Kallen's Atonement by Stephani Hecht Read Free Book Online

somebody was holding his hand. The third was the scent in the air told him it was…Kallen?
    Cracking open his lids, Drake saw for himself that it wasn’t a dream. Kallen was sitting next to him in a chair. He was slumped over, his head resting on the bed, fast asleep. For some odd reason, the Hyena was dressed in uniform fatigues, and he was indeed holding Drake’s hand.
    Drake shifted a bit and let out a moan as pain lanced through his body. Kallen jerked awake. It was then that Drake noted the dark rings under Kallen’s eyes. It looked as if he hadn’t slept in days.
    “You’re finally awake,” Kallen rasped, a smile breaking out over his face.
    It was the most beautiful sight Drake had ever seen. So much so that for a moment, he almost forgot how to speak.
    Then he gave a slight shake of his head and asked, “What happened?”
    “You were attacked by a Raven during your last mission,” Kallen said.
    Then it all began to come back to Drake in bits and pieces. Him on the ground, the Raven ripping into him. Ash dragging him to safety. Them rushing him to the OR.
    “You almost died on me,” Kallen accused softly.
    “Sorry about that.”
    Drake became acutely aware that they were still holding hands, just as he was aware that it was obvious that Kallen had been sitting by his bedside waiting for him to wake up. Was it possible that the Hyena gave a damn about him after all?
    “Don’t ever do that again,” Kallen ordered. “In case you didn’t notice, I don’t have very many friends around here. I want to keep the few that I have.”
    Drake wanted to ask if Kallen went around holding the hands of all of his other friends, but he didn’t want to push things. Especially since it felt so nice to have Kallen’s fingers interlaced with his. So much so that it almost made the pain in his chest go away.
    Jacyn came over, breaking up the mood. “You’re awake. Good. How are you feeling?”
    “Like a Raven tried to rip my spine out through the front of me,” Drake said.
    Kallen sat back, pulling his hand away. It was all Drake could do not to reach out to take it back. He felt like a child being denied a cookie.
    “We’ll see about getting you something for that pain,” Jacyn assured him as he took Drake’s vitals.
    After Jacyn left, Drake once again noted that Kallen was wearing a soldier’s uniform instead of his usual scrubs.
    “What’s up with the wardrobe change?” he asked.
    When Kallen took a deep breath, Drake knew he wasn’t going to like the answer.
    “I’m training to go out into the field. Vapor says I should be ready to go out in a few days,” Kallen said.
    Panic flooded Drake. Kallen out in the field? Were they crazy? He’d be a walking target.
    “Have they lost their ever-flipping minds? What in the hell are they thinking by ordering you to go out into the field?” Drake all but yelled.
    Kallen put a hand on Drake’s arm. “Calm down. They didn’t order me to do anything. It was my idea.”
    Drake paused as he blinked at Kallen in shock. “Are you suicidal or something? You have to know that every Raven and Hyena out there will see you as a traitor and be gunning for you.”
    “I’m very well of that fact. Gage reminds me of it at least twenty times a day.”
    “Then why are you doing it?”
    Kallen blinked rapidly a few times, before he gave a deep sigh and seemed to compose himself. “When I was out there leading my pack, I did some pretty bad things…illegal things. I didn’t hurt anybody, but I got close to it. I almost betrayed the coalition by giving the Ravens the names of the Lost Shifters. If I had done that, think of how many innocents would have been killed, and all because of me. I have to make it up to them somehow, and this is the only way I can think of.”
    Drake shook his head. He could see where Kallen was coming from, but he still didn’t like it. “But you work here every day. Isn’t that enough?”
    “No, it’s not. I have to go out and really