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

A voice they recognized as Dr. Xavier Grace
interrupted their discussion, “Were you guys waiting to hear about
the Hunter girl?”

“Doc, hey.” Ethan shook his extended hand and
Eryx did, too. Doc Grace was the only werewolf around these parts
and a friend of the family. “Yeah, how is she?”

“Why did you even bother bringing her in?” He
gave them a look as if they were idiots and Eryx had the urge to
punch his teeth in.

“Because she’s injured, she lost a ton of
blood, what do you mean why did we bring her in?” He sputtered at
the doctor, his fear taking hold. Did that mean she had died?

The doc looked at them in confusion and then
a dawning of awareness scattered through his features. “Oh, you
guys don’t know? She’s perfectly fine. She woke up when they were
cutting her clothes off in the ER, but they wouldn’t let her go
until she was completely checked out. If you guys had known what
she is you could have saved the ambulance the drive out here. She’s
not human; she’s a wolf, like me.”

Ethan was the first to get his voice to work.
“A wolf? Are you sure?”

“Of course. I know my own kind. She’s rogue,
but definitely all wolf. She doesn’t smell like a wolf to you?”

They both shrugged and exchanged long looks.
This was an interesting development. Doc Grace looked thoughtful,
“Maybe because it was cold out, so her scent was masked, but she
should smell like fall, like the woods. Maybe that’s just wolf to
wolf, I never asked how I smell to you guys. She’s weak, and has
some bruising and aches that haven’t healed yet, but the cuts are
gone. You can go see her now, if you need to fill out a report or
something?”

Eryx snorted, “Something like that.”

“Room 273. Good to see you both again. Tell
your dad I said hello.”

They didn’t bother answering him and turned
to face each other. “This is incredible,” Eryx said, breaking the
silence.

“It means we can stay, though. She’ll
definitely be able to handle the females.”

“But if she doesn’t want to stay here?”

Ethan shrugged. “I’m willing to do anything
to make her happy, Eryx. Here, the other side of the world,
wherever. If she’s rogue then that means she’s alone and she needs
us.”

He hoped that was true. “Let’s go see our
Calliope.”

Chapter 4

**Callie**

She didn’t even want to know how much this
hospital bill was going to cost her. And where the hell was she,
anyway? And who brought her here? And where was her damn purse?
None of the nurses had answers for her, and once the doctor told
them she was a wolf, they scattered like bunnies, and not the tasty
sort. Helpful tip: when trying to blend into a town as a human,
don’t get looked over by the local werewolf doctor.

She had no ID, but they somehow knew who she
was. And she had no clothes, because they’d cut off her favorite
pair of jeans and the rest of her stuff, and wherever the hell her
car was, her two suitcases were in the trunk so she had a stupid
hospital gown on and nothing to wear instead. The doctor had
offered to bring her scrubs and she’d accepted, but so far, no one
had brought her any. That was 20 minutes ago.

This just wasn’t how she’d planned to spend
the night. Her body ached, but was thankfully healing. They’d
cleaned her up in the ER and found her wounds healed. She didn’t
know how long she was out for, but she didn’t remember anything
after her brakes went out. Feeling sorry for herself, and wishing
she could call Cadence for some commiserating, she reminded herself
she was trying to stand on her own two feet and make a new life.
She could get through this. She would wait for her things and then
find a place to stay for the night and figure the world out after a
good night’s sleep.

The door opened and in walked two of the most
handsome men she’d ever laid eyes on in her entire life. She stared
at them while they grinned and walked towards the bed. She put her
hand up to stop them from coming further and they both froze.

“Who are you?” She demanded, gathering
something like courage and closing her mouth so she didn’t look
like a slack jawed idiot.

The one on the right said, “I’m Ethan Fallon,
this is my twin Eryx. We’re the ones that found you, Calliope. How
are you feeling?”

They wore the black uniforms and shining
badges of sheriffs’ deputies. They were identical twins, except
that Ethan’s eyes were darker than Eryx’s. One of them was gorgeous
enough, but seeing two of them together was like trying to stare at
the sun. The whole inside of her body threatened to melt. “It’s
Callie, and I’m fine. You don’t happen to know where my stuff is,
do you?”

“The car is at the impound lot but we grabbed
your suitcases and put them in our car. What do you need?” Eryx, on
the left, supplied the answer.

She made a gesture to her hospital gown.
“Something not hospital issued.”

They both smiled. Geez, they were hot. She
shoved her lustful thoughts aside as Ethan said, “I’ll go grab your
things. The doc said you’re stuck here until they discharge and
they don’t do that until after lunch, and it’s only 7:30. I’ll be
back.”

He looked at his brother and some sort of
twin telepathy must have passed through them because Eryx nodded
and Ethan left. “Mind if I sit down?” Eryx asked as he sat in the
chair next to the bed.

“I guess not.”

He laid her purse on the edge of the bed. “I
grabbed it from the car when they were cutting you out of it.”

She felt her mouth fall open again. “Did you
say they cut me out of my car?”

His brow furrowed, “Yes. Your car crashed
through the guardrail and rolled down the embankment. If you
weren’t a supe, you’d be dead for sure.”

“Supe?”

He smiled, “A supernatural creature.”

Must be a local term. Great, so wolf doc had
felt the need to tell everyone in town that she was a wolf.
Awesome. She closed her eyes and laid back. She
so
didn’t
need any complications like this.

She didn’t bother looking in her purse. The
only thing of value was her wallet, and she was sure that it was
safe, since they knew her information. She tried not to think about
the hunky man sitting next to her, watching patiently like he had
all the time in the world and she was the most fascinating thing
he’d ever seen. She tried very hard not to think about his short
cut, dark brown hair and stubbled chin, the silvery gray eyes, or
the curve of his mouth. She tried damn, damn hard not to wonder
what he looked like peeled out of that uniform and where he kept
his handcuffs. Clearly, she wasn’t doing a good job of it.
Clearly.

He cleared his throat and she opened her eyes
and looked at him. “Are you hungry or thirsty? I can get you
something.”

She opened and closed her mouth a few times.
“Why are you here?”

“Hmm?”

“I mean, Ethan went to get my things, but
that doesn’t explain why you’re sitting in my room.”

“Well, Callie, you’re from out of town, you
were in an accident that took out a guardrail, and your car is
totaled. At the very least, we’re being hospitable.” There was
something about his phrasing, the tone in his voice and the look in
his eyes that said there was more going on here than typical small
town hospitality. Unfortunately, she was at a disadvantage without
her car.

She clamped her mouth shut and turned away
from the alluring Eryx Fallon. Sexy name. Sexy man. And a twin, no
less. She wondered how much they shared.
Oh hell, woman, get
your head out of the gutter!

She heard a very faint, very inhuman growl
and her eyes flashed open as the door swung wide and an orderly
came in. She looked at Eryx in surprise and thanked the orderly for
the scrubs as he scurried out of the door as fast as his chunky
human legs could take him. When the door shut, she said, “What the
hell are you?”

He blinked and took a deep breath, like he
was calming some beast and then he said, “I’m sorry, I didn’t
recognize him. My brother and I are mountain lions.”

Fan-fucking-tastic. She landed in cat
central? Sure, she was trying to avoid other wolf packs, but she
wasn’t looking to go litter-box. She groaned internally and was
about to tell him that she wanted him to leave so she could clean
up and put the scrubs on, when the door opened and he didn’t growl,
because equally yummy Ethan walked in with both of her
suitcases.

She half-smiled and said, “Thank you, Ethan.
Now both of you, out.”

“What’s wrong?” He looked pointedly at
Eryx.

Eryx looked chagrined, “I think I frightened
her when I growled at an orderly. I am sorry, Callie. You can
surely understand how hard it can be to control some of our natural
reactions.”

“I’m not frightened. I’m glad you brought my
things, and whatever, but I don’t need a babysitter, so go.”

She folded her arms and waited for the
delicious men to disappear, which they did after exchanging that
quiet twin looking thing again. With a sigh of relief, she got up
and hauled the larger of the two suitcases up onto the bed and
opened it. In the bathroom, she gasped at her reflection. She had a
fading bruise on her forehead and her eyes were blood shot and had
dark circles under them. Her aches were nearly gone, but she still
felt like she went ten rounds. She didn’t care what the doctor
said, she was cleaning up and she was out of here. Period.

Using the sink and one of those plastic throw
up trays, she managed to wash the blood from her hair using a tiny
bar of hospital-issued soap. Until she could get to a real shower,
at least she didn’t have blood matting her hair. She cleaned her
body as best as she could, and then applied enough makeup to cover
the dark circles and bruises, and dressed in a sweater and
jeans.

She expected an argument from the nursing
staff, but they didn’t seem to want her around anymore than she
wanted to be around. When she asked for someone to call her a cab,
the woman behind the desk pointed her finger and Callie turned to
see Eryx and Ethan apparently waiting for her.

“We’ll take you wherever you need to go,
Callie.” Ethan offered.

“Um, no thanks. I just need a cab.”

Eryx grabbed her suitcases and walked out of
the hospital. “Hey!”

“It’s not really up for discussion, Callie.
We’re going to take you to the impound lot so you can get your
things from your car, and then we’ll take you to our place and you
can rest up.” Ethan said.

“No.” She growled.

“No?” He looked amused.

“You can take me to the lot, that’s fine, but
I don’t want to go to your place.”

He gave her a “we’ll see about that” look,
and held the door open for her. At the lot, her poor, poor car was
cut in half as if some huge clawed thing had tried to rip it in
pieces. She gathered the papers from the glove box and the small
overnight bag that held the majority of her toiletries that had
gone from the front seat to wedged under the back seat, and finally
the box that held everything else. After she argued to be taken to
a hotel, they finally agreed to take her to the B&B she was
planning to stay at in the first place, Charming Bed &
Breakfast, run by Tom and Dana Charming.
Charming.

Eryx, who had been brooding and quiet for the
drive, took her bags into the reception area and walked out. Ethan
said nothing after she thanked them both again for their help. She
felt oddly alone and sad that they were angry at her, but on the
other hand, she wasn’t planning to stick around so playing with the
kitties was off the menu. Delicious or not. She’d only been on her
own for a week. She wasn’t going to get waylaid in her plans to
search out a place for herself in the world just because two hot
sides of man-beef happened to have taken a liking to her.

Tom swiped her credit card and said he’d take
her things up, and Dana said they had just served brunch in their
dining room and she could help herself. She grabbed a plate of cut
fruit and a cheese Danish and plucked the newspaper from the stand
and sat down at a small, two person table.

She read the same paragraph four times before
she allowed herself to admit that she was damn drawn to the two
men. How weird. If they were wolves she would have thought they
were her mates because the attraction was instantaneous, but dogs
and cats didn’t mix, right? And of course, she didn't want to get
snared in a relationship; her life was barebones right now. She'd
only been free of the pack for a handful of days. She still needed
to find herself, have some time to be free and independent. For the
first time, she wasn't under anyone’s thumb but her own and it felt
good.

“Miss Hunter, I’m dreadfully sorry, but I
can’t accept your credit card.” Tom’s voice was thin and unhappy
and she stared blankly up at him. Swallowing the bite of
out-of-season strawberry she said, “You already accepted my card. I
signed the receipt.”

He looked uncomfortable, “Yes, well, the
machine is down and it didn’t go through. I can’t offer you a room
unless you have cash. Do you…have enough for the night?”

She shook her head in disbelief. “I could
write you a check.”

“Not from out of state.”

“Okay, are any banks open?”

“It’s Saturday.”

“ATMs?” What the hell was going on here?

“Not outside of the banks, no, miss.”

“So you’re going to put me on the street
because the machine is down? What happened to small town
hospitality?” She growled, standing up so fast the chair clattered
behind her. He jerked backwards like she was going to claw his
throat out, which she wouldn’t have done over a credit card snafu,
promise.

She let the growl ebb into a deep sigh. She
so didn't need this. Rubbing at her temple, she said, "Where are my
things?"

Tom cleared his throat and gestured
outside.