Calliope's Mate - Book 2
Chapter 22

Calliope and Caleb held each other for a minute, but it felt like an eternity to them. They had exhausted their tears, their anger, their anxieties. For a moment, they forgot about the rest of the world. It was just them and no one else.

Great Luna! Two wolves at the cabin claim to be the Great Alpha’s parents. They want to see him. A warrior mind linked to Calliope.

Calliope’s head shot up and looked to the door.

“What’s wrong?” He asked.

“You’re parents. They are still at the cabin,” she said as she stood.

“Are they alright?” He questioned as he followed her to the door.

“I believe so. They are asking for you.”

“Alright, I’ll go to them. I’ll be back shortly.” He said as he tried to pull away from her, but she held onto his arm.

“I’m going with you,” she responded. “You’re not going alone.”

“I thought you shouldn’t shift when pregnant,” he frowned.

“It does not matter. If Bennett is nearby, I will be there to protect you.” She growled at him as she pulled him close to her. Her petite frame was pressed against him. His heart raced, not out of fear, but out of arousal. Her sudden assertiveness was alluring to him. “I will not have a repeat of what happened to Theo. I will not be stuck here in this palace like a delicate flower. Do I make myself clear?”

“If you weren’t with child, I’d put one in you right now,” he whispered as he leaned down to kiss her neck. After revealing their secrets, after revealing all that they hid, all he could feel for her was unimaginable love. He suddenly wanted her... needed her, more than he ever had.

Calliope gripped his arms and turned him around. She pushed him out the door.

“We don’t have time for this!” She yelled while trying to hide her blushing. She could feel it, too. Every hesitation, every question she held for Caleb was gone. It left her with only love and longing. But not now; she could not give in to temptation.

Caleb chuckled as he shifted. He shifted into his sun wolf in front of her for the first time. He was tall in this form, and his chest was broad. The claws on his hands looked longer than those of ordinary sun wolves. Calliope looked at him and smiled. This was her first time seeing him in person like this. She walked a few feet away and shifted into Giizis.

The two of them ran east towards the cabin. Caleb did not speed to get there. His parents were in no danger and weren’t in the silver chains anymore. They were there with warriors; his warriors. They were safe.

But Caleb eyed Calliope. He worried about her having shifted while pregnant. Though he wasn’t an expert on wolf pregnancies, he had seen many to know they never shifted once they found out. He was going to have to watch her... watch the baby.

By the time they neared the cabin, the storm had eased up. There was no more lightning or thunder, just a light rain. Calliope didn’t like running in the rain; it greatly affected her sense of smell. But she knew her companions were flanking her, helping to watch her blind spots.

Once outside the cabin, they shifted into their human forms and hurried inside. Caleb saw his parents sitting on the floor, holding each other. When Maya saw Caleb, she stood and ran to him, embracing him. Calliope stood back, observing Maya warily.

“What happened?” Caleb asked. “Did they leave you two here?”

“Yes,” Aaron answered. He slowly stood and walked over to his son but kept his gaze on Calliope. It was their first time officially meeting, but Aaron was no stranger to her. “When the Royal Moon pack warriors arrived, they left us.”

“Why would they leave you?” Calliope questioned. “You have been so loyal to Alpha Bennett. Why the sudden change?”

“Because you poisoned our son!” Maya yelled as she tried to reach out to Calliope. Caleb pushed his mother back and growled. He stood protectively in front of Calliope.

“She did not. You don’t understand what it means, what it feels like to have a mate bond. It’s not something you can fight! It’s who you are. It’s who you’re meant to be. And I’m meant to be with Calliope. To change the world with her.”

“Bunch of nonsense,” Maya spat. “Everything was going well until you fell in love with this monster!”

“That’s enough!” Calliope yelled as she waved her hand at Maya.

Calliope had frozen her, forcing her to stop talking. Aaron reached over and touched Maya. He could see she was still alive, that her eyes could move, but nothing else could. He looked to Calliope as a wave of fear hit him.

“I’m done being called a monster,” Calliope hissed as she stood inches from Maya’s face. Caleb pulled Calliope away from his mother.

“What are you doing? Unfreeze her!” He commanded. His aura was rising, growing stronger. But he felt torn as he stood between his mate and his mother. But he knew one of them was stronger. So he had to protect the other.

“You do not command me,” Calliope snapped. “I am the Great Luna. I am 140 years your senior, and neither you nor your aura will curtail me. And I will not stand for the hatred that your mother bears for me. She has held onto this anger because of what I did. She yells for my death, but yet I am the one they call a monster.”

She walked around Caleb and looked at Maya in her frozen state.

“I avenged my dead mate! The one that your Grandfather killed so your son could be here today! I could have killed your mother and her brothers, and I chose not to. I could have done much worse, but I was done fighting. When will you be?!”

“We will hear what you have to say,” Aaron said softly as he stepped forward. “Please, you will have to forgive Maya. She is strong-willed and has just as strong of a temper.”

“Oh, I’ve seen that temper,” Calliope said as she looked at Caleb. “I saw for years how she hit you. I could have killed her myself, but I held back. I held back for you. But I will lose it if she calls me a monster again.”

Caleb looked at his father. He silently pleaded to him, and Aaron seemed to understand. He walked in front of Maya and placed his forehead on hers. He was quiet as he mind linked to her. After a moment, he pulled away and nodded to Calliope.

Calliope waved her hand again, freeing Maya. Caleb watched his mate as she mindlessly used her gift. A gift he had just learned about. She could freeze people. But while Caleb looked at her, she looked at his parents. She looked at them, but while she did, an image flashed before her eyes—a memory. For a brief second, she saw the Goddess standing in the distance behind Giizis.

Take their hands. The voice. It returned after all these years.

Calliope looked down at her hands. Was she to create a mate bond between a sun wolf and a moon wolf? This would fuse the two spiritually under the Moon’s embrace. Under the Moon...

“That’s it!” She yelled. Everyone looked at her in shock. They could not read her mind; they could not understand the revelation she had just had. “It’s the mate bond!”

“What’s the mate bond?” Caleb questioned.

“Maya, Aaron, come here. Please give me your hands. I will create a mate bond between the two of you.” Calliope explained.

Maya and Aaron looked at Caleb. They were fearful. The person they had been warned against their whole lives stood before them. The young woman, who looked no older than their son. She was the monster that lurked in the shadows, but now she wanted to give them a mate bond.

Neither could deny they had once dreamed they were fated for one another. They knew that a mate bond could deepen their love. That it would have made things easier for them when they wanted to have children. But now that they were being offered it, would they take it? Did they want it?

They looked at one another before holding out a hand to Calliope. She excitedly took their hands. She was giddy. The thought that she may have realized her destiny was overwhelming for her. She held their hands and closed her eyes, focusing. It had been over 70 years since she last did this. But as she concentrated, she felt the energy and wind swirl around their hands. Static raced from Calliope into Maya and Aaron, shocking them both.

It caused them to fly backwards, falling onto their backs. They both gasped for air. It felt like the wind had been knocked out of them. Neither knew what had happened, and they felt no different for a moment. But then they looked at one another, into each other’s eyes.

There was something different. There was a pull, a want, a desire that had not been there before. Aaron reached out and touched Maya. Static sent shivers up their spines when their skins met. There were sensations that they had never felt before. They felt things they never knew existed.

“What is this?” Aaron asked as he pulled Maya close to him.

“It’s a mate bond,” Calliope smiled as she approached them. She knelt to get on eye level with them. “I created a mate bond. The Goddess wanted you two to be mates.”

“Why?” He asked.

“Because the Goddess cursed your kind thousands of years ago, making it difficult to mate and to have children. I think she wants me to fix that, to change that.”

Maya wanted to be angry with her, but her whole body melted in Aaron’s arms. She had loved him, but this felt different. She felt different. Before she could speak, Aaron kissed her. The sparks! They felt the urge to mark one another, but instead, they pulled away from each other. Everything was too much all at once for them. They looked at Calliope in amazement.

“Can you do that again? To others?” Aaron asked.

“Yes,” Calliope answered.

Aaron stood and helped Maya to her feet. He looked at his hands; he felt different. Not just with Maya, but something in him, deep down, felt different. His wolf. He seemed to be different, but he didn’t know how. Perhaps the mate bond broke links in the invisible curse within him?

But as he looked at Calliope and Caleb, he felt something different from them. He could feel their auras. Before Calliope took his hand, he could not feel their gifts or the energy surrounding them. Only moon wolves could feel it. Only moon wolves...

Aaron ran outside without saying a word. Everyone followed, watching as he screamed in pain. Maya was about to yell at Calliope, to question her about what she did to him. But then, he shifted. And his wolf, he was different. He no longer had a sun wolf form, but now he was a moon wolf on all fours.

Not only had Calliope created a mate bond, but she lifted his curse. She gasped at the realization of what she had done. She looked down at her hands. Everything came rushing to her. She overcame bitterness, anger, and agony and it led her to forgiveness, to hope, to love. The gifts of the Goddess were meant to reverse the curse put on the sun wolves. This was how she was to right the wrongs. The Goddess regretted cursing her wolves but was unable to undo the curse herself. But why? Doesn’t matter, not now. She was there; Calliope would fix it. She was sure of it. This was her destiny.

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