“Cal –”
“Leave it,” Callum warned and Ryon leaned forward as well.
“Have you been talking to her as I told you to?”
“Leave it.”
“Cal, have you?”
“Yes, I fucking have. Now, fucking leave it!” Callum bit out.
Ryon scowled at him then sat back. Callum watched the muscle work in his cousin’s jaw for long moments before Ryon spoke again.
“You should know. I’ve given a vial of her medicine to a friend of mine who knows someone who can analyze it.”
Callum sat back too. “I thought we’d covered this. She’s had her abilities since birth.”
“I know. It doesn’t hurt to check though,” Ryon returned.
Callum stared at him before asking, “What are you thinking?”
“Well,” Ryon replied, still aggravated but, Callum sensed, not because of their earlier exchange of words. “I’ve had my fair share of experience with humans. I’ve never run across anything like her abilities.”
“Yes, we’ve had this conversation before.”
“It’s unusual.”
“Yes.”
“I don’t like it.”
“Ry –”
“You don’t protect a life-threatening condition behind nearly unhackable passwords, Cal. Something’s wrong here. I don’t like it and I haven’t had time to give it my full attention.”
Callum sighed. “You do if she’s destined queen to a secret society and that knowledge in the wrong hands would make her vulnerable. She’s had her gifts since birth, her father knew about them for fuck’s sake. She and I have talked about it. Her father likely made some explanation to her doctor. Gregor nearly came out of his skin when he’d heard she’d had a turn and he’s not a male prone to showing his reactions. My instincts tell me his reaction was not because of some nefarious plot but because the thought of her in pain hurt him. Lassiter probably told him about her gifts as well but even if he didn’t, he’s a vampire who’s lived with Sonia for years. He’d notice it. It took me a bloody week. If Lassiter didn’t tell Gregor, it probably took him about as long as it took me. What she can do is unusual for a human but she’s amongst those who’ll accept her now. It’s fine. She’s fine. Let it go.”
At that, Ryon uncharacteristically lost patience and clipped, “Just let me do my fucking job, all right?”
Callum studied his cousin. He’d known him a long time and Ryon’s instincts were as sharp as Callum’s.
And what would it hurt?
Therefore, he gave in, “All right, Ry, if you feel so strongly about it, do your job.”
It was then, both their heads cocked as they sensed Sonia’s approach.
Ryon’s eyes locked on Callum and he whispered in a voice so low Sonia wouldn’t hear but also that strangely sounded like a warning, “She’s in love with you, you know. She has been for years.”
Callum simply smiled because he knew and that was exactly why Sonia Arlington-McDonagh was absolutely, fucking perfect.
Therefore, he replied with contented, kingly arrogance, “I know.”
Ryon regarded him closely, communicating something Callum didn’t understand.
He also didn’t care.
His mind, again, turned to his mate.
There was a short, soft knock on the door before she stuck her head in.
“Am I interrupting anything?”
“Come in, baby doll,” Callum called and she came through the door still wearing nothing but her robe and socks, her hair back in that pretty, pink band.
He wondered as he watched her walk gracefully toward him, what she had on under the robe.
He hoped it was just his chain.
He turned his chair to her, she sat in his lap and as he twisted to the desk, she looked to Ryon.
“Hey cuz,” she greeted on a smile.
“Hey cuz,” Ryon smiled back, either over it or hiding his earlier intensity.
Then she turned to Callum and announced with mock irritation, “I’ve just been treated to a thirty minute interrogation about my claiming in the kitchen. Mara and Callie are screamingly nosy. My excuse of ‘being human’ isn’t working anymore.”
Callum grinned at her and advised, “So tell them.”
Her eyes grew wide and she cried, “No way! That’s between you and me.” Then she gasped on some sudden thought, her head twisted sharply toward Ryon and then back to Callum where her eyes narrowed. “You haven’t –”
“No,” he cut her off and her body relaxed against his. “At least not yet,” he went on and her body got rock-solid. He was chuckling when he finished on a tease, “I just haven’t had the time.”
“You…!” she cried shortly, clearly too incensed to go on.
At the same time, Ryon noted roguishly, “I’ll look forward to that.”
She twisted her head to look at Ryon before twisting it again to Callum. He lifted his hand to cup and therefore control the moments of her neck so she didn’t give herself whiplash.
“Don’t you dare!” she snapped at him and he smiled yet again but this was a different smile.
“Will it piss you off if I do?”
“Yes,” she returned instantly.
Callum replied just as swiftly, “I like you pissed off, baby doll. Haven’t had that in a while.” He nuzzled her stiff neck and flicked her ear with his nose before saying there, “I miss it.”
She growled in her throat.
Callum chuckled in his.
Then they both went still and all three of the inhabitants of the room looked to the window. A car or, by the sounds of it, a truck or SUV was approaching.
“You expecting company?” Ryon asked deceptively casually.
No, he wasn’t.
Then again, there were hundreds of wolves in his hills, some of them with mates, others with family members, most with both. The town and its vicinity, as Mara noted, were heaving.
However, his wolves wouldn’t approach. Not without an invitation or a reason. This was not only the standard but also because he’d newly claimed his mate. They’d need a good excuse to interrupt him during this time even if a celebration was commencing tomorrow.
Which meant this could be bad tidings.
He got out of his chair, lifting Sonia to her feet as he did so, mumbling, “I need to see who’s at the door.”
His mind finally off his mate and on whatever was coming, Callum didn’t notice at first that Sonia fell in step beside him.
When he did, he stopped, looked down at her and ordered, “You stay here.”
She gazed up at him. “But… someone’s at the door.”
“Yes,” he agreed. “And I’m going to see who it is.”
Her expression changed. For some Sonia reason it became stubborn and she retorted, “And I’m going with you.”
Callum sought patience and replied, “Baby doll, you’re in a robe.”
“So?” she returned instantly. “It covers me doesn’t it?”
It did.
However, considering her sweet little body and her pretty face, it didn’t leave much to the imagination even if you didn’t have much of an imagination. And most wolves had excellent imaginations.
“You’re staying here or getting dressed,” Callum commanded.
“I’m going to the door,” she rejoined.
“Sonia –”
Her head tilted. “Is this my house?”
“Sonia –”
“Is it my door?”
Still seeking patience, Callum looked to Ryon who was grinning at them and obviously not about to assist, then he muttered, “Bloody hell.”
“I’m going to the door,” Sonia finished and commenced striding out of the room.
He sighed his defeat. Ryon chuckled. Callum glared at him and he moved out of his study, leaving Ryon behind. He caught her up, took her hand and together they went to the door.
He smelled vampire as he hit the large, stone entryway.
A vampire wit
h a female human.
More precisely, Lucien, likely with his mate.
Relief hit him at the same time as curiosity and Callum maneuvered Sonia partially behind him but still beside him as he opened the door.
A shiny, black Porsche Cayenne was glinting in the sun at the foot of the steps.
Lucien, tall, black-haired and powerfully built, wearing jeans, boots, and a black turtleneck which could be seen under his black, wool, hip-length, double-breasted coat was climbing them. Climbing beside him, her hand linked in his, was a beautiful blonde with dark blue eyes. She had a fantastic figure covered in charcoal gray cords, a stylish, fitted, black leather jacket with an eggplant-colored pashmina wrapped around her neck and she was wearing high-heeled black boots.
Pure, fucking class. Both of them.
Gazing at the female, her eyes as alive as was her expression like she couldn’t hide her love of life nor did she want to, not to mention smelling her exquisite scent, Callum realized immediately Lucien’s fate had also led him to the perfect match.
Pleased for the vampire, his eyes moved to Lucien’s as Callum tucked his own perfect match into his side and he smiled.
“This is a surprise,” he greeted as Lucien led his mate across the landing to the door.
“A pleasant one, I trust,” Lucien replied, also on a smile but the vampire’s black eyes were, as usual, carefully blank. Lucien never gave anything away, at least not to Callum’s recollection.
“That depends on its purpose,” Callum returned, shifting himself and Sonia to the side to allow Lucien and his mate entry and then he closed off the cold behind them by shutting the door.
Lucien stopped himself and his mate just inside and pulling her protectively close, he said, “I’d heard you’d finally claimed your mate. I was curious.”
Lucien wasn’t curious. Lucien had a reason to be there.
Callum also hid his reaction and turned to Sonia. “Honey, this is a friend of mine, Lucien.” He looked to Lucien. “Lucien, this is my queen, Sonia.”
She was gazing at Lucien, openly unsure of what to make of him and she held out a tentative hand which, after a glance at Callum, Lucien took.
Bending low, Lucien brushed his lips against her knuckles and all in the entryway (except, perhaps, Lucien’s mate) heard Sonia’s soft intake of breath.
A soft intake of breath Callum didn’t like.
Nor did he like it when Lucien kept hold of her hand and pulled her closer.
Callum tensed and only partially relaxed when Lucien turned Sonia to his mate.
“Sonia, this is Leah, my bride,” he said softly but Leah was smiling openly at Sonia.
“Hello,” Leah said in an attractive, alto voice, her smile never wavering.
However, it was plain to see in the face of her stylish company, Sonia was having belated second thoughts about appearing at the door in her socks and robe, cashmere or not.
“Hi,” Sonia replied on a shy smile and then she politely pulled her hand from Lucien’s and scuttled back. She nearly ran into Callum before he caught her and folded her again into his side where she wrapped her arm around him.
It was at that, Callum fully relaxed.
“Leah, meet Callum,” Lucien invited and it was Callum’s turn to take Lucien’s mate’s hand but he didn’t brush his lips against her knuckles. He just squeezed and released it.
“Coffee!” Sonia suddenly cried and looked up at Callum. “I’ll order coffee and something to eat and um… get dressed.” She looked to Lucien and Leah. “Are you hungry?”
“Starved, but I’d kill for a cup of coffee,” Leah replied, still smiling.
“Brilliant. We have coffee,” Sonia announced. “Good coffee. Mara only gets the best.” She turned again to Callum. “You, um… take them somewhere warm. I’ll be right back.”
Then, with a self-conscious grin at their guests, she broke from Callum’s hold and ran down the hall.
Callum watched her go.
He realized that Lucien did too when he heard the vampire mutter, “Fetching.”
“I am still standing here, you know,” Leah remarked, her severe tone belied by her unwavering smile.
Lucien’s eyes turned to his mate before he murmured, “Mm, I know, my pet.”
Callum watched, concealing his surprise as Lucien looked down at his bride with blatant warmth.
Christ, he loves her, Callum thought, examining the couple.
This shouldn’t have taken him aback. She was his lifemate and to have her Lucien had put both their lives at risk and turned the vampire world upside down. Further, Callum had spent his entire existence feeling the intensity of that kind of connection between his own people.
But not from a vampire. Never from a vampire. Not that transparent adoration. Not in five hundred years.
And, for some asinine reason, Lucien’s display and Leah’s artless acceptance of it rattled Callum.
He was pulled from his thoughts when Mara bustled in calling, “Well, hello there! I’m Mara, housekeeper at Canis. Let me get your coats and we’ll get you somewhere warm. Callista is preparing coffee and a bite to eat.”
Mara took their outer gear and Callum led the way to the sitting room on the first floor. It was a circular room at the bottom of a turret with heavy, comfortable furniture and a spherical fireplace in the middle, already blazing, making the space warm.
“Please sit,” Callum invited Leah and she again smiled at him.
“You have a lovely castle,” she noted, looking around while sitting on a couch and crossing her legs before she tipped her face up to Lucien and asked mock petulantly, “Why don’t we have a castle, darling?”
“You want a castle, sweetling, I’ll get you a castle,” Lucien answered casually.
Leah had been joking.
Lucien was not.
Callum watched as Leah’s stunning face absorbed this fact. It softened to a look of such extreme devotion, Callum felt himself melting from the room. They were the only two there. Callum had ceased to exist.
That was when he knew what rattled him. He knew what Ryon couldn’t put his finger on. He knew his cousin was correct.
Something wasn’t right with Sonia.
He knew this because, since Christmas, unless he was fucking her, except for during their fight, she never called him “wolf”.
Not mock petulantly.
Not at all.
He had her warmth. He had her affection. She enjoyed his attention and she was a brilliant queen in every aspect.
And she loved him.
He knew that.
But something was missing.
Christ, he had all that, and it was magnificent, but she was still holding something back.
“Callum?” Lucien called and Callum’s unfocused eyes concentrated on the vampire.
“Sit,” Callum grunted, uneasy with his newfound knowledge but more at what might be behind it and Lucien took a seat beside his bride as Callum did the same opposite them.
Leah instantly curled into Lucien’s side as his arm slid around her shoulders, pulling her closer.
Seeing this made Callum grit his teeth.
Then Lucien announced, “We need to talk before Sonia returns.”
Callum’s attention sharpened and his instincts made him brace.
“Then do it quickly,” Callum invited. He wanted this to be over, needed to have a word with his wife, his gaze shifting briefly to Leah, deciding she likely had full knowledge of Lucien’s abilities, he went on, “But if you sense Sonia anywhere near, stop speaking.”
Lucien’s brows went up. He’d smell her before Callum did while he was in human form. If he were a wolf, his senses would have been slightly more acute than the vampire’s but, at that moment, he was not a wolf.
“Would you like to explain that?” Lucien suggested.
“Not right now,” Callum replied, giving Lucien the correct implication that he might not later either. It depended on how this conversation progressed.
Lucien nodded, let it go and continued without preamble, “I’ve spoken to Gregor.”
Callum didn’t respond.
“He’s explained things,” Lucien went on.
“And what did he explain?” Callum asked.
Lucien’s arm tightened protectively around Leah before he said, “He’s shared The Prophesies.”
Leah’s body tensed and her happy face grew serious as she gazed at Callum.
She knew as well and her fear was palpable.
As it would be.
Lucien was watching him closely and he queried, “You know of them?”
“Some of them, yes,” Callum answered.
“I was told you didn’t know,” Lucien murmured and Callum didn’t respond. Therefore Lucien continued, “They’re vague as prophesies tend to be but they appear to be coming true. You and Sonia were obvious. Leah and myself…” He hesitated. “Not so much.”
“There is another,” Callum informed him.
Lucien’s chin went up before he noted, “Yes, but they’ll be found soon.”
“They don’t have to be.”
Lucien gazed at him a moment before saying quietly, “Yes, Callum, they do.”
Callum knew what he meant and he felt the muscle jump in his jaw.
The third lifemates needed to be found, the female claimed and bound before The Prophesies could come true.
Leah, being mate to a vampire, would have eternal life.
Sonia, being mate to a werewolf, would always be mortal.
The third lifemate would need to be found before Sonia died which meant soon, in the life of an immortal.
Callum decided to change the subject. “Do you have any idea if it will be wolf or vampire who claims the third mate?”
Lucien held his eyes and replied, “A hybrid.” Callum felt his brows go up and Lucien nodded. “Werewolf, vampire hybrid. The first of his kind.”
This was news.
Lucien kept speaking. “It’s important we form an alliance and, when they’re discovered, we ally with them.”
Callum thought no truer words were spoken.
“Absolutely,” he agreed.
“Therefore, you should know about Leah.” Callum’s eyes moved to Lucien’s bride but Lucien kept speaking, explaining simply, “She dreams.”
Callum’s gaze sliced back to the vampire as his body grew taut.
With Everything I Am Page 40