Page 54 of Outnumbered

“I’m sorry,” I whispered.

“I’m not the one you should be apologizing to, Ember.” She set her hands on my shoulders and said, “I know it’s hard. I know this life is much different from the one you’ve been living for twenty years. But it’s not just your life anymore. If you get kidnapped, or killed, Caleb will go on a rampage. He will leave behind a bloody warpath that will change him and possibly the world. You have a responsibility to not just yourself now, but those men as well.”

Nodding, I grabbed my sandwich and headed towards the stairs, head hanging in shame.

It was time to put on my big girl panties and apologize to them.

Standing in the hallway, I stared at the doors and debated who I should apologize to first. I had known Branson the longest, but Caleb was our alpha.

Taking a big bite of my sandwich, I waited just long enough to eat it before heading to Caleb’s door. Knocking twice, I waited, but he didn’t respond. Slowly, I pushed it open and peeked inside.

Caleb was on the floor, shirtless, doing pushups with his headphones on. After ogling him for a minute, I walked in, purposefully making my footsteps harder, and sat on his bed.

He turned his head, looked at me, then did one more pushup before sitting back on his heels and taking his headphones off. “You made a sandwich?”

I nodded. “And came here to apologize.”

He looked down at his hands dangling between his bent legs.

“If it’s alright with you, I would like to set up a hammock in the woods here, so I can go there if I need to gather my thoughts in the future.”

His head raised and he said, “You’re welcome to build whatever you want, including a cabin if you would like it.”

I smiled softly and said, “I don’t need a cabin on your parent’s land, but I appreciate the offer. I’ll wait until I have my own land, or my pack buys land, and build one there.”

He stood and walked to me, towering over me for a breath before dropping to his knees and cupping my face. “You scared me, Ember.”

I set my hand on his face and he leaned into it. “I’m sorry for scaring you.”

He sat on the bed beside me and set his hand behind me. “What set you off this morning? Is it something I can help you with? Do you want to talk about it?”

“No,” I said and shook my head. “I’m okay now.”

“Tomorrow, we’ll go back to the apartment, okay?”

I nodded, kissed his cheek, and stood. “I’m going to talk to the others.” Turning towards the door, I found the rest of them there. Bowing my head, I said, “I’m sorry for worrying you all and disappearing without saying anything. I promise not to do that in the future. I’m not used to having people care about me or my location.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to talk about this morning?” Triston asked.

“Yes, I’m fine now.”

He and Riddick scowled, but didn’t say more.

“Are we good?” I asked, looking around at all four of them.

They nodded.

Smiling wide, I clapped my hands together. “Great! Now, let’s go downstairs so I can destroy you all at karting!”

“Did you just challenge the reigning champion?” Caleb asked and stepped around me.

“You are about to lose that title,” I said confidently and headed out of the room.

“Challenge accepted,” Caleb said from behind me.

Chapter

Sixteen

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