Chasing Callie (Southern Werewolf Sisters Book 1)

by Heather MacKinnon

  At one point, when I was younger and much stupider, I’d even started hating her myself. Although I wasn’t sure if it was really her I hated or what she was. I just wanted to be a normal werewolf with normal werewolf problems. Not a half-breed who had to fight twice as hard as everyone else for the acceptance that came so easily for them. Every day was a struggle, but it wasn’t until I was older that I stopped to think about how hard it must have been for her.

  She practically lived in isolation our whole lives. Her only escape had been when she’d leave pack lands to work as a nurse at the local hospital. But as soon as her shift was over, she came straight home and basically hid inside our house. She didn’t have friends, she didn’t talk to the other pack members. All she had was our dad and us.

  It wasn’t fair that she’d had to live like that, but there hadn’t really been another option. With us and our dad being werewolves, we needed to live somewhere we would be safe and able to shift when we needed to. Unfortunately, that meant she was forced to live as an outsider in a place that wasn’t ever truly safe for her. And she did all that because of how deeply she loved my dad and us.

  When I’d finally grown up enough to pull my head out of my ass, I’d realized the kind of sacrifices she’d made for us and did my best to make her life as easy as possible. I finally understood how much we owed her and swore to repay it any way I could. I still felt that debt weighing me down to this day.

  “Wyatt?”

  I shook my head and looked into the alpha’s blue eyes. “I’m sorry, what?”

  “I was just asking if you all would be more comfortable living in a pack house.”

  “Oh, uh, yeah. That would probably be safest for her.”

  Abraham frowned and shot a glance at his sister, who looked equally troubled. “You won’t have those kinds of issues here. This pack is full of wolves who had trouble finding a place to belong. No one’s going to give you trouble over your mother being human.”

  His words sounded good, but having lived all my life seeing the way wolves treated humans, I’d believe it when I saw it. But all I said was, “That’ll be a nice change.”

  I could tell he didn’t believe me when he narrowed his eyes, but thankfully he dropped it. “I’ll have a pack house cleaned up for you today. It’ll be ready for you by tomorrow morning.”

  The vice that felt like it was permanently squeezing my chest loosened the smallest bit. This was really happening.

  “And I’ll have Doc Monroe stop by your new place tomorrow once you’re settled and take a look at your mom.”

  That vice loosened even more. “You have a doctor on pack lands?”

  Abraham had an easy smile on his face. “We do. He’s a great guy. I know he’ll be more than happy to take care of your mom.”

  My shoulders drooped as the weight that had settled on them finally fell off. A weight I’d felt bearing down on me ever since our dad died. It had always been his job to take care of Mom, but with him gone, that role fell to us. Honestly, it felt like we’d been doing a shitty job of it up until now.

  Abraham turned to Beatrice again. “Can you have Aubrey go work on house three for them?”

  She nodded and left the office. When she was gone, Abraham turned to us and clapped his hands. “Do you two have any questions for me?”

  My brother and I looked at each other before he spoke up. “What about us joining the enforcers?”

  “Ah, yes. We can have Bea evaluate the two of you sometime this week. If she’s satisfied with your abilities, you’ll be more than welcome to join.”

  “What does the position entail?” I asked. From what I’d heard, every alpha had different expectations for their enforcers, and I wanted to know what we were getting into before accepting a position like this.

  “Well, obviously your main job is to protect the pack. That means you’ll be put on a rotating shift running patrols with the other enforcers. You’ll also be expected to join weekly trainings to keep you at peak physical performance. Those are run by Bea and occasionally me. Usually my enforcers live and eat here, but since you’ll be in a pack house, things will be a bit different. You’ll still be welcome to take your meals here as often as you like and have full access to any of the amenities the lodge has to offer. In addition to food and lodging, you’ll also receive a stipend for your services.”

  My jaw basically hit my lap. Abraham went on to state a figure for our salaries and my mouth continued to hang open. It was more than twice what we’d been paid at our old pack. This place was starting to seem too good to be true.

  “How about I give you two a tour now?”

  Wes and I stood when Abraham did. “That sounds great.”

  He led us to his office door and waved us out ahead of him. “This is my wing. You can usually find me in my office, but I’ll also give you both my cell number just in case you need me and can’t find me.”

  He went on to explain that his sisters’ rooms were down the other hallway on that floor before leading us to the staircase. “Most of the enforcers live on the second floor, but a few have rooms on the ground level,” he continued as we walked.

  When we reached the first floor, he turned down a hall and opened a door to another set of stairs leading into the basement. “Down there is a game room, a movie room, and some basic lounge areas. Feel free to use any of them any time you like.”

  He closed the door and turned to head back the way we came. We followed him, and if I knew my brother, he was as lost in thought as I was. Never had I imagined an alpha opening his home to his pack like this. It was unheard of.

  “We’ll see who’s around that I can introduce you to,” Abraham called over his shoulder as he headed toward the kitchen. When we got there, the two chatting women were gone, but the card players were still at is as well as the lone woman with the thick book in front of her.

  Abraham stepped up to the beefy-looking werewolves first. “Huxley, Mathias, Calvin, Clyde,” he said as he pointed to each man. “This here is Wyatt and Wes. They’re the newest members of our pack.”

  They all extended their hands one by one for us to shake. Their expressions were a little wary, but that was to be expected. Their job was to protect this pack and they weren’t sure they could trust us yet. I knew we’d eventually prove they could.

  “These two are hoping to become enforcers as well. They’ll be evaluated by Bea sometime this week.”

  Huxley snorted as he looked down at the cards in his hand. “Good luck with that. She’s vicious.”

  Mathias chuckled and shook his head.

  “She can’t be that bad,” Wes spoke up from beside me.

  Huxley looked up at him. “You have no idea.”

  My idiot brother, instead of being properly cowed, stood a little taller. I knew he was itching for the challenge, and I could only hope that Beatrice knocked him on his ass. He could use being taken down a peg or two.

  Abraham turned around to scan the rest of the kitchen before his eyes widened slightly. “Can’t believe Callie’s out of her bat cave,” he murmured before gesturing toward the woman sitting at a table all alone. “Come meet one of my sisters,” he said to us.

  “How many do you have?” Wes said as we followed Abraham across the room.

  He chuckled. “Too many. There are five of us.”

  My eyes widened as we followed Abraham. Werewolves were always born as twins or even triplets, but five at once? Damn.

  We reached the curly-haired woman, but she ignored us. How she could be oblivious to three giant werewolves surrounding her was a mystery, but she was somehow doing it.

  Abraham leaned over and tapped her on the shoulder. She jerked in response before glancing up at him and I got my first good look at her.

  Her pale skin was flawless in a way that almost looked unnatural. The only thing marring her face was a small birthmark to the right of her pink lips. Her eyes were a pale blue and I could see the resemblance to Abraham and Beatrice in them.

  “
Sorry to interrupt, but I wanted to introduce you to our new packmates.” He turned to us. “Wyatt, Wes, this is my sister, Callista.”

  Even though my eyes hadn’t left her once, when her pale blue gaze met mine, I was completely unprepared.

  Everything came to a screeching halt as the whole damn world stopped spinning.

  My heart thumped irregularly in my chest and my sweaty hands clenched into fists as her eyes widened slightly. In that instant, I knew she was feeling the same thing I was. That something was happening between us. We were on the cusp of something critical and life altering, and just when I thought my heart was going to beat through my rib cage, she broke eye contact.

  I took a deep breath like I’d spent hours oxygen deprived. Keeping my panting as discreet as I could, I raked my eyes over every available inch of her. It felt like I could stand there and watch her for hours.

  When she finally spoke, it was like another shock to my system.

  “Nice to meet you both.”

  Her voice was soft and quiet, but strong enough to cross the distance between us. It was like cotton candy wrapped around steel. Light and fluffy on the outside, but with a strength and resilience underneath.

  “You too,” Wes said from beside me.

  When I was still silent a minute later, my brother elbowed me in the ribs, and I staggered forward. “Right. Nice to meet you too,” I choked out.

  I didn’t know what the hell was going on, but I knew it all stemmed from the woman sitting in front of me. The one who was still staring at the table before her like it was the most interesting thing in the room.

  Thankfully, it seemed Abraham hadn’t noticed anything because he clapped a hand on my shoulder and spun me around. “Now, let’s go take a look at the rest of the pack lands. I can show you where your house is and then let you get back to your mom so you can all prepare to move in tomorrow.”

  I smiled at him, but I could feel how brittle it was. “Sounds good.”

  As he led us through the kitchen, I couldn’t help but toss a glance over my shoulder at Callista. She was still staring at the table, and if I wasn’t mistaken, it looked like she was shaking her head softly too.

  I didn’t know what just happened or who that woman really was, but I knew I needed to find out.

  Callie

  “Hoo wee, did you see the hot new guys?”

  I ignored the annoying voice and continued to read the text in front of me. My organization was about to start working on legislation having to do with fracking and I needed to be as knowledgeable as possible.

  “Callie. Did you hear me?”

  I looked up to find Aubrey perched on the table beside me. When had she even gotten there?

  “What’s going on?”

  Aubrey rolled her eyes. “The new guys. Did you see them? They’re delicious-looking.”

  I frowned at her choice of words and shook my head. Since when were men described the same way as you would a cake? “Um. No. I didn’t.”

  Aubrey huffed out an irritated breath. “That’s probably because you’ve got your nose so far inside that book I’m surprised you don’t have ink on the end of it.”

  I self-consciously reached up to rub the tip of my nose. “I’m studying, Aubrey. We have a huge case coming up and I need to–”

  “Yeah, yeah,” she said, cutting me off. “Anyway, I’m just letting you know I call dibs on both of them.”

  Now it was my turn to roll my eyes. “What are you, five? You can’t call dibs on a person. Let alone two people.”

  Aubrey shrugged and hopped off the table. “Well, I just did.” With that, she sauntered off.

  I watched her for a moment longer before I shook my head and returned to my textbook. She was ridiculous and I didn’t have time for her nonsense. Truthfully, I should have been up in my room studying, but the walls had felt like they were closing in on me and I thought a change of scenery was in order.

  My environmental organization was slowly picking up speed and I needed to be ahead of my game now more than ever. So far it was just me and Katie doing what we could when we could, but I had plans to change all that. Within the next year, I wanted to hire another scientist and possibly acquire a lab of our own. That would take money though, and that wasn’t something we had at the moment.

  In the meantime, I needed to finish this text and fill my already overflowing brain with everything I could learn about fracking and its potential effect on the air, water, and soil before we went out in the field ourselves.

  I don’t know how much time I lost in that textbook before I was tapped on the shoulder. When I looked up, I found my brother, Abey, with a smile on his face.

  “Sorry to interrupt, but I wanted to introduce you to our new packmates.”

  This must have been what Aubrey was jabbering on about. It was no surprise really. She’d already made her way around most of the men in the pack. Eventually she’d need some fresh meat, or she’d starve.

  “Wyatt, Wes, this is my sister, Callista.”

  Ugh. I really didn’t like when he called me Callista. It reminded me of our parents, and those were usually sad thoughts I tried to steer clear of.

  I looked up and smiled at the first of the two men. This one had messy blond hair, light brown eyes, and a mischievous smile on his face. With a nod at him, I turned to what I assumed was his brother. He had a similar hair color, although his was much shorter than the other’s. But it wasn’t until I met his eyes that the whole room ground to a halt.

  They were almost the exact same color as the first man’s, but that’s where the similarities stopped. This man’s eyes gripped me like a boa constrictor, cutting off my oxygen and the blood flow to my extremities. It felt like I was suffocating as I fell deeper and deeper into his warm gaze.

  I’d never felt that way in my life. Never had that kind of instant connection with another person.

  It threw up bright red flags that I couldn’t ignore.

  I wrenched my eyes away from his and took my first real breath in what felt like forever. I had no idea what just happened, but I knew I couldn’t let it happen again. Something that powerful and all-encompassing had no place in my life.

  With my eyes on the wooden table in front of me, I mumbled, “Nice to meet you both.”

  The first man answered, “You too,” and I found myself yearning to hear the second man’s voice instead.

  While I was silently chastising myself, the voice I was longing to hear rang out in the space between us. “Right. Nice to meet you too.”

  Jeez. Even his voice was captivating.

  If these two guys were really about to join our pack, I was in deep trouble.

  My brother spoke up next and I silently thanked him. “Now, let’s go take a look at the rest of the pack lands. I can show you where your house is and then let you get back to your mom so you can all prepare to move in tomorrow.”

  “Sounds good,” the second man said, and I had to actively hold back a shiver from racing down my spine.

  Thankfully, they left moments later, and my heart was able to slowly return to its normal pace. I wasn’t alone long though.

  “I changed my mind,” Aubrey said. “I call dibs on that one.”

  I whipped my head in her direction to see her pointing at Abey and the men he’d just introduced me to.

  “Which one?” I asked cautiously, although I felt like I already had a pretty good idea which one she meant. That’s just the way my luck went.

  “The one with the shorter hair. He’s mine, so hands off.”

  I scoffed. “You can’t be serious. He’s not a toy, Aubrey. You can’t claim him.”

  She narrowed her eyes at me, and I fought to hold still under her critical gaze. “Why do you care? It’s not like you’d do anything with him.”

  She kind of had me there.

  I was notoriously single and that was the way I preferred it. I was too busy with my work and studies to pay attention to men or entertain ideas of dating them. Besides,
I’d never met anyone I cared to set my books down for. No one had ever interested me more than my studies.

  It seemed like that might have changed today.

  “Whatever, Aubrey. Do what you want,” I said before turning back to my textbook and dismissing her.

  Thankfully, she left soon after that, but thoughts of the new guy were apparently here to stay. I could tell this was going to be a problem, which meant I’d be sequestering myself in my room again until further notice.

  Chapter 3

  Wyatt

  The drive back to the motel was silent. I think we were both too wrapped up in our own thoughts to worry about the other. That changed when we finally parked in front of our room.

  “I can’t believe it was that easy,” Wes said.

  I blew out a deep breath and ran a hand through my short hair. “I know, man. It’s almost too good to be true.”

  “Do you believe that?”

  I stared out the windshield at the door to our room, imagining our mom sitting inside waiting for us. “For her sake, I hope it’s not.”

  Wes was quiet for a few minutes before he spoke up again. “It’s pretty lucky the first pack we get accepted into has a doctor, huh? Maybe Mom can finally start to get better.”

  “Yeah, that’s if he’s actually helpful.”

  “You think he won’t treat her?”

  I shrugged. “I don’t know what to think. I mean, Abraham seemed nice enough, and I know he said his pack would feel the same about her as he does, but does he really know? He can’t guarantee how every wolf is gonna react to Mom.”

  “Do you think we shouldn’t join his pack, then?”

  I shook my head. “No. We have to join. You know we’re out of options. I’m just not ready to let my guard down yet, you know?”

  I saw Wes nod out of the corner of my eye. “Yeah, I hear you.”

  “Until we know it’s really safe there, we need to make sure one of us is always with her. I won’t risk something happening to her now that it seems we’ve finally found a safe place. Until we’re sure, we need to be on alert. Got it?”