Chapter Seven

 

The sun was still sitting on the horizon, nestled between two sloping mountains, when Callie stepped outside. In one hand, she had a cup of chai that Aimee had quickly thrown together in Dom’s kitchen. In the other hand, she held her cell phone. The reception bars flickered, but never fully disappeared.

Callie paused.

She knew she had to call home and fill her father in on her progress, but she didn’t have much to tell him. Her progress had been halted from the beginning. This group of shifters was obstinate and rebellious. Nothing she told them would change their minds, and she knew her father wouldn’t like that, but there was little she could do about it.

No matter what, she still had to call. Her father had to book her tickets home. She didn’t want to spend any more time among these wild bear shifters than she had to. Aimee seemed at home, finally letting loose. Callie hadn’t realized how stifled her best friend had been at the den. Callie didn’t want to leave her friend behind, but she also didn’t want to stay much longer.

She let out the breath she’d been holding and jammed her phone back into her pocket. Instead of glaring at the phone screen, she turned her attention to the sprawling hills around her. They were majestically beautiful, so similar and yet so different than home.

Home, to her, had always been one place. It was a place where the signs never changed, where the people never changed, where nothing ever changed. In contrast, these bears lived a nomadic life. She could tell from the lack of grime in the kitchen that they hadn’t lived in the cabin for very long. How much longer until they had to pack up and move again?

A yearning developed in Callie’s chest, tightening like a knot being pulled in two directions. She reached to loosen it with the heel of her palm. In one direction was her home, the Den. In the other, memories flared back to life and pulled her under. The kiss she’d shared with Morgan on the Ferris wheel had been a mistake. It was the spark that brought her back to when she was eighteen and too eager to know love.

Back then, they’d talked as if they were mates, fated to be together forever. She’d believed it. When she’d been with Morgan, she’d felt complete. In truth, she’d just been a useless teenager fawning over the first cute boy to pay attention to her.

 

***

 

Morgan leaned against the front door. Aimee had placed a hot mug in his hand and ushered him outside before he could even say good morning. Now, he finger-combed his messy locks and watched his mate. She was lost in contemplation, her face back-lit by the rising sun.

Though she stood before him, she still seemed lost. It could have been the subtle shake of her chin or the flicker of her eyes as she searched the horizon for a place to belong. He knew where she belonged, and he ached to tell her, but he knew she would rebel. Callie refused to believe anything he said.

Not even the bonds of fate could sway her mind.

She put her phone back into her pocket and sighed. Her shoulders dropped, almost as if defeated. Unable to stay put any longer, he set his mug on a nearby stump and stepped forward. Cautiously, he reached out until his fingertips found her tense shoulders.

Callie didn’t jump or startle. All she did was throw a glare at him. He enjoyed the heat in it, even if it wasn’t the kind of heat he wanted. When she didn’t move away from him, he began massaging the tension away. Callie submitted, perhaps only because they were alone, and no one could call her out on what she was doing.

“Can’t call home to tell daddy the bears won’t behave? If it helps, it’s not you. It’s us.”

Callie snorted. Morgan noticed the way she leaned into his touch. Her eyes never met his, as if she could pretend he wasn’t there.

“Don’t act like you have everything figured out,” she told him.

“I could say the same to you.” Morgan let his hand fall away.

A small pout formed on her lips, only for a brief moment that made him smile. It was another step closer to winning her. His beast danced, victorious. He had to remind the daft bear that this was only a baby step. Callie was no closer to loving them than she had been the day she screamed at him to leave the Den.

Callie, surprisingly, didn’t fight back. Instead, he saw her swallow whatever words tried to come up. Silence fell between them. They sipped their chai. This was the kind of life Morgan would have wanted for them.

If she hadn’t turned him away nine years ago, they would go inside to snuggle after this. He would play a video game while she lounged in his lap with a book. He craved that kind of comfortable closeness, the press of their bodies together that wasn’t exactly sexual. Though, he craved that, too.

“Go back inside, Morgan. I don’t need you smelling like arousal around me.”

Laughing nervously, he readjusted his pants. “I can’t. Your girlfriend locked me out.”

Callie cocked her head to peer at the cabin behind them. “Do you think she’s tying Dom to his bed right now? Is he a deep sleeper? She might already have him tied up.”

Morgan turned. “You think there’s a connection between them?”

Callie shrugged. Before either of them could say anything else, a shout burst from the cabin. A window opened and a dark shape the size of a large cat slithered out. Half a second later, Dom appeared in the window, yelling and shaking his fist.

Neither Callie nor Morgan could hold back their laughter. They weren’t exactly sure what had happened, but it led Morgan to believe Callie hadn’t been all that wrong about her assumption. Dom looked embarrassed when he closed the window behind him. The otter shifter was gone.

Then, as quickly as it happened, the moment was over. Callie turned away from him. The smile fell off her face like it’d never been there at all. The distance between them stretched wide. He could feel every lost and unsaid word between them echoing in the canyon. No matter what he would have said, it would have fallen in with the rest.

“I have work to do.” Callie left him standing on the front lawn.

His beast roared, the victory suddenly ripped from its paws. She belonged to them and no one else. Someday she would have to see that. The bear was adamant, nigh forceful. Morgan’s next steps had to be careful, or his beast could ruin everything for them.

The beast growled in his ears.

The war had begun.

 

 

***

 

 

Callie knew the day was going to be a struggle. Outside, on the lawn with Morgan, had felt too normal. There’d been nothing awkward about it, nothing to remind her she shouldn’t have been there at all. The incident between Aimee and Dom had shaken some sense in her and propelled her into action.

The pit-trap that was Morgan’s presence was only the first hurdle of the day. She dressed reasonably, knowing that the next few steps would be the most challenging. She hadn’t given up on Emmy. There had to be something she could do to convince the new shifter and expectant mother that the Den was the best place for them.

This time she stepped out of sight of the cabin and started to remove her clothes. She tucked them into a backpack and let her beast step forward. Like her human form, her bear was also larger than expected. She was a towering creature with dark and dense fur. For a moment, her human mind caught in a kind of limbo, her beast almost turned back to the cabin.

Callie firmly gripped the reins and turned her beast back toward their objective. They could not go and find Morgan, no matter how badly the beast missed him. She didn’t know how to tell her bear that he was off limits. Time and time again, she’d tried. The beast ignored her every time.

The forest fell away as she walked, backpack hanging from her muzzle. It was quiet and peaceful, almost tricking her into believing the Den was only a short walk away. In truth, she was hundreds of miles away from her home, and it was more of a struggle than it should have been.

Callie should have been confident in her home, her family. Instead, she found herself questioning everything they did. Was it truly necessary to remove cubs from their families? She knew the Den allowed cubs to explore their beastly side in safety. The Den did not allow humans unless they were mated. Everything that happened there was a well-kept secret.

It should have been a utopia for families. Instead, children were often brought up without mothers or fathers. Only now did that strike Callie as strange. She’d always thought the parents were willing to give up their children. Accidents happened and not every couple wanted kids.

Seeing Emmy’s ire and hatred at the proposal cracked the façade Callie had believed in. Parents weren’t going to give their children up so easily.

They would have been able to come with them, Callie reasoned. Yet, the town had remained unchanged for as long as she could remember. They wouldn’t even let Aimee build her own restaurant. Why did Callie think they would let parents come and move into town? The bigger it got, the easier the secret could leak.

A town would turn into a city and then become America’s favorite little vacation resort. Callie struggled, seeing both sides of the issue as she walked. Her father, voted mayor each year, had led the town the best way he saw fit. He did everything he could to protect their people. Not every decision was made with ease.

Life with this group wasn’t so confusing. It seemed they all knew themselves, or at least knew each other well enough to make up for it. The group roved across the country as a unit. Their secret was well kept and those they brought into the family adjusted rather quickly.

There was a place for her here, if she wanted it. Morgan held it just for her, a flame that would never die. She could feel the vacuum trying to pull her in, nearly succeeding earlier that morning when Morgan found her on the lawn. It would be a different kind of life, but there was nothing so bad about that.

Yes, she reminded herself. There was something awful about forgetting what kind of hurt Morgan could cause. She couldn’t let the bear’s desire override her brain. It would break her heart all over again.

Finally, Callie arrived at Boomer and Emmy’s. At first, she thought the couple weren’t home. Then, she recognized another car from the cookout the first night. Callie yanked her beast back and quickly dressed in the shadows of the forest before stepping out into the driveway.

“The cultist is here!” Addison shouted from the front porch.

Moments later, Emmy appeared behind her. The two stood side by side like a small army. Their faces were unreadable.

Callie felt defeat trying to beat her down with each step. She wasn’t a cultist, but how was she going to convince the two women? Truth be told, she didn’t want to argue. There was little fight left in her. She felt tired, the confusion sucking away her energy. Maybe that was the recent shift from human to bear and back.

“Did you come to try to steal future babies, too?” Emmy snapped.

Callie wanted to collapse onto the driveway and let the weight of her duty crush her right then and there. She’d come to convince Emmy that it could be good for her family, but only further complicated the situation after being left alone with her own thoughts.

She opened her mouth to ask a question before shaking her head. The two women were new to the family. They wouldn’t know anything about Morgan or the life he led.

“Let me know if you’re hiding rotten tomatoes behind that door. I’d like to save this sweater before you pelt me with rancid fruit.”

The viciousness in their eyes died down. Addison looked to Emmy for reassurance. It was Emmy who spoke.

“We don’t hate you, but we don’t think you understand what you’re asking of us. You don’t know that I had everything else ripped away from me before I met Boomer. Now, I have a big family that loves me. I’m making it even bigger. Nothing is going to stand in my way.”

Callie nodded, feeling empty. “I need a stiff drink. Please tell me Boomer has a whiskey stash.”

Addison laughed, turning to limp inside. Callie noted the slight difference in the auburn-haired shifter’s gait. “Come inside and I’ll pour you a drink.”

“You aren’t going to poison it, are you?”

“Nah,” Addison replied, waving her hand over her shoulder. “With a little bit of loosening up, you could be one of us.”

Something shifted in Callie’s world. It felt like a puzzle clicking into place. Her foot slammed down on the first step, the world jarring around her. The other two shifters looked over their shoulders at her, concern tightening their lips. Callie flashed a reassuring smile.

She wasn’t one of them. No matter what they said, she told herself she didn’t want to be one of them. This lawless and nomadic way of life wasn’t for her. Callie needed order. She needed to know that every step she took was for the greater good.

What steps would she take for her own good, though? The thought slid to the front of her mind. It was selfish but reminded her that she rarely did anything for herself.

Callie blew out a breath. There would be time to fit in self-care later. She could steal the bathroom from Aimee and draw herself a bubble bath. That was all she needed, she told herself. Just a few minutes of silence.

She needed to return to the task at hand. “Normally, a mate is changed after the primary shifter goes through the right channels at the Den. Why did the male shifters make special cases for the two of you?”

She hated to admit it, but once the words left her mouth, she felt like a robot. Her voice was even and calculated. There was no tactful approach, no emotion. She needed to understand why the men here kept rebelling against the Den, so she could report back to her father. Why did it feel so wrong?

Addison leveled a cold glare at Callie. The woman swallowed and bent to roll the leg of her pants up to her knee. It revealed a scar, jagged teeth that had carved into her skin in a gruesome grin. “I was dying. A human hunter wanted to mess with the men, but I was the fool that stumbled into the trap. My options were die or change.”

The truth was a stinging slap in the face. Callie could not argue that the scar on Addison’s leg wouldn’t kill a human. In truth, she knew very little about humans.

Emmy was the one who cut an appraising side-long glance in Callie’s direction. Boomer’s mate was a little older than Addison, but the way she looked at everything made her seemed decades older. Callie didn’t know what had happened to Emmy to instill that kind of wisdom. She wasn’t sure she wanted to know.

It was apparent that both women had lived through much more than Callie could have thought. She’d assumed that the men here were partying and changing shifters on a whim. The Den knew nothing about Orion and how he appeared. Callie had feared one of the men had been searching for a companion, but the way they cared for and understood Orion made her think otherwise.

She suspected that he was a stray they’d picked up, pulled him into the fold to protect him.

“So, ah, lumberjacks.” Callie awkwardly claimed a seat, and Emmy placed a glass of amber-colored liquid before her. “Do you have a thing for men who swing axes?” Her attempt at girl talk was pathetic. Even Callie cringed at her own words. “I’m sorry. I’m really trying. I’m just so bad at this.”

Emmy smiled, a soft upturn of her lips. “I can’t say king of the jungle was really my type before I met Boomer, but what can I say? He really does it for me.”

Addison cackled, holding her stomach as she doubled over with laughter.

“Don’t laugh.” Emmy threw a piece of popcorn from the nearby bowl at the laughing Addison. “Reid looks like someone out of an All-American action movie.”

Addison looked up and wiped away her tears of laughter. “You’re not wrong.”

Callie couldn’t believe the warmth between them. The air was cozy and invited Callie to share in her experiences, though she had nothing to offer. She was not a mate of anyone in the group. She had, though, slept with one of them.

When she looked up, both women were watching her expectantly.

“How do you both already know? Does Morgan brag about it or something?” Her fingers tightened on the glass and she had to force herself to release them before she shattered it.

“It’s the way he looks at you,” Emmy said. She folded herself into a chair across from Callie. Her drink was much less alcoholic, steaming around the marshmallows floating on the surface. “Morgan has been on the sidelines since we arrived, but the moment you touched ground here, its like he finally came to life.”

Addison nodded in agreement. Her fingers tapped against the table. “Normally he’s causing trouble with Orion. I don’t think he’s visited Orion once since you arrived.”

Callie was supposed to be convincing them that the Den was their best option, that they should have their children there. Instead, they were gossiping. Callie found that she enjoyed this far more than her job. She didn’t want to have to fight against these two women. Instead, she wanted to join them and find a kind of camaraderie she’d never known before.

She wished she’d brought Aimee this time. Her best friend would have loved this. She would have been knee deep in the gossip, but she also would have been pushing Callie toward Morgan, too. She didn’t need three women trying to get her back with that cheat.

“Morgan and I have a history. He’s the one who went and threw it away.” Callie grabbed the glass and threw back the whiskey in one smooth motion. It burned all the way down her throat.

While Emmy and Addison shared a look, Callie reached for the whiskey bottle and refilled her glass. Neither woman brought up Morgan again. They chatted about the progress of Addison’s books and Emmy’s uncontrollable heartburn while Callie sat by. They made her feel like one of them.

Eventually, Callie stood up. The whiskey bottle that had been nearly full was well below half empty. The room spun around her, but she caught the edge of the table and waited for her balance to return.

“Clearly, I didn’t accomplish what I came here to do.” The truth was that she didn’t want to. Callie didn’t want to storm in and wreck everything these shifters had built. She didn’t want to be that monster.

Callie wondered if her father ever felt like a monster. If doing the right thing felt like this, then was it right? She knew what hadn’t felt wrong. The kiss she and Morgan had shared on the Ferris wheel had felt right. It had been a homecoming celebration.

She groaned, thoroughly confused once again. “I need to leave.”

The whiskey rushed to her head. It would pass soon, but she stumbled down the porch steps while it swirled in her mind. A pair of arms caught her just as she stumbled. The smell of oak embraced her, and a rumbling laugh vibrated against her cheek.

“What the hell did you two do to her?” Morgan’s voice was smooth. She wanted to wrap herself in it.

The thought was jarring enough to clear her head. Morgan? No. She wasn’t supposed to be near him, let alone touch him. Callie reeled back. She swallowed a mouthful of air and managed to find her feet beneath her again. Just as quickly as the whiskey had hit her, it washed away in a wave of cold.

Morgan eyed her, hands still held out as if to catch her should she trip again. Just to prove her point, she took three steps back. He wasn’t the man her bear wanted him to be. He was a liar and a cheat. Callie had to duck her head to hide the quiver of her lower lip while she fought back the need twisting her gut.

“Enjoy your trip home!” Addison cheered.

Callie wasn’t sure if Addison was talking about Dom and Morgan’s cabin, or the flight back to the Den. To them, Callie’s presence was a threat. To be fair, there was a net of safety in this small group. They were a tight knit family, the likes of which Callie had never seen before.

The breath she took was staggering. In that moment, she realized that her own family had never been this loving. Callie didn’t know what the group had been like months ago, but she could see who they were becoming. Her own family had laid down orders and expected obedience. This was different.

They helped pick one another up from failure, from pain. They threw caution to the wind to rescue those they loved. Callie was not one of those people. She wasn’t loved by anyone here. Save for Aimee, she reminded herself.

Morgan touched her elbow, gently steering her toward his truck. Suddenly, Callie dug her heels into the ground. She whipped toward the women on the porch.

“Which one of you called him?”

Emmy and Addison laughed and wagged their fingers before ducking back inside the cabin.

 

***

 

His mate was drunk. He could smell the whiskey on her. He buckled her into the passenger seat before starting the truck. Beneath the whiskey was the intoxicating scent of Callie, like summer rain. The lure of it made him linger too close.

Her lips parted, and he felt the crawl of her fingertips along his arm. Morgan swallowed and forced himself back into his seat. She would sober up soon. Morgan would see how she felt after. He was certain she would change her mind once the alcohol released her.

It was hard to focus on the road when he knew Callie was falling apart beside him. She wasn’t a drinker, as far as he knew. The trip, this mission she’d been handed, was difficult for her. Emmy and Addison had survived the change not because they were pushovers. Together, the two were a force to be feared.

Morgan could only sit back and watch the ideals Richard Stone had instilled in his daughter crumble under the fierce love of two female shifters. What would she do once she realized neither would budge. Would Callie leave him once more? He didn’t know how much more time he had to convince her that she could trust him.

His heart lurched, and he slapped the signal light, pulling onto the side of the road. He let out a breath, but before he could speak, Callie was reaching for the handle on her door.

“Whoa!” He jumped and grabbed her hand before she could open it. “I can’t have a drunk bear wandering the woods.”

“I’m not drunk anymore. Let me out before I punch you in the face.”

“I hate to tell you, but you wouldn’t be the first. Not even the first woman.”

Callie turned toward him, mouth agape.

Morgan laughed and shrugged. Still holding onto the door, he was close to Callie. She seemed to realize it the same moment he did. He bit the inside of his cheek and pushed back the fierce desire that ripped through him.

Nine years.

He shoved himself back into his seat. Wrapping his fingers around the steering wheel kept him from pulling her into his lap. His mate. The only woman he’d thought about for nearly a decade.

“What you’re doing to me isn’t fair.”

She scoffed. “What I’m doing isn’t fair? Me? I’m the bad guy?”

His knuckles flashed white before he wrangled control of himself. The beast wanted to quiet her with his mouth again. If he could convince her with his body, then everything would be alright again. It was flawed logic, clearly.

Callie wasn’t going to see him as he was. She was going to keep hiding behind that veil of lies she clung to.

“Yes! I’ve known you were my mate for years. But, then you threw me away and I was left with nothing.”

Her lips curled. The beast thought they knew how to soften those lips, but Morgan managed to keep the beast back.

“If anyone threw anything away, it was you.” Callie flung off her seatbelt and shoved her door open. She was out of the truck before Morgan could react.

He leapt out after her, slamming the truck door. If she would just talk to him, then he might be able to fix whatever happened. He couldn’t fix anything until then and it drove him wild. He was left useless. The thing he wanted more than anything in the world was just out of reach for reasons he didn’t understand.

It had been easier before she arrived. He could ignore the aching in his chest when the crunch of falling trees filled his ears or a machine rumbled beneath his hands. Now, he couldn’t smell the sawdust anymore. His nose was filled with her. It drove his beast to the edge of madness.

The trees were raining leaves all around them. Flashes of gold fluttered on the wind as he followed Callie between the thin trees. She glanced over her shoulder and scowled at him while he followed her.

“I’m not letting you walk through the mountains while you’re drunk.”

“Didn’t you hear me the first time? I’m not drunk anymore!”

He believed her, but he wanted to stay by her side. There could be more bear traps from the hunter that had stalked Reid. There could be actual bears, though he was sure the animals had left the area when his crew moved in. Morgan only wanted to make sure his mate was safe.

She spun on him, hair whirling in the air and a look of fire in her eyes. “Leave.”

“Why? Because you can’t stand the sight of your mate?”

“You aren’t my mate!” She threw her hands in the air.

He didn’t understand why she fought the truth so hard. If she could see how he felt, if she could find the echo of it inside herself, then she would know he would never do anything to hurt her.

 

***

 

While Callie acted like she was moments from punching his lights out, the truth was that her core burned with a need she hadn’t felt in years. It was a furnace that threatened to burn her up from the inside out. She needed to bank the fire before it destroyed her, but she didn’t know how.

The only thing she could think of was giving in to it. Giving in would go against everything she’d told herself, the strength that she’d earned after he hurt her.

Morgan didn’t move. He remained, steadfast and determined. It only served to pull her closer. Her feet inched toward him. She fisted her hands at her side, not in preparation of a fight, but to keep from reaching out and pulling Morgan into her.

She wanted to know what his body felt like, how his new job had shaped him. Were there more scars to be found? Tattoos? Pleasure like she could never imagine?

The beast in her panted. It pushed and begged.

“If you were my mate, you never would have…”

She didn’t have the chance to finish her sentence. His lips descended upon hers. He held the sides of her face, rough thumbs caressing her cheeks. All the fight bled from her. The furnace flared, and she reached for him in return, gripping the sides of his jacket if only to keep from touching him in earnest.

They stumbled together until her back hit a tree. He ripped at her clothing, tearing it from her shoulders. It fell to the ground, forgotten while they grabbed at one another. She reached for his waist and let her hands explore the vast smoothness of it. Her fingertips tumbled over his ribs, his muscles.

Morgan groaned in her mouth. It was a sound she remembered. It brought her back to the days when they’d been young and in love. The world had been theirs. Nothing could have stopped them.

Until they’d been stopped.

The heat inside her burned the thought away. It was nothing more than ash when she parted her lips and his tongue slipped into her mouth. All Callie knew was the press of his hands against her body and the sweep of his tongue against hers.

Soon, more clothing fell away. His jacket crashed to the ground, followed by the ripping sound of his shirt when she tore it away to find more of his golden skin. She broke the kiss only to taste his skin. It was smooth and sweet under her tongue. He tightened his grip on her, back arching and his head falling back.

Callie grinned. She should have hated him, should have pushed him away. Instead, she decided to torment him. It was the best revenge she could think of. Her tongue caressed the small hollow between his collarbones, and he shuddered. His fingers curled and nails bit into her skin.

She spun and pushed him back against the tree. He hit the bark with a lazy smile and glazed eyes. His breath was ragged, but she could make it so much worse.

Callie didn’t want to admit that in her plot of revenge, she was enjoying herself. Her lips trailed down his chest and her fingers grazed the bulge in his jeans, her heart racing all the while. She dragged her nails over his trapped cock, and he groaned. When he reached for her. She shoved his hands back and bit the soft flesh of his neck.

Just as Callie was about to walk away, his hand cupped the back of her head and pulled her into a kiss that made her head spin. It was like she was drunk all over again. It made her cling to him. The world fell away until it was just the two of them.

Was this what it was like to touch one’s mate? She hoped it wasn’t. This was only years of pent up frustration. It was clear neither had slept with anyone else in the years they’d spent apart. The thought sent a sliver of worry through her. It raced down her spine only to be melted by the unbearable heat in her core.

“You could have this every day if you chose to stay.” His voice was a whisper, nothing more than warm breath over her cold skin. Yet, it did the work of a bucket of ice.

She stumbled back and lurched for her coat on the ground.

“Callie!” Morgan shouted her name, more than once.

But, she didn’t look back. In fact, she kept her eyes on the silver gleam of Dom’s truck ahead. Morgan had left the keys in the ignition, a big mistake on his part. She turned the key and shifted into drive.

Morgan screamed after her, jogging up the road with his waistband in his hands. She grinned and laughed in the truck by herself. Morgan had almost won, but she’d remembered herself and managed to get revenge after all.