She crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m just sick of being a burden to everyone. I’m perfectly capable of staying in the house by myself.”
I crossed the room to take a seat next to her, pulling one of her hands into mine. “You’re never a burden and this won’t be forever. Just please, give me and Wes some peace of mind and let us do this our way. Once we’re sure we have nothing to worry about, you’ll have some of your freedom back, I promise.”
She huffed, but I could see her edges softening. She couldn’t say no to me. Never could. “All right, Wyatt. Have it your way.”
I kissed the side of her head, noticing the rash on her face had cleared up some.
True to his word, Doc Monroe had begun treating Mom right away. That first day he’d drawn a bunch of blood from her so he could assess where she was at and how the disease had progressed. He’d also wanted to confirm the lupus diagnosis. Thankfully, the labs had come back indicating that no major damage had been done to her organs yet, and he’d be able to start treating some of her symptoms like the joint pain, fevers, and rash.
He’d made it clear that lupus wasn’t something she could get rid of, but rather something they’d work together to manage. According to him, she should start feeling much better soon and the relief we’d felt from that statement alone was overwhelming.
I stood up and met Wes at the door. “One of us will be back soon.”
She waved us away, a disgruntled look on her face. “Just go on. I’ll see you later.”
I shook my head and left the house, making sure to lock the door behind us. “I hate that she thinks she’s a burden. And that she’s so upset about being watched all the time,” I mumbled to my brother.
He slapped me on the shoulder as we made our way up the gravel road toward the lodge. “Just be happy she’s feeling well enough to argue with us, brother.”
He was right. There were times she’d been too ill to even put up a fight. Now she was getting some of her spunk back, that meant she must be feeling better. I couldn’t be anything but grateful for that.
We walked in silence up the road, and just as the lodge came into view, so did our new alpha.
“Wes, Wyatt, I’m glad to see you two,” he called as he walked over and shook our hands. “I’m sorry I haven’t been by again this week.”
We frowned at each other before turning back to him. “Don’t worry about it, Alpha. We’re getting along fine,” Wes said.
He nodded absentmindedly. “And how’s your mom? Has the doc been by?”
“Yeah. He’s been great. Some of her symptoms are already improving.”
His eyes were still on the woods in the distance. “That’s good. Real good.”
I frowned at my brother again before speaking up. “Hey, is everything okay?”
Abraham met my eyes, and his shoulders slumped with a heavy exhale. “No, not really. We’ve been dealing with an… issue for the better part of a year and I’m anticipating more bad news any day.”
“What kind of issue?”
He sighed and shook his head. “I suppose you’ll find out soon enough since you’ve both become enforcers.” He ran a rough hand down his face, and when he looked at us again, it seemed like he’d aged ten years. “We’ve had someone killing women in our woods since last June. We don’t know who it is except he’s a werewolf.”
“You don’t recognize his scent?” Wes asked.
Abraham’s jaw clenched. “No. I don’t. And there’s something off about it.”
“How many women has he killed already?”
“The third was just a couple weeks ago.”
I turned wide eyes to my brother before focusing on Abraham again. “Are the authorities involved?”
“We didn’t really have a choice. Thankfully, we have someone from the pack who works at the local precinct and he keeps us updated and off their radar, but it’s only a matter of time before their attention turns to us. Regardless of that, because it’s a werewolf doing this, I feel even more responsibility to find out who it is and stop them.”
I felt that same sense of responsibility down to my bones. It was just another reason I knew we were in the right place with the right pack. “We’ll help any way we can,” I said.
Abraham gave me a weary smile. “I appreciate that. I think we need all the help we can get.” He let out a deep breath and curled his lips into a bigger smile, although it didn’t reach his eyes. “Let’s put this aside for now. We’ve got a barbecue to get to.”
He ushered us forward and I let the subject drop for now, but it still weighed heavily on my mind. I wanted as much information about this series of crimes as possible so I could do everything in my power to make a difference. If I knew my brother, he was probably thinking along the same lines as I was.
“Come on, let me introduce you to the rest of my sisters,” Abraham said as he led us into the lodge and toward a table full of brunettes.
My eyes instantly zeroed in on Callista, and the closer I got, the harder something tugged deep within me. Like she was an anchor and I was a ship at sea, helplessly attached to her.
“Damn. You really do have a lot of sisters,” Wes murmured.
“No kidding,” Abraham said, the humor clear in his voice. When we arrived at the table, he put a hand on each of our shoulders. “Girls, these are our two newest packmates, Wyatt and Wes,” he said, nodding at each of us in turn. “Guys, this is Evelyn and Delilah, and you’ve already met Callista.”
I glanced at the first two women he mentioned, but my eyes didn’t stray from Callista for long. She was in a plaid button-down shirt like mine, only hers was tied in a knot at the waist, presumably because it was two sizes too big. Her mess of curly brown hair covered part of her face and my fingers itched to tuck it behind her ears.
Her eyes stayed glued to the table, however, denying me another look at her beautiful pale blue eyes.
“So, who here is single?” my idiot brother said from the other side of Abraham. Lucky for him there was a mountain of a man between us because my hand itched again, but this time to smack him in the back of the head.
Abraham chuckled. “Good luck with that.”
Wes turned to him. “What? No stay away from my sisters or else?”
Abraham laughed harder and shook his head. “Hell no. I know better.”
“He learned a long time ago to stay out of our love lives,” one of the sisters said. She had pink streaked through her wavy brown hair and a smirk on her pretty face. “I’m Del, and you’re cute, but I don’t do blonds.”
The other sister, who must have been Evelyn, giggled while Callista finally lifted her head, only to glare at Del. “Delilah,” she admonished.
Del turned toward her with rounded blue eyes. “What? I’m just bein’ honest.”
“You just don’t say things like that out loud.”
Del shrugged. “You might not, but I do.”
Wes grabbed his chest. “You wound me.”
“I think you’ll survive,” Del said with a smirk.
I liked this girl already.
“He’ll definitely make it,” I cut in. “It’s nice to meet you Del, Evelyn.”
Evelyn shook her head, her small features pinched. “Call me Evey. The only one who calls me Evelyn is my nana.”
“Got it.” Finally, I turned to Callista, taking a moment to soak her in as much as I could. “It’s nice seeing you again, Callista.”
Both Del and Evey turned slowly to look at their third sister. “You’ve met?” Del asked.
Callista shrugged but kept her head down and her mouth shut.
“Why didn’t you mention you met the new guys already?” Evey asked next.
Callista glanced up at her, eyes narrowed. “It didn’t come up.”
Del scoffed as she looked her sister up and down. “Why are you actin’ so squirrely, Callista McCoy?”
“Why are you acting so annoying, Delilah McCoy?”
Del cracked a grin and shrugged. “Ju
st tryin’ to figure out what my sister is hidin’.”
Callista pursed her lips and looked back down at the table. “I’m not hiding anything. I’ve just had a lot on my mind and updating you two about every person I speak to isn’t a priority.”
“Uh huh,” Del said, a smile still spread across her face.
Abraham sighed. “Ladies. Can we keep it civil? Let’s not give our new packmates a reason to want to leave already.” He turned to us, a grimace on his face. “Come on, let me introduce you to some more wolves.”
We waved goodbye to his sisters and let him lead us away from their table, but my mind didn’t stray far. As I greeted all the new people that were now my pack, I couldn’t help but keep one eye on Callista. It was like I was drawn to her. No matter how far away I was, that tether connecting us was as strong as ever.
Turns out I hadn’t imagined anything. This attraction and connection to her was as real as anything I’d ever felt. I didn’t know what it meant, but I knew I was going to do everything I could to figure it out.
Callie
Dang it. Dang it. Dang it.
The very last thing I needed was for my nosey sisters to catch wind of this… situation with the new guy. That’s what I’d been referring to it as. A situation. Because it wasn’t a problem. I wouldn’t let it be a problem. It was simply a situation I needed to address and get a handle on.
Unfortunately, that was proving more difficult to do than I’d imagined.
Ever since I’d met him earlier in the week, his caramel-colored eyes and strong jaw had all but haunted me. Every time I closed my eyes, that was all I could see. Every time I walked into the kitchen, I half-expected to run into him again. And every time I didn’t, I was filled with equal parts relief and dejection.
I wanted to see him just as bad as I wanted to hide and pretend I’d never met him.
I’d planned on skipping this barbecue all together until Abraham informed us there would be a mandatory meeting attached to it. There was no way the sister of the alpha could skip out on a pack meeting.
So, I’d spent the whole day thinking about what I’d wear while simultaneously hoping this infatuation was all in my head. That I’d blown something innocent way out of proportion. That I’d see him again and feel nothing just like I felt for every other wolf I’d ever met.
But that wasn’t the case.
I’d felt him before I could see him, which brought all my hopes of this being the figment of an overactive imagination crashing to the ground. I did my best to ignore the tug of something deep in my belly as he came closer but was unsuccessful. I’d hoped they’d walk right past us, but it was short-lived.
After that, the best I could do was try to act as unaffected as I could. Which also didn’t work in my favor.
“Okay, Callie. Spill,” Del said as soon as the three men walked away.
I shrugged as I stared down at my nails. “Spill what?”
Del chuckled. “You know damn well what. Why are you actin’ so weird around the new guys?”
I looked up and met her gaze, knowing if I was going to successfully lie to her, I’d need to do it to her face. “I wasn’t acting weird. I told you, I have a lot on my mind. What did you expect me to do? Roll out a song and dance to welcome them to the pack?”
Her eyes narrowed as she continued to study me.
“Not a song and dance, but you coulda been a little friendlier,” Evey piped up from across the table.
I winced and met her eyes next, the color almost the exact same blue as our brother’s. “I was friendly.”
She raised a dark brow. “Yeah, about as friendly as a honey badger.”
“Do you even know what a honey badger is, Evelyn?”
She rolled her eyes. “Obviously a badger that eats honey. Duh.”
I shook my head and opened my mouth to retort when Abraham’s booming voice interrupted me. I shot my sister a glare which she just smiled at before turning toward our brother. Honestly, I was just glad to have the attention off me.
I didn’t do well being under scrutiny, and especially not from my sisters. We were quintuplets, so we were, of course, close. They had a way of extracting information they really wanted, and I couldn’t afford that at the moment.
Now that Wyatt was far enough away that I didn’t have to risk looking into his eyes again, I took the time to study him as much as I’d been wanting to.
He had on a plaid shirt like me, but instead of swimming in it like I was, he filled it out like it’d been custom made for him. His biceps were thick, and his chest was broad, and it was all on display. He paired it with a simple pair of blue jeans and work boots, which shouldn’t have made my heart pound like it was, but it did.
When the meeting was over, I lost sight of Wyatt as he was swallowed up by the crowd of welcoming werewolves. It was just as well. I had no business staring at him like I just was and vowed to not let it happen again.
“You comin’ to get food?” Evey asked.
I turned to find her and Del already standing. “Nah. I’ll wait until the line dies down.”
They shrugged and left as I tried my best to concentrate on my cuticles and not look for him again. Unfortunately, my will was weak, and it didn’t take me long to pick him out of the crowd again. But when I did, I wished I hadn’t.
The rest of the pack had wandered away, leaving only Aubrey, Maddy, and Sophie surrounding Wyatt. I watched as they hung on every word he said, giggling and reaching out to slap his biceps when he said something funny. My eyes narrowed and my heart pounded before I finally tore my gaze away as my sisters sat back down with plates full of food.
I had no business caring who he spoke with. And I couldn’t afford to get caught looking at him with my heart racing like that. My sisters were already suspicious, and I didn’t need to give them any more reasons to pry.
“I’m going to grab some food,” I announced as I stood. I didn’t wait for their acknowledgement or the questions I knew I’d find in their eyes. I already knew I was acting like a lunatic–I didn’t need confirmation of that from them.
As I stood in line waiting for my turn to fill a plate, I couldn’t help but feel that connection grow and intensify. I crossed my arms over my chest and fisted my hands to keep still, but it was taking everything in me to do it.
“What’s good here?”
I turned to find Wyatt right behind me, the gaggle of women somewhere else, thankfully. I spun back around and shrugged. “It’s Ms. Elsie’s cooking. It’s all good.”
He hummed softly, but unfortunately, was not deterred by my frosty answer. “Any recommendations for the new guy?”
I sighed as I grabbed a plate for myself and stepped up to the metal tins full of steaming hot food. “If you can snag a deviled egg before Jimmy gets to them, consider yourself lucky.”
“Deviled eggs. Got it. Anything else?” he asked as he stepped up beside me, his big body so warm and impossible to ignore.
I swallowed harshly as I concentrated on scooping some food onto my plate. “Um. This is always good,” I said, gesturing toward the macaroni salad in front of me.
He shoved his plate forward, his thick arm brushing mine. “Sold.”
I willed my hand to stop shaking as I plopped a spoonful of the pasta onto his plate but that was the end of my control. “Enjoy your meal,” I said, wincing at the stupidity of my words before turning and walking away.
I’d have loved to get more food, but that wasn’t a possibility with Wyatt breathing down my neck. It was clear I’d have to work harder in the future to avoid him. Whatever this was between us was not something I had time for. My organization was only months away from getting on its feet and I couldn’t slow down for anything.
Not even the handsome new werewolf I couldn’t stop dreaming about. Especially not him.
Chapter 5
Callie
“Hey, Abey, are you ready–”
I stopped short moments after barreling into my brother’s office, the
words drying up in my mouth almost immediately. That’s because sitting in front of his desk was the one wolf in my pack I did my best to avoid.
Wyatt Carter.
I silently cursed myself as I stood there, eyes wide and jaw hanging open. This shouldn’t have happened. I’d gotten really good at keeping my distance from him, and if I’d been paying more attention, I wouldn’t be in this situation.
Shortly after Wyatt joined the Asheville pack, I realized I could feel him. Not physically, of course, because again, I avoided the crap out of the guy. No, this was a deeper sensation. Something in the pit of my stomach that tugged on me whenever he was close.
I’d gotten in the habit of tuning into that reaction and using it to my advantage. With him living on pack lands, the feeling never really went away, but I’d begun to realize when it was especially intense, he was close by. That made it easy for me to duck into empty rooms or simply stay in my own when I knew he was near.
Was that a little cowardly? Yeah, it sure was, but I was beyond caring. There was something going on between the two of us and I had no intention of finding out exactly what it was. You’d think my scientific and analytical brain would insist I solve this mystery, but instead, I did my best to block it out. I had zero room in my life for this kind of complication.
But today, I was running late and clearly not paying close enough attention. If I’d been more aware of the deep pulling in the pit of my stomach, I never would have come in here. I never would have put myself in the same room as him. I was entirely too close for comfort and I was suppressing the urge to run out of there as fast as I’d barged in.
So, my two-month long streak of successfully avoiding him had come to an end.
Unfortunately for me and my peace of mind, I was equal parts upset and excited to see him again. Which was irritating to say the least.
Of course, I’d done my best to stay away, but that in no way meant I hadn’t kept tabs on him. As it turned out, my bedroom window overlooked the part of the backyard that Bea and Abey used for training the enforcers. Every day for weeks, I sat up there with my nose practically pressed against the windowpane, watching him work out. Sometimes it was as a wolf, but my favorite was when he stayed in his human form. When I could let my eyes trace every dip and groove of his body. When I could memorize everything about him without the fear of him seeing me too.
Chasing Callie (Southern Werewolf Sisters Book 1) Page 4
