Land of Wolves

Chapter 16

I'm jumping into action the second Caleb's out the door.

My lips still tingle from the long goodbye kiss he gave me, and I resist the urge to bring a hand to my mouth and feel them as I head into the kitchen in search of a knife. Caleb does a fair bit of cooking, so I'm not sure I'll find one he won't notice is gone, but it's the best place to start my search.

I hum quietly to myself in a sad attempt to stop my brain from running, not wanting to think too deeply about what I'm doing. Preparing to kill my mate has the bond between us unhappy, the painful tugging in my chest near impossible to ignore.

I only hope that emotion isn't reflected in Caleb.

When we first met, I thought he was dumb. He plays the part of a blind, trusting male perfectly. The more time we've spent together, though, the clearer it's become he knows more than he lets on. I've been trained to read into questions asked and analyze even the slightest involuntary inflections of a voice since I was a young girl.

I thought I was well prepared for Caleb and that fooling him would be a breeze, but I'm starting to worry about how much is getting past him.

Can he sense something's up with me?

I've made mistakes during a few meetings in his office, and I'm unsure how much they've tipped him off.

Looking at him was a stupid thing to do. He called upon the two Alphas from the fighting packs up north and let me sit in his office during their meeting. I had my book and was fully prepared to play dumb, but the second I detected a lie from one of the Alphas, I accidentally glanced up at Caleb.

He blinked and glanced at me, but the slight twitch of his lip told me he had picked up on it. Looking at him made it clear that I picked up on it, too.

I should have left it at that.

A wiser woman would have left it at that, but I liked how he dipped his head afterward and returned his attention to the two Alphas. He was proud of me, and the stupid fucking bond between us loved that.

We made a game of it, looking at one another whenever something off was said. Caleb noticed the same things I did, and a few times I caught him glancing at me when I wasn't expecting it.

He was hearing things I wasn't picking up on.

Never a good sign.

The way he worded his follow-up questions and observations to the two Alphas were impressive, too, the man phrasing things in a way that made it impossible for them to answer without outright lying.

It's scary and only further fuels my need to kill him and leave as soon as possible.

Not only is Caleb deadly, a fact I knew but momentarily forgot, but he's also intelligent.

It's only a matter of time before he sees through me.

The kitchen is still messy from breakfast, but I ignore it as I pull open all the drawers looking for a spare knife to use. I have high hopes for the junk drawer he keeps, but there's nothing more than a few batteries and a tiny pocket knife.

Fuck.

I grab and flick it open, but I already know it won't work.

Caleb is strong, and there won't be time for me to hack away at him with a tiny pocket knife. I need to take him out with one strike, and this would take at least six.

Still, I take it with me just in case.

HPAW has done much testing, and we've learned the easiest and most definite way to take out a wolf is to stab them in the heart. Their bodies heal too quickly for anything else and as well trained as I am, I'm still no match for a wounded wolf.