by CJ Cooke
Calli pulled Abby off Jean’s lap and held her while Jacob clambered over to her, being extra careful with Jean. The kid was a saint.
“Can you guys maybe explain what happened?” Calli asked them.
“Blake was sad because his princess was asleep,” Abby said, her smile dropping into a frown. “So, I told him we would wake her up for him.”
“But how did you do that, sweetie?”
Abby looked confused, and it was obvious her young mind didn’t have the necessary words to explain what she’d done. She probably didn’t even really know herself how she’d done it.
“We took the bad out of her,” Jacob finally said when he realised Abby wasn’t going to answer.
I crouched down on the floor so I was on the same level as him, my hands on his knees as I tried to word my question in a way that he would understand.
“But the bad that was inside Jean was making her baby sick. How did you make them better?”
Jacob cocked his head to the side in thought, and he said, “By giving the good to her.” Then he nodded in satisfaction like it explained everything.
I looked at Calli with a grimace, and she shook her head. They couldn’t explain it to us in a way we’d understand. But these two children had achieved something no one else had been able to since the wolf hunts had first started—they’d saved someone from the drain.
If this got out, it was going to be bad, very, very bad.
20
Calli
We ended up ordering burgers from the diner because we were all exhausted after the day we'd just had, and no one wanted to cook. I needed sleep, and I needed it soon. I hadn’t got enough hours in earlier, and once we got back from the Council, I’d sneaked back to my house with Cassia so we could start packing my things and I could have the space to clear my head. Well, I packed while she supervised because she wasn’t really in any shape to be out of bed. I’d offered for her and Hunter to stay there while we sorted out the Maverick situation, however that was going to turn out, but she’d refused. I think she and Hunter were quite looking forward to having their own space, but he didn’t want to be too far from the pack.
The best part about ordering burgers, though, had definitely been the look on Maverick’s face when we put his in front of him. He’d looked absolutely horrified as he took in the sight of everyone eating. When he took his first cautious bite, I’d seen the way his eyes rolled in satisfaction, and I couldn’t help but wonder if this was his first burger, as outrageous as that thought was.
We’d gone on about the idea of watching a Disney movie after dinner until Maverick had excused himself to his room. I kind of felt a bit guilty about the way we were pushing him out, but I didn’t know how we could ever trust him. I didn’t have enough energy to go through the bonding ceremony tonight and Grey had reluctantly agreed to push it back to tomorrow. It seemed wrong to not give Maverick a chance to prove himself, though. He was still one of my mates. Shouldn’t I at least be giving him the opportunity to show me that he was worthy of the role?
I yawned loudly and knew I wasn’t going to last much longer. Weirdly, I didn’t actually know if I had a room here or where I was supposed to be sleeping, and I was starting to feel too awkward to ask.
Grey had asked me to stay with him last night, and it didn’t even occur to me yesterday if I would have a bedroom here. It was only when I was throwing some clothes into a bag back at my house that I realised I didn’t even know where I’d be putting it. Everything else was just packed into boxes at my old house. We’d only got through about half of the library and decided to finish packing it up tomorrow and move everything in one go.
“You ready for bed, Cal?” Tanner, who was currently acting as my pillow, asked.
I nodded sleepily, and then I felt myself being scooped up from the couch. At least this saved me from asking where I was going to sleep. I was already drifting in and out of it when I was set down on a soft bed.
“Calli, wake up, sweetheart. You’re going to want to at least get changed before you fall asleep,” Tanner told me, and even though I grumbled in frustration, I knew he was right.
Sitting up, I swayed a bit to the side before Tanner straightened me with a chuckle. I looked around me and realised I wasn’t in Grey’s bedroom because it was different from where I’d slept last night. Given that Tanner was currently pulling off his jeans and walking into what looked like a closet, it would seem this was his room.
When he walked out of it holding the bag I’d brought back to the house earlier, I frowned in confusion.
“I stashed it in there earlier because I was planning on stealing you tonight,” he explained, and I shook my head at the way he’d worded it.
Ever the gentleman, Tanner carefully helped me get changed because I was having trouble staying upright, and then tucked me into bed before he scooted in on the other side. I wanted to talk to him about how he was taking everything that had happened today. I wanted to know how he wanted to deal with the whole Maverick situation.
“Calli, I can feel your mind spinning out of control with questions, sweetheart. But you’re drained and exhausted. Sleep. We can talk about it all in the morning.”
It was almost like my body had been waiting for him to say it, and I was asleep before I even made the conscious decision to do it.
When I woke up the following day, I was alone in bed and immediately annoyed, assuming Tanner had run off to avoid having to talk to me this morning. When he walked into the room a moment later, carrying a tray with breakfast on it, he must have seen the look on my face because he laughed.
“Thought I’d run off?”
He shook his head as he climbed onto the bed, placing the tray between us.
“I’ll admit, I may have thought you’d sneaked off.”
“And here I was intercepting the rugrats and sending them off to school before making you this delicious breakfast feast.”
Grabbing a piece of bacon, I shoved it into my mouth. It was the perfect amount of crispy and salty and I moaned in delight. Dear God, was there anything more perfect on this planet than bacon?
“I’m weirdly jealous of that piece of bacon right now,” Tanner laughed as I grabbed another piece.
“Talk to me while I eat all of your bacon,” I grinned.
“I mean, you could have some of the pancakes and save me a few pieces of bacon.”
Grabbing another piece, I shrugged, “The longer you put it off, the less you’re going to have,” I warned.
“You’re cold, woman,” he said, shaking his head, but then deflated with a sigh. Feeling a bit bad, I broke a piece of bacon in half and passed it to him.
“You can earn the other part,” I smiled.
Leaning forward, pure lust flushing across his eyes, he grinned, “I know a way I can earn it.”
“No dice, big man,” I laughed, poking him on the nose with the remaining half before popping it in my mouth. “You know what I want.”
“Urgh, fine, we can do girl talk.”
“Now that you’ve had the night to toss and turn, how do you feel about all of this?”
Tanner cringed in embarrassment, “Did I keep you up?”
“No, sweetheart, I was dead to the world. But I can tell by those suitcases you’re carrying under your eyes that you didn’t sleep much.”
He nodded sadly. “He’s my baby brother, Calli. And he spent his whole life under the thumb of that man. I should've been there to protect him.”
“No, honey, you had no way of knowing he was even alive, and you were only a little boy. The blame for all of this lies solely with your father,” I reassured him. “There’s no changing past events. All we can do is look at what we want to do now.”
“Is it terrible that I want to try and get to know him?”
“No, why would that ever be terrible?” I asked him.
“Because… well, he’s such an ass!”
I couldn’t help the laughter from that one because he wasn’t wrong
.
“Calli, you know you can reject him as a mate if you want?” Tanner asked me, his eyes fixed on the bedsheets as he creased them between his fingers.
“Yeah, I know, or rather I didn’t, I just assumed. I’ll never mate with anyone I don’t want to, Tanner.”
“Will you give him a chance?” he asked quietly. “I know he’s a dick, and to be honest, if you hadn’t punched him yesterday, I definitely would have. But I need to see if he can be a good man when he’s free from our father’s influence. He didn’t have a chance to know our mother. She wasn’t there to protect him. I wasn’t there to protect him. I just want to give him a chance to see what it’s like to be part of a family.”
“Of course, I will.” I slipped a finger under his chin and tipped his face up to look at me. Gone was the fun-loving, outgoing mate I’d always known. In his eyes, I could see the broken little boy whose mother died and was then cast out by his father. A little boy full of grief and sadness who was saved by another little boy with a big heart, forging a friendship and a bond that would last forever.
We dropped the heavy conversation for the time being, and I graciously allowed Tanner to share the bacon with me. Lying in bed, we talked about easy topics like our favourite cake flavours and the first time Tanner and Grey got blackout drunk when they were teenagers. It was nice, and it was time away from reality that we both needed.
When we couldn’t put it off any longer, mainly because I’d die if I didn’t get a cup of tea soon, we crawled out of bed and made our way downstairs to face reality and get on with the day. I had a library to finish packing up and a new potential mate to get to know.
21
Maverick
It was nearly lunchtime, and I still hadn’t seen Calli. As they ushered me away last night, I went willingly, trying to show some form of acceptance of my new life here. I knew I'd have to win some trust from them if I had any chance of finding what my father needed. But I wasn’t going to be able to do that if I didn’t even have a chance to spend any time with her.
I suspected the others would be trying to poison her against me. I couldn’t blame them; they already had to share her between the three of them. Why would they ever want to invite someone else into their bond? I was a stranger to them, and they owed me nothing.
Although, maybe I could use that to try and manipulate my brother into siding with me. Perhaps I could play on his guilt and work the angle that he’d abandoned me as a poor helpless babe. He seemed the sort that would fall hook, line and sinker for that sort of sob story.
I couldn’t believe my father blindsided me with the news of a brother yesterday when I walked into the Council chambers. He could've at least warned me. I could understand why he'd be ashamed of him. He was clearly defective, given the way he chose to live his life.
I was looking through the fridge for something passable as food when she walked into the kitchen with my brother’s arm draped over her shoulders. He looked very pleased with himself. No doubt he’d spent the night between the legs of my mate. He didn’t deserve her. As soon as I’d won her affections, I was going to have to find a way to get rid of the three of them. The alpha would die when I challenged him, but the other two would need better planning to separate them from her.
“Good morning, Maverick,” she said shyly, fluttering her long eyelashes.
The sun shone through the window behind her, lighting her up with almost an ethereal glow. She was beautiful, I would give her that. And I was pleased to see that my imagination yesterday had grossly underestimated the body she’d hidden beneath her coat. She would make a passable mate.
“It’s nearly afternoon,” I snarked back and then nearly slapped myself. I was supposed to be winning her over, not pushing her away. I could let her think her opinion mattered for now. She would undoubtedly require extensive training on how to be an acceptable mate, but that could wait until I had her bonded to me.
I sighed, hanging my head in faux shame. Nearly having to grit my teeth to get it out, I apologised. “I’m sorry, Calli. This is all just… a lot. To learn not only that I had a mate but also a brother. It was a lot yesterday.”
Her face flooded with empathy, and even though I had a warm sensation in my chest from seeing an ounce of caring on her face, I also felt sick to my stomach admitting to any kind of weakness, even if it was all lies. My father’s teaching on weakness would always stay with me. He had me trained like a dog in that regard.
She stepped out of my brother’s embrace towards me, and a sick sense of satisfaction flooded me as I watched her move away from him to comfort me.
“I’m sorry, Maverick. We should've considered what you must be going through.” She gently laid her hand on my arm, and I looked down at it in surprise. I couldn’t remember the last time a person had touched me in some form of gesture of comfort.
Tanner walked closer to us, and instead of snatching her back to his side and away from me, he tentatively laid one hand on my shoulder. “I don’t know what your life has been like up to now, but we do things differently around here. Take some time to get to know us, to settle in. I’d really like the opportunity to get to know you, Maverick.”
“Mav,” I said, not even knowing why I did. “You can call me, Mav.”
Nobody called me Mav, but it seemed fitting for my brother and these people. Something felt right about this with them.
I shook my head and stepped away from their touch, suddenly feeling uncomfortable from the contact. Tanner gave me a knowing look, and I turned back to the fridge in shame, not wanting him to see in my eyes just how hard it was to endure. He was five years older than me. I was certain he had some idea of our father’s teachings.
Clearing my throat, I pulled open the fridge again. “I was just thinking about… erm… making something for lunch.”
I had never cooked for myself a day in my life, but how hard could it really be? After I bonded to Calli, she’d take care of all of that for me anyway. Or we could have the role of omega instituted in this pack, so we had someone to work around the house. That felt like a much better option.
“Why don’t you both sit down, and I’ll whip us up some sandwiches for lunch,” Tanner offered. I was somewhat taken aback by him, he wasn’t at all what I’d expected, but if he wanted to debase himself with omega work, then I’d let him.
I sat myself down at the small table in the kitchen, and with a cautious glance to my brother, Calli came over to join me.
“So...” she started shuffling awkwardly in her seat, it was amusing to watch, but then she blurted out. “Your father’s a bit of a dick.”
I raised an eyebrow in amusement at her, it was probably an apt observation, but I’d never met anyone who would speak so openly against my father before. This woman was intriguing, to say the least.
“Sorry, he’s your father,” she apologised before a wicked grin crossed her face. “He’s actually a massive fucking wanker, and I’m surprised anyone manages to stand his presence for more than a few moments.”
I burst out laughing partly in shock from hearing someone finally say what we all thought about him, but also because hearing her say such vulgar words in that delicious English accent was definitely doing something for me.
I could hear my wolf sniggering inside my head and mentally lashed out at him, making him cower back inside the mental cage I kept him in. The animal was starting to get ideas with his mate being so close by, and I needed to make sure I kept him restrained. I wouldn’t allow myself to be polluted by his filthy animal instincts. It went against every second of training I’d ever had.
“This is weird,” Calli huffed. “I don’t know what to ask you about.”
Taking pity on her, I relaxed in my seat to make her feel more comfortable and decided to get the ball rolling myself.
“From your accent, I assume you grew up in England,” I started.
“Yes, my brother and I only moved here a few weeks ago.” She shook her head in amusement. “So much has happ
ened since then. It feels like we’ve been here forever already.”
“One of the boys from last night is your brother?” I asked, interested. My father had mentioned a younger sibling, but I hadn’t realised just how young he would be. I’d assumed a few years, but there would be a significant age gap if he were one of the children.
“Yes, Jacob is five. He’s at school at the moment.”
I didn’t miss that the protective little she-wolf didn’t offer to introduce me to him. We could work up to that, I suppose. It would be an excellent way to gauge when I was finally starting to earn her trust.
“There were no other children in our pack when I was growing up. I lived alone in the packhouse with servants to care for me. He’s lucky to have you.” I had no idea why I just said that.
Calli’s face softened, and she looked at me with pity in her eyes. Strangely, I didn’t hate it as much as I thought I would. “That must have been hard for you.”
“It is what it was. There was nothing to be done about it. My father is a very important man, and he couldn’t spend his time playing nursemaid to a snivelling child.”
My father’s words dripped out of my mouth so easily it almost felt like they were my own. I’d heard him say them so many times they were ingrained into my head as an automatic response to any self-pity I might feel.
Tanner came over to join us, laying a platter of sandwiches on the table and a bowl of chips. As he passed them around, I found myself again in a situation of eating peasant food and not entirely sure about it. The cheeseburger they’d given me last night had smelt incredible, and when I bit into it, it had taken all of my self-control not to groan in enjoyment as the flavours exploded in my mouth. It wasn’t exactly fillet steak, but there was something about the simplicity of it that worked. Cautiously picking up a sandwich, I eyed Calli as she put a handful of chips on her plate and took a huge bite out of her own.
