Chapter 206: Seeing the Other Side of Things
Chapter 206: Seeing the Other Side of Things
\[Amaryllis\]
“Who said she was part of the deal?”
It’s a simple sentence, neither sharp nor soft, but it hit the night around us like a slap.
And everyone goes very still.
“I said I’d bring her, not that I’d sell her to you,” Calyx clarifies. “The cargo I promised is in the second van. Six healthy, highly skilled gammas for your experiments. 4 males, 2 females, all very fine specimens. Some may even be hybrids–We have so many in our pack.”
Calyx’s smile is as brittle and frigid as ice. “Those are for you. But she is exclusively for my use,” My mate clarifies. “She’s mine–That was the deal.”
My heart skips. His words are cruel, but the feelings coming through our bond are warm. He is trying to defend me without giving himself away. He needs to look like he’s following along.
“Deals change,” Uncle Chancy gargles, his words rough, like churning gravel. “She’s a hybrid. She’s far too valuable to be personal property. She belongs to the Brotherhood.”
“SHE BELONGS TO ME!” Calyx bellows as he pulls two guns from their holsters and points one at my uncle and the other at the man still dragging me across the concrete.“I said she’s mine, now let her go, or I will watch you bleed out slowly before feeding you to the pigs.”
There is a dark edge to his voice that sends tingles down my spine, not of love, but of fear. His words not only promise violence, they guarantee it with a certain hard glee of a man who will fully enjoy the experience. This is the Calyx I never knew, the one shaped by the Brotherhood to be a weapon of extermination.
The man dragging me drops me like an unwanted package, releasing me suddenly. My ass hits the ground hard, small rocks piercing my flesh even through my leather pants. Finally free, I scramble away from them, and shifting just my claws, growl at them all in warning.
“Stay back,” I shout, pressing myself into the side of the van, my eyes darting, looking for a chance to escape. “Stay the fuck back!”
The few human males nearby fumble for their guns, their fear so thick I can taste it on the back of my throat. It makes me want to retch.
“If the bitch shifts, I’m shooting her,” there’s a loud click as one of the men aims their rifle at my head.
“Don’t worry,” Calyx smirks, his gun outstretched and pointed at the idiot holding the rifle. “She isn’t going to do anything stupid. Isn’t that right, Alexis?”
Calyx said to trust him, and I promised to do my best, but watching him now makes me question everything.
How can I trust him when he knew this might happen and he didn’t tell me? How can I follow along, when part of his plan involves selling our men to my uncle, a monster that should be dead a thousand times over.
And how could he bring me here, without warning, to face off against my personal nightmare, especially now that he knows me better. As mates, our souls have melted into one another. He’s seen my darkest fears, and I’ve glimpsed at his worries and failings–we know each other inside and out. He knew how seeing Clancy would affect me.
And he did it anyway.
“Watch it, Boy,” Clancy sneers, looking at Calyx with unadulterated contempt. “I still out rank you. And that bitch,” he points down at me, his eyes flashing. “Is still a member of my family.”
“She was,” Calyx corrects him. “Technically, you’re dead. You have no family anymore, Commander.”
My mark burns beneath the high collar of my tactical gear, and I calm my breathing. The last thing we need right now is for one of our marks to start glowing. If mine brightens, Calyx’s might do the same in response. I’m not sure if the fabric is thick enough to block the light–especially the light of two alpha hybrids.
“I want her for the spell,” Clancy informs him, speaking around me as if I didn’t matter. “That is non-negotiable.”
“And you can have her,” Calyx’s grin doesn’t meet his eyes as he looks down the barrel of each gun, “But it’ll be on my terms. I will not have you damaging my property–the witch bitch belongs to me. I’ve invested a lot in her reprogramming and behavioral shaping. I won’t lose my investment for your experiment in sorcery, wolf.”
“Watch it, Commander,” Clancy draws out his title slowly. “You wouldn’t want the men to get the wrong idea about the two of you. You’re acting like she’s your mate...”
“And you think you can say and do whatever you want just because you’re the Grand Leader’s favorite pet,” Calyx scoffed. “But you’re just another dog needing a leash.”
“Your mission was to infiltrate Sylvester’s pack, not fuck your way through it,” Clancy mocked. “Looks like your beast got the better of you.”
“I’m a man,” Calyx corrects him, “Not a beast.”
“You’re a wolf,” Chancy counters, his lip curled. “No better than any of the rest of them.”
Calyx smirks, his lip twitching upward in irritation. “I am better than you. I’m the Grand Leader’s son–his only surviving son. Would you like to take this up with my father, dog?”
Chancy’s back stiffens. “No, Commander Calyx.”
“Good,” he takes a step closer to me, blocking the way. “Now get to work unloading the cargo. I have to help my pet get settled.”
While keeping an eye on Clancy and his men, Calyx reaches down, holding out his hand to me. But I can’t move, I can’t retract my claws as adrenaline burns through my body. Seeing my uncle still moving, still living, still doesn’t feel real. His body was torn apart, shredded by Sylvester’s gammas when they recovered Apple, Lysander, and Calyx from the facility. His head was sent to my doorstep in a box as a warning. I will never forget the smell of his already decaying flesh.
Clancy’s even worse now in some ways than that rotting head. Seeing him now like this feels…unnatural. His pale, sickly skin patched together in angry seams, his eyes a strange, bloodshot red that glows, above shriveled lips hiding broken, yellowed fangs.
He looks like a walking corpse–not quite dead, but not quite alive either.
And just a moment ago, he was bargaining for my possession with my husband, speaking about me like I was a prize cow.
“Alexis, come,” Calyx reaches out to touch my arm.
Wincing, I pull away.
“Our mate said to trust him,” Alanna reminds me. “He’s trying to keep us safe.”
“Now,” Calyx’s tone is hard, but his eyes are soft, pleading.
Hesitantly, I take his hand. His fingers are solid as reassuring tingles roll through me, promising safety amidst the chaos.
“See, Clancy,” Calyx taunts as he draws me in. “The witch may have cracked her mind, but she still listens to me. You can’t control her, but I can. You need me to be on your side if you want that wishing spell to go your way.”
Clancy glares, but he doesn’t argue. “Fine,” he concedes, “you have one hour until we come to monitor the process.”
“Perfect,” my husband scoops down to pick me up over his shoulder, “Don’t interfere.”
Carrying me like a sack of flour, he walks me through the center of town. Rogues trapped in cages, pulled along on leashes and harnesses are guarded by humans in body armor, weapons on their backs. This is different from the other facilities I saw in the recorded footage of the recovery process–those places had been hidden. This was fearlessly out in public.
And everyone is watching.
A few soldiers salute Calyx as he passes. “Commander Paige,” they say reverently, referring to him by his adopted name. How many of them know about his true nature, that he isn’t purely human, but something else?
Would they treat him differently if they knew?
He turns a corner, stopping in front of a tall house set back on a piece of land. It looks like an old country farmhouse, but in the center of town, a remnant from a time when Clearwater was a farming community instead of a way station for tourists exploring the “wild west”. Although most of the surrounding land has been converted into other houses and some downtown shops, it has enough land around it for chickens and goats to roam freely.
“We’re here,” Calyx barks as he pushes through the gate and marches straight down the path towards the main door. Reaching into a back pocket, he pulls out a small key and with a small click, pushes the door open into a long, dark hall.
“Where are we?” I rasp. “Why did you bring me here, Commander?”