Chapter Ten

Callie pressed the phone to her ear. Her stomach was a tight knot. It had her bent double and struggling to breathe. She’d never defied her father before. Aimee had backed her up, ready to stand by Callie’s decision at the drop of a hat. Apparently, everyone had been waiting for Callie to wake up.

She’d been living in a haze for a reason.

Callie had trusted her father blindly. He was the most powerful shifter she’d ever met. How could he be wrong? Now that she stood against him, she was terrified.

“Callisto!” His voice was deep yet rang with joy. “Is it time for me to book the tickets back home? Three seats, right?”

“Ah, no.” Her breath turned to glass. It dragged along her throat and left it burning.

“What’s wrong?” The joy left. It wasn’t replaced by concern, but a low and rumbling warning. “Do you need assistance?”

“Dad, I can’t. I can’t do this.” She struggled to find the words, to speak them aloud.

Before her, the door cracked open. Morgan appeared. He made a locking motion over his lips and pressed his back against the door. His presence was a sign of solidarity, a prop that helped her stand up on her own. The hatred she once felt toward him sagged as she reached for his extended hand and gripped it tight.

“I’m not going to force Emmy to have her baby at the Den. I don’t think it’s right to steal children.”

“Honey,” her father drawled. “We aren’t stealing. Shifters can’t raise children on their own. Cubs are just too much for two people. It takes a village to get it right.”

“Dad. The Den is outdated. If we could change it, allow families to come and make homes, then maybe things would be better. As it is, we’re no better than a cult.” She tried to make him see reason, but the moment the words left her mouth, she realized he already knew. “It’s about control. Isn’t it? You do all these things to maintain control over the Den. If it got any bigger, if other shifters stayed, then you wouldn’t be the alpha bear anymore.”

There was silence on the other end. It’d never been about the safety of bear shifters. Her father had been a man afraid to lose the power he’d amassed. Callie felt drained. Everything she’d ever known was revealed to be a thin cardboard copy, knocked over by a small wind.

She didn’t know what was real anymore.

She sucked in a sharp breath. It no longer cut inside her. Her gaze rose to Morgan’s as she spoke the next few words. “Did you lie about Morgan, too?”

Her father growled. She could hear the subtle crack of plastic when he gripped the cell phone a little too hard.

“Answer me, Dad. Did you lie to keep me from leaving?”

Morgan’s eyes were wide. Then, they narrowed at the phone, filling with fire. His grip on her tightened and his breath quickened.

“So, that’s it?” Her father avoided answering her question. “You’re rebelling against the Den? Do you really think you can get away with it?”

Callie hung her head. She was the daughter of the strongest shifter she knew. “I’m not getting away with anything. I’m leaving. This is goodbye.”

She pressed the disconnect button with trembling fingers. Morgan dropped to his knees in front of her. He looked up, trying to get her attention. She held onto him with both hands. The cord had been cut and she could almost feel it blowing in the wind. Everything she once knew was gone.

All she had was Morgan’s hands in hers. Even kneeling on the floor, he was a massive man. His chest blocked the door behind him. His head was nearly level with hers. She rubbed the callouses and scars on his knuckles and wondered how many noses they had broken. Probably Orion’s, more than a few times.

“I know you could lie to me when I ask you this, but I would appreciate honesty. Especially now that I’ve done the very last thing I ever thought I would do.” She sucked in a haggard breath, trying to summon the courage to look Morgan in the eye. She knew that the moment she did, she’d believe anything that came out of his mouth. The worst part was that she wanted to. She wanted to forget everything that stood between them.

Callie couldn’t figure out if it was because she didn’t want to be alone in a time like this, or if Morgan was truly right. He claimed they’d always been a mated pair. Callie had no way of knowing the truth. All she could do was ask him the question she should have asked nine years ago.

“Did you cheat on me with human women?”

Morgan reeled back, eyes wide. This, apparently, was news to him. Slowly, he seemed to sink into himself, searching through his memories for something.

“Boomer was…not the best influence on me.”

Callie held her breath, waiting for the worst. She’d wanted honesty, but not if he’d actually cheated on her.

“He went to human towns a lot. He liked to flirt with the human women. They threw themselves all over him. I went to keep my cousin out of trouble. More than once, I picked him up off the floor and dragged him back to the car to drive him home.

“But, listen to me, Callie. I never once touched any of those women. The whole time I was there, I knew I had my fated mate waiting for me back at the Den. I would pass the hours away dreaming of the places we would go together, the things we would do together. Thinking of you made picking up after Boomer easier.”

Her father’s words were still embedded so deep inside her that she didn’t know how to let them go. She wanted to accept Morgan’s words as truth, but they couldn’t find room in her heart. Confusion still pulled her in every direction.

His hands ran up her legs. The thick layer of denim between them frustrated her. She wanted his rough hands on her, finding their way to places they once knew. The need hit her so hard and so fast that she shot up to her feet.

Morgan called out to her, but Callie was already through the door and on her way outside. This was it, the end of the life she once knew. There were no tickets back to the Den waiting for her. She would never walk the streets of her home town again.

It was gone.

She knew it was all for the right reasons, but it was still terrifying.

***

Morgan followed his mate. He didn’t grab her or try to stop her. Instead, he prowled behind to catch her whenever she fell. What she’d just done had been a feat of bravery. No one stood up to Richard Stone.

He remembered the day Richard had pulled him aside. The bear shifter had been bigger than him back then, towered over him as he told Morgan to pack everything he owned and leave town. Richard Stone had used the power in his voice to force Morgan to follow his command.

No matter how much Morgan wanted to fight and stay for his mate, Richard’s daughter, the command had bent Morgan to his will. He’d packed all he owned and left town with his cousin. Two others had followed, keeping them from being alone.

He hadn’t been able to stand up to Richard when it mattered the most. He’d been weak and malleable. His mate was so much stronger than him, so it didn’t surprise him when Callie didn’t fall. She didn’t fold. Instead, she found herself. She stopped in the kitchen, gripping the counter while she squared her shoulders.

“This is going to be my last night on earth, so we might as well throw a party.”

“Now you’re just being dramatic,” Aimee chimed in.

Callie’s eyes cut toward her friend. “How did you do it? Living there all those years when you knew that wasn’t where you belonged?”

Confusion rippled through Aimee’s eyes. A heartbeat passed. “Where I was never defined who I was.”

Aimee’s words hung in the air. Morgan could see that Callie struggled with them. Despite her close friendship with the otter shifter, the two women couldn’t have been more different. Aimee only had herself, while Callie had stood with the help of everyone around her. Now that the Den was gone, Callie had lost herself.

Morgan would be there while his mate explored herself. He would hold her up and support her in everything she did, as long as she would let him. The way she’d stormed out of the bedroom earlier didn’t convince him that anything had changed between them.

At least now he knew. Richard had lied to his daughter and created the fissure between them. Time, he reminded himself, would help her trust him again. He would do everything he could to show her the man he’d become.

“Do you really think he’s going to come after us?” Aimee ripped the head off a stalk of broccoli for effect.

Callie swallowed. “I don’t think he’s going to let this lie. He’s not used to defiance.”

Morgan also doubted that Richard would let his daughter go so easily. If the man had lied nine years ago to keep her nearby, he would go to further lengths to get her back. Morgan had to be prepared when that time came.

His bear was restless. It felt empty-handed. Sure, Callie had made the decision to leave the Den, but that didn’t mean she would stay with them. Morgan had not won back the heart of his mate. He didn’t even know when Richard would send reinforcements. Both he and his bear were caught in a limbo, drifting without purpose.

When he looked to Callie, she still avoided his gaze. The scars of lies once told wouldn’t disappear immediately. Callie would have to struggle with them for a while. Morgan wanted to go find Orion. Dom was far too level headed. Morgan wanted to let himself feed into the anxious energy that buzzed around the youngest shifter just so that his own might bleed away.

Yet, he didn’t move. He didn’t dare leave Callie’s sight.

“You want a party? Let’s have one.” He turned to Dom. “Call Reid. Tell him to pick up more supplies in town.”

Dom snorted, but did as Morgan commanded. Reid would complain, but Callie’s rebellion meant they needed to discuss what would happen next. There was no way Richard would leave them alone. He was going to try to get his daughter back and every bear needed to be warned of what had begun.

This wasn’t just a battle, but the coming of a war. Morgan’s beast raged. It was ready to protect their mate. She’d impressed the beast. His mate was strong and capable. She was a warrior in her own right. He wouldn’t let her forget that.

Morgan closed the space between them, cupped the back of her head, and laid a kiss on her forehead. To his surprise, Callie didn’t pull away. She did give him a strange look. It was somewhere between annoyance and disbelief. There would be time to heal her wounds later.

For now, they would celebrate what they had, the small steps they were all taking.