Page 106 of Callen's Captive
Chapter Twenty-Two
CALLEN
“You did what?” Kate yelled with her hands on her hips.
Callen was glad he’d at least had the foresight to take her on a walk a mile from the main camp, so they’d have some measure of privacy. The camp itself consisted of several tents and crude structures, basic log-cabins with mud and deer hide subbing for mortar in between the logs to help keep out the wind and rain. Even though the pack had money, they couldn’t allow anyone to enter here to build the level of housing they were accustomed to. The pack had been living more like pioneers.
With the cool fall weather, the set-up wasn’t as bad, but winter would be rough. They had already had their first snow yesterday afternoon, and Callen had spent the night—likely his last one—snuggled up against Kate, keeping her warm. Given how she was reacting to the news that she was stuck here along with the rest of them, he was starting to think he’d made a horrible decision.
“I had to blood-bond you, Kate. The WSSO was everywhere. We couldn’t get near a hospital.”
“A blood-bond? I’m still not sure what that means, Callen.”
“It was the only way to heal you.”
She reached inside her shirt for her necklace, but her hand came up empty. He reached into his shirt and lifted it out, then placed it around her. “I did what I had to, to save you.”
With the chain around her neck again, she stared at the pendant. “I get that, but you brought me here. Youtrappedme here when it wasn’t necessary. You made a huge decision that affects us both. Two decisions in fact, though I’m still not sure about this blood-bond business. I don’t feel any different.”
“It’s what’s healing you.”
“I guess that’s okay then.”
She seemed calmer now, but he knew it was because she didn’t fully understand. He’d promised no more lies, and he meant it. “We’re married, Kate.”
“Married?” Her eyes opened wide. “No, you said it was to heal me. You didn’t say anything about marriage.”
“We don’t call it marriage, but it’s permanent. I needed to heal you and healing is the one shifter ability I can share with you through the bond.”
“Fine then,” she said through clenched teeth. “Once I’m healed, we can get a divorce or whatever the hell it’s called around here.”
His heart sank. She didn’t want him. All this time he thought she wanted him. He’d been a fool to assume anything, to think he knew her.
“The blood-bond is more than a marriage. Our genomes have changed, to bind us together. It’s permanent.” He reached for her hand, but she shoved it away.
“You changed me! I’m tied to you. Forever? You had no right!”
“You were dying.”
“Then you should have let me die!”
Callen’s heart ripped in two. To hear her say she’d rather die than be mated to him went beyond wounding his pride. That was a wound that would never heal. The contempt in her eyes confirmed he’d been wrong about her all along. They were shifter and human, two different species, and that was something she could not accept.
And yet every time he was near her, or thought of her, he couldn’t imagine being anywhere else except with her. “I don’t regret my decision.”
“Well, I do. I wish I’d never met you, Callen Ford. Don’t ever come near me again!”
* * *
KATE
Tess and Aloe sat across from Kate, repairing clothing. They’d shown her how to sew, but her stitches were crooked, different lengths, too slack or too tight and just plain wrong. She wasn’t built for this life. She knew nothing about outdoor living. Give her a city, a computer, a condemned house, anything back in civilization and she could make it work, but this outdoor survivalist shit was beyond her.
“Three pairs of jeans in one day!” Aloe complained. “Why bother wearing them on patrol at all at that rate?”
“You should make the guys repair their own clothing. Maybe then they’d learn to be more considerate and strip first,” Kate said, glad to have found an outlet for her foul mood.
“Tried it,” Aloe said.
