Page 118 of Callen's Captive
Chapter Twenty-Four
CALLEN
Blade and Frank were guarding the entrance to the cabin where Kate was confined. Damien was inside questioning her. An entire fucking day had gone by, and Callen still hadn’t been allowed to see her. Hayden had survived, fortunately, and Damien had spent much of his time calming the pack, ensuring that they felt secure despite the shooting. Having a human among them had made them nervous before, but Callen had never truly recognized that, not like Damien. The shifters didn’t talk to Callen like they did Damien. As usual, Callen was on the outside, looking in, at his own pack. They trusted him to protect them, but that was all. Now, he doubted they even trusted him to do that. After all, he’d brought her here, and he’d blood-bonded her, aligning his loyalty first and foremost to her, over Damien, over the pack.
Callen didn’t move a muscle as he glared at the two shifters. His friends, his brothers, who were keeping him from his mate.
Blade was already squirming. He wasn’t one to sit still for long, and he didn’t like being in this position. He’d voiced his objections to keeping Callen away from Kate, but in the end, Damien’s orders stood. Most likely Damien put Blade on guard detail because he assumed Callen wouldn’t tear into his best friend so easily.
Damien was wrong. Callen would tear into anyone who threatened Kate. But Blade hadn’t threatened her, so Callen stood there, arms cross, watching, waiting.
Unlike Blade, Frank hadn’t said a word when Damien ordered him to guard the cabin. Arms folded over his chest, mirroring Callen’s stance, Frank blocked the door without moving or talking. Not much intimidated Frank, not even Callen’s cold hard glare. Five years in prison had made Frank more resilient, not less.
Blade was the first to break, as Callen knew he would. “How about we go for a run, Callen? Give you a chance to clear your head.”
“My head’s clear.”
The door opened, Damien stepping through Blade and Frank. Two additional guards stepped out behind Damien. Callen’s unease grew. He thought Damien had been inside questioning her alone. Now to see that there were others in there too, heightened the severity of the situation. It was as if Damien was already convinced she was dangerous.
“You afraid one human female was going to overpower you, Damien?”
Damien ignored Callen’s slight. “I want to see her backpack.”
“Why?” He was in full enforcer mode, and he wasn’t going to give up anything to the opposition, not without good reason.
“Because she keeps asking for it.”
He didn’t want to ask if she’d been asking for him at all, or just her backpack. That backpack gave her a sense of security, something he failed to do, apparently. “You plan on giving it to her?” he asked, the suspicion in his voice quite clear.
Damien drew a long breath, clenched his fists, but remained calm. “You have no part in this interrogation, Callen. But since I know this is hard on you, I’ll answer. Depending on what I find in there, I might give it to her. She’s agitated.”
“That’s an understatement,” Mac said, behind Damien.
Callen’s hackles were already up. When Callen stepped forward, Blade was the one who intercepted him. “Kate’s not a killer. I know this as well as you. But something caused her to shoot Hayden. Let Damien investigate.”
“He doesn’t know her like I do.”
“What have you always told me, Callen? To have some faith in the pack.”
Faith in the pack. The ones who distanced themselves from him because they only saw the enforcer, not the shifter beneath. He’d sworn his life to them, and now they held the life of his mate in their hands. He wasn’t sure he could trust them, not where Kate was concerned. It was his job to protect her, even from his own pack if necessary.
“Get the bag, Callen,” Damien said again. “And then you can see her, for a few minutes.”
Callen nodded. It was a magnanimous offer from Damien, one he didn’t need to make. Callen sprinted to their tent, where he’d placed her pack after she’d been arrested. Carrying it on his shoulder only reminded him that she wasn’t at his side, that they were keeping her from him.
“Empty it,” Damien ordered.
Callen laid out her items on the frozen ground. Kate had taken the time to put everything back in the plastic bags, even though most had been torn open by the WSSO. Organizing her belongings had comforted her, and only now did Callen understand why.
“It’s what’s left of her life.”
“She kept this ready, expecting the WSSO would find her?”
“Yes.”
Damien glanced through the computer equipment, looking past everything as if they held no meaning. He paused briefly over the few personal items. A small bag of toiletries, a deck of cards, a spiral notebook. He opened the notebook. “What’s all this?” he asked, looking at the letters, numbers, and characters.
“Code. She gets ideas and writes them down in code. I don’t understand any of it.” Having someone else, even Damien, thumb through her belongings felt like a violation. Callen’s wolf was pacing, growling, not happy at all. Callen didn’t like that her life was callously laid out on the ground, but if it helped Damien understand her, Callen would tolerate it.
