Authors: Natalie Frost
CHAPTER SEVEN
“You’re just telling me about this now?” she said to him angrily as they made their way back into his house. Her head was spinning wildly at the realization that he was a wolf shifter.
“I didn’t know how to tell you before,” he tried to defend himself.
When they reached the empty sitting room she spun around quickly, wishing there was a chair for her to collapse into. With nowhere else to sit, she slumped herself down onto the floor and crossed her arms at her chest.
“You should have at least tried!” she yelled. “Especially after you found out about Joel. Oh my God!” she exclaimed, a fresh realization washing over her. “Is he going to…?” she couldn’t figure out the right words, but she knew he understood. “What the hell is wrong with you, Caleb? Why didn’t you tell me sooner? What about our son?”
“Rachel,” he said sitting down in front of her and setting his hand on her knee. “You can be mad at me later. For now, I need to finish explaining everything to you.”
She inhaled sharply and waited for him to continue.
“This is why I wasn’t allowed to date you in high school,” he started. “My kind we,” he paused, “we like to keep to ourselves.”
“That’s why your dad didn’t want you to go out with any of the girls at school? Because none of us were… like you?”
“Exactly,” he nodded. “And, there’s something else you should know. The reason why it was so important to my dad is because he’s kind of the Alpha of our pack.”
“Your pack?” she asked, her eyes wide.
“Yes, there are about 20 of us.”
“Is that a lot?”
“Not really,” he shook his head quickly. “That’s the problem, Rachel. We don’t have a very big community. And history has taught us that humans don’t readily accept us. We need to unite with another pack. There’s safety in numbers.”
“Do you need safety? Are you in danger or something?”
“At the moment, no. But you never know what may happen, Rachel. Life for us is hard and isolating. People become suspicious when you show up to work looking like I did when you got here earlier because you spent the night before running through the woods hunting.”
“So, you can’t control it?”
“Yes and no. I can decide if I want to change during the day. But at night, during the full moon, it’s not really optional.”
“Oh.”
“That’s why my father worked so hard to build his business. No one can accuse you of anything when you’re the boss. Are you following so far?”
“I think so.”
“Good,” he said, leaning back and putting his weight on his hands behind him. He continued, “so, my father as the Alpha of our pack has been speaking to Lewis Parker. He’s the alpha of a pack located not too far away. And, he’s Elise’s father.”
“She’s a werewolf, too?” Rachel asked, only slightly surprised.
“Yes. We were supposed to meet, marry, and essentially unite the two packs.”
“Sounds romantic,” she replied rolling her eyes.
“That’s how it works when you’re one of us. You put the well-being of the group over your own.”
“So, you’re going to marry Elise?”
“I don’t want to,” he said reaching out to take her hand. “I don’t want to be with her, Rachel. I want to be with you.”
He pulled her in close to him and kissed her softly. She felt her heart begin to race. In a flash, the anger, confusion, and worry were all gone from her mind. The only thing she could think about was his lips pressed to hers, and the surge of longing that rushed through her.
“I’ve always only wanted you, Rachel,” he said pulling back away from her slightly.
“But how can we be together, Caleb? This is all so complicated and messy.”
“Do you want to be with me?” he asked her cupping his hand to her cheek and looking deep in her eyes.
“Of course, I do,” she whispered.
“Then it’s not complicated at all. We’ll figure it out, okay?” he pulled her to him again. He lay back onto the carpeted floor and waited until she was lying next to him. “I promise,” he whispered into her ear, sending a shiver down her spine.
“Promise?” she asked as he slowly kissed her neck.
“I won’t let anything keep us from being together ever again,” he responded, reaching down and slowly pulling her shirt off over her head.
This time, it was her that took the control. She pushed him back onto the carpeted floor and straddled him. He slipped his shirt off and looked up at her with an expression of anticipation.
She ran her fingers over his chest. She could feel his heart beating quickly. Leaning forward she kissed him—slowly at first, then with more passion. He ran his hands up her back, sending shivers through her body. When she felt him slip his hand around to the front of her shorts she rolled off him onto her side. As he fumbled with the button of her shorts she slipped her hand down his. She could feel his member already becoming hard with longing.
After removing what clothes they were still wearing, Caleb pushed her back onto the floor. The carpet tickled at her back, but she didn’t notice. All she could think about was the desire to be with him, both physically and emotionally.
When he placed himself between her legs, her body began to ache. Then, with one swift movement, he pushed himself inside her.
She bit her lip to keep from screaming out, and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him down on top of her. He buried his face in her neck and let out a soft moan. Her body reacted to every one of his sure, strong movements, sending alternating feelings of satisfaction and longing washing over her.
The feeling of being with him this time was different than it had ever been before. There was always an urgency between them—a fear that they would one day be ripped apart. But, in that moment, she didn’t have those worries or fears weighing on her. She held onto him tightly, remembering his promise to her. They would find a way to be together; she was sure of it.
CHAPTER EIGHT
“I’ll call you tomorrow,” he said giving her a quick kiss before she walked out his front door. “I just need to take care of a few things first. But then, I promise I’ll go see you, we will be together, Rachel.”
She walked down the long driveway to her car. She felt a lot better than she did when she arrived at his house a few hours before. At least she had answers. She was worried about Joel. But, Caleb had said that if he were going to inherit that part of him, there wouldn’t be any real signs until he was a little older. At this point, all they could do was wait.
She picked Joel up from her parents’ house and headed home. He sat quietly in the back seat, watching the trees fly by outside. Rachel let herself relax a little. Their future was uncertain—more uncertain than it had ever been. But at least she knew that Caleb would be a part of it. That much at least gave her a sense of security.
When they arrived at their small apartment she quickly busied herself with her afternoon routine. She had the night off, so she spent a few hours cleaning the house, playing with Joel, and preparing dinner.
After they ate she began getting Joel ready for bed. She had heard her phone buzz quietly a few times during their meal, but she ignored it. She wanted to focus all of her attention on her son. She only had a night or two off a week, and those were reserved especially for Joel.
When he was finally in bed she decided to see who had been messaging her. She was making her way across the family room to get her phone from the coffee table when a sharp knock stopped her. Grabbing her phone and slipping it into her pocket she went to answer the door.
“Hello, Rachel,” Elise said smiling at her menacingly.
“What are you doing here?” Rachel asked closing the door slightly so she wouldn’t be able to get past.
“I told you to stay away from him. You couldn’t do that, could you?” she countered.
Rachel tried to push the door closed all the way, but Elise threw her weight against it, causing it to fly open and throw Rachel to the floor simultaneously. She entered quickly, three large men followed behind her.
“Get out of my apartment!” Rachel demanded, pushing herself to her feet. The intruders simply laughed in response. One of the men stepped forward and grabbed Rachel firmly by the arm.
“Where is he?” Elise demanded.
“Caleb isn’t here,” Rachel replied, trying to twist free of the man’s grasp.
“I didn’t mean him.”
“Don’t you dare!” Rachel yelled. But it was too late. One of the other men was already heading in the direction of the bedrooms.
She felt her heart sink when she heard her son’s surprised gasp and his scream for her to come to his rescue. “Don’t hurt him!” she yelled out.
“Oh, we won’t,” Elise said looking down at her with her piercing green eyes. “Not yet at least.” She turned her attention to the man who was carrying Joel, kicking and screaming, into the family room. “Ready?”
All of the men gave nods of agreement and they began pushing her out the door. “Where are you taking us?” Rachel tried to fight them off, but it didn’t matter. They were bigger, stronger, and outnumbered her.
When they threw her and Joel into the back of a large SUV, she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him close to her. He was crying hysterically. She wanted so badly to comfort him but she was terrified herself.
Remembering that she had slipped her phone into her pocket she reached for it. Looking at the screen she saw she had three missed calls and four messages from Caleb. They were all warnings.
Why didn’t she look at her phone sooner? She felt the tears begin to sting her eyes. She held them back, though. Running her hands through Joel’s hair she tried to comfort him. She had to be strong for him. If he saw her cry, he would become even more nervous and upset.
She quickly typed a message to Caleb. All it said was, “I’m sorry.”
CHAPTER NINE
The SUV pulled into the parking lot of one of Caleb’s father’s many business locations. It was a warehouse, and inside she was afraid she would find more than appliances and forklifts.
They ushered her and Joel out of the vehicle and pushed them forward forcefully. “Mommy,” Joel said softly. He had stopped crying, but his eyes were still filled with terror. “Mommy, I’m scared.”
“It’s okay, sweetie,” she lied. She didn’t know what else to say.
Once they reached the large metals doors, Elise banged on them twice. They slid open slowly, just enough for the small group to squeeze in.
Inside it was dark, with only a few overhead lights on. It took her eyes awhile to adjust, and when they did, she wished that they hadn’t. In front of her, she saw Caleb’s dad—the large, imposing man who had filled her with fear since she was fifteen. He was standing in the center of the open space. Next to him was another equally large man. She assumed he was Elise’s father.
Around them were another six men and women, all tall, strong, and with serious expressions on their faces.
“Bring her here,” Caleb’s father ordered.
She was pushed forward forcefully, Joel still tripping along beside her. “I tried to warn you, child,” Caleb’s father said to her when she was standing in front of him. “I told you to stay away from my son.”
“Please don’t hurt Joel,” Rachel pleaded nervously.
Caleb’s father leaned forward to get a better look at Joel, who had his arms wrapped tightly around Rachel’s leg. “That’s the problem,” he said kneeling down and examining him. “We don’t know if he’ll be one of us or one of you.”
“Does that matter?” Rachel asked, putting her hand on her son’s shoulder. “He’s just a child.”
“For now,” he countered.
“But what happens if he does start to change?” Elise added. “None of us has ever had a child with a human. We don’t know what he will be!”
“What happens if he doesn’t change?” Elise’s father added.
“What does that matter?” Rachel asked, spinning around to look at all of them.
“We don’t know what he’ll become,” Elise replied taking a few steps in her direction. “We don’t know if he’ll accept us, or reject us. But we do know that as long as both of you are alive, we can no longer keep our existence a secret.”
“As long as we are alive?” Rachel asked, pulling Joel close to her. “What are you going to do to us?”