Page 22 of The Bull's Head

“I’m sorry!” he muttered, then rolled off and stood. He held out a hand, grateful when Callum took it.

“Please, I beg you to forgive me,” Callum said softly, pain etched on his delicate features.

“There’s nothing to forgive. I know grief, and I understand it.”

“You could have killed me. I didn’t realize you were so strong.”

Teddy reached out and put a hand on Callum’s shoulder. “No, I couldn’t. You’re my friend, and I knew what I told you was so damned hard to hear.”

He took a moment to take in the sight of Callum. He’d been right. He was far too skinny. Teddy could see the ribs and shoulder bones protruding, and the sunken stomach. But Teddy could see the bull in the man. There was a strength there, buried, that called to Teddy.

“I can’t…. It was my fault. I ran for help when he needed me, and… and….”

The tears came then. Teddy wasn’t sure if any overture would be welcome, but he couldn’t let Callum break down without trying to help. He stepped closer, and before he could do anything, Callum wrapped his arms around Teddy’s waist and put his head against Teddy’s chest. Teddy slid his arms around the slight frame and pulled him closer.

“It wasn’t your fault,” Teddy assured him. “You couldn’t stop it from happening, and they took you too. Trying to get away, to find help, was the smartest thing you could do.”

Callum shook his head. Teddy guessed his words weren’t going to penetrate the haze of grief at the moment. He slid an arm under Callum’s legs and lifted him from the ground. Callum never stopped sobbing. Teddy carried him inside the compound, doing his best to avoid anyone. He made it to his room relatively unnoticed, and those who did see him were good enough to avert their gazes. He put Callum onto the bed, then climbed in beside him and drew the comforter up over them.

It wasn’t long before Callum’s sobs turned to whimpers, and then to soft snores. He had to be exhausted. Not that anyone could blame him. Shifting in either direction took a lot of energy, and so did the realization that your brother wasn’t coming back. Teddy knew he’d react the same way if something happened to Ivan.

He realized he should call Mal or Alp, let them know that Callum had shifted back, but Callum lay with his head on Teddy’s chest and his arm over Teddy’s waist. Teddy reached out and touched the coppery hair. It was every bit as soft as he thought it would be. Callum looked peaceful, and Teddy didn’t want anyone to disturb him. At least not now. There would be time later for Callum to meet the First and his mate. For now, he needed rest.

“Teddy?”

He startled a bit. “Yes?”

“Is this real? Am I actually here?” He inhaled. “Are you with me?”

Teddy squeezed Callum’s hand. “Do you feel that? It’s real. You’re truly back.”

He turned his face onto Teddy’s chest. “I never thought I would be human again. I thought I’d die in there.”

And Teddy knew he would have missed out on something—someone—special. “I wish we had gotten here earlier.”

“How did you come here in the first place?”

Teddy told him the story of Alp’s escape, of Mal finding him, and how Mal nursed the bunny back to health, and Alp’s eventual shift back to human. Then he explained about the packs getting together and storming the place.

“So you know, if you want, you’re welcome to stay. Alp and Mal are more than happy to have anyone who was subjected to these assholes as a member of their pack.”

“I don’t know if I can stay here.”

And that was understandable. When Damon bought this land and made Mal and Alp its leaders, they said they were going to make this place into a home, and Teddy thought they were insane. He was wrong, though. They’d transformed it. They’d taken what had been an ugly place and turned it into something filled with love. That was mostly Alp’s doing. Making sure he read to the kids, stopping at every room and giving them a hug or kiss good night. From the night they spent watching movies, Teddy could tell that many of the kids were putting the horrors behind them.

“Then you shouldn’t have to. Now that you’re human again, you can go anywhere you want.” Why did Teddy’s stomach clench when he said that? That was easy. He didn’t have many friends, and he had come to think of Callum as one of them. To lose him now would hurt, but after so many years locked into form, he had to get out and see how the world had changed. “So you know, I would miss you.”

“I’d miss you too,” Callum replied.

“Do you have something you want to do?”

He sighed. “I have to go home. My parents must be frantic with worry. I don’t know how I’m going to tell them about Coop. He was always their favorite.”

“Now you’re being silly,” Teddy said, tugging on a stray red lock that had dipped onto Callum’s forehead.

A sad smile crossed Callum’s face. “Nah, I’m not. Their lives revolve….” He swallowed hard. “Revolved around Cooper. He was the first son, the special one. I was an oops baby, which I was reminded of fairly often.”

He put a hand on Callum’s wrist, hoping to give him strength. “Callum?—”

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