Page 19 of The Alpha's Surrogate

Klaus said something inaudible, but Josie didn’t need to hear what he said, she could sense the hate and bitterness in his voice. Then he struck her again, and the woman wasn’t her mother, but Josie herself.

Klaus kicked her in the gut and she cried out in pain, hot tears streaming from her eyes. He pulled out a small curved blade and held it dangerously in front of her. His blue eyes were filled with hate and anger, and she could see evil burning inside his soul.

“Please, please don’t hurt me,” she begged between sobs. “I’ll do anything you want. Don’t kill me. Please stop.”

Klaus grinned and drew his arm back, forcing the knife into her. She screamed and cried out in pain and flailed and kicked and…and…and he was gone.

She opened her eyes and tried to jump out of bed but there was an arm around her, a presence as warm and comforting as a warm blanket.

“It’s alright, Josie,” Callahan said softly. “It’s alright. You can go to sleep now. It was just a bad dream, nothing else. You’re fine now, you’re safe now. There you go, you can go back to sleep now. I’m here now.”

Her heartbeat slowed down and she drew closer to him, his arm drawing her tight until there was no space between them. She nestled into the crook of his body, his breath fogging in front of her.

She closed her eyes, and this time Klaus didn’t return. For the first time in weeks, she didn’t see the horrible things her mother had endured with the were-bears. For the first time in a long time, she slept and didn’t dream of the fate that was waiting for her.

Chapter 8 - Callahan

Callahan took a deep breath as he came awake. The smell of Josie’s hair filled his lungs and he held the breath in, careful not to wake her with any sudden movements.

She was still curled tightly into him, her body fitting into his like a glove. His left arm was numb from supporting the weight of Josie’s head, but he didn’t mind. He stared at the back of her head, her arms wrapped around his second arm which was draped over the curve of her waist.

He couldn’t remember the last time he had woken up like this with another woman. Josie shied away from intimacy, but there were times when they had wrapped up around each other like this. Callahan had missed this. He had missed her.

It was easy to deny how he really felt about her when she was all the way in Silver Peaks, a whole world away. But having her here, now, with him—he couldn’t lie to himself anymore.

The moment felt fragile, like a thin crust of ice after fresh snow fell. The slightest movement could send everything tumbling like a castle of cards. Callahan wanted the moment to last forever, but he knew in his heart that everything would change soon as Josie woke up, and that he would have to face reality again.

But why did it have to end? Josie fit him just right, and he knew that if it was up to him, he would want nothing more than for them to give it another shot. But it wasn’t up to him, sadly. He wasn’t sure how Josie felt about him, but he had a grim idea.

He hated to admit that his friends were right. He’d never really gotten over Josie, and not for lack of trying. He had tried. He had dated, met new people, tried to move on with his life.

It didn’t take him long to admit to himself that he had been looking for Josie in those other women. It wasn’t fair to them, though. He knew that no woman would ever be like her. There was no one who could ever make him feel the way she had. And so he’d stopped searching.

It had only taken one day for the floodgates to shatter into tiny pieces. Memories of his relationship with Josie were interlaced with bitter and sweet moments, but he cherished every single one he had, storing them deep in his mind like precious jewels.

Last night, he’d been lying in the darkness, thinking about Josie and straining to hear the sound of her breathing, when he had heard her cry out. It wasn’t louder than a whimper at first, but it had sounded loud enough for Callahan to jump out of bed and rush to her side.

Later, after she’d drifted into sleep again, he would admit to himself that he had been desperate for a reason to go back to her room. Anything would have done it. He didn’t care. She could have coughed, and he would have been at her side. He wasn’t proud of how desperate he had been, but it was what it was.

Whatever she’d been dreaming about, it had been enough to trouble his wolf when he entered her room. His wolf had whined and cried, clawing for Callahan to get to Josie.

He had no doubt that the were-bears he had confronted earlier featured in whatever troubled Josie in her sleep. As he watched her breathing softly, he thought about the best way to ask her how much trouble she was in.

He knew she would insist on handling it alone, and he had to find a way to force her to accept his help. But there was time enough to think about problems and disagreements. For now, all he wanted to do was enjoy what it felt like to have her in his arms again.

It ended too quickly. Maybe his breathing was too hard, or he moved too suddenly. He had no idea what happened. But Josie stirred and sighed, and she woke up. Callahan held his breath and considered pretending to be asleep, but she would know he was lying.

Her hair fell across her shoulders as she glanced down. She moved instantly, creating space between herself and Callahan as she scooted away from him. He withdrew his arm gently and sat up in the bed.

Her eyes were red and puffy from sleep, but she looked pissed as she wrapped her arms around herself, watching him like a dangerous animal. “What are you doing here?” she asked in a hoarse voice.

“Good morning, Josie,” Callahan said in the most innocent and nonthreatening voice he could manage. He smiled at her. “I trust you slept well?”

Despite his easy manner, his heart was racing in his chest. He hadn’t counted on the fact that Josie might have misunderstood why he had entered her room at all. She hadn’t been fully conscious when he’d found her crying and screaming.

Now that he thought about it, it was fairly likely that she didn’t remember anything that had happened to her while she slept. In that case, Callahan had a world of explaining to do.

The last thing he wanted was for Josie to think he would take advantage of her because she was under his roof. His only hope was that she knew him well enough to remember that he wasn’t that type of man.

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