Two Hearts: The Hunt [Slowly Editing]

Chapter Thirty-Five

Caleb's POV

There was a moment of silence that seemed to stretch out for eternity, heavy with something dark that felt almost palpable. It seemed to press down on all of us with a power that threatened to crush, cutting off the air in my lungs and freezing me in my spot.

"Your uncle?" Esme echoed, her small voice raised with outrage and slicing through the silence like the thinnest, sharpest of knives. Cat nodded dazedly. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," she replied with surprising clarity. "And I'll bet he's been plotting it for years. I had just been too self-absorbed to read the facts and put everything together."

"Why?" Nathan asked. "Why would he kill his own brother?"

"They were always- always fighting," Cat spoke, uncharacteristically stumbling over her words as if they were impossible hurdles. She closed her eyes and shook her head wildly. "They never agreed-they couldn't ever agree on anything, especially when it game to the subject of werewolves. He would always preach about-about how the werewolves were an evil race that should be eliminated, but my father thought it was better to leave them all alone. I think, at one point shortly before his death, he had even planned to make peace with them..."

"Shit." It was the first time I had heard Esme curse. "This is bad, Cat. Really, really bad."

"Why?" I quizzed.

"Don't you get it?" she replied harshly, frustration coloring her tone. "It doesn't matter what we do-whether or not you and Cat try to convince the two sides of the other's relative innocence-, King Alexandru is set on going to war with your kind, Caleb. No amount of moral suasion could subdue him."

"And that's not all," Cat added, sounding like one of those late-night T.V. advertisement commercials in a sickly comedic way, "I went back to Marandici Kingdom during my stay here. Remember that?"

"Of course." Esme frowned. "You were so close to ruining our entire plan. We were at the brink of bargaining with the King to send you back here when he did so himself, much to our confusion and relief."

"King Alexandru spoke to me during my brief time at the Kingdom. He said that he wanted me to bring Caleb to the Kingdom alive." She fixed her saucer-eyed green eyes on me. "He wants to kill you in front of my people-to use you as a method to convince the Kingdom of war. He won't let me return to the Kingdom without you, or else he'll-"

Her voice abruptly cut off, as if something had gotten caught in her throat. Cat pursed her pink lips and fixed her gaze downward.

Nathan looked to Esme and me, and after assessing that we were wearing the same confused face he was, he asked, "Or else what?"

"He'll... kill you?" My voice was edgy.

She flicked her gaze up to mine. "Something like that."

"Okay," Esme breathed, her face becoming still in concentration, crinkled lines stretching across her forehead. Her violet eyes suddenly were blazing like sun-struck jewels of amethyst; I could practically see the wheels turning in her small head. "Okay-here's what we're going to do: Caleb, you need to take Cat to your pack so that she could tell your father about what's going on. Tell him about our entire plan-all of it, including the fact that we lied about the prophecy. Go over the details of our plan for using the two of you to make peace. Meanwhile, I will get my clan together and we will meet with the Alpha to discuss the way in which we will approach this. The good news is that we still have some time; the King is waiting for Cat to bring you to him before he officially declares war."

"You want me to bring her to Moonlight Shadows?" I could feel my eyebrows shooting up past my hairline. "Do you even realize how dangerous-"

"There's no time for extra precautions, Caleb," Esme cut me off. "Cat need's to convince them she's on their side." Something about Cat's expression prompted Esme to ask, "You are on the wolves' side, aren't you?"