Chapter 7

Caleb

I took a deep breath as I laid in the dark. I had not slept at all during the night and the sun was going to be rising soon. I dreaded the events of the day to come, but I also wanted it over as quickly as possible. Not knowing my fate was torture in itself.

I glanced over at the bodies on either side of me. Last night we had been offered three rooms, one for Cody, Austin, and myself, but the rooms would have been spread throughout the building. This would have left us vulnerable, so Austin had made the decision for all of us to stay together.

Humans probably would have thought this was strange, three grown men sleeping in the same bed. But we weren’t human, we were wolves. I found comfort in two of the strongest wolves in my pack by my side. It was probably more symbolic than practical, but I appreciated the gesture. Cody was way too large to share a bed practically; he almost took up half of it on his own.

I heard Austin led out a sigh. “Can’t sleep?” he asked quietly.

“Would you be able to?” I asked bitterly.

“We aren’t going to let anything happen to you.” Austin stated firmly. “You are pack, and we do not abandon our pack. We will fight for you if it comes to that.”

I let out a breath. “I don’t want you to fight for me if it would harm the pack.”

I could see Austin grimace. “We are a strong pack, I doubt they will take us on directly. They will harass us, try to scare us, but they will back down when push comes to shove.”

“And if you’re wrong?” I murmured, hesitant to challenge his authority.

“I’m the pack-master, I’m never wrong.” Austin told me sarcastically.

I chuckled despite myself. Maybe we did need a little humor in this situation. I felt a pang in my heart as I thought about Anna, she would know exactly what to say to lighten the mood.

“And what about Anna?” I asked quietly. “If anything happens to the pack it will leave her vulnerable.”

I heard Austin take a deep breath. “How do you feel about Anna?” Austin asked with a curious tone in his voice.

I hesitated. I knew that Austin had feelings for Anna. I saw it in the way that he looked at her, the way that he spoke about her. He had essentially declared that she was his last night at dinner when he told his mother that Anna was going to be his mate.

And yet, a part of me didn’t care. Maybe I was feeling reckless because there was a chance I was going to die today, or maybe it was just too much to keep to myself any longer.

“I love her.” I told him simply.

He turned his head sharply to look at me. “Are you sure?” He asked. “You have only known her for a few weeks.”

“That’s all I needed.” I told him softly. “Anna is…. everything.”

He let out a breath. “I know what you mean.” There was silence and I waited for him to tell me to back off, that I had no chance with her, that she was his. He didn’t say any of that.

“Have you told her how you feel?” he asked me.

I shook my head. “No,” I said desperately. “Anna is so… I can’t imagine her loving someone like me.”

“Anna doesn’t judge.” Austin told me. “She doesn’t see rank, or status. She looks at us and she sees who we really are underneath it all.”

“Yeah,” I exhaled.

“She is a pure soul.” Cody added.

Both of us turned to look at him. His breathing had been so rhythmic that I had assumed he was sleeping, not listening to our conversation.

“You too?” Austin asked.

Cody laughed in a self-depreciating way. “Normally I could care less what women think of me. They look at me and see a big stupid guy for them to use. It’s easy for me to just go along with it.”

He took a deep breath. “Anna was different from the beginning. I was nervous the first time I met her, I’m never nervous around women. When I’m with her I feel like she just gets me. There’s something about her, I just…” his voice trailed off.

“You know that she is not the type of woman you take home for the night and forget about in the morning,” Austin told him sharply.

“I know.” Cody moaned, running a hand through his hair. “At first I thought that I just needed to get her off my mind. I tried to distract myself with other women. But after meeting Anna, it just didn’t feel right. I just couldn’t go back to the way I was before.”

“There are other good women out there,” Austin told him.

“Not for me.” Cody said quietly.

“Anna has a tender heart. What happens if you finally have her, and then find that worked to get her out of your system? How do you think she will handle that?” Austin asked him, point blank.

There was silence on Cody’s side. I felt uncomfortable being in the middle of their conversation, literally and figuratively. If these two both wanted Anna, then I had absolutely no chance with her.

Austin gave a tired sigh and rubbed his eyes. “All I will ask of both of you right now is not to act on your feelings. Anna needs to focus on fitting into the pack and growing into her wolf. She needs to find confidence in herself and become more aware of her inner strength. She does not need a bunch of males fighting for her attention right now.”

Austin was right. Anna was slowly becoming more confident and comfortable around us. I didn’t want her to feel pressured to choose among us, I knew she would never want that. Anna was so kind-hearted that she would never want to hurt any of us. I just worried that she would be too afraid of hurting our feelings to tell us how she really felt.

“What about the twins?” I asked quietly. “You had to have seen how they look at her.”

Cody grunted. “I spoke to them last week, they both said that they have never touched her like that.”

“That was last week.” I told him bluntly.

“They told you different?” Austin asked.

I shook my head. “They didn’t have to tell me. The three of them are almost inseparable now.”

“I did find them sleeping in her bed.” Austin said slowly.

I turned my head toward him sharply. “With Anna?”

“I could tell nothing happened.” Austin said with confidence. “She was dressed, and I would have been able to smell it if they had done anything with her. After that, I just assumed they thought of her more like a pack-mate who needs protection.”

“They don’t.” Cody stated. “But Mason has enough sense to realize how innocent she is. He wouldn’t let anything happen that she wasn’t ready for. And she is not ready for something like that. The poor girl is still learning how to hug.”

I swallowed nervously. I worried about the secret I was keeping from them about Anna. Should I let them know what I had found in her medical records? She had more issues than just a fear of intimacy; there was a reason why she had never had a boyfriend before. I worried that one of them would push her too far, not knowing about her past. But I didn’t want to betray her trust.

The morning light started to peek through the curtains, announcing that the day had finally arrived. Austin rolled out of the bed, making the decision for me. The conversation was obviously over for now. He headed for the bathroom and I stretched out on the empty side of the bed. I had no desire to ever have to share a bed with these two again. I would prefer a certain blonde beauty.