The Wolf's Mate Book 3: Callie & The Cats (9 page)

He couldn’t help but reach out his hand to
her. “I’m so sorry, Callie.” She looked at his hand on hers and
then she pulled her hand away and began to eat.

Her whole tone changed, her demeanor went
cold and distant. “It was a while ago.”

“Doesn’t matter how long ago it was, not
having your mother around must be hard. Is that why you left the
pack?” Eryx asked. Ethan wasn’t sure that pressing her right now
was such a good idea, but he didn’t try to stop his brother.

The fork dropped to the plate with a clang.
“Would you stop trying to analyze me already? Shit.”

She made motions to get up, but Eryx clamped
his hand down on her arm. “Don’t do that. Don’t run away again.
What is so wrong with getting to know us?”

“Because I’m not sticking around,” she
snarled and jerked her arm but Eryx didn’t let go.

“Who screwed you up so badly that you can’t
trust anyone?” Eryx demanded.

Ethan saw the anger rise in her eyes like a
tidal wave and he said the only thing he could think of to stop her
from pulling away even further. “Callie, we’re not pack. We’re not
like anything that you’re used to. The females, they’re uncaring
and cruel, but there’s not a…ranking in our pride. We’re just a
large family. But it’s the males that make the family, Callie. It’s
in our nature to care, to help. Won’t you let us help you?”

“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.