The Wolf's Mate Book 3: Callie & The Cats (20 page)

They turned as she walked into the front
room, identically gorgeous in solid black suits and black dress
shirts. What surprised her was their ties. Ethan wore an olive
patterned tie and Eryx wore an amber patterned tie. She gave them
an amused look. They both smoothed the ties and gave her what they
probably thought were fairly innocent looks, but she wasn’t fooled.
They were far too gorgeous to pull off innocent.

She kissed them and tugged on the ties. “Is
there something significant about these tie colors, boys?”

Ethan wiggled his brows at her and said, “I
wanted a hazel tie, but this was as close as our dad could
find.”

She laughed. “You sent your dad out on a tie
hunt?”

They shrugged and then spent several minutes
telling her how gorgeous she was and how proud they were to have
her as their mate. She blushed so hard she thought she would pass
out.

Eryx held her coat out for her and she
slipped into it and then he paused at the door out to the garage.
“Do we need to check that you’re wearing panties?”

The heat in his eyes was enough to make
moisture pool between her legs in a heartbeat. “What are you gonna
do to me if I’m not wearing them?” She challenged.

She bit her lower lip because she knew it
drove him nuts. Ethan slid his arms around her and secured her
wrists with both hands. He nuzzled under her ear and pulled her
hands around behind her back. “I think we’ll have to teach you a
lesson, love, if you’re going to be so disobedient to your
husbands.” She closed her eyes as he tugged on her ear lobe with
his teeth.

Her knees got a little wobbly and she heard a
tinkling sound and opened her eyes to see Eryx swinging a pair of
handcuffs from his finger. “We may need to teach you a lesson or
two, anyway.”

She breathed out a laugh, “I don’t know
whether to be good or bad.”

Ethan kissed her cheek and released her
wrists and laughed as Eryx put the handcuffs in his pocket and gave
her a narrow look. She put her hands up in surrender. “I promise
I’m wearing panties. But no bra, I don’t have a strapless one.”

The wedding was being held at a small
Methodist church in town. They arrived at 6 and after her heel
slipped a fraction with the first step she took, Ethan swung her up
into his arms and carried her carefully into the church. “If you
wrenched your ankle, I’d feel terrible,” he told her, putting her
down in the foyer.

Eryx hung up all their coats, and she took
both of their hands. “I don’t mind, I like that you take care of
me.”

Eryx squeezed her hand, “We will always take
care of you, angel.”

The church was small, one aisle with wooden
pews on either side. Stained glass windows ran floor to ceiling and
depicted biblical events. Two young men who were apparently cousins
of the groom were handing out the programs, and one of them said
their father James was down and to the left so that’s where they
headed.

James and Alek were sitting in the middle of
a pew, with Aaron and his sons. The rest of the family was in the
row behind them, including ice-cold Jilly. Callie leaned over Ethan
and kissed James on the cheek and smiled at Alek, but he simply
nodded at her and turned his attention back to the spot on the wall
he was glaring at. She wondered at his behavior, if he was angry or
if he didn’t like her. She didn’t really have time to think about
it, because a steady stream of people came up to say hello,
including a few human females that made her she-wolf bristle and
her inner bitch come out. She didn’t appreciate anyone giving her
mates the please-fuck-me-eyes, especially when she was clearly with
them. Clearly.

“If you keep squeezing my hand like that I’m
going to lose the ability to play with your pussy later, angel,”
Eryx whispered in her ear.

She relaxed her grip and rolled her eyes. “I
don’t think you’re supposed to say pussy in church.”

He chuckled and kissed her temple. He took
his hand from hers and put his arm around her shoulders and leaned
into her ear. “You know we don’t want anyone but you, Callie. But
it’s nice to know that you can get as jealous as we do about
you.”

She snorted at the compliment, because she
just didn’t think that men reacted to her the way that women did to
them. Really, they were all sorts of hotness and she was just –
her.

He tipped her chin up with a frown. “What was
that for?”

She rolled her eyes again, “You guys are
gorgeous and there’s freaking two of you. I’m not, it’s not even
close.”

Ethan turned slightly and put his arm on the
back of the pew in front of them and although his face was neutral
and pleasant, his eyes said he was pissed. “I know you didn’t just
insult yourself, love. Of the three of us, you’re the gorgeous one.
And you’re right – there is no comparison. You are way, way out of
our league.”

She opened her mouth to say something, but
Ethan put his finger on her lips and looked at Eryx. “I told you
she would feel like this.”

“Yeah.” Eryx growled.

“What?” She muffled through his finger.

“You spent too long being beaten down in the
pack, love, made to feel less than you are. You’re stunning. And if
you don’t notice that men watch you like you’re something good to
eat, then you’re just not paying attention. And that’s okay with
us. Because you’re ours.”

She gave him a smirk, but he’d just melted
her heart. Eryx whispered, “You are good to eat.”

She giggled and blushed and nipped the tip of
Ethan’s finger with her teeth, and he returned back to his place
next to her and held her hand with both of his on his lap and Eryx
put his arm around her shoulders again. She felt well protected and
cared for, and completely on display.

She was thankful for the wedding to start,
because she wanted to get out of the church. They weren’t getting
any dirty looks from anyone, but people definitely picked up that
she’d come with both men. It was hard to miss their possessiveness
with her, and while she didn’t mind it in theory, being out in
public like this was a whole different animal. She just didn’t want
them to throttle someone who had a big mouth.

The wedding lasted thirty minutes, and Jane
and Thad made a cute couple. They were both in their early 30s, and
she had the plump look of a woman who had tried vainly to diet but
was just always going to be on the plump side. It didn’t detract
from her loveliness and she was glowing with happiness.

While they exchanged vows, Ethan murmured in
her ear, “That’ll be us in a few months, love,” and a thrill of
happiness wove through her.

As they exited from the church and Eryx
carried her this time, she realized that she hadn’t seen the two
female lions that they’d said would come, Farrah and Melania. She
was glad that they’d skipped it because she sat through the short
ceremony feeling like she had a target on her back. When they
walked through the doors of the veterans’ hall for the reception,
she couldn’t help but see them almost immediately. Her heart sank a
little; she had hoped they wouldn't show. Ethan and Eryx followed
their family to the three tables that had been reserved for the
Fallon family and they pulled out her chair for her and sat on
either side. She had a good glimpse of the two females from her
seat but couldn’t do anything about it. She was totally starving;
otherwise she might have asked to leave.

Ethan said, “You know you shouldn’t go
anywhere alone, love, right?”

“I know.”

Eryx ran his thumb along the side of her
neck. “We’re sorry it has to be this way, but in a few weeks we’ll
be away from all this bullshit. You won’t have to feel like you
have to defend yourself or be on your guard anymore.”

She smiled and kissed them both. That sounded
heavenly. The dinner progressed quickly, five courses that ended
with them cutting the cake and doing that kiss thing with the
clinking glasses and a few toasts by friends and family. The
wedding made her happy and sad. Happy because it was a little
preview of things coming in her life, but sad because her mom was
gone and that meant she didn’t have anyone left in her family to
stand up for her. She didn’t want to dwell on her darker thoughts,
so she shoved them away and concentrated on stealing food from
their plates when they weren’t looking and getting slightly
schnockered from two glasses of white wine.

Eryx’s fork clinked on the empty plate where
his last bite of cake had been. “Where the hell did my cake go
woman?” He growled at her, and she tried to look innocent but it
was hard with a mouthful of cake. She swallowed and laughed and
then he patted his jacket and the tiniest tinkling sound could be
heard. She let out a huff. “You wouldn’t dare.”

“Try me. Cake stealer.”

“Hey, where I’m from, if the fork is not
moving then it’s all fair game.” She crossed her arms in a feigned
pout and Ethan wrapped his arms around her from behind and kissed
her neck with a laugh.

“She’s got you there.”

She let him kiss on her for a minute and then
reminded him they were in public so he should behave himself. As he
released his grip, Eryx stood up, “I’m going to get some water for
our tipsy kitten.” He kissed her forehead and left to go to the
bar.

“I’m not tipsy.” She protested, even though
she felt pleasantly numb and kind of silly. She wasn't one for
drinking that much. “I do have to pee, though.”

Ethan stood up with her and she looked at him
incredulously. “Really? It’s just the bathroom.”

He set his jaw and she knew immediately that
he would not budge. She put her hands up to stop his lecture about
her safety and held his hand as he wove them through the crowd. As
far as she could tell, the lion females hadn’t left their table and
had done a very good job of orienting their bodies so that they
didn’t have to look at her. Which was perfectly fine with her.

Ethan waited outside the bathroom for her and
they walked back into the main room and saw Eryx was standing at
the bar talking to the werewolf doctor, Xavier Grace. She wasn’t
particularly thrilled to see him, honestly, but he was a rogue like
her and the truth was that she couldn't exactly ignore the core of
what she was just because she was not with a pack anymore. She may
run across wolves from time to time in her life; she should
probably learn how to fake her way through being nice.

Eryx slid his hand into hers, mirroring that
Ethan had her other one, and Ethan said, “Doc, you remember
Callie.”

“Of course,” he said, straightening and
smiling. “How are you?”

“Very well, thank you.” Geez, she sounded
like a robot.

“I didn’t know that you were still in town.
Are you having trouble replacing your car?”

She felt both boys stiffen slightly and was
debating telling him it wasn’t any of his concern or being honest,
when his eyes darted behind her and something ice cold slid down
her left shoulder and dripped into her cleavage.

She jerked and let go of both hands, gasping
at the icy temperature of the liquid which was an odd clear blue.
Eryx snarled as they turned to see Melania’s blonde ponytail
bobbing through the crowd.

“You stay here; I’ll go grab her and our
family.” Eryx said.

“What the hell is that stuff?” Ethan’s voice
was a low growl as he scanned the crowd behind them and grabbed
napkins from the bar for her.

“I don’t know. It smells familiar,” She said
as she lifted her hand up and took a small sniff of the liquid. And
then she knew exactly what it was. “Oh no.” She backed away from
the doctor, but it was already too late. His eyes were amber and
his fangs had elongated.

Ethan looked at her, not aware of the
doctor’s movements towards her, and said, “What’s wrong,
sweetheart?”

“It’s wolf pheromones.” She moved back
another step, and Ethan pulled on her arm.

“What are you talking about? Are you hurt or
in pain? Let’s go to the bathroom and wipe it off.”

She pointed to the doctor, “Ethan, it’s too
late. You have to get me out here. Right now!”

At that moment, the doctor growled and it
wasn’t a friendly sound. Ethan spun and shoved her behind his back,
baring his fangs and snarling a warning. “Xavier, it’s not real,”
she said, trying to get through to the man behind the beast,
“you’re better than this, you don’t want to attack me.”

He stalked forward, the picture of every male
wolf she’d ever seen react to an unmated female in heat,
“Mine.”

He growled at Ethan and lunged, and it was
only Ethan’s faster reflexes and clear head that kept both of them
safe as he crashed past them and over the bar. Ethan and Eryx’s
family was there immediately, trying to contain the damage but it
was too late. Xavier shot to his feet on top of the bar and growled
so loudly that it stopped the party dead.

“Ethan please, get me out of here!” She
begged. Her body temperature spiked with her adrenaline and it was
going to make the pheromones even stronger for him. He’d go
nuts.

“Give me the female!” Xavier roared as his
hands curled and claws broke free from his fingertips. A tangle of
nerves knotted in her stomach.

“Dad?” Ethan backed them away from the bar,
his body protectively in front of hers.

“I’ll handle it. Your uncle has Melania
restrained and Eryx is waiting outside in the car. Go!”

Ethan turned swiftly and jerked her into his
arms and ran outside. He sat down in the passenger seat with her in
his lap and Eryx slammed his foot on the gas and raced towards the
house.

They were furious but also confused. They
didn’t know how wolves reacted to scent, because for the female
lions, there wasn’t a mating heat that called to a male, no extra
scent to show she was capable of having a baby. Callie was
shivering from having no coat and her adrenaline was starting to
leave her so the initial fear that had gotten shoved aside was
roaring to the surface.