赤裸裸的滑稽故事

The iron had dug deep trenches into his skin, and the silver had stopped his healing abilities. It took almost three days for Caleb to heal enough to be up and around.

When he was back on his feet, he was surprised to hear just how well Nessa had been received in Summer.

Jonas was more excited than anyone. Finally, finally, his precious daughter had found her mate. Caleb watched in shock as he made arrangements to invite Clara to have dinner and discuss wedding plans.

“This is the true Jonas,” came a soft voice from behind Caleb.

He turned to see Jonas’ mate, Liara, standing behind him.

“He is hard and strong before the pack and the other alphas. But at home, he is a big softie. He loves celebrations, holidays, and anything that gets a smile on people’s faces. Oh, and Nessa, that girl, had him wrapped around her little finger,” Liara laughed. “He got lucky she was a true sweetheart.”

“Is this what fatherhood looks like?” Caleb asked.

“Well, I can’t say. I met Jonas only seven years ago, so he was well wrapped already,” Liara smiled. She looked up at Caleb. “But I hear that the strongest men are usually the most doting.”

Caleb looked at her carefully, then let out a soft chuckle. He nodded.

“That’s what I thought,” she smiled. “I look forward to the day I can meet your Luna.”

Caleb smiled as Liara walked away toward her mate. After giving him a quick kiss, Jonas seemed to lose focus for a moment. Then, he smiled like an excited child and followed after her.

“Is that what I look like to others?” Caleb wondered.

“Yes,” Axel said beside him.

Caleb was startled but kept his composure.

“I wasn’t asking you,” he said._.

“Then why did you ask out loud?” Axel said.

“I…just forget it.”

Axel shrugged his shoulders.

“Jonas is pretty excited about his daughter and your wolf, so he’s not exactly focusing on us right now,” Axel said. “But he did reach out to Eclipsed last night.”

Caleb turned back to Axel.

“He sent out scouts to check on the other packs around here that we haven’t been able to confirm yet. But he said if we want allies, Eclipsed should be next on our list.”

“He’s not wrong,” Caleb said. “Broken Crag and Eclipsed both have strong warriors. But, where Jonas’ wolves have the endurance, Eclipse has the attack speed and ruthless tactics.”

“I’m aware. We send our unranked berserkers to them for basic training,” Axel replied.

Caleb gave Axel a confused look.

“Do they also not like you?” Axel asked.

Caleb’s expression changed to one of irritation.

“What? My impression of you with the lesser packs is that they aren’t your biggest fans.”

Caleb looked away.

“Are you that much closer to them?”

“With some, yea,” Axel said. “Whiteridge, Eclipsed, Grey Paw, Blue Reef. They all have some form of trade or mutually benefiting arrangement with Winter.”

“You seemed to know Jonas pretty well,” Caleb commented.

“I’ve met him a few times over the years. He and my dad butted heads a lot, but I never thought he was a bad guy necessarily.”

“What arrangements did you have with Broken Crag?” Caleb asked.

“None,” Axel laughed. “Jonas does not like to do business with us ‘blessed bitches’ unless he absolutely has to.”

Caleb chuckled.

“I wonder if he will maintain that mindset now that his daughter is mated to a wolf of Summer.”

“We’ll see,” Axel laughed.

“I am starting to realize something,” Caleb said.

“What’s that?”

Caleb took a breath.

“I always thought that Summer had the most open mind. That we weren’t limited by a refusal to work with the outside world,” Caleb began. “We actively mingle with humans, learn from them, teach them. We adapt their technologies, their breakthroughs, and then we share it with the rest of the wolves.”

“You just realized that you think you’re better than everyone else?” Axel grumbled, rolling his eyes and looking away.

Caleb shook his head.

“I just realized that while we opened ourselves to the human world, we closed ourselves off from the wolves.”

Axel furrowed his brow and looked at Caleb.

“We provided electricity, basic upgrades, we share what we learn from the humans, within reason,” Caleb sighed. “But we give those things without real communication or connection.”

“It wasn’t always like that,” Axel said.

“No,” Caleb shook his head. “My father tried to have open trade with the other packs. As Jonas said, he designed some of their tunnels, he did jobs for other packs, and they did them for us. But when he died, I didn’t know who to trust.”

Caleb clenched his jaw.

“I knew the humans didn’t kill him,” Caleb said with a half-hearted smile. “But among the other packs… I had nothing to go on.”

“What about before Cain died?” Axel asked. “I’ve been visiting these packs since I was ten. Ash went to train in Eclipsed when she wasn’t much older.”

Caleb shook his head.

“I chose to stay home,” Caleb sighed. “I went to Spring, Autumn, and Winter when I was young. Spent time in each. My time in Winter was… rough. At that point, my father didn’t force me to join him. So I only went when I wanted to, until after returning from the human world. Then I was sent to Autumn, which ended in… a situation.”

“So the only real exposure these packs have to you is what they see at Blood Moon or the scouts you send to spy on them… great… sounds like we’ll have lots of fun.”

“I didn’t send scouts to every pack,” Caleb scoffed.

“Did you send them to Eclipsed?” Axel asked.

Caleb looked away.

“So that’s a yes,” Axel sighed.

Axel rolled his eyes.

“I already admitted that I have misjudged the other packs. So what more do I need to say?” Caleb scoffed.

“When did you admit that?” Axel asked in disbelief.

“I just told you that I realized Summer has cut itself off from the wolves,” Caleb replied.

“Yes, you told me you realized how Summer has suffered from that decision. But not once did you mention the other packs having felt a loss or been mistreated. You didn’t admit any wrongdoing in your suspicions or surveillance of them.”

“I don’t think I have mistreated them, Axel,” Caleb replied with irritation in his voice.

“No?” Axel asked. “So last year, when Blue Reef suffered from the red tide that settled along their shores for months, did you aid them?”

Caleb furrowed his brow.

“You didn’t even know, did you?” Axel asked. “Across the four major packs, yours is the closest territory to Blue Reef, and yet, when they were going hungry because they weren’t able to fish their own waters. They reached out to Winter.”

“How could I help them if I didn’t even know?” Caleb asked.

“You couldn’t,” Axel said. “But my question is, why didn’t they reach out to you? I’ll give you the answer. Because among the lesser packs, and those of us in the major packs that pay attention. One well-known fact is that Summer only cares about Summer.”

“That’s not true,” Caleb growled.

“Your words mean nothing, Caleb,” Axel growled back. “I have seen you walk away from a lesser Alpha begging you for help.”

“I have never–”

“Grimhide,” Axel growled.

Caleb’s eyes widened.

“That’s not fair.”

“Why? Because it’s true?”

“I couldn’t have stopped what happened to them!” Caleb growled angrily.

“No, but you could have helped prevent as many deaths as possible. Alpha Ross begged you. They went from a pack of almost three hundred to a pack of seventy-five overnight.”

Grimhide. A lesser pack whose territory was mostly low mountains and valleys, not far from Summer. They had sent messages asking for aid after some flooding had caused issues in the soil around the area where they had settled. They asked for help in evacuation and temporary housing.

At the time, Cain was still missing, and Caleb wasn’t worried about anybody else. Alpha Ross had approached him at some ceremony Fiona had forced him to attend in Cain’s place, a wedding maybe. He honestly couldn’t remember.

Ross had tried to get his attention, but Caleb couldn’t focus enough to give it to him. Ross had grabbed at his hand and begged him to help. Instead, Caleb shooed him away and then left without another word.

A week later, the soil in those low mountains surrounding their territory shifted. And in one night, mudslides, rocks, and debris had settled over their homes. Almost two hundred wolves were lost.

“I didn’t–”

Caleb started to speak but was interrupted when Jonas burst into the room with an angered look on his face.

“There’s been an attack on Eclipsed!”