McCallan's Blood

by Theodora Lane

  Trey sobbed, “God, he’s so beautiful.” He reached out his hand to touch the baby’s hand and Ben curled his fingers around Trey’s finger. “So strong.”

  Jake let the tears in his eyes spill. This couldn’t be it. This couldn’t be the way it all ended. His father dead. And now Trey?

  “I’m sorry. What I did to you, Rebecca. I’m sorry,” Trey whispered, his gaze never leaving the baby. He let the baby’s fingers go, then lowered his hand to rest on the floor, as if he didn’t have the strength to hold on any longer.

  “I know,” Becca said. Jake caught the tremble in her voice. He glanced up at her. There were tears in her eyes too.

  “Thanks for letting me see…my son.” Trey’s voice was barely audible, his tears stopped, his eyes closed, and his breathing labored and shallow. Jake felt the moment his little brother’s body went slack, and his gut ached with the knowledge that Trey was dying.

  Jake looked up at Barker standing off to the side, his cell phone pressed to his ear.

  “Where the hell is the ambulance?” Jake growled.

  “On its way, Boss.” Barker’s hand gripped his shoulder. “Trey’s strong. He’ll make it.”

  Right on cue, in the distance, Jake heard the wail of the sirens. He shifted Trey in his arms, and willed him to live.

  “Stay with me, Trey. I need you.” Jake ran his hand over his face, wiping away the moisture that covered it. “Your son needs you.”

  But Trey was gone.

  Chapter 18

  Trey opened his eyes, blinked, and licked his dry lips. His chest hurt and he had no idea where he was. He turned his head and found his mother sitting in a chair by his bedside, smiling at him.

  “Mom?” His voice sounded like someone else’s, distant and far away.

  “Hi, baby.” His mother stood, came to the bed, and took his hand. An IV had been inserted into the back of his hand, covered in tape. He was in a hospital.

  “How did I get here?” In a fog, he couldn’t remember anything. “I parked Bryan’s truck off-road near the mill.”

  “Do you remember going into the mill? Changing to a wolf?” She leaned close and gazed into his eyes.

  Closing his eyes, he tried to remember. Snatches of pictures came to him, like images between the bright glare of repeated camera flashes.

  Rebecca.

  The hit man.

  His son.

  The bullet tearing into the wolf’s chest.

  “Is everyone all right?” He squeezed his mother’s hand.

  “Everyone but you.” She brushed his hair from his forehead, then leaned over and kissed his cheek. “You’re doing fine now.”

  “I remember.” And he did. He remembered it all. Being pissed at himself for being drunk and stupid enough to have unprotected sex with a total stranger he’d picked up in a bar; finding out he’d gotten her pregnant; telling Jake, seeing his big brother’s contempt so evident in his eyes. Being kicked out of the pack. And the worse. He remembered the worse thing of all. Hiring someone to kill the girl and the baby.

  Trey groaned.

  It was all true. And he deserved everything he’d get for it. Being shot was the least of it. His body could heal. His soul? That would be forever poisoned by his actions.

  “Are they going to arrest me?” He wanted that. He wanted to be punished. Being put out of the pack, well, as bad as that might be for Jake, for him, it wasn’t so bad. Trey needed to pay for his actions. And for once in his life, he was ready to own up to them.

  “No. They got the kidnapper.”

  “But…Rebecca knows…”

  “Rebecca is a smart woman.” His mother frowned and gave him a hard stare. “She doesn’t want any taint of your ill-conceived plans to touch Ben. As far as the police know, that man kidnapped her and the baby to get to Jake.”

  Trey turned away, disappointed. Once again, like so many times in his short, pathetic life, Jake had fixed his fuck-up. He supposed he should thank his brother, but that’s not what he wanted to do or needed to do right now.

  Right now, he needed…not to be let off the hook.

  “I understand you saw your son.” His mother looked at him, her head tilted like she always did when she was observing her kids. What did she want him to say?

  “Yeah.” He turned away, looking at the stack of medical machinery beeping, and the bags of whatever dripping into the tubes running to his veins. Anywhere but at her. He didn’t have anything to say to her.

  She sighed, let his hand go, and sat back down. “You’ll see him again once you’re home. Doctor Fellows said he’d release you in a few days.”

  Trey closed his eyes and pretended to fall asleep.

  Home was the last place he wanted to go.

  * * * *

  Jake sat on Becca’s couch and bounced Ben on his knee. The infant gurgled, his tiny sweet mouth open and bright eyes looking into Jake’s face.

  “That’s my big boy. Where’s mommy? Where is she?”

  “She’s trying to put the finishing touches on these canapés for your mom’s board meeting,” Becca called from the kitchen.

  “She’s in the kitchen. Hear that, boss?” Jake chuckled. Christ, before he’d met Becca he’d never held a baby, now he was bouncing Ben on his knee and talking baby-talk like a pro. He was proud of the fact he could change a diaper without gagging and had even learned how to work the car seat.

  Being a dad was not so bad.

  When Trey got home from the hospital, he’d show him how to do all that.

  Becca walked in, wiping her hands on her apron. “Your mom said Trey would be discharged in two days and that he’s coming home. Is that wise?” She leaned in the doorway, watching him and Ben.

  “It’s his home. He’s healed, but Mom and I think it’s best if he take some time out before going back to Baton Rouge.”

  “Have either of you talked to Trey about this?” She walked over and held out her hands.

  Jake stood and gave her the baby. “Well, not discussed it. Mom’s told him about coming back to the house.”

  “Uh huh.” She shook her head. “If there is one thing you McCallans suck at, it’s communication.”

  Jake sat on the couch and frowned at her. “What?”

  “This is just like before with Trey. You and your mom are making plans for him and you haven’t even had a conversation with him to find out if that’s what Trey wants.”

  “You’re right. I’m doing it again.” Jake sighed. “I’ll go to the hospital tomorrow and I promise, Trey and I will have a heart-to-heart.” He patted the seat next to him.

  Becca sat, cradling the baby. “Good. And promise me, if he wants to go back to LSU, you won’t give him any grief. It’s going to be hard for him, Jake. I have a feeling this isn’t how he’d pictured his life turning out.”

  She looked down at Ben. “No matter how adorable Ben is, he wasn’t Trey’s dream and I’m not Trey’s mate. I’m yours. Trey has to find his own mate, make his own way in the world.”

  “I know.”

  “But if you’re going to tell him he’s back in the pack, that’s fine with me.”

  “Really? You’re sure?”

  Becca shrugged. “I have a feeling Trey won’t be around much and we won’t have to deal with Ben asking questions about his father for some time.”

  “Right. That will give us plenty of time to figure out what to say when he does start asking.” Jake leaned back and put his arm around Becca. “I love you.” He’d been waiting for the right time ever since he’d bought the ring two days ago, and he didn’t want to let any more time pass.

  “I love you.” She leaned her head back, nestling closer to his body, completely unaware of what he had planned. He couldn’t wait to hear her say yes, see the light in her eyes.

  “Becca, it may be just a formality, but…” Jake pulled her tighter, kissed her temple, and then released her. He slid off the couch to his knees, took her hand in his, and with his free hand pulled out a small black velvet bo
x.

  Her eyes widened, and she gasped. “Oh. Jake. Oh.”

  “Rebecca, will you marry me and make me the happiest man on earth?” He opened the box and the diamond engagement ring he’d picked out glittered like the rock it was.

  “Jake,” she whispered. She put Ben down on the couch and then reached for the ring. Holding it up, she bit her bottom lip and then her gaze flicked to meet his.

  “Are you sure?”

  “You’re my mate. How much more surer can I get?” He took it from her and slipped it on her finger.

  “It’s gorgeous, Jake. I love it.” She grinned and held her hand out, staring at it.

  “Well?” Jake cleared his throat.

  “Yes. Yes. Yes.” She fell off the couch and into his arms. “I’ll marry you, Jake McCallan.”

  * * * *

  “I think this is a bad idea, Trey.” Bryan sat on the visitor’s chair and shook his head as Trey dressed in the clothes he’d brought.

  “Best idea I’ve ever had.” Trey shoved the rest of his stuff into the duffel bag and zipped it up. If his mom and Jake thought he was going home, pretend nothing ever happened, they were out of their minds.

  “But you got shot, man. You’re not healed, are you? Checking yourself out against doctor’s orders,” he shrugged, “that’s just plain dumb.”

  “Well, it won’t be the first time I’ve done something dumb, will it?” He straightened, gathered up the hospital papers, and put them in the pocket of his jacket. “Look, are you taking me back to Baton Rouge, or not?”

  Bryan stood. “Yeah. Let’s go.”

  “Great. On the way, can we hit a burger place? I’m starving for some real meat.”

  Bryan clapped him on the shoulder and Trey winced. “Oh sorry, man. My bad.”

  “Don’t worry. By tomorrow I’ll be good as new. I’m a fast healer, remember?”

  Despite being Trey’s best friend in high school, Trey had never shared the family secret with Bryan. Unlike Jake and Barker, he’d never trusted Bryan’s friendship enough to stand up against the knowledge that Trey was a werewolf.

  As they walked down the corridor, Trey knew he was doing the right thing. Getting out of Jake, Rebecca and Ben’s lives was the best wedding gift he could give them. Trey trusted Jake to care for Ben and he was positive Jake would be a better father than he could ever be.

  Besides, how could he ever face them? What could he possibly say to Ben?

  His stomach ached at the thought of leaving Ben, never seeing his son again, never getting the chance to see him grow up, go through his change, run with him in the woods, teach him about being a bad ass wolf. Shit, this time, he’d fucked up everyone’s life, not just his and this was the only way he could think of to make it right.

  “You’re sure about this, man?” Bryan opened the truck door and slid in.

  “Yeah. Surer than anything I’ve ever done in my life, Bryan.” He got in, slammed the door closed and sat back in the seat.

  Trey pulled his cowboy hat low ever his forehead and watched the town disappear in the side view mirror.

  * * * *

  Jake punched in the number for his mother’s cell phone. She picked up after three rings.

  “He’s gone.”

  “What?”

  “Trey. I’m at the hospital and they just told me. He checked himself out last night.” Jake leaned against the window and looked out at the hospital parking lot from Trey’s second floor room.

  Well, it used to be his room. Now there was an old woman with a broken hip lying in the bed.

  He nodded to her and the nurse and left the room.

  “I bet I know where he’s gone.” Bryan would know where he’d gone, Jake was sure of that.

  His mother had been silent for a long time.

  Jake stopped at the elevator. “Mom? Are you still there?”

  “Let him go, Jake.” She sighed.

  “What? Are you serious? He’s hurt. Injured.”

  “He’s a wolf. He’ll heal.”

  Jake growled. He leaned against the wall and gathered himself.

  Rebecca was right.

  Coming home had been his and his mom’s idea, not Trey.

  This is what Trey wanted and Jake needed to respect that.

  He put the phone to his ear. “You’re right, Mom.”

  “I’ll see you later, Jake. I want to see Becca’s ring.”

  “What? How did you know about the ring?”

  “Becca called me, of course.” She sounded smug. “So, have you set a date?”

  “As soon as possible, as far as I’m concerned.”

  “I want to hear all about your plans for the honeymoon.”

  “We haven’t talked about that yet.”

  “Well. Sounds to me like you two have a lot of talking to do.” His mother hung up.

  Jake smiled. It had started. Until he and Rebecca said “I do,” his entire life would be consumed by the upcoming wedding.

  And as much as the man in him rebelled against that thought, the knowledge that he would spend the rest of his life with Becca, his mate, made it all worth it.

  Once again, the McCallan house would be filled with love, laughter, and, whether Trey was there or Tori returned home, their sons would run the wild woods together, learning how to be good men and wolves.

  The End

  Publisher’s Note

  Please help this author's career by posting an honest review wherever you purchased this book.

  About Theodora Lane

  Theodora Lane was born in the south, raised by her grandmother who taught her the art of the backhanded compliment, how to make sweet tea, and that you can never have too many husbands, just not at the same time. By day Theodora lives an unassuming life, having lunch with the ladies, attending baby showers and playing refined card games. By night, she writes wickedly sexy and funny stories, hangs out in bars, and gathers ideas for her next book. She can be reached at theodoralane@live.com