by CJ Cooke
“Sean just got here,” Grey told us, effectively throwing a bucket of cold water over the moment.
As the words left his mouth, I leapt off Calli and the couch as if my ass had been on fire. I wasn’t stupid, and I wasn’t about to try and take on a dragon! I shook my head as the thought rattled through it—a fucking dragon! When had this become our lives?
Grey started giggling like a fucking schoolgirl, and even Calli seemed to be grinning at me in amusement.
“Laugh all you want, but I’m not going to be the first one to piss off the dragon,” I scoffed, taking several large steps away from Calli just in case.
Calli swung her legs off the couch, sitting up straight. I saw her take a deep breath before she went to stand and my concern for her escalated. She wasn’t back to full power from our escape from the witches and then she used a massive amount of magic upstairs just now. It didn’t matter that she hadn’t intended to or that it had channelled through her; it still looked like it was taking a toll.
“Wait,” I suddenly realised, “You said if you didn’t have enough magic, you pulled from your own life force.”
Calli just frowned and reluctantly nodded.
“Then with Coby…” The words drifted away before I could even speak them. The horror of the realisation sitting hard against me.
“It barely needed anything. I don’t regret my decision, and I wouldn’t have done it any differently, even if I could.”
A wave of alpha power flooded the room, and Calli and I both snapped our heads in Grey’s direction.
“No!” he told her firmly. “You don’t get to do shit like that anymore, Calli.”
His power was thick in the room. More than I’d ever felt it before. It wasn’t threatening, but his wolf was making a point that he was just as pissed as Grey was right now.
Calli’s spine snapped to attention, and as she took a breath in to speak, all I could think was, oh shit was he in for it now, at least until she spoke.
“You’re right,” she sighed. “I pulled Coby into my lap, and I could feel his pain. It was almost instinctual, but I still knew what I was doing. I made the conscious decision that it was worth the sacrifice. I don’t regret it, but you’re right. These aren’t decisions I should be making alone without consulting at least one of you.”
Grey dropped down onto the couch, his head falling into his hands. His alpha power was sucked out of the room so quickly, it almost felt like it physically pushed me as it rushed by—that was new.
“I can’t lose you, Calli.” When he looked up, tears lined his eyes, and I knew our alpha had been through too much over the last few days. The pressures were building, and we needed to make sure we took care of him as much as we were everyone else. Grey was always the first to shoulder the burden for the rest of us. It was in his nature, and his role as our alpha. But that didn’t mean we needed to just keep piling everything on top of his shoulders. I was his beta, and it was my job to work with him, to share the burdens.
“Coby,” Grey’s voice broke as he asked something he was clearly dreading the answer to. “When you healed him, were any of his injuries… did they ever…”
He couldn’t finish his sentence, and at first, I didn’t know what he was trying to get at.
Calli dropped to her knees in front of him, clasping his hands in her own. “I didn’t sense any injuries that would indicate he had been sexually abused. There were lacerations and bruising over most of his back and the backs of his thighs and…”
She trailed off, and I almost dreaded hearing what she was going to say. I hadn’t even considered that the abuse could have stemmed into something other than physical. Whatever Calli had decided she shouldn’t say, though, was obviously to try and save Grey from hurting any more.
“Just tell me,” Grey whispered.
Calli’s eyes flashed with guilt. She knew she was about to hurt her mate, and I could tell just how much she didn’t want to.
With a sigh, she quietly added. “And there was a lot of scarring.”
Grey’s head dropped down again. He didn’t say anything, and I think that was possibly scarier than if he had cried, screamed or just done anything. But this wasn’t just on Grey. This was on all of us, the entire pack. None of us had realised what was happening in that house. They practically lived in our backyard, and we’d no idea the extent of Coby’s suffering until now.
Clearing his throat, Grey stood from the sofa. His face was entirely blank, and I could tell he’d just closed a part of himself off, not having time to deal with his emotions right now. We’d be dealing with this tonight though, because I wasn’t going to let this fester away inside of him until it changed him.
“Jacob took Sean upstairs to show him his new room. We don’t have time right now.” Grey went to walk past Calli, but her hand on his arm stopped him.
“Tonight,” she told him firmly, coming to the same conclusion I seemed to have.
He gave her a firm nod and strode out of the room. Calli’s eyes turned to me, filled with concern and sadness.
“I know,” I told her, pulling her into my side as we followed him out together. “We’ll make sure he deals with this tonight.”
Calli’s head leaned against me, and my wolf’s turbulent emotions calmed at the contact. It was hard to see your alpha experiencing so much pain, especially with the type of bond Grey and I had. I needed to stop messing around and step up. I couldn’t be the light-hearted jokester all the time. It was time for me to become the beta Grey deserved.
12
Calli
We found Sean sitting on Jacob’s bed with Abby on one knee and Jacob on the other. Coby seemed a little unsure of himself and sat on the floor, listening to the story Sean was weaving for them. He had the most amazing stories of times when dragons roamed the Earth. I had no idea if they were true or not, although I suppose to some extent they must be if dragon shifters were real.
Jacob had his usual happy smile on his face, and Abby was absolutely transfixed, hanging on his every word.
As soon as Sean saw me in the doorway, he got his trademark smirk, and I just knew he had some kind of comment I either wasn’t going to expect or would just cringe at when I heard it. Good old Uncle Sean didn’t beat around the bush.
“Dinner is ready,” I suddenly blurted out, having no idea if it actually was or even what time it was. All I knew was that whatever he had been about to say, I probably didn’t want to hear it.
“Why don’t you kids go wash up, and Calli can show me what’s for dinner,” Sean said with a grin, and I knew he was still gearing up to say something.
Grey and Tanner quickly helped the kids into the bathroom and then closed the door behind them, abandoning me with the dragon—cowards!
Sean just steered me out of the room and then dropped an arm around my shoulder as we walked. This was his go-to move when he was getting ready to tell you something you weren’t going to like or was going to embarrass the hell out of you. It was like he was locking you into place so you couldn’t escape when he started to talk. Unfortunately, for most people, Sean was so smooth you didn’t see it coming until he already had you. Somehow, even though I knew all his moves, he still managed to trap me with it every time!
“Some powerful magic is moving through this house, Calli, and not everyone inside it is someone you know to be your friend.”
Oh good, we were getting the chastising version of Sean. A pang of sorrow rushed through me as the grief for my parents suddenly hit me square in the chest. This was a conversation my father would’ve had with me if he was here.
Sean’s arm tightened around my shoulders in response.
“I know, kid, I miss them too.”
The thing with Sean was that when he wanted to, he only needed to say a few words, and you could hear every emotion behind it. Whereas, if he didn’t want to play his hand, he just adopted that trademark smirk and charming exterior, but right now, nothing but pain echoed in that brief sentence.
&
nbsp; “I’m serious, though. You need to be careful, Calli.”
I frowned for a moment as I thought about his words. Sean hadn’t been here when I’d healed Coby, and there was no way for him to sense magic after that much time.
“Wait, what magic are you talking about?” I asked in confusion.
“Just now, I felt a rush through the house.”
“That wasn’t me,” I told him, and I could almost see from the look on his face that he didn’t believe me. “It was from Grey.”
Sean raised one eyebrow and said nothing else as we headed down the stairs. He likely wouldn’t talk about it again until he’d run all the facts around his head for a while. That seemed to be the way Sean dealt with stuff like this. It was interesting, though. Why would Sean have mistaken Grey’s release of alpha power for my magic? I wasn’t an alpha.
We found River in the kitchen mashing some potatoes, and I was grateful to him for stepping in and finishing dinner for me.
“Potatoes and veggies are done,” he told me, but then blushed. “Erm, do you want to maybe make the gravy?”
“Sure, I can,” I stepped up to the counter and smiled at the Yorkshire pudding ingredients on the side. These guys were borderline obsessed.
I felt River step up behind me, his chin dropping down onto my shoulder. “I’ll trade you a cup of tea for some Yorkshire puddings.”
“Deal,” I laughed.
It didn’t take long to get the batter made and the Yorkshires in the oven. The gravy came together quickly and was simmering on the stove by the time everyone came downstairs. It had taken a suspiciously long time to come down from washing their hands, and when I looked at Grey in question, he just shook his head at me. That couldn’t be a good thing.
Aidan, Blake, and a sheepish looking Nash joined us next. He still wasn’t sure around me, and if I was totally honest, I didn’t really know how I felt about him either. We needed to sit down and just get it all out there to move past this, but I was still angry. And I didn’t see how I could get around that without time.
“Can someone set the table?” I called out as I turned back to stir the gravy. “Grey, do you mind carving up the meat?”
We were the picture of domestic bliss as the dining table was opened up with the extra leaves, and everyone got ready to eat.
I looked around, realising that Hunter was missing. I hadn’t expected Cassia to come down. I was surprised she even made it out of bed earlier. But they both needed to eat. I made sure to make up two plates for them, and Aidan bargained to run them upstairs for me if he got an extra Yorkshire pudding. I was going to batch make these and start using them as currency at this rate.
It was quiet at the table while we ate until Sean decided it was the perfect time to start asking questions. It was clever, really, there was no way these guys would abandon their food, and he had us just where he wanted us.
“You’ve moved into the packhouse then,” he said casually.
It was almost funny the way that Tanner stiffened at his words. I had no idea why he’d decided to be scared of Sean. He was just a big pussycat, with massive teeth and claws—okay, maybe I got it.
“Yes, I decided it would be good for Jacob to be with his pack. Plus, the pack is stronger and safer if we’re all together,” I told him confidently.
“You’re right,” he nodded, and Tanner almost deflated on the spot.
“So, where will you be sleeping?”
Now he was just being mean.
“Stop it. I know you know what you’re doing, and it’s not nice.” I almost laughed at the look of disappointment on his face.
“Oooo, Uncle Sean got told off,” Jacob whispered to Abby with a giggle.
Everyone laughed because, really, it was impossible not to. After that, the conversation seemed to flow a bit easier. We made ice cream sundaes for the kids for dessert, and they took them upstairs to Coby’s room to play on the switch so we could talk—what could possibly go wrong?
It was almost like he’d been waiting for the right time because as soon as we ushered the kids upstairs and heard the bedroom door close, there was a knock on the front door. I felt like I should be dreading this meeting, but weirdly I wasn’t. Whatever Davion wanted, we’d deal with it. He and his clan put themselves at significant risk to come to our aid, and apart from asking for something in return, they didn’t even question whether they should help us. There were a lot of people that wouldn’t have done the same.
Grey was the first to the door. I got it, I’d let him have his alpha moment with Davion. Tanner was there to hopefully make sure he behaved and not just egg him on. Sean gave me an amused look as I moved into the kitchen and turned on the kettle.
“That must take some getting used to,” he murmured.
I just shrugged because really what was there to say. I wasn’t going to bad mouth any of my mates because they didn’t deserve that. Did they sometimes feel a bit overprotective? Maybe. But I understood where they were coming from. This was going to be a learning experience for all of us.
It didn’t take long for the others to join us, and we sat down at the dining table like we were entering into some kind of conference. It felt weird at first, almost too formal. But I supposed something like this shouldn’t be some casual exchange.
A pit of dread started to form in my stomach. Davion looked sullen. He didn’t have his usual carefree attitude, and the serious look didn’t seem to suit him.
“I think we all know why you’re…” Sean trailed off, his eyes lifting to the doorway where Hunter stood supporting Cassia. He cocked his head to the side in question. The implication was clear. He didn’t see them as anything to worry about, but they needed to explain themselves. I saw Hunter clench his teeth in agitation. Cassia either didn’t notice or didn’t care, and pushed herself away from him, moving slowly into the room. The effect was probably ruined by the fact that she could barely move on her own. She should be in bed. I wouldn’t have enough magic to heal her until tomorrow at the earliest, and even then, I doubted it would be enough to get her back to full strength. Pushing herself to the point of exhaustion now was only going to make matters worse, and if I was honest, it was pissing me off that she was so blasé about her own health, almost like she was taking for granted the fact I would be there to pick up the pieces if anything did happen.
“Don’t start with me,” she snapped, her eyes taking in what was no doubt my pissed off expression. “If the shadow touched are here asking for favours, it affects us all, and I can give you insight into the difficulties that come from our kind.”
Shit! Why did she have to go and make sense? Some people just couldn’t let you have the luxury of thinking you were in the right, even when you weren’t.
I gave her a stiff nod, and she slowly sat down in one of the chairs. It was obvious she was hurting, and just watching her made me wince. I really needed to check in with her tomorrow. Nash could wait. Being a shifter, he’d likely be able to heal his leg wound on his own. Cassia, on the other hand, looked like she was barely getting by.
Hunter stood at her back, arms crossed. It was almost funny. He seemed to have completely forgotten the whole reason he’d been sent here was because they wanted him to guard—well, spy on—me.
“Is this the extent of your menagerie, or are we waiting for anyone else?” Davion snarked. Something was grating on his nerves, probably the fact that even though it was wrapped in the guise of us owing him a favour, he was still asking us for our help.
“Is that really how you want to start this out?” I asked, sitting back in my chair, trying to give off a relaxed air that I definitely wasn’t feeling.
Davion’s eyes nervously cast around the table. The problem was, the more nervous he seemed to be, the worse he was making me feel about what was to come.
“My apologies, I just wasn’t expecting such a big audience.” You had to give him some credit for his honesty.
“We are a pack, and we make these types of decisions togethe
r,” Grey told him gruffly.
“Not everyone here is pack,” Davion pointed out, his eyes scanning around and then landing on Cassia specifically.
“No. But they have a right to weigh in on this situation when it will affect them as well. We don’t take choices from those around us. Trust is built through mutual expression, not in seclusion.”
I was almost taken aback by Grey’s words. I’d never heard him speak like that before, but then I’d never really witnessed Alpha Grey in action before.
Davion nodded solemnly, but it came across more like he was trying to buy time rather than actually agreeing to anything.
“For God’s sake, Davion, spit it out. We don’t have an age to get through this. You might not realise it yet, but you are amongst friends. Just talk to them,” Sean suddenly said, coming to the same conclusion I had.
Rather than getting pissed, which I’d come to expect from Davion, he seemed to deflate on the spot.
“When you came to me for help, I told you I didn’t have my full clan here. That was true to some extent; I don’t. But only because those that are with me are all that’s left.” He didn’t meet anyone’s eye as he spoke, and I could see this was hard for him to admit.
I’d had very little interaction with Davion before. I knew of him, but I’d only ever met him twice before we asked him for his help. I’d never been to or seen his clan, though. Sean must have, though, because his spine snapped straight in shock.
“Davion, that would mean you must have lost…”
“Forty-two clan members? Yes. There are only twelve of us left.”
“We're not getting involved in some kind of vampire war!” Grey’s voice boomed across the table.
“You’re right, you’re not. You wouldn’t stand a chance against one of the other clans in any event,” Davion scoffed. “This problem is uniquely suited to your skills, however. Or rather, the beautiful Calli’s skills.”
