Chapter Eleven

Morgan was impressed. Orion had kept his restless hands busy by stringing twinkling lights from tree to tree around their usual haunt. What had once been a summer beach was now a winter grove. There was probably a prank hidden in it, but Morgan didn’t seek it out.

Callie walked beside him, her arms heavy with cases of beer. She kept looking around the group. He wondered if she was trying to find her place or wondering if she even belonged here. Morgan’s first instinct was to keep her close, but he couldn’t force Callie to do anything she didn’t want.

That meant if Callie left, Morgan would follow. Most of his life had been spent alongside the other bears. His cousin had a kid on the way, a new face he wanted to welcome into this world. Would Callie stay long enough to meet Boomer and Emmy’s child? Or, would she leave them the first chance she had?

He was about to ask when a small explosion shook the site. Everyone dropped what they were doing and ran. Beer bottles smashed, and cans bounced along the ground. They skidded into the grove to find Aimee clutching her stomach and wiping tears of laughter from her eyes.

“What happ—” Morgan’s words died when Dom turned to face him. “You have no eyebrows.”

Not only were his eyebrows nearly gone, but his beard had been singed. Small embers fell away from a face lined with irritation. All the while, Aimee cackled with delight. The otter shifter didn’t seem to be alarmed by the small explosion at all.

“Aimee,” Callie said with a warning in her voice.

Aimee raised her hands in defense, still giving in to fits of giggles. “Okay, I’ll admit that I added too much lighter fluid. To be fair, the food won’t taste like it because I’m sure we burned it off.” Aimee hesitated. “Well, the turkey won’t taste like lighter fluid. It’s going into the fryer.”

While Morgan tried to hide his smile, Callie sighed in defeat. He leaned close to his mate to whisper to her.

“Is she always like this? How did she not burn the Den down years ago?”

Callie responded with a spark in her eyes. “Why do you think they wouldn’t let her have a restaurant?”

Aimee cried out. “I can hear you!”

Both Callie and Morgan retreated to pick up what they’d dropped at the time of the explosion. Morgan gathered dented cans of beer into his arms while Callie plucked shards of sticky glass off the ground. It was a mess, one that made Morgan think the Den might be glad to be rid of Aimee.

Callie, on the other hand, was the heiress. With each step, each retrieved can, Morgan’s senses stretched taut. His stomach was twisted in a tight knot while he strained to hear any incoming sounds. He didn’t want to be caught off guard. In Callie’s mind, no matter the lies, he’d already failed her once.

He’d failed to convince her of the truth.

Morgan wasn’t going to fail his mate again.

***

Callie couldn’t help but steal glances at Morgan all night. His words had wiped away years of anger and regret, even if she didn’t know who was telling the truth. The urge to believe him, the man who could still be her mate, overpowered the years she spent believing her father.

Everything that had happened with her father in the past hours helped her see each time he’d tried to control her. How she managed to break away from him was beyond her. What Callie did know was that it started with these shifters. This small family and their tight knit love helped her.

She didn’t want to leave them, but she knew if her father was going to come after her, she would have to. There was no way she could risk Emmy and her child. Reid had a mate, too. How long until they tried to start a family? She looked to Orion, who gripped his plate a little too tight even though he smiled at his friends. Would the war she brought to their doorstep push him over the edge?

Callie couldn’t stay with them forever.

The thought brought her attention back to Morgan. She knew, without a doubt, that he would follow her anywhere she asked. That was what mates did for one another. But, she didn’t know how to ask him to leave the people he loved.

Callie dug herself into holes left and right. Sure, she’d spent her life living in one, but the minute she stepped out of it, she found herself right in another. Had her rebellion brought her higher? Or, was she only digging herself deeper and deeper?

There was one thing she wanted before she left. Her body ached for it. Nine years without the touch of one’s mate was too long.

Callie didn’t know when she’d let herself believe they were mates. It had taken over her mind, sunk deep into her and became a conviction she would never let go. Morgan was her one and only.

She would know the touch of his body before she left them. Just one last time.