赤裸裸的滑稽故事

Cain paused the recording again. He let out a hiss as his arm burned. He looked down at the wound; the poison was spreading even faster. He knew he wouldn’t survive more than another day at most.

He took a drink of water and then continued his recording.

“For years, I tried to throw them off, giving them only little bits of information while I tried to solve the mystery myself. I needed to know how the werewolf and the fae were connected and whether or not the powers of the fae could still be used.

“I kept hitting wall after wall. I knew the wolves were related to the fae, but I was missing something important. I couldn’t figure it out until you unintentionally brought it to my attention.”

Cain smiled, thinking of Caleb, his honor, and his passion for doing the right thing.

“You’re the reason I solved this mystery, Caleb. If you hadn’t discovered the Autumn blood trade, I never would have thought to go down this path. You also freed me from my debt to Tomas. Because of what he had done to you, I was able to back away from the deal I made with him to continue working on the research.”

Cain chuckled as he remembered punching Tomas across the face.

“You also gave me a chance to punch that moron, so thank you.”

Cain took another deep breath. He was getting tired.

“After we started running all the blood samples, I realized something strange about my blood. I compared it to hundreds of others. And then to yours, we were different from the other wolves I looked at. Very different.

“Tomas had no idea how close he came to solving the mystery….” Cain sighed.

Cain laid back against the dirt wall. He took a deep breath as he remembered how unsettled he had felt when he made the discovery. If Tomas had looked at even one slide of Caleb’s blood…

He clenched his jaw. He couldn’t think of that right now. He needed to tell Caleb everything he knew before it was too late.

“Like I said, our blood was different from every wolf of Summer, Autumn, and all the samples we got from the lesser packs. And that got me thinking, what else is different about us? There was only one thing I could think of. Our lineage.”

Cain growled as a spike of pain shot up his arm and into his shoulder. Making him curl in on himself to support his arm.

“Fuck…!” he hissed. He drew a shaky breath and calmed himself.

“Our lineage,” he continued. “Our family line can be traced directly back to the first Alpha of Summer.”

Cain forced himself to sit up once more.

“I ran a genetic test on us and compared it to the one I ran on the bone… they came back as related. You and I are direct descendants of the fae.”

Cain leaned his head back, taking a deep breath.

“I know this is a lot. I’m sorry to drop it all into your lap. I’m sorry, Caleb. But the only way I can think to protect you now is to remove all potential power sources. Even if Gorn and Tomas can figure out that you are a direct descendant, they have no reason to come for you if there is no power to steal.”

Cain took another deep breath.

“I was able to track down twenty different mounds, including the one in Spring and the one in Moonguard… I have destroyed seventeen of them. Soon, this one will be gone too. But the last two… I can’t make it to them….”

He clenched his jaw and closed his eyes. Feeling the weight of his failure.

“I’m sorry, Caleb, I should have done more for you….” he whispered.

There was a beeping sound from his pocket, his perimeter alarm. The Autumn wolves had found him. He needed to take care of them before they stopped him from his mission.

“I need to go,” he said softly. “I have to get rid of some uninvited guests, but once I have, I am going to call Wyatt. I know I can trust him to give you this message.”

Cain chuckled to himself.

“Maybe I’ll try again to get him to agree to introduce you to his daughter, a dying man’s wish and all….”

Cain smiled bitterly; he held back the sob that caught in his throat.

“I love you, Caleb, I always have. You will be a great Alpha. I know you will lead our people better than I ever could,” Cain whispered, fighting back the surge of emotion. “Please, tell your mother… well….”

Cain smiled to himself as he thought of Fiona.

“She knows.”

He sat up and took a deep breath.

“Goodbye, son.”

Cain stopped the recording. He took a moment and then finalized the information saved to the drive. He set up a verification system, something to ensure it was Caleb and only Caleb that could access the files and the message.

Then he tucked it away into the false back of his pocket watch.

He made his way up the long dark tunnel to the surface. Carefully removing the stones and branches at the entrance he moved along the edge of the mound, he listened to the growling sounds of fighting. It was strange; he didn’t know why his hunters would be fighting amongst themselves, but the less he had to do, the better.

Cain hid in the bushes, trying not to draw any attention to himself. The sounds stopped, and then he heard something else. Someone was throwing up.

He moved quietly along the bushes until he saw someone he recognized. It was Wyatt, bodies of Autumn wolves surrounded him.

Cain let out a sigh of relief. Wyatt must have come in search of him. Slowly he approached his friend.

[Present, Simulation Room, Summer]

Caleb fell to his knees. His chest burned; he couldn’t get air no matter how hard he tried to breathe.

Ashleigh dropped down in front of him. She held his face in her hands and called to him. Trying to get him to look at her, to listen to her voice.

But the world was silent for Caleb.

And all he could see was the phantom image of his father. A hollow shell that stared at him with empty eyes as he listened to his father’s last words to him.

Caleb felt as though he had lost him all over again.