Her eyes were on him and he kept his on her as he closed the door behind him and watched her start to open her mouth.
He beat her to it.
“You tell me I told you so, I’ll turn you over my knee.”
She shut her mouth in order to smile but then opened it again to speak.
“Not sure that’s a deterrent, my handsome wolf.” He moved toward her as she kept going, “How was your run?”
He sat down, his hip to hers in the bed, and answered as he leaned toward her to rest his weight in his hand at her other side. “It was an honor to be the first wolf to run with Abel Jin.”
Her eyes got soft and she gave him another smile, this one sweet.
“And his first run was with his king,” she said softly.
“Yes,” Callum agreed. “He didn’t hide that he liked it either.” His mood shifted as his gaze went unfocused, thinking on this. “I can’t imagine a lifetime as a lone wolf. Running alone by choice, yes. Running alone because you knew no other like you, no.”
“That part of his life is over,” she replied, still speaking softly and placing a hand on his chest, so his focus returned to her. “He has brothers now.”
“Yes,” he repeated.
“Did you and Lucien fill him in on all the rest?” she asked, and he nodded.
“With Gregor and Yuri. Believe it or not, Yuri was best with him. He’s a proud vampire. Lucien’s confidence is a part of him. Gregor’s as well, in his way.” He shook his head and gave her the grave news. “I got the sense, little one, that Abel’s lived his whole life not thinking he’s simply an anomaly but that he was some kind of unnatural, loathsome beast.”
“Oh no,” she whispered.
“Yes,” he told her. “So Yuri’s pride in who he is and all that comes with that was welcome.”
“Yuri can be callous, but he isn’t entirely unfeeling,” she told him, and she would know. She’d lived with the vampire as her brother most of her life.
That said, there came a time when Yuri didn’t want to be her brother but something else entirely. Unfortunately for Yuri but exceptionally fortunate for Callum, she was destined to be his queen.
He nodded and went on, “There’s a great deal more for Abel to learn. While we were running, he was like you on your first run. Unable to communicate. He can control the transformation but can’t converse as wolf, though he was picking it up by the end. He’s a fast learner.”
“Also like me.”
He grinned at her and lifted his hand to curl around hers at his chest. “Like you, my queen.” She returned his grin and he kept going. “He’s excellent with a sword, but he still needs training. He should learn how to fight with his claws and teeth.”
“Hopefully you’ll have time to teach him.”
“We spoke of it and we’re starting tomorrow,” he shared.
She tipped her head to the side. “And the rest?”
“After we finished with Abel, he called Lilah in and they both now know it all—Leah’s absorption of Lucien’s abilities, sensing danger, being able to track and mark, speaking to his mind as he’s able to do with her; your affinity with wildlife; all of our dreams. We’ll be sitting down with Serena, Avery, Stephanie, Cristiano, Ryon, and Caleb tomorrow to discuss what we know about our adversaries and how to proceed.”
“And does Lilah have any special abilities?” Sonia asked.
Callum shook his head but said, “Abel does. He can control minds.”
“Like Lucien?” she asked.
“No,” he answered. “Not exactly. It’s more powerful. He doesn’t have to be in the same room or even the same building as his target to achieve his purpose. They also don’t remember it or know they’re being controlled. When Lucien uses his skill, his voice can be heard in their head and they know he’s doing it. Abel leaves barely a trace.”
“Wow,” Sonia breathed, and he smiled.
Then he shared, “So far Lilah’s only having dreams she can’t remember. However, their connection seems even stronger than ours or Leah and Lucien’s, but not all in good ways.”
“What does that mean?”
“The good part is they can sense if one or the other is in danger, even know where they are or are able to get to where they are without actually knowing where they are,” he explained.
“That is good,” she noted.
“The bad part is that Lilah feels pain, quite significant pain, if Abel is away from her and she doesn’t know where he is. They also both experience what Lilah refers to as ‘hyper-jealousy’ if they even think of one with another that is not their mate.”
“I would say we would experience that too, if it was in a wolf to be with another outside his mate,” she pointed out.
“Well, it’s not. However, you had others before me, and I did too. We both knew this and it was far from welcome, but for them, their responses are more extreme. Abel explained he’d not even known Lilah a day when she flew into a rage at his mention of ones before her.”
“Strange,” Sonia murmured.
“Indeed,” Callum agreed.
“Do you know what that might mean?” she asked.
He shook his head. “I’ve no idea, baby doll. We can just hope we have time as Leah’s abilities increase and you practice with yours, so that Lilah will come to understand hers and they’ll be useful.”
“Mm,” she murmured, and when she did, Callum lost interest in their conversation.