light came out of her back and wrapped around my own shoulders. The three of us were locked in a tight triangle of power and none of us could move our feet even an inch.

I could feel Kai’s thoughts inside my own brain now. I saw the snowy mountains of the north and I saw the old king’s stone throne. It felt like my own pack bond with WolfTrail was being torn apart by a heavy iron hook.

"Calix, hold on to me," Maddie screamed and her blue eyes vanished completely behind a solid sheet of gold light.

"I have you," I roared and I forced my left foot forward through the hot air until my fingers locked around her wrist.

The gold power did not throw me back this time. It started climbing up my arm like hot grease. I looked across at Kai and his face was twisting in deep pain too. The light was not just controlling her body anymore. It was melting the two of them into a single shape.

"The bond is breaking," Elder Thomas shouted from the brier bushes. "The white wolf is merging with the north."

"Help her," I said and my teeth caught my lower lip until more blood came down my chin.

"I cannot reach the circle, Alpha," Marcus said from the trail. "The power is too thick."

Maddie’s feet slowly lifted off the gravel path until she was hovering two inches above the dirt. Her long hair flew straight up into the cold wind and the paper contract on the ground caught fire and turned to black ash in one second.

"Calix," she whispered and her voice sounded like it was coming from inside my own chest.

"I am right here," I said.

Kai dropped to his knees on the stone but he did not break the link. His gold eyes stayed locked on Maddie’s face and the yellow light between them turned into a thick solid band of silver.

"We are one blood now, Maddie," Kai said.

The clearing went completely white and the sound of a hundred wolves howling filled my ears until the whole world tilted sideways.