Billy’s howl of pain preceded him shifting, and his brother Bobby followed suit. With Callan between them, the brothers bared their teeth and growled at a steady hum.
That was fine by Callan since they wouldn’t be able to flick a lighter with their paws. He couldn’t afford to take his attention away from them, so he closed himself off from the rest of his pack except for emergency messages. The only bond he kept fully open was the one to Kate. Knowing her status at all times was like breathing for him.
A couple security guards remained in human form while another shifted. Grayson and Chris showed up, both in wolf form, as Callan figured they would be.
He had four people in human form, five counting Kate, plus three wolves surrounding the troublemakers. It should’ve been enough, but these two could be desperate enough to try something else.
Finding out what they were up to was a priority, because the two of them weren’t in his warehouse just to open boxes and dump the contents. Set the warehouse on fire? Maybe. But the idiots would’ve been caught in that blaze, too. And beyond that, they never went anywhere without JT, so where was he? “You know, I bet we could get some of those crates that humans buy for training their pet dogs, and we could put y’all in there until you decide you want to tell us what you were up to.”
They shot away, on opposite sides, but both headed toward the exit bay door. Gray and Chris gave chase, but with security coming from the opposite direction, the brothers were going to escape. Callan shut down all pack pathways, even the one with Kate, to concentrate on bringing the intruders down. The mental energy required for controlling a non-pack member was immense, but he slowed them enough that Grayson and Chris had subdued them.
Unease prickled Callan through the mate bond, followed by a fear that he hoped he’d never experience again. Because if he was experiencing it, that meant Kate was experiencing it. And if Kate was experiencing it, something was going wrong that he couldn’t see.
Maintaining his mental hold on the intruders, he glanced at her, but hadn’t expected to see her staring away from him, down an aisle between a whole bunch of pallets.
“Now, now, boys.” JT’s voice preceded him as he exited the boxes, passing directly in front of Kate and throwing a smirk at her, then Callan.
JT swaggered over to the action. “I don’t think we need to be quite so dramatic and extreme in our threats here.”
“What are you and your pets doing here, JT?” It gave him chills to think how close JT had been allowed to get to Kate again.
“I’m here because these two wandered off from our stroll. They obviously decided to cause a bit of mischief. Sorry about that. I can’t help that they find your product so much more inferior than ours and decided it needed to be destroyed. Too bad they couldn’t get rid of more and save your customers from paying so much money for government swill.”
Callan took a calming breath. “You know how you’ve told me on numerous occasions that your policy is to act now and think later?”
“Sort of, though that’s not my creed. It’s shoot first and ask questions later.”
Callan nodded. “Exactly. Neither you, nor Billy, nor Bobby had better show up on any of our property ever again. Because if any of you step foot near this warehouse again, you’ll run smack dab into your own policy.”
JT walked over to Bobby and Billy. “You can release your hold on them and we’ll leave peaceably. Come on, boys. Let’s go.”
Callan released the brothers. His shoulders dropped as the mental tension eased.
Despite being escorted out by two wolves and a guard in human form, the brother wolves still managed to jump up and knock over a pallet of boxes. Growling wolves chased them the rest of the way out.
Kelli gave orders to clean up the mess.
Callan reestablished pack communication and turned to Kate, except she was gone. The link with Kate popped back into place, and he could tell that she was still close, but not as close as she had been. Her fear still came through their bond, but it was controlled now. Maybe because of the shielding lessons he’d given her. Maybe she was subconsciously protecting him from the full weight of it.
Which kinda pissed him off, because he didn’t want her protecting him. He should’ve been protecting her. And he’d done such a bang-up job of that. Which also pissed him off.
Crap. He felt something else from her too. Determination, maybe?
Callan needed to ensure the safety of his pack, because no matter what else happened, he had to take care of them. They were his responsibility. After he did that, he’d take off in search of his heart.
He contacted Grayson and Chris.
I want you two to be sure those three make it off our land without any detours or little side trips. I also want this warehouse searched. I don’t trust JT. Absolutely none of what just happened makes any sense to me. Maybe those two idiots were just a distraction. I want security to search everything to find out where JT was, and I mean everything. Both security tapes and every inch of the entire warehouse. Not just in the area we saw him appear from. My guess is he probably did something elsewhere. I also want to know how they got in, so get security—
Gray interrupted, They’re already on it. Looks like a newer employee made the mistake of letting the two brothers pass through. JT wasn’t seen, at least not by the employee. Security is already reviewing footage and we’ll be looking for blind spots. We hadn’t needed to in the past. We do now.
Everyone was entitled to a mistake here and there. This was a biggie, but not enough for a new employee to lose their job over. Or maybe it was. Kelli, make sure the employee understands all the policies. Also, let’s keep a watch for a little while, just to make sure we’re not dealing with an inside job here. I want it reiterated to all employees that this is exactly why we require that all visitors go through the front desk. Cassie can keep out the majority of the riff-raff.
Chris said, Paranoid much?
You didn’t feel Kate’s fear when she had to face JT again, Chris. It’s not paranoia if they really are out to get you.
Gray said, We’ll take care of this. You take care of Kate.
Callan was already on his way to do that. He just hoped he wasn’t too late.
I plan on meeting you both back at the house for supper. We can talk more then and you can catch me up. I’m going to go spend some time with my mate.
* * *
It’d been weird, after all these weeks, having that constant stream of emotions, thoughts, information and conversations just shut down with no warning. Weird, and a little scary. Something had still been there between her and Callan, probably the mate bond, which seemed to exist outside of everything else, but all of their back-and-forth had been slammed shut.
If Kate had more experience in this world, more knowledge of what the hell she was doing, she might’ve been able to breech the silence via the mate bond. She might’ve been there for Callan, still.
But she didn’t know what she was doing.
Not in this world where people became monsters and monsters lived and breathed as if they could roam the earth freely.
She watched them go from human beings—the one she recognized as Bobby, the unkempt guy from the river—to monsters with fangs and teeth and saliva and fur. So there were monsters in human skin and there were monsters in wolf fur. And sometimes there were monsters who could be in both human skin and wolf fur.
Those were the scariest.
No. Wait.
The scariest was the one who could shut down psychic pathways she’d always thought were a myth anyway. The one who could control other monsters with his mind. Just his mind.
The scariest one was the one who could know what someone else was thinking and already disarm the perp of his lighter. Had he been able to read her mind, beyond what she’d allowed him to know?
Allow. Such a funny word now.
Those wolves hadn’t allowed Callan to take control of them, yet he’d done it anyway.
The scariest one was the one she loved. Yep, she loved him. And loving someone meant giving them her trust.
So what did that mean for her? Would he try to control her? Of course not. At least that’s how he’d answer, because only an insane person would try answering any other way.
But could Kate trust him enough to believe that answer?
Or maybe he’d believe that answer, but wouldn’t have a choice but to control her at some point.
That was the one thing she’d fought against for so long—helplessness. Or at least that feeling. She hated feeling helpless. She hated being helpless. But in this world, she very much felt helpless. She couldn’t turn into a monster to fight other monsters. She couldn’t control someone else with her mind. She couldn’t even bare her teeth and growl in a way that would scare someone off.
She could feel Callan coming. That’s how close they’d become. Everything in her was tuned into him now. Now that he’d brought everything back online.
Kate shook. She’d been strong because she’d had to be. Again. But that didn’t mean she wanted to be.
Despair washed over her at what she knew she had to do. She pulled her bags from the closet and plopped them on the bed.
The bedroom door opened. “Katie, love.”
She loved this monster. Which couldn’t possibly be right, because monsters were frightening and horrible creatures who injured her friends and made Kate afraid for life.
Callan came to her and pulled her into his arms, squeezing her tight to him. His heart beat beneath her cheek, a bit faster than usual.
This monster loved her. She knew that deep down. But she couldn’t live with a monster. She couldn’t be where people could be human one second and a monster the next.
It just wasn’t possible. It wasn’t possible for her brain to wrap around that possibility, so that meant it couldn’t happen.
“Say something, love. Anything. Let me know you’re here with me.” His white-blond hair, usually combed out of his face, fell over his forehead and into his eyes. The brown, a surprise so unique to him.
“I’m here.” She wouldn’t lie to him and tell him she was with him.
He jerked back just enough to look at her face. He took in her eyes and her mouth, over and over. His pale hazel brown eyes much more like the gold of his wolf now. His mouth, showing signs of strain at the edges of his tender lips.
Kate was going to break his heart. Her own heart wanted to break, was already breaking, but there was no way she would allow those emotions to show in front of him or anywhere near his pack.
Oh, God, the pack.
Grayson and Chris. She’d miss them. Chris, the prankster. He always had a goofy smile for her. Even the previous time she’d seen him in his monstrous wolf form, he’d hung his tongue out on the side of his mouth before loping away. But he’d been a monster today and far too close.
Yet not close enough to protect her from the waves of malevolence that had poured off JT like light rays.
“I can’t stay here. I can’t live in an area overrun with monsters. I just can’t. It’s not healthy for me and I’m not going to do it.”
Callan staggered back as if she’d slapped him. “Monsters.”
Chapter Nine
Callan’s heart sank.
Kate closed her eyes and dipped her head. “I can’t change who I am.”
“And I can’t change who I am. Part of that is taking care of my pack. The rest is me loving you.”
She lifted her head and looked straight at him. “I know that.”
“Then can’t you see how much I want to spend my life with you?” Couldn’t she see how he wanted to spend every waking moment with her? How he wanted to be beside her when they were asleep? Callan wanted to feel her working beside him, or at least in the same room with him, so that when he looked up and caught her eye, it was that much easier to deal with whatever it was that he needed to get through. He didn’t want to go through his days without her strength, her bravery and, most of all, her love.
Tears filled her eyes.
He knew the punch of overwhelming loss was aiming straight for him.
“I can’t be here, with you, as long as I view you and your pack as monsters.”
Frustration had him opening and closing his hands. “But I thought you’d been getting better about that.”
“I tried. I honestly tried.” Tears streamed down her face.
Callan stepped forward to wipe them away.
Kate held her hand up and the force of her emotion stopped him.
“I’ve gotten to the point where I can separate the people from their w-wolves, so I can treat everyone with respect—”
“Katie, love, we aren’t separate but equal. The wolf and me, we’re the same person, just with a different set of instincts guiding us.” At that, Callan knew it was well and truly over. Even more so when Kate looked at him in horror.
“I thought...” She shook her head.
“Thank you for trying, my love. I won’t ask you to live in the land of your nightmares any longer.” He picked up the bag she’d been packing. “Need anything else?”
Kate shook her head, her long ponytail swishing against the sides of her face and sticking in the tracks of her tears.
Callan would give almost anything to take away her pain and fear, but wishing he could be someone he wasn’t had never gotten him anywhere, and it wasn’t going to get him anywhere now. Once he said his goodbyes, he’d let his wolf take over and run until he was exhausted. “Let’s get you on the road and down the mountain before sunset and you can’t see where you’re going.”
“‘Kay,” she sniffled.
He hoisted her duffel bag on one shoulder and laid his hand along her lower back. She didn’t flinch away, which gave him the tiniest sliver of hope. When they got to her car, he put her bags in the backseat, then turned her toward him. “Katie, love, I’ll always be here, and you will always be welcome. You’re pack now, whether you want to be or not. Like it or hate it. And everyone here is your family.”
“But why?”
“Because I belong to you. I wish you belonged to me.” He tried to smile at her, but knew he’d failed. “I’m not quite sure if I’m strong enough to fight my instincts when they say that yes, you do actually belong to me and I’m not letting you go. But even if you don’t believe me, I love you and I do belong to you. You own my heart. You own my soul. And if you ever want to bring them back, I’ll be waiting.”
Kate reached up with both arms and dragged Callan’s face down to hers. Their lips touched and their hearts took over. Their mouths locked on to one another while their tongues dueled for dominance, implanting this one last taste in the brain. Callan lifted her in a hug that had their hands tugging at each other’s backs, her breasts rubbing against his chest.
He registered hands pushing against his shoulders and he lifted his head.
“Put me down,” Kate whispered.
Callan set her down and stepped away. He would not apologize for loving her. He wouldn’t. “Take care of yourself. Don’t let anything happen to you.”
“I won’t. I know better.” She gave him a small, watery smile and got in her car.
With that, his mate was gone. She’d walked away from him. This wasn’t supposed to happen. Callan had never heard stories of this happening.
He let all his frustration and anger and love transform him into his wolf mid-run down the mountain. He didn’t care about the torn clothes he was leaving behind. He didn’t care about anything except the love of his life, his mate, his very soul, driving down the mountain away from him.
Callan poured everything he was feeling i
nto a howl that echoed through the trees and across the mountain.
Except it wasn’t an echo. It was his pack, his family, answering him back, not leaving him to face his future alone.
* * *
The doorbell rang and Kate ignored it, just like she had all the texts, the phone calls, the voice mails and the many missed FaceTime requests. Cindy’s car sat in the parking lot of the townhouse Kate was renting, but she didn’t want to see her. Not yet. Kate still had too many things to work through.
Then the pounding on the door started.
Well that would get annoying. And Kate’s neighbors probably wouldn’t appreciate it much, either.
“Go away!”
“You can’t just keep ignoring me, K.”
“Yes, as a matter of fact, I can. I’m doing just fine so far.”
“Open this door or I’ll three-name you at the top of my lungs.”
“You wouldn’t dare.”
“Kathryn. Mari—”
“Fine!” Kate opened the door and emotions flooded her. Relief. Happiness. Anger. Betrayal. Sadness. Love.
Cindy wrapped her in a hug that threatened to overwhelm Kate if it didn’t suffocate her first. She abruptly turned loose and held Kate at arm’s length. “I don’t care how angry you are at me. How furious. We hash things out. That’s what best friends do. Don’t you dare try to hide from me ever again. I’ve missed you. I’ve needed you. And you deserted me. I get that you’re angry—”
“Slight understatement.”
“—but we’re gonna face our problems, not hide from them, got it?”
Kate couldn’t hold back her tears any longer. Tears she’d refused to allow to fall for the past few weeks had now broken through and she couldn’t stop them. Cindy pulled her in for a hug and held on while Kate ugly-cried on her friend for what seemed like hours.
“Why didn’t you tell me there were monsters in the world?”
Mated: A Paranormal Romance Shifter Anthology Page 26