The Wolf's Mate Book 3: Callie & The Cats

by R. E. Butler

  “Help me? Like help me stick around so you can have a built in babysitter?”

  Eryx practically shouted in frustration, “What the hell are you talking about?”

  “The kids. They are starved for female attention, and the girls that were here said they couldn’t even tell if any of the kids were theirs. Who does that? Who has a child and doesn’t recognize them?” Her voice was sharp and angry.

  Ethan said gently, “Callie, please. We’re not trying to do anything here except get to know you and give you a chance to get to know us. You said it was a fluke that you had your accident, but we believe it was fate.”

  The anger bled from her eyes. “Fate?”

  Nodding, he reached for her other hand again. “Of course, Callie. We could feel a change coming, something we’ve both wanted for so long. You, Callie, we want you.”

  She looked at them and then down at their hands on hers, and then she tried to pull away again. She jerked back in her chair and pulled on her hands, but their grips were tighter than her will to leave and she sounded suddenly scared, “No. No, no, no!”

  Before he could think of something soothing to say, Eryx growled sharply, “Stop it, Callie, fucking stop it right now!”

  As if she had no will of her own, everything in her went very still and calm and she dropped her head and took a few quick, quiet breaths. Eryx looked at him in confusion and they both released their holds on her. Her hands dropped to her lap and the voice that came out of her mouth was so small and frightened that he couldn’t believe that she’d actually stood up to the females yesterday.

  “May I be excused, please?”

  “Sure. I was planning to take you to the dealership this morning, they don’t open until 10. If that’s okay?” He asked gently.

  “That’s fine.” She got up without lifting her head and walked quickly from the kitchen. When he heard the bedroom door shut he looked at Eryx. “It was like she shut down when you raised your voice.”

  Eryx flushed with guilt. “I didn’t mean to yell at her. Fuck.” He scrubbed his hands through his hair. “Should I apologize to her?”

  Ethan rubbed his jaw. “Hell if I know. You know what it looked like? It was like a submissive thing. Like she was angry and you put her in her place and she – submitted. Gave up the fight.”

  It really did seem like that. She’d been all fired up and then it’s like the light inside her went out. Eryx’s face was carved with worry and frustration.

  “Look, if she reacted like that, it’s because she doesn’t feel safe with us. She treated your tone as a dominant, maybe the way an alpha would put a lower ranked wolf in their place. If she’s not a fighter, not in her true nature, then that was just a gut reaction.”

  “So we’ll...what? I’m drifting without a lifeline here.” Eryx grimaced.

  “I don’t have the foggiest. Don’t feel guilty. We’re used to females that are either pissed off or indifferent. Callie is definitely pissed, but she’s a tangle of emotions that we’ve not dealt with before. I don’t think treading carefully is the way to go with her. I think our family was right. We just need to be honest with her.” He stood up with a sigh and went around to his brother. Eryx was always the strongest between the two of them. In the face of causing Callie to withdraw so sharply like that, though, he saw Eryx for the nurturing man he always knew he would be.

  Squeezing his shoulder, Ethan said, “Go on to work. I’ll be here with her. Tomorrow, you can stay home. We’ll get through the walls she’s thrown up.”

  Eryx’s light eyes were shining with despair. “Do you really believe that?”

  “I don’t have a choice.”

  Watching Eryx leave, he stood in the kitchen for several minutes and then picked up Callie's plate. One thing he’d learned from Eryx’s conversation with the wolf doctor was that wolves could really put food away. She hadn’t been eating much, except for when they’d hunted. He knew she must be starving.

  Without knocking, he walked into the bedroom. She was standing at the window looking out, the winter sunshine playing across her beautiful features. “Eryx went into the station. I brought your breakfast although I’d really prefer you eat out in the kitchen with me.” He put the things on the dresser and walked out.

  **Eryx**

  His cell buzzed and Eryx pulled it out reflexively. He’d been on auto-pilot since he’d snapped at Callie and she shut down. He’d never had a female react to him like that before, and he sure as hell didn’t want her to be afraid of him. He’d really fucked up.

  “Where are you?” Ethan’s voice was edgy.

  “Um, hell, hold on.” Eryx really looked where he was, and said, “I’m on Wilshire. Why? What’s wrong?”

  “Gordy just called. He said Callie completely freaked out and is in his office. I thought you should go get her.”

  Already the car was in gear. “Yeah, I will, but why me?”

  “Because it’s a good way for you to mend what happened this morning. And she may need a strong hand if she’s scared and I’m more the not-yelling sort.” Ethan laughed, but it was without happiness.

  “I thought you were going to stay with her at the dealership?” The streets were deserted for the most part, so he didn’t turn on the siren, speeding towards the dealership.

  “She said she didn’t want me hanging around. Gordy said she was fine until she sat down in the car and turned the engine on and then she freaked out. He took her to his office and called me.”

  “I’ll bring her home, don’t worry.” He didn’t feel as confident as he sounded.

  “I know you will. I’ll be here.”

  Ending the call, he pulled into the small car dealership that also served as the town’s garage and body shop. Gordy was pacing outside, smoking a cigarette. Flipping up the collar of his black wool coat, Eryx joined him.

  “I took her over to a car she liked, gave her the keys, she sat down, and the second the engine turned over she went completely white. I think she had a panic attack. I got her into my office and she kept saying, ‘I can’t do this, I’m not strong.’ That was maybe 15 minutes ago. She’s like a zombie now. I’m sorry, Eryx. I wish that Ethan had stuck around.”

  He patted one of his father’s closest friends on the shoulder. “I’ll take it from here, Gordy. Thanks.”

  He strode with purpose to the small office at the back of the showroom but his heart was ready to pound out of his chest with worry. What if she freaked out more when she saw him? What if she really was afraid of him? Could he be the heavy hand that Ethan thought he would be if the situation called for it? Opening the office door slowly, he wasn’t so sure.

  Then he saw her leaning against the far wall of the tiny office, one small shoulder wedged into the corner, her head resting against the next wall. A pamphlet for something was wrenched in her hand and her knuckles were white. He’d do anything, he realized, to get her back home safe.

  “Callie.” He tried to have a firm voice, but it sounded painfully weak and soft in his own ears.

  Her head turned slowly and for a moment he thought she was going to pull that same head-down crap she’d done at home, but she lifted her eyes to him and they were filled with tears. “Eryx?”

  He waited for her to make a move, tensing his body against every natural instinct he had to comfort her. She had to come to him on her own terms or she’d feel forced and that was the last thing he wanted her to feel in his arms.

  “I came to take you home, sweetheart.”

  She blinked and tears slid down her cheeks. “Home?”

  He put his hand out and let it hang in mid-air, not sure what she would do. The silence hung between them like something made of heavier things, but she moved from the wall finally and slid her hand into his. He was surprised at how cold her hand was and worried she might be going into shock from the stress of what had happened. He led her out into the showroom and before opening the door, he shrugged out of his coat and laid it over her shoulders.

  Nodding at
Gordy, he put her into the cruiser and settled into the driver's seat and headed for home. She stayed leaning against the door, a shell without movement, and he so desperately wanted to hold her against him and tell her that everything would be okay even though he knew the only way it would be okay was if she stayed with them. If she was determined to leave, then a freak out in a car wasn’t going to change her mind.

  Pulling into the driveway, he turned off the engine and put his hand on the door and then he felt a hand on his shoulder. When he turned back she moved across the seat and hugged him. At first, he was too shocked to do anything, but his brain kicked in and he slid his arms inside both of the coats to hold her as close as he could.

  “I don’t, I don’t have anybody. I don’t have a home.” Her voice was raw and hurt, and tears were in the background.

  Resting his cheek on the top of her head while she buried her face in his neck, he said, “You have me. And Ethan. All we have is yours.”

  She sighed from somewhere deep inside herself and then he felt her lips on his neck. Stunned, he went dead still. She nuzzled under his ear and took a breath, and he felt the gentle whip of her tongue at the place just behind where his scent lay heaviest. “You smell so good, Eryx.” Her voice was low and sultry, and the abrupt change was a surprise.

  As his brain misfired at saying something equally amazing, she kissed softly across his cheek and turned his head with her cool fingertips until she reached his lips. Her tongue caressed the seam of his mouth and he opened for her, and the taste of her was as incredible as her sweet scent, like honey and wildflowers. Afraid to rush her, he fisted his hands in the sweater at her back as their tongues slid together in a slow dance. Just as quickly as the kiss started, it was over with a gasp.

  She sat back and touched her mouth, dark pink from the pressure of their kiss. “If you want to have sex, I’ll have sex with you. But if you want something more from me, it won’t happen. I’m not staying.”

  He was almost too stunned for words. Had she really just said that? The cruiser door opened and she moved out, pulling his coat off and laying it on the seat. “You can’t turn on a car without overloading, Callie. How the hell do you plan to leave?”

  “It’s not your problem, Eryx. Thanks for picking me up.”

  She ran hot and cold like an unreliable faucet. Stunned, he sat for several minutes as the taste of her coursed through his veins and simmered like a well tended fire.

  Chapter 8

  **Callie**

  This may be the worst day on record, and Sunday had been so nice. Well, nice at the end of the evening, anyway. And then the revelation from the twins this morning had hit her like a stone between the eyes. They both wanted her to be their mate. Unheard of! Not just that they’re not the same were-group, but both of them for her! She didn't even know how that would work, and every time she thought about it, her heart pounded and her stomach flipped.

  Eryx had raised his voice that morning and every instinct she had to argue until she was blue in the face went flying out the window and her old habits kicked up. When a powerful male told you to stop doing something, you just stopped. Period. She hated herself for feeling so low in front of them, because she’d liked herself so much Sunday night when she’d gathered her courage and stood up to the females. But she was still a stranger here, still out of place. At least as unwelcome as she would be back in Allen.

  And then when she’d gone into the bedroom to hide from their piercing gazes, she’d listened to a voicemail from Jason on her cell and it had made her whole body go dead from the inside out.

  “I don’t know what your problem is, cousin, but you’ve got my pregnant wife tied up in knots because you won’t call her back. I’m tired of her worrying over you. If she loses the baby because of stress, I’m going to hunt you down and make you pay, family or not. Now you get your head out of your ass and you call your supposed best friend.”

  The call had ended on a snarl she knew all too well. He wasn’t wrong. She was being a bad friend. She wanted to call Cades so badly, but she was afraid that she’d beg to come home. So she’d stared at her cell and then stared at the plate that Ethan had made for her and left on the dresser and she felt like she was caught between two worlds she didn’t understand.

  And that’s when she realized that Allen wouldn’t be home anymore. She’d asked to leave the pack. Once a wolf went rogue, they couldn't go back to their pack and join it, it just wasn't their way. Even if she had gone back to Allen, she would be canis-non-welcome at their weekly shindigs, and come the full moon she’d have to find a place of her own to hunt. And it also meant that they could all treat her like shit for leaving, and she’d be a ghost in her childhood hometown. As if she hadn’t already felt that way before.

  A combination of things had triggered her mortifying meltdown at the dealership. Jason’s call, Ethan and Eryx’s kindness, their declaration, and yes, a little bit of a flashback. She wondered when she turned on the car, just where the hell she was going to go. And maybe that was enough to send her over the edge.

  But that kiss with Eryx in the car had been something. He smelled so good, like a warm spice and all male and strength, and she couldn’t have stopped if she’d tried and she wouldn’t have wanted to, either. She wanted him to believe that she wasn’t affected by the kiss, so she’d said the stupidest thing on record. As if she could have sex with him and not fall totally in love with him! That was a feat worthy of Houdini.

  When she walked into the house from the garage, she bypassed Ethan in the kitchen without a word and went to the bedroom to get her phone. She couldn’t have everyone in the world hate her right now. But Cadence had to let her stand on her own and that meant she needed some space.

  It pained her, but she kept the call civil and short. Callie told Cades she was stuck in a snowy town up north with car problems, and promised her she was doing just fine. She didn’t tell her that she thought Jason was a dick, although it was the first thing she wanted to say. He’s allowed to protect his wife. “You’re really never coming home, are you?” Her voice went flat.

  “No, Cades. Well, I mean I might come visit, you know, after you have your baby, but I can’t live there anymore. You spent your whole life protecting me. You’ve got a little one coming and a pushy husband, so your hands are full. Rest easy my friend. I love you.”

  She wasn’t going to cry. She’d done more than her fair share over the last couple of days, so she shut her emotions up in the deepest part of her mind and turned her phone off. Bracing herself and hoping that Eryx had gone back to work so she didn’t have to face him, she walked into the family room. Of course he was there, sitting stonily on the couch with his arms folded. Damn it.

  So how do you fix something like offering to bone the man that’s been nothing but sweet and taken good care of you, as if he’s nothing but a bar pick up? No clue. An apology perhaps? Oh hell, what if he’d actually taken her up on her offer?

  She saw Ethan in the kitchen and he looked angry. She wasn’t being fair to them. She at least owed them the truth.

  She stopped in front of Eryx. It took him a long time to look up at her. When he did, she said, “I’m sorry. I, uh, am a complete idiot and I didn’t mean to treat you so poorly. Well, that’s not true, exactly. My plan when you guys swiped my luggage and had them deny my credit card, was to be so mean that you’d take me back there, but that didn’t work for some reason.” She stopped to take a breath and there was a sharp knock on the front door and all three of their heads swiveled in that direction.

  Ethan moved to the door, opened it, and then slammed it shut abruptly with a short growl. Whatever was out there, he wasn’t happy about.

  Eryx stood up. “What?”

  Ethan shook his head quickly and another of those twin looks passed between them. That was quickly becoming her least favorite thing.

  She ducked around Eryx’s arm that he’d thrown out to intercept her and beat feet to Ethan. “What’s out there that’s got you t
wisted up?” She demanded, looking up into his gorgeous face and the angry scowl that lit his features. He didn’t look less beautiful, he just looked more deadly.

  “It’s nothing. You were saying something?”

  “Don’t lie to me.” She put her hand on the doorknob and the knuckles of the hand that were holding the door shut went white as he exerted force to keep her from opening it.

  Eryx joined them at the door and snorted, folding his arms again, which unfortunately made the muscles under his uniform bunch so they looked like they were going to bust the seams. “You shouldn’t expect what you’re not willing to give.”

  “I’ve been more than clear about my intentions. I haven't lied to either of you.”

  Eryx’s eyes darkened and his whole body went very still. “Oh? So you’ll join me in the bedroom now?”

  She swallowed hard, and her heart stopped beating for a second.

  “Yeah, well, that’s what I thought. If Ethan says there’s nothing outside that door, then you should walk away.”

  She glared at both of them and then dropped her hand from the door. She very much wanted to see what was outside the door. Her paranoia had her thinking it was about her. You know what they say about paranoia - it’s not your imagination if someone is really out to get you.

  “Look,” She positioned herself so she could still grab the doorknob when Ethan moved away, if he did. Right now he looked like he could wait out the ice age. “I already apologized for what I said to you in the car. You always throw things back at people like that?”

  Eryx had the decency to at least look a little unhappy when she pointed that out, and that made her secretly glad. She didn’t like it when she apologized and someone reminded her of it anyway. Apologies should erase memories. At least that was her working theory.