Callan: Outback Shifters #2

by Chant, Zoe

  Ella was silent for a long time. “I always hated my father,” she finally said, her voice soft, before shaking her head. “No, hate’s too strong a word. But I always felt so… unwanted by him. That I didn’t seem to matter to him at all. Maybe that’s why I acted up so much when I was a kid – it wasn’t fair on my aunt at all, but I was so… so hurt. Now I realize that whatever he was doing… it was way worse than neglecting his kid. Maybe it was better for me to grow up without him, if this is the kind of person he is.”

  Callan could hear the strain in her voice – and he understood how difficult hearing something like this must be. Ella’s father might have abandoned her, but he was still her father.

  “He hurt you,” Callan said, realizing his voice sounded fiercer than he’d meant it to, but unable to hold himself back. “You were just a kid who wanted their father. That’s understandable. You couldn’t have been expected to know anything more than that.”

  Ella looked up at him, her eyes bright. “I… I don’t know what to say. My head’s a mess right now. I’m sorry.”

  “You don’t have to say anything,” Callan said, voice warm. “I’m not judging you. I know you don’t have anything to do with your father or his work.”

  Ella just nodded, and Callan noticed she’d raised her hand to her chest, her fingers playing against the pendant that hung from a thin silver chain around her neck. Abruptly, she snatched her hand away.

  Perhaps she noticed him watching her, because she gave him a wan smile. “This is the only thing my father ever gave me,” she said, lifting the pendant – a small, black ball that looked like it was made of a black stone, like onyx. “I don’t know why I wear it. Maybe at the beginning it was out of hope he might come back. Later on, I think it was just habit. Maybe I should’ve just tossed it into the ocean.” She took a deep breath. “Anyway, enough about my sob story. I don’t know my father, and that’s that. I just want to know why my life has just turned to shit over it.”

  “That I don’t know,” Callan said. “I was hoping you might be able to tell me more – like why you left so suddenly.”

  Ella grimaced. “I feel kind of stupid about that whole thing now. I… panicked, I guess. I really hate to admit it, but in the moment, I felt like… I don’t know. My world was crashing down. So when I got that phone call –”

  “Wait, Ella, slow down,” Callan said. “What’s this about a phone call?”

  “Oh. Right. Sorry.” Ella took a deep breath. “A guy called me, right after I got back to my house to find it trashed. He had an American accent, but I’m sure it wasn’t… it wasn’t my dad, I don’t think. Whoever it was, he told me I had to get away, that second. That my life would be in danger if I didn’t. After everything that’d happened, I guess I just… believed him. And,” here, she paused, her eyes flickering up to Callan’s face, “he told me that whatever I’d find at those co-ordinates would have something to do with my father. He didn’t explain. But it seemed important. I guess I just… lost my head. I don’t usually do things like that. Not anymore, anyway. I thought I’d grown up and stopped being so impulsive. Obviously not.”

  Callan began to open his mouth to say something reassuring – to be honest, it had been a pretty impulsive thing for her to do, but he could still understand it – when a terrible smell drifted to his nostrils.

  “Oh, shit! The beans!”

  Diving forward, he grabbed the tray of beans from over the fire with his bare hands. They weren’t totally burned, thankfully – just some of the tomato sauce around the sides, which had turned into a black, bubbling horror.

  “Isn’t that hot?” Ella asked, as Callan fanned away some of the smoke and inspected the damage.

  Whoops, Callan thought. He could feel that the tray was hot against his skin, but his healing was fast enough that it didn’t really bother him.

  “Not a huge deal,” he said, shifting his grip as he tipped some of the beans into the smaller tray that slotted into the larger cooking one. He fished out a couple of potatoes from the heated water and dropped them in. “You get used to things like this. Anyway, dinner’s up. Sorry about the mess.”

  “It’s no problem.” Ella looked down at the beans and potatoes as Callan handed them to her. “Do we have a fork?”

  “No – something better.” Callan reached into his small cooking pack, before flourishing a small, flat piece of metal in front of her. “We have a FRED.”

  “A FRED?” Ella asked, taking it from him and staring at it. Callan didn’t blame her for not understanding what she was supposed to do with it.

  “Technically it’s supposed to stand for Field Ration Eating Device. But I think you’ll agree its other name suits it better.”

  “Which is?” Ella asked.

  “A Fucking Ridiculous Eating Device.”

  Ella stared at him a moment, then snorted out a quick laugh. “Yeah, I can see that. So. How do I use this fucking ridiculous eating device?”

  “This part here is supposed to be a spoon,” Callan said, reaching over to orient the FRED in her hand. “Though if you actually manage to scoop anything up with it, I think you’re in line for the Order of Australia.”

  Ella laughed again – and it was then that Callan noticed how close their faces were to each other, how soft Ella’s breath was against his cheek. Glancing up, he could see the individual motes of darker brown in the iris of her eyes, the faded freckles across the bridge of her nose, the soft pink bow of her full lips…

  I could kiss her now.

  The thought was in his head before he could stop it. He didn’t usually think about kissing women at random, but having his mate so close to him was fogging his senses, making him unable to think rationally. Desire rose in his stomach, heat gathering within him.

  Ella wasn’t moving away. She was breathing deeply, her mouth slightly open, before her eyes flickered down to his lips…

  … And then she pulled away, looking down at her beans and swallowing heavily.

  “I… I guess we should eat,” she stammered, not raising her eyes. Instead, she shoved the spoon end of the FRED into the steaming mess before her, trying to pick up at least one bean.

  Callan took a deep breath, trying to calm his racing heart and fend off the heat he could feel still pooling at his groin.

  You should have kissed her, his diprotodon said with great disapproval. How are we supposed to show our mate what she means to us if you move this slowly?

  Now is not the time, Callan told it. Believe me – it’s not something she’d welcome right now. At least let her eat her beans first.

  Callan stuck his own FRED into the beans, managing to get a couple on the end of it, before spooning them into his mouth. He glanced at Ella, but she seemed absorbed trying to bend the FRED to her will. There was a faint pink tinge to her cheeks, and Callan couldn’t help but stare at her.

  She was so beautiful – and brave, clearly. And she obviously left him in the dust as far as brains were concerned.

  But we will prove we are worthy of her, his diprotodon said. If you ever actually tell her she’s your mate.

  Callan decided he was just about done hearing snide remarks from the diprotodon for the evening, and concentrated on his food instead.

  “I never said thanks for the food,” Ella said abruptly. “Sorry. I know I said I don’t care about it, but this is actually pretty good.”

  Callan laughed, unable to stop himself. “Seriously, how long has it been since you had a really good meal? Remind me to take you out somewhere when we’re finished here – if field rations seem good to you, then I know it’s been a while since you had a proper feed.”

  Ella glanced up at him, eyes wide, and it took Callan’s brain a moment to catch up to what his mouth had said. Before he could say anything though, Ella had smiled, nodding.

  “All right – fine. I admit I’m not a foodie, but sure. I can remember to eat if it’s something really worth eating.”

  Callan caught the half-smile on her lips, an
d wondered if she’d meant to make a double entendre.

  “I guess it must be difficult, though,” he said. “Your work sounds important. I can see how it’d be easy to get caught up in it.”

  “Do you know much about my work?” Ella asked, but she didn’t sound defensive – just curious.

  “A little,” Callan said. “It’s all a bit too technical for me, obviously, but your PhD candidate profile on the uni website is written simply enough for me to understand. Something that’ll make it easier to study diseases like cancer? Sounds important to me.”

  “I… I want it to be,” Ella said, dropping her eyes. “But since my work’s been destroyed, I don’t know how much use it’ll be after all.”

  Callan felt a sudden fierceness welling up inside him.

  He could practically feel Ella’s despair radiating from her skin – the sadness and pain she felt at the loss of all those precious years of work.

  No, not the loss, Callan corrected himself. The theft.

  “I promise you, Ella, I’ll find who did this and make sure they pay for it.” Perhaps his voice came out a little harder than he’d intended, but Callan meant what he said. “Whatever their goal is, they won’t get there. I’ll stop them first. And I know you can recreate your research. I have no doubt on that score.”

  “That’s… that’s quite the vote of confidence,” Ella said slowly. “But I’ll take it.”

  Callan nodded. “Well – are you ready for dessert then?”

  He saw Ella’s eyes widen as she looked up at him. “… Dessert?”

  Callan grinned at her, reaching into his pannier and pulling out a packet of Tim Tams, holding them out to her. “Dessert.”

  Ella stared down at them for a moment, before she burst out laughing. “Yeah, for sure. Dessert sounds amazing.”

  “I saw you grab some and then put them back,” Callan admitted. “But you know, sometimes we all have a craving.”

  It was true. Callan didn’t often allow himself these kinds of sugary treats – but when he’d seen Ella pick them up and then put them back, he realized just how long it’d been since he’d last indulged himself in some chocolately, sugary goo.

  “A craving, huh,” Ella said, a smile on her lips. “Yeah, I know the feeling.”

  “I hope you’ll agree there’s only one way to eat a Tim Tam,” Callan said, reaching for the billycan he kept in his ration pack. “Right?”

  Ella nodded. “Only one right way, yeah.”

  It wasn’t long before Callan had some tea brewed up and poured into two tin mess kit cups. He passed one to Ella, who was opening the Tim Tams.

  “I don’t have any milk, so be careful,” he warned her.

  Ella nodded. “Nothing worse than burning your mouth on a Tim Tam slam.”

  “Too right,” Callan agreed, laughing.

  Still, he hadn’t been joking – much – when he’d said he’d had a sudden overwhelming desire for sugar when he’d seen Ella pick up the Tim Tams, and he couldn’t hold off for long from nibbling off each end of the biscuit, dunking one into his cup, and then sucking up the hot tea through it, turning the biscuit and icing to a sweet, heavenly goo. He shoved it into his mouth just before the whole thing collapsed, leaving his fingers covered in melted chocolate.

  “Oh my God,” Ella murmured, and Callan looked up to see her licking her fingers, her eyes closed in pleasure. “Mmmm. That is so good.”

  Callan averted his eyes as quickly as he could, but it was still too late – the sight of Ella licking her fingers and all but moaning in ecstasy had already stamped itself on his mind. He swallowed heavily, trying to ignore the sudden tightness in his pants. And he really hoped that Ella wouldn’t notice it.

  That would be all he needed just now.

  “God, as much as I want to just devour the whole pack, I know it probably wouldn’t be that good of an idea,” Ella said, once she’d finished cleaning the last of the chocolate from her fingers. As she spoke, a sudden yawn overtook her, and she lifted her glasses briefly to rub her fingers over her eyes. “And to be honest, I’m about ready to drop. I’ve had… kind of a day, I guess you’d call it.”

  “That’s one way of putting it,” Callan agreed. “Let me put the fire out and turn the lamp down. I’ll make you a pillow out of the panniers, and then you get some rest.”

  Ella nodded, and Callan realized just how sleepy she was: her eyelids were drooping, and she looked like she might drop off where she sat.

  Even so, when she lay her head down on the makeshift pillow, he could still see her watching him in the low light of the lantern.

  “Callan,” she said suddenly, as he was making completely sure every last spark of the fire was doused, “are you… you said you came out here to protect me, and that I should come back to Canberra with you. But now you’re helping me run around here, on some stupid quest I don’t even know is worth it myself. I just…” She trailed off, pausing. “Why? Why would you do this for me? What if it turns out to be a wild goose chase, and we’re going through all this for nothing?”

  Callan paused before answering.

  I should tell her, he thought. Explain to her now what it all means.

  It wasn’t something he’d ever had to do before. Everyone he’d ever interacted with had been a shifter themselves, a human who knew about shifters already, or a human who didn’t need to know.

  Explaining shifters for the first time – not to mention that Ella was his mate – was something Callan felt unprepared for.

  Nothing to do but just do it, he thought. He should take his own advice of earlier, and simply seize moments when they were presented to him.

  “Ella, I have something I haven’t told you,” he said. “Something I think you should hear now, rather than later.”

  “Oh? What’s that?” Ella didn’t sound suspicious. Just curious.

  “I’m… not like other people,” he continued. “The Agency I work for – it’s all made up of people like me. Men and women who can change their forms. Become something that isn’t human.”

  Ella was silent. Callan wasn’t exactly sure what he would’ve expected her to say to that, but the fact that she wasn’t laughing her head off or calling him crazy encouraged him.

  “Hargreaves, too. That’s why we exist. Human cops can’t deal with people like that, who can shift into another form at will. So we do.” Callan swallowed. “We’re called shifters. I become a diprotodon – a giant wombat, I guess you’d say, but it’s pretty different in reality. There’s all sorts, though – dingoes, wallabies, eagles, goannas. Things you’d probably call mythical animals, too. Like dragons. And wyverns. My mate Hector turns into a griffin.” Callan paused again.

  Ella still wasn’t calling him a lunatic.

  “That’s not all. Being able to change form is only one of the ways we’re different from humans. We also have – mates. People who are meant for us. I don’t really know how it works, but the moment we touch them, we know. It’s instant. And Ella, that’s what you are to me. I knew when our hands brushed. When that spark of electricity passed between us – that’s when I knew. Ella – you’re my –”

  Callan glanced across at Ella, wanting to gauge her reaction as he told her that she was his mate.

  Her eyes were closed, her lips slightly parted, her chest rising and falling peacefully.

  She was fast asleep.

  Callan stared at her for a long moment. He had to suppress an almost crazy impulse to laugh.

  Of course she is – she was so tired I’m surprised she stayed awake as long as she did.

  She probably hadn’t heard a word he’d said, Callan realized. He’d have to tell her again, at a different time – a time when she wasn’t dead on her feet.

  And we could show ourselves to her then. Show her that we are capable of protecting her, no matter what, his diprotodon said.

  Callan had to admit, it probably had a good point there, though he knew he’d have to warn her before doing anything of the sort. If Ella di
dn’t find the diprotodon terrifying, then hopefully she could see that something so huge and strong would be able to look after her, regardless of what Hargreaves threw at them.

  Well, that would all have to wait ’til tomorrow, Callan decided. For now, he would simply watch over Ella as she slept.

  Trying not to disturb her, Callan leaned over, gently taking her glasses from her face and folding them up. She didn’t even stir. He pulled the blanket up over her shoulders, making sure as much of her was covered as possible – the mosquitoes up here were no joke, though for some reason, he’d never been bothered by them. Perhaps they didn’t like the taste of shifter.

  “Sleep well, Ella,” Callan said, as he gazed down at her – beautiful, calm and peaceful. It was the first time he’d seen her look calm and peaceful since they’d met.

  He realized he could probably simply let his eyes rest on her face all night, but he knew he had to stay vigilant.

  Leaning back against a saddlebag, Callan focused his eyes on the darkness just beyond the circle of lantern light, sharpened his senses, and prepared to spend the night watching over his mate.

  Chapter 7

  Mmmm. Warm.

  Ella curled over a little on her side, snuggling further down into her blanket against the mysterious source of warmth next to her. She hadn’t felt so comfortable or relaxed since… since…

  Well. She wasn’t sure she’d ever felt this comfortable or relaxed.

  Taking a deep, contented breath, Ella was about to let herself fall back into peaceful sleep, when the warmth next to her moved a little, and a small, slightly embarrassed cough sounded from somewhere above her head.

  Ella’s eyes flew open.

  What – what the –

  She looked down. The source of warmth she’d been cuddling up to was a man’s – extremely muscular – arm.

  Ella sat bolt upright, staring, until finally the events of yesterday came back to her in a rush.