35. Calder
Calder
“Thanks for meeting me,” I nodded, standing in the cold darkness before dawn at the park a couple blocks down from my house. “Both of you.”
Ageratum, the demon of the Elder Council, looked perfectly fine being up this early.
Trevor, on the other hand, looked exhausted and disheveled.
I figured I was no better. While I might have stayed up late fucking my mate until he passed out, I hadn’t gone to sleep all night.
I couldn’t. Not with what I was about to do.
“What’s this all about?” Ageratum asked, his eyes flashing in the street light. “It’s not like you to call a secret meeting in the middle of the night, Alpha Thorne.”
“Yeah,” Trevor added. “It’s fuckin’ early.”
I rubbed my eyes, trying to focus on the matter at hand. The lack of sleep was catching up to me, but this couldn't wait. Not with Ethan's box of evidence sitting in my living room like a ticking time bomb.
"Sorry about the hour," I said, my voice low. "But this couldn't wait. We have a serious problem."
Ageratum's perfect posture never wavered, his dark suit immaculate despite the early hour. The demon always looked ready for a business meeting, even at four in the morning in a deserted park.
"More serious than a rogue wolf ripping out human hearts?" Trevor asked, stifling a yawn. "Because that's already pretty fucking serious, Calder."
"It's about Ethan," I said, watching Ageratum's expression carefully. "He has... evidence. A lot of it."
The demon's eyebrows rose slightly. "Evidence of what, exactly?"
"Everything." I took a deep breath, bracing myself for their reactions. "Fourteen years of research. Photos, reports, witness statements. Documented attacks going back to the sixties."
Trevor's exhaustion vanished instantly. "What the fuck? How is that possible?"
"He's been obsessed with finding his father's killer since he was a child," I explained. "He's traveled all over New England, collecting anything related to unexplained animal attacks or monster sightings. He has photographs, Ageratum. Actual photographs of wolves in shifted form."
The demon's eyes flashed crimson for a brief moment. It was the only indication of his alarm. "Where is this evidence now?"
"At my house. In a box. We brought it over yesterday." I ran a hand through my hair, feeling the weight of my decision pressing down on me. "I didn't know what to do. If I tried to take it from him, he'd never trust me again. But if the Council finds out..."
"When the Council finds out," Ageratum corrected coldly, "they will order his immediate elimination. You understand that, don't you, Alpha Thorne?"
My wolf snarled at the threat, a low growl escaping before I could stop it. "That's not happening."
Trevor stepped between us, hands raised placatingly. "Everyone calm down. There has to be another solution."
"Like what?" I demanded. "The Council's rules are clear. Humans who discover too much are killed. They don’t just turn the other way. Which is why they can’t find out about this.”
"We will just destroy the evidence," Ageratum said, as if it were the most obvious solution in the world. "Burn it all. Problem solved."
I shook my head. "It wouldn't work. He's been collecting this stuff for fourteen years. It's his life's work. If it disappeared, he'd know exactly who took it."
"No he won’t," the demon stated simply. "Because I’ll take it.”
“He’ll still suspect—”
“Then make him believe otherwise!” Ageratum shouted back, clearly growing tired of arguing with me. “He’s a human and they’re stupid! Tell him a lie, make him believe it, or dispose of him yourself like you should’ve done to begin with.”
I couldn’t help the snarl that escaped my lips. Trevor stepped in front of me before I could rush Ageratum. Nobody was going to threaten my mate like that.
“Calder,” Trevor said, his eyes fixed on mine. “Calm down. We’re not going to kill your mate.”
I forced myself to take a deep breath and a step backward. But I never took my gaze off the demon in front of me. And he wouldn’t take his off me either.
“Ageratum,” Trevor said, turning to the demon. “Go get the box.”
“You can’t—”
“Shutup Calder,” Trevor barked back. I stopped, surprised by the ferocity in my Beta’s voice. “Do you want your mate to die?” he continued. “Do you want the Elder Council to find evidence of knowledge in the same house as him? With his fucking scent all over it?”
“Nobody is gonna touch Ethan,” I growled back.
“Then let him take the fucking box.” His voice was powerful, but his eyes were pleading with me. “I’m trying to help you, Calder. Give the Elder Council one less reason to tear you two apart.”
I felt my jaw clench as I realized Trevor was right. As much as I hated to admit it, this was the only way to protect Ethan. The evidence needed to disappear, and it needed to look like it had nothing to do with me.
"Fine," I said finally, the word tasting bitter in my mouth. "But I want your word, Ageratum. The Council never finds out about Ethan's research. This stays between us."
The demon's thin lips curved into what might have been a smile on a human face. "I make no promises, Alpha Thorne. But I will say that it serves no purpose to inform the Council of something that no longer exists."
I nodded, knowing that was the best I could hope for. "He'll be devastated when he discovers it's gone."
"Then comfort him," Ageratum replied coldly. "Isn't that what mates do?"
I wanted to rip his throat out for the mocking tone, but I restrained myself. "My house key is in my jacket pocket. The box is on the dining room table. Ethan's asleep in the bedroom. If you wake him up—"
"I am not some clumsy newborn," Ageratum interrupted, offended. "I have been collecting evidence of our kind for centuries. Your human will never know I was there."
Trevor put a hand on my shoulder. "This is the right call, Calder. We're protecting him."
I nodded, unable to speak past the lump in my throat. I was betraying Ethan's trust to save his life, and he would never know it. The irony was crushing.
Ageratum gave me a stiff nod before walking toward the deep shadows of the trees. The moment he entered the shadow, I lost track of him. He seemed to have just disappeared.
“I’m sorry, Calder,” Trevor said, taking a step back from me. “I know it’s not my place to challenge you like that.”
“It’s fine.” My voice was gruff, but not because of my Beta. “I’m just… I’m really worried about Ethan.”
“You really do love him, don’t you?”
The question caught me off guard. But the way my heart leapt in my chest surprised me more.
“Yeah,” I nodded. “Seems stupid to feel that way so fast, but we’re bonded. I… I don’t know if I could live without him now.”
“You won’t have to,” Trevor said, placing a reassuring hand on my shoulder. “We’ll find a way for you two to be together.”
I was surprised by his words and equally touched. But before I could thank him, Ageratum appeared from the shadows once more. And this time he was holding the banker’s box in his hands, the one that held Ethan’s entire obsession within it.
“I gathered it all up,” Ageratum nodded. “And it will be destroyed within the hour.”
“Thank you,” Trevor replied for me. “It means a lot.”
“It is not a free favor,” the demon said, still staring at me. “I will accept nothing less than that rogue’s head on a platter as repayment. He’s caused me too much trouble already.”
I didn’t trust the demon, but at least in that regard, we were both united. “You have my word,” I replied honestly. “The only way to keep Ethan safe is to kill the rogue. We’ll get him one way or another.”
“Good. Because we’re going to draw him out tomorrow, after the human’s Halloween festivities have died down. And we’re going to use your human as bait, just like we discussed.”
I did everything I could to keep the irritated growl inside me. But he was right, I had agreed to that plan. I didn’t like it, but I couldn’t think of another way to draw the rogue out either. “Fine,” I grunted at last. “At least this will be over soon.”
“Yes it will.” Ageratum shifted the box in his hands. “Now I suggest you get back to your human and stage some sort of convincing lie for why this box is gone.” He turned, heading back to the shadows. “I have some papers to burn.”
I watched Ageratum disappear into the shadows, the box of Ethan's life's work clutched in his hands. My stomach twisted with guilt and dread. I'd just betrayed the man I loved to save his life, and he would never know it.
"What are you going to tell him?" Trevor asked, his voice softer now that the demon was gone.
I sighed, rubbing my temples where a headache was forming. "I have no fucking idea. A break-in? But why would someone take only that box and nothing else?"
"Maybe say it was the rogue?" Trevor suggested. “And tell him you drove him off.”
“I don’t want him to feel like he’s not safe anywhere,” I sighed. “That’s why I brought him to my house in the first place.”
“It’s Halloween now,” Trevor said. “After tomorrow night, he won’t have anything to worry about again. We’ll take care of the rogue and he’ll be safe.”
“Yeah,” I muttered, knowing things were far more complicated than that. “Everything will be fine after that.”
“It’s gonna be okay, Calder. We’ll figure this out.”
I nodded, already dreading the moment Ethan would wake up and discover his research was gone. Then when he finally discovered I was a werewolf… I wasn’t sure I’d survive the same look of terror in his eyes directed at me instead of the rogue.
"Get some sleep," I told Trevor, clapping him on the shoulder. "I need to get back before Ethan notices I'm gone."
“Okay, boss,” Trevor nodded. “You got this.”
I nodded, turning away from him. The walk back to my house felt like walking to my own execution.
Every step was heavier than the last. By the time I reached my front door, the sky was beginning to lighten with the first hints of dawn.
I slipped inside as quietly as I could, my enhanced senses telling me Ethan was still asleep in the bedroom.
The box, however, was gone. A small part of me almost hoped Ageratum’s was a fake.
But of course it wasn’t. The evidence had to be destroyed.
Now I just had to make it look like a break-in.
I moved quickly, pulling open a few drawers and scattering their contents on the floor.
Not too much though. I didn't want it to look like a complete ransacking, just enough to suggest someone had been searching for something specific.
I overturned a lamp, wincing at the crash, then hesitated by the window, wondering if I should break it to complete the illusion.
No. Too noisy. Too dangerous with Ethan sleeping just down the hall.
Instead, I unlocked it and pushed it up, letting the cool morning air flow in. To complete the effect, I allowed my hands to shift into claws, tearing at the frame to look like it was forced open from the outside by a monster.
My heart was hammering as I worked, guilt making my hands clumsy. Every sound seemed amplified in the quiet house. Every lie I was constructing felt like a betrayal.
"Calder?" Ethan's sleepy voice called from the bedroom. "Is that you?"
Shit. I'd made too much noise.
"Stay there!" I called back, injecting urgency into my voice. "Someone broke in!"
I heard the rapid thump of his feet hitting the floor, followed by the rustle of clothes as he presumably threw something on. Seconds later, he appeared in the hallway, hair tousled from sleep, eyes wide with alarm. He was wearing one of my t-shirts, the hem falling to mid-thigh.
"What happened?" he gasped, taking in the disarray.
I ran a hand through my hair, making it look like I was distressed. It wasn't hard to fake. "I heard something and came out to check. It was in here, Ethan. The rogue. Then it ran when it saw me."
His eyes darted around the room, taking in the overturned furniture and open window. Then his gaze landed on the empty dining table where we'd left the box.
"The research," he whispered, his voice hollow. "It's gone."
The devastation that washed over his face was worse than I'd imagined. His knees seemed to buckle, and I rushed forward to catch him before he could collapse.
"I'm sorry," I said, the words thick in my throat. "I tried to stop it, but it was already out the window by the time I got here. It had the box."
"We have to call the police," he said, already reaching for his phone. "They could still be nearby. Maybe they can—"
“And tell them what?” I barked back, harsher than I wanted to be. “That a monster stole some paperwork from you? They’d think it was a Halloween prank or something and throw us in jail.”
“But Calder…” he said, looking up at me with tear-stained cheeks. “It… It was everything I had… about my father…”
I pulled him in tight against my chest so he didn’t see the pain on my face. “I know, pup.” I just held him tight, hating myself with every passing moment. “I know.”