Page 16 of The Alpha's Surrogate

“You’re not listening,” Callahan said softly, cutting her off. “This is not up for argument or negotiation. I’m not leaving you here alone tonight. Now, you can either come with me willingly, or I’ll have to carry you out of here. But you will leave with me.”

She laughed a dry laugh. “Look around, Callahan. This is my home. It’s been in my family for centuries. I’m not going to up and leave because you feel the need to be a superhero.”

“Stop talking for one moment and listen,” he said, his patience wearing thin. “You can deny it all you want, but those men were trouble. I know, and you know. That’s all that matters.”

“And I said I would handle it!”

It was Callahan’s turn to laugh. “Those were were-bears! I’m not even going to ask how you got tangled up with them in the first place, but if my guess is right, you don’t want to be here when they get back. And trust me, they will be back.”

He saw something flash in her eyes, but it was gone in a moment, replaced by her cold, angry stare. “I’m going nowhere, Callahan. And I’d like for you to leave too.”

He sighed and got up. “You leave me no choice.” In one quick motion, he hauled her over his shoulder and walked towards the door.

She slapped him and screamed in surprise. “What do you think you’re doing, Callahan? Set me down now!” She flailed stubbornly, trying to wriggle out of his grasp, but he had her in a secure grip.

“I’m sorry, Josie,” he said. “I tried my best to make you see reason. You refused. I told you I would drag you out of here if I needed to.” He nudged the front door open with a boot and climbed carefully down the stairs.

The snow crunched underneath his feet as he made his way to his car. He unlocked the doors and shoved Josie roughly into the passenger seat. She was a wolf, she would survive. He rounded the car and got in as well, locking the doors as soon as he was inside.

“You have no right, Callahan!” she yelled at him. “How is this different from what those thugs were doing? Huh? How are you any better than them? You can’t just force me to go with you! I always knew you had these…hidden caveman qualities, but I hoped that—”

“Shut up, Josie!” he thundered, cutting her off mid rant. “Shut the hell up! Don’t you understand? You’re about to carry my child! I need to know that you’re safe at all times.”

He gestured toward the house. “I don’t believe that you’re safe here. Now, you may not want to tell me why those bears were in your home, you may choose to keep your secrets. I won’t press you further. But I know something is up. You don’t need to lie or deny it, I’m not stupid.

“But as long as you will carry my child, you will stay close to me, where I know that I can keep you safe. Unless you change your mind about being my surrogate. But this matter is settled. Do you understand?”

He was breathing hard when he finished speaking and only in the silence did he realize how loud his voice had been. He was scared, he realized. Scared of what could have happened if he’d been a few minutes late.

He glared at Josie, daring her to say something, but she remained quiet. He’d finally managed to speak some sense into her. She buckled her seat belt and crossed her arms in front of her chest. His relief was palpable. He didn’t think he could deal with her bickering for two hours.

He reversed out of the driveway and sped off toward Whispering Oaks, hoping to put as much distance as possible between himself and the mountains. Josie remained blessedly quiet.

Chapter 7 - Josie

The silence in the car on the way back to Whispering Oaks was oppressive. Josie didn’t think she’d ever seen Callahan this upset before. She still couldn’t believe he’d carried her like a child. He’d warned her he would do it, but she hadn’t thought he was being serious.

While she’d been against leaving her house, she was glad he’d forced her to do so. It dawned on her just how alone she really was. If Callahan hadn’t come looking for her, there was no one else who could have come to her rescue in her entire town.

She could have disappeared without a trace, and nobody would have bothered looking. Life in Silver Peaks would have gone on without a hitch, and she doubted she would have been missed much, if at all.

She replayed the events of the day slowly. It was a roller coaster of surprises, each one less pleasant than the next. From running into Callahan at the surrogacy center, to finding out she was going to be his surrogate, and finally her near miss with the were-bears.

There was no doubt in her mind what had been about to happen to her before Callahan walked in. Her gamble about being pregnant could have gone horribly bad for her.

Klaus could have decided to take her with him and keep her like he had her mother. He would have also discovered that she was lying about being pregnant, and that meant he definitely would have put her to work.

Or, he could have decided that she wasn’t worth the stress, and left her dead in a pool of her own blood, with her throat ripped open. Josie didn’t see a reality where Klaus and Garry let her go free with her life intact.

In that moment, she had known fear. Really known it. That was until Callahan had showed up and scared them away. She hated that he’d seen the were-bears. If she still knew anything about him, she knew that he would press her endlessly concerning Klaus and Garry.

She hated that he’d seen her in a moment of profound weakness and fear. There was nothing that terrified her more than seeing the were-bears in her grandfather’s home, lounging like they owned the place and showing her that there was nothing she could do about it. She’d never felt so powerless before in her entire life.

But she was also grateful that Callahan had arrived when he did. She went from not seeing him once in ten years, to seeing him twice in the space of a few hours. She glanced at him as he drove, his face still locked in an angry frown.

His golden retriever personality was gone, replaced with this scowling, terrifying countenance. She really had never seen him this way. She knew he was angry, but she couldn’t understand why. He knew her, he knew how closed off she could be about things that affected her. It wasn’t anything new to him. So why was he so angry?

And then it hit her. He had been afraid for her. For a moment there, back in her house, she’d seen the fear in his eyes. He’d come all the way to see her, only to find her with the dangerous were-bears. That fear he’d felt was fueling his anger, burning like a forge inside him.

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