“He challenged me and, in doing so, injured my queen,” Callum pointed out then concluded. “Who is, incidentally, also his queen.”
“But what if he’s –?” she began but he squeezed her hand and glanced at her again before turning his eyes back to the road.
“I am rarely challenged except during a rebellion or skirmish, little one,” he told her gently. “One reason for that is I cannot be bested. This is not a boast. This is the truth. The other reason is, if it’s done, the punishment is harsh. I do not have time for this. You’ve worked beside me now for weeks. You know my duties are onerous. We’re having our Mating tomorrow. My attention being on this and away from other, more important matters has a ripple effect throughout the kingdom. If a statement wasn’t made, anyone who was angry at a decision I’d handed down or simply drunk and acting stupid could think they could try their hand at besting the king. I could be spending all my time on the steps of Canis, engaged in challenges. This is one of the reasons why any ruler, any government, must deal with situations such as these harshly.”
“Okay,” she replied slowly, “so what does harsh mean?”
“What is the usual punishment for treason, baby doll?” he returned quietly and heard her pull in a swift, sharp breath.
She knew what it was.
Then she noted, “I thought wolves were immortal.”
Cautiously, he explained, “If you sever our heads from our bodies, that is something we cannot survive.”
To this he received another swift intake of breath.
Then she began, “Callum –”
He cut her off to tell her something she had to know. “I do not relish this any more than you do, Sonia.”
“I know that!” she cried, her voice suddenly rising. “But this isn’t a drunken wolf, trying his hand at besting you like it was a Wild West gun slinging faceoff, may the fastest draw win and the winner gets nothing but the opportunity to brag. Family is all important to wolves, you’ve said that to me yourself dozens of times. He was defending his daughter. Yes, it was misguided but that doesn’t negate the fact that was what he was doing and I think, somewhere deep, you understand why he did it. And loyalty has to be almost as important, which was what Titium’s wolves showed to him and yet they, too, will receive this punishment? The end of their lives for doing nothing but standing there and being loyal?”
Callum felt his temper again start to rise. “I told you we would not speak of this again but it seems you’ve forgotten he hurt you. The fact he did it at all is unforgiveable but he did it in front of me. You were in harm’s way, he knew it and he still acted and that, my queen, is indefensible.” He gave her hand another squeeze. “I cannot let it stand.”
“Then don’t let it stand, Cal,” she returned swiftly. “You’re right. He did wrong and caused harm in the process. But I will point out, you were in a mood when you met him on the steps of Canis and that mood was not the mood to sit down like men with honor I, at least, know you are, and talk things out. I know I’m your mate and protecting me is serious business for you wolves but I don’t want you to be upset when I say that it really is me who gets to forgive or not forgive that he hurt me and I forgive him, Cal.” She paused a moment before she told him quietly. “It was an accident. He surrendered immediately after he saw he harmed me. He knew he did wrong and felt badly about it so perhaps you can think of another punishment that’s less…” she paused and finished, “final.”
Callum felt his temper rise further. “Are you suggesting, little one, that I was partly at fault for what happened?”
“I’m not suggesting anything,” she retorted. “I’m saying that maybe then and now there’s another way to go about things and perhaps, before you do something that cannot be undone, you may want to reflect on both.”
Callum drew in a long breath to calm his anger before he replied firmly and with finality, “This is the wolves’ custom, Sonia.”
She fell silent and Callum drove, still angry and part of this had to do with the fact that Sonia riled him up prior to one of the few loathsome duties he had as king of the werewolves. By now, she should know better but apparently she did not.
Every moment of every day he was aware that his time with her was short and just as aware that she didn’t know it. He very much wanted to explain yet again that in times like these, he needed her support, not a confrontation. However, it was highly likely (he hoped) that in her short life, she wouldn’t need to endure another time like this so he decided to let it, and the inevitable argument it would cause, go.
He drove up the winding, ill-kept road, through the wood and turned right, driving through the thick trees. He heard another swift intake of breath when the trees suddenly cleared and there it was.
The Lodge, a huge, circular building with a large, paved car park around it and beyond it on either side, two four story parking structures. It was made of reddish, gold-brown Canis stone, had ten of his royal pennants flying from its crenelated roof and it looked like a human’s sporting arena, albeit small but, with the stone and crenellations, more imposing. The inside held stands, also like a human’s stadium, in a circle facing down to the pitch. Although small by human standards, it could hold ten thousand wolves.
That day, considering the vehicles parked around, he reckoned it would be half full, something else that grated on Callum’s frayed nerves.
This was expected, considering the hills were full to celebrate The Royal Mating and therefore he’d planned for it, his Guard being there to keep order as well as several detachments of soldiers.
It wasn’t that Callum expected anyone to disagree with his judgment. It was that wolves could be vengeful and, thus, bloodthirsty. They loved Sonia. They expected the verdict he was about to give, he had little doubt they would rejoice in it and, with wolves, that could easily get out of hand. Further, Sonia might find this at best, distasteful, at worst, repugnant.
Callum, on the other hand, did not rejoice in giving the order to bring about the end of lives. It was a weight on his soul that only Sonia had the ability to alleviate but, again, he held the bitter knowledge that his mate would not always be there to provide this succor to him.
With this heavy on his mind, he drove around the curving entrance that led to the doors closest to where the royal dais would be set inside as Sonia noted, “This place is amazing.”