Chapter Eight
Darby was reclined in her seat when they arrived in Riverton. The afternoon sun was high, and Calloway had cranked the AC. She’d grabbed one of the blankets he kept in the backseat and wrapped up in it, falling asleep almost immediately. Between traveling, the stops for food and sex, worry for her dad, and nerves over meeting the pride and accomplishing the task she’d been given, she was exhausted. He figured the best thing for her was to let her sleep until they arrived. That way, she’d have less time to worry and stress over what she might say or do wrong when she met the alpha.
He circled the town, keeping to the back roads as he headed toward the ranch the pride called home. He was still concerned with how he’d do around other shifters. He’d done his best to steer clear of his kind since he’d escaped the lab years ago. In the early days, when the drugs had still been heavy in his veins, he’d almost killed another male. He didn’t remember what had triggered it, and really, didn’t that say enough? All he remembered were claws sprouting as he’d sprung at the other man, prepared to rip out his throat.
He’d avoided groups since then, sticking to the fringes and only interacting when no other option was allowed. He’d traveled from place to place, content to move on, until he’d seen Darby. One look and he’d realized she was his destiny. Part of him had known he’d been searching for her all along.
He glanced over at her, enjoying the way the sun spilled in around her, seeming to pick up the red in her hair and make it shimmer. Even in slumber, there was a sexiness about her. From the tilt of her lips to the bare toes that peeked out from under the blanket, she was all that was beautiful and perfect to him. She was also the only reason he’d ever head where he was. For her and only for her.
He eased the truck around a curve and wasn’t surprised to see the gated entryway ahead or the men standing by it. He was sure the pride had heard about his arrival as soon as his truck had been spotted. The town wasn’t that large, making it easy to distinguish any vehicle that didn’t belong. Smart of the pride to locate here. It would make spotting a hunter so much easier.
He eased the truck to a stop and wasn’t surprised when Darby’s sultry, russet eyes blinked open.
“We’re here,” he said as he put the truck in park and opened the door. “Sit tight.”
He shut the door on her sputtering, grinning as he realized the hell he’d have to pay when he slid back in. She was definitely unhappy he’d let her sleep through the last leg of their drive.
“Calloway,” Gideon acknowledged as soon as he stepped toward the front of the truck.
“Gideon.”
“This is Reno.” Gideon indicated the man with him.
The other man nodded at him as if aware Calloway wasn’t much for physical touch, which included shaking hands. Reno was close to his height. His blue eyes showed intensity, intelligence. His stance said he was a man to reckon with, one who could back up any threat he made. Calloway was surprised when his beast didn’t rise up to assert itself. Instead, his cougar seemed relaxed.
“Good to meet you,” Reno offered. “Tah’s up at the house, waiting for you. Follow us then we’ll show you inside.”
With that command, they walked away. No demands. No interrogation before they could enter. Just an open-armed welcome. What the fuck? Other than Gideon, they didn’t know him from Adam or Darby either, for that matter. He certainly hoped they didn’t make a habit of accepting people this easily or his mate might be in more danger here than he’d expected.
“What did they say?” Darby asked as soon as he opened the door. She’d scraped her hair back in a loose ponytail and was fussing with her makeup.
“I like your hair down,” he said.
She blinked a few times then glared at him. “I’m wearing it back. Now, what did they say? I saw Reno Esponetti speaking with you.”
“You know him?”
“As much as I know about anyone in the pride. I’ve read about him. At least the bare bones of information the watchers have been able to accumulate. Raised by a single mom he was very close to. She was killed in an accident while he was in the military and unreachable. He served in the Marines with Utah Pearce and several of the others. Left the service around the same time they all did. Wandered around the country with Logan Dobson, another member of the pride. Reno was shot when he stepped in to protect a woman from assault. As soon as he got out of the hospital, he and Logan headed out to find the alpha, and they’ve been with him ever since. Reno’s mated to the daughter of a hunter, Amia Blane.”
Calloway slammed on the brakes. “They have a hunter here?”
“Amia was born a Blane, but she’s never been a hunter. Keep driving, Calloway. You’re drawing attention.”
He noticed the truck in front of him had stopped, as well, and eased off the brake while she continued talking.
“Amia Blane escaped her father when she was a teenager. She made it her life mission to save as many shifters as she can, and she has. She was captured several times and tortured by the Blanes for her efforts.”
“Better tortured than dead,” Calloway grunted.
“She was buried alive, Calloway. Placed in a coffin and dropped beneath the ground for days. From what I’ve read, her father had the chamber built so oxygen could be pumped into it, allowing them to prolong the torture of those put inside.”
“Jesus Christ! How do you know that?”
“We have accounts from several watchers about shifters she managed to save. A few of them discovered what happened to Amia and made record of it. I’ve always thought of her as a hero. They say she has the sight.”
“What sight?” Calloway asked. If she could see the future, surely, she could have protected herself from what she’d gone through.
“She sees auras around shifters. She can look at you and see what you are, even though she’s human.”
He gave her a questioning look.
“It’s a hunter skill. Most of the groups, who go on the hunt together, take a person with them who was born with that unique skill. I’ve heard they actually breed for it. If a male is known to have it, they encourage him to mate with as many women as he can in the hope the kids will have it.”
“They don’t mate,” Calloway uttered with a growl. “They don’t understand the concept.”
“I didn’t mean…” She let her words trickle off. “I’m sorry. You’re right. Are you okay, Calloway?”
Hell, no, he wasn’t. The more he learned about the pride and their members, the more concerned he became for the safety of his mate.
“I should have had you tell me all about the pride while we were driving. I know basic stuff from Gideon, but you know all about them.”
“We were a little busy with other things on the drive,” she murmured, her voice going husky and causing his cock to twitch at the reminder of what they’d been busy doing. They must have stopped half a dozen times along the way to sate their burning need for one another. He was half-tempted to ask for a room first, just so he could take her again and make sure she was even more saturated in his scent.
“How do I look?” Darby asked as they parked in front of a sprawling farmhouse. Reno and Gideon were already out and waiting for them on the porch steps.
“You’re gorgeous,” Calloway told her.
“You’re not even looking at me,” she said with a sigh.
“I don’t have to,” he vowed, moving his gaze to her and taking her in. He reached out and plucked the band from her hair, delighting in the way her curls tumbled around her shoulders. “You always look beautiful.”
“Calloway!”
He pocketed the band, slipping out of the truck and heading around to get her door. There was something in the air. He felt a tug inside him, his beast filled with anticipation and something else he couldn’t explain. He opened the passenger door, lifted Darby down beside him and stayed facing her after he shut the door.
“Calloway?” Her voice was soft, fearful. “You’re pale. What’s going on? What do you need me to do?”
“I can’t…” He shook his head. Whatever was rising inside him was reaching a crescendo pitch. His heart raced. His knees were a bit weak, as if he might pitch down onto them any minute.
Footsteps sounded behind him, and the tug grew stronger, fiercer, ripping the air from his lungs. What the hell was going on?
“Calloway Meyer.”
His name, nothing more, but the command was evident in the voice he’d only heard over the phone so far.
Darby shocked him by stepping around him, placing herself in front of him and facing off with the alpha of the pride.
“Did you do something to him?” she demanded, anger snapping in her voice. His precious mate, who’d been so nervous to meet Utah Pearce, was now practically shouting at him.
“Go with it,” a soft feminine voice called to him. “I had the same reaction.”
Lion. She was a lioness.
“He’s your alpha,” the same voice told him.
He opened his mouth to say, yet again, that he didn’t have an alpha, but his animal seemed to grow tired of his lack of movement. The beast forced Calloway’s body around. It rose to the surface, seeming to search for something only it knew existed. He met the sharp gaze of Utah Pearce and, slowly, sank to his knees. His head bowed while his brain scrambled. His beast proclaiming the other male alpha while Calloway still tried to claim they had none.
“Why don’t the rest of you ever bow before me?” Utah questioned, and Calloway looked up as laughter rang out.
“Because we hauled your ass around a desert,” one red head quipped, a lilt to his voice.
“And saved your ass far too many times to count.” This from a tiny brunette, who stood next to a huge male Calloway could tell was her mate.
“Not to mention—”
“Forget I asked,” Utah said with a shake of his head, cutting off the comment from a tall blond male. The alpha’s eyes sparkled with laughter as he held his palm out to Calloway. “For the record, you never have to bow to me. Ever. We’re all equals here. They’ll be teasing me about this for weeks.”
“Months,” the blond guy quipped.
“Clara, muzzle your mate before I do,” Utah called out to the woman who’d first spoken to Calloway.
“You created that monster,” she returned.
The blond moved quick, scooping her up into his arms. “And you mated me,” he reminded her with bobbing eyebrows and a wolfish grin that had her laughing.
It was everything Calloway had ever wanted as a young man. The camaraderie, the easy acceptance and unfiltered love and friendship they all shared. It was the thing he’d feared those hunters had stolen from him when they’d captured him. He didn’t feel a surge inside him to challenge or fight or kill any of the people surrounding him. He felt…peaceful, accepted.
“Come on,” Utah pulled Calloway’s focus back to him, and Calloway finally took the hand the alpha held out to help him rise. “We’ll head inside. Gideon has told us a little about you, but I prefer to hear everything straight from you. And you, Miss Kline.”
Calloway got the sense Utah Pearce knew much more than he alluded to. It would be interesting to see who his source was. Not that it would matter. They’d have Darby now. A watcher with her finger on the pulse of the database that stored all the information about their species that had ever been recorded.
“Darby,” she corrected. “You can call me Darby. All of you.”
“Tah,” he said, and Darby’s eyes seemed to light up at the invitation to call him by that name.
He clapped Calloway on the shoulder and moved ahead of them, spreading his arms out to encompass the house and Calloway had the impression all the land around it, as well. “This is home. Welcome. We’re glad to have you both here.”
“Are you okay?” Darby whispered as she planted herself against his side, one arm snaking around his waist while she flattened her other hand over his chest. He wondered if she recalled whispering didn’t matter when surrounded by a group of shifters. They’d hear everything, regardless.
“I’m good,” he assured her, and for the first time since his escape from the hunters’ lab, it didn’t feel like a lie.