Called to Order Read Online Free PDF Page A

all the rest. I memorized that scent, clung to it, so much so that it followed me around, clouded my head like a swarm of gnats. As time passes he will gain more clues through his dreams to help him locate her.”
    “How long do you suspect he has?” Jonas was worried and did not miss the slight crease in his father’s brow.
    “I suspect,” he began cautiously, “only Adam can determine that. Each immortal’s tolerance is different. Once a male or female experiences the calling there is only a short amount of time before they will turn feral. An animalistic need for their mate will eventually take over their senses, removing the layers of our acquired humanity with each passing moment, until there is nothing human left, only a rabid beast needing to be put down. Let us hope, in Adam’s case, his calling is still in the early stages.”
    “He has been keeping this from us for some time. After questioning him, I discovered he has been suffering mild symptoms for at least a fortnight.”
    “Why did he not confess this to you immediately?”
    “I suspect he was worried after Abilene losing the babe that the news could push her over the edge.”
    Ezekiel took a patient breath and seemed to choose his words carefully. “Jonas, my boy, I know that it is private, the business between a male and his wife, but you must make her understand that Adam needs to find his mate and he needs to begin his search immediately. If he waits, if he ignores his calling , his nature will take over, and that is a guaranteed recipe for losing another son.”
    “I know and Abilene knows this as well. She has just...” Jonas took a shuddered breath. “She has just lost so many. This was the fifth miscarriage in a decade. I believe she feels that Larissa, Gracie, and the twins are all she will ever have. The idea of sending Adam away frightens her.”
    “Understandable, but Abilene has always remained a little sheltered. She chose to marry you by age twenty. It was only your mother and I that prolonged the engagement in case you yourself were called . And don’t look at me like that. We love Abilene and we know you love her as well. Still, there is always a risk in choosing a spouse before destiny calls her for you. You were taking a risk as I told you the day you proposed. You are both still young. Who is to say that your true mate will still not call you? Who is to say that Abilene won’t be called herself some day?”
    “Abilene is my true mate.” Jonas growled at the idea of anyone else touching his beloved wife.
    “One can only hope. My point is that there is no ignoring the call . Once it grabs you, there is no overlooking it. If Adam waits too long it will destroy him. He must find her before it is too late.”
    Jonas knew his father was remembering Uncle Isaiah. If Isaiah was still alive, chances were he was nothing like the strong, compassionate male they knew and loved almost a century ago. He had never returned with his mate, which left only three possibilities. He had either relocated with her and was living in hiding amongst the English, a very dangerous life for their kind and generally forbidden among The Order. He was dead. Or he was rogue, running rabid and killing without conscious.
    The only way to suppress the call of one’s mate was to blood-bond. An exchange of blood during mating was the only antidote for the acquired madness that sometimes overtook the called . So much so, that like his father said, if a male like himself were to be called , he would have no other choice but to abandon his family and his wife in order to find his true mate. It was something Jonas prayed he would never have to face.
    There was no ignoring the call , no way to silence the beast they each kept leashed behind the veil of humanity. The thirst was said to be unbearable, a craving only satisfied by the blood of a true mate. As time ran out, what was once a strategic pursuit could become a frenzied unapologetic hunt, a game of human