by KH LeMoyne
She made several notes in her own journal about the physiological symptoms of gas poisoning and details on bone fractures. Those would need more explanation, but she would come back and add her own notations and diagrams.
Satisfied, she blew on her ink and waited until it was dry to turn to a new page. The small red leather-bound book was her joy. Just small enough to fit in the back pocket of her dungarees, but large enough she could fit a full topic and research on each page. Of course, its most redeeming feature—it was a present from the most important man in her life. The one who owned her heart.
June 25th – Mrs. Leona Paskell is showing signs of lethargy and inability to handle her household and nine children. Upon intense review with the eldest daughter and husband, I believe Mrs. Paskell has developed a severe reliance on a laudanum preparation prescribed for female-related issues by a traveling apothecary. I’ve set up a structured withdrawal using a tincture, which will be monitored by Mr. Paskell and his two elder daughters. Review back in one month.
“Hmm.” She wrote the new topic in her journal and flipped back to another book for corresponding details on Mrs. Paskell’s telltale symptoms as a train whistle cut through the air.
“The four thirty?” Callum!
Hand to her chest, she bit back a smile. The foolish whistle rang every day, but for some reason, she was certain this was his train. She could almost sense him as her pulse raced. Granted, this was the longest he’d ever been gone, but he always came home to her.
Eager to clean up for the day and head out for a brisk walk home, she closed all of Doc’s books and returned them to the shelves. As luck had it, she’d finished updating his ledgers and made reminders for the patients he’d see when he returned from his trip next week.
Placing his journal on top of five others at the corner of his desk, she gave the room one more quick check. Every instrument was clean and in its designated drawer or glass jar. His spare medical satchel sat on the counter, refilled with instruments and standard medicines, ready to go.
She pulled the door to the office shut and glanced over her shoulder. Doc’s single-story cabin and the modest barn beyond both had their doors closed, with everything locked down tight. She swung her cloak over her shoulders and jogged toward her mother’s connecting property.
Her skin tingled and her breath grew short. She scented Callum on the breeze, and something inside her calmed. It couldn’t be an illusion. Callum was home, she knew it. The memory of his wild scent, intertwined with her own, set her blood ablaze, and her cougar scratched beneath her skin. They both wanted the same thing—his presence. But she’d missed his whiskey-colored eyes devouring her with heat, the sexy dimple that showed too rarely these days, and the thick chestnut-brown hair she loved to spear her fingers through as he kissed her senseless.
Yes, it was about darn time.
Too distracted by her emotions, she didn’t even allow the scent of lye and fragrant oils to slow her down. In the bright light of Callum’s homecoming, even making soap didn’t seem so bad. As she rounded the corner of her mother’s house, voices brought her to an abrupt halt.
“If the alpha sent them because he can sense she’s pregnant,” Callum said, with an edge to his voice, “I need to take her away now.”
Well, damnation. Any chance of a private moment to tell Callum about the baby was gone. Instead, he stood there, his nostrils flared and his eyes narrowed. Not good.
Gillian marched forward. “Momma, put the gun down.”
“Why? I trusted this boy. After all the effort I went through getting those serums and the mystic blessings to keep you from shifting, he destroys all my work by refusing to keep his member in his pants.”
Gillian winced at her mother’s words and drew in a slow breath. Her mother had lived through enough horrors for a lifetime, her beautiful features carved with lines of worry. Gillian didn’t want to add to her burdens.
“And you”—her mother waved a hand at her—“with your secrets. All this time, I waited for you to be honest and tell me.”
“That’s not the way any of this happened,” Gillian said, her frustration rising. “I wasn’t keeping if from you. I just wanted Callum to know first.”
She should have known her mother would find out. From Callum’s tight-lipped expression, it seemed he wasn’t taken with the idea either. She could feel a frown forming on her face and tried to hold it back. This was wrong. Her news should be exciting, something to bring a carefree expression of wonder to her mate’s face. Well, not mate yet.
Instead, his shoulders straightened in a pose she knew too well. She doubted he was aware how easily she could read him, but from the lock of his jaw and his rigid posture, she knew his protector mode had overtaken any chance she had of discussing options. Too focused on her safety and well-being, he’d fixate on his plans, shrugging off her suggestions.
Reasoning with him now was useless.
“I expected with her inability to shift and our abstaining from a complete mating, the spell would hold,” Callum stated more calmly than he looked. A tiny shiver of irritation ran through her at his lack of comment or apparent thought to the baby. His planning didn’t address happy bundles of joy. Just as quickly, she acknowledged the unfairness of her judgment. He’d been blindsided. By her mother, no less. “But I’m sorry, Maisie. If I had known, we would have waited.”
Really? Nope. She hadn’t been about to wait any longer for her mate. But there would be a better time to argue that point with her future mate.
“My girl here is headstrong.” Maisie’s shotgun barrel dipped as she rolled her eyes at him. “But I thought you were smarter, Callum. I guess I should have had the talk about birds and bees with you after all.”
“I’m perfectly clear on where babies come from, Maisie.” Callum’s gaze dipped once to Gillian’s belly. Then his expression hardened, his mind no doubt processing at the speed of light for answers. Not what she’d wanted. “I have a plan.”
Of course he did.
“Wait. I’d like a say here.” Gillian stepped closer, but he shook his head and enveloped her in his arms, his breath at her neck as he kissed her skin. In front of her mother no less. With just his touch, her discomfort washed away. This was the reunion she’d expected those first few moments. His warmth, his touch. Even never having shifted, she and her beast were aligned in what they considered important. They both missed Callum. The past weeks had stretched too long for comfort. “My bag is ready. We’ll just—”
“Leave.” Callum nodded, finishing for her.
“Right.” Now they were back in lockstep. “They’ve never found me before. This time won’t be any different.” But as she looked up at him, she realized he was talking to her mother. Twisting around in his arms, she could see her mother’s expression matched Callum’s, and she had the audacity to nod as if they were having a secret dialogue of their own.
“I didn’t expect today to be the day,” he continued. “But I knew this was coming. I’m ready. They’ll both be safe. I promise.”
Wait? What? Since when did he get to make decisions for her?
“We’re going to—” Callum started when her mom raised one palm.
“Don’t tell me. The less I know, the less of a risk someone else can force the information.”
“Mom.” Gillian wiggled out of Callum’s grip, but he snagged her hand and twined his fingers with hers to keep her with him. “I don’t know what’s going on here, but I haven’t agreed to anything, and if I’m leaving, so are you.”
“No need to worry. The alpha would never use me for offspring. Besides, I’m welcome on the reservation.”
Gillian flinched at the reference to her baby sister’s death. No, nothing as sad as a mere death—coldblooded murder. Her alpha had killed Dana when he’d found an omega alive in his territory. He’d have killed her mother for giving birth to her, if her farther and others hadn’t intervened.
“You’d better take care of her,” her mother continued. �
�And my future grandchild. They are all I have left.”
Callum squeezed Gillian’s hand. “I’ll take her where Gauthier can’t reach her.”
Gillian jerked her hand. “Hey, ‘she’ is standing right here, and I’m not going anywhere. I’m certainly not leaving my mother alone.”
She’d have continued if Callum hadn’t dropped to one knee and gripped her hand harder. Those deep-brown eyes she loved so much, the ones showing every emotion, focused on her. “Gillian Wallace, do you trust me?”
Now he wasn’t playing fair. When she was six years old, she’d climbed up a tree, forty feet high. Her inner cat liked it up high. The problem was getting down. Twelve years old, never having shifted, and still afraid of heights, Callum had still climbed up and showed her the way down. That wasn’t the only time she’d gotten herself into a bind and he’d stepped in to save her. He’d not only put up with her antics, he’d also never dissuaded her from pursing joy and adventure. In all that time, he’d never told on her to her parents, sealing her loyalty to him. Years later, he’d been the one who urged her to go talk with Doc Johnston and see if he’d take her as his assistant.
He always had her back. Trust wasn’t an issue between them. “You know I do.”
“Then please trust me when I tell you this is much worse than we prepared for. We don’t have much time, or I’d explain. Since the alpha has sent his men here, somehow he knows you exist. That you both exist.” His hand moved to her waist. “They won’t stop until they find you and drag you back with them. There is no hiding this time. We’re leaving. Now.”
She couldn’t swallow past the tight lump in her throat and looked back to her mother.
“The minute you’re gone, I’m heading to the reservation for a good long stay.” Her mother ducked back into the house and a moment later tossed a packed satchel to Gillian, though Callum caught it with one hand and placed it on the ground beside him and stood. “I packed your two medical books on top, dear. Now don’t waste any more time.”
As if he’d considered his word final, she was being hustled off to heaven only knew where. However, her mother’s eyes glistened and her own tears threatened as well. This was the woman who had taught her how to endure grief with courage and was never stingy with love. She didn’t deserve to be left behind. Gillian wanted to scream. This couldn’t be happening.
Yet it was. And because her mother had also taught her to be practical, there was no point in arguing with the obvious. It was better to save one’s energy for the true trials in life.
“Afterward, we’ll send you information.” Gillian forced the words out, and her mother gave a brief, unsteady nod.
Callum kicked off his fancy dress shoes, stuffing them into one of the satchels. Then he crouched a bit, offering his back to her before he glanced back. “What do you say, sweetheart? Ready for an adventure?”
“I’d like some say in the adventure.”
“Once we’re clear of Gauthier’s men, you can have all the say.”
She’d had enough experience with him to recognize that the tightness in his face and his eyes darkening to almost black signified his terror. For her because of the baby? Because they could both be killed? Hard to say. His square locked jaw and refusal to blow the lock of his tousled hair out of his face said he was also determined.
“I must be crazy,” she said. As crazy as she’d been when she’d tempted, cajoled, and seduced him into finally making love to her.
She didn’t regret it for one minute. She just hoped he didn’t. She ran to her mother for a tight hug and a kiss. Then she returned to Callum. Gripping his shoulders, she hopped onto his back and accepted the satchels when he handed them to her.
“Crazy for me, I hope,” he whispered.
Yep. Crazy enough to leap from the top of a forty-foot tree and know he’d be at the bottom every time to catch her kind of crazy.
Want more? You can get Blood Oath here.
Also by KH LeMoyne
The Guardians of Eden
Betrayal’s Shadow
Warrior Reborn
Destiny’s Mark
Shifters Unlimited
Blood Oath (Prequel 1)
Hidden
Missing
Traitor
The Portals of Destiny
Return of the Legacy
The Portals of Destiny Tales
Dragon Rider’s Gift – Dragon Rider Trilogy Book 1
The Phoenix Legend Series
Rebel’s Consort
Shepherd
BOOKS written as LW Herndon
The Thaddeus Kane Novels
The Mark of Kane
About the Author
KH LeMoyne writes romance: fantasy, futuristic and paranormal. A former technology specialist, she lives with her family and corgis. If you’d like to receive a new release email alert, and a copy of a free story, BLOOD OATH, sign up here:
http://khlemoyne.com/newsletter
www.khlemoyne.com
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