Page 56 of Callen's Captive
Her reaction caught him off-guard, though it wasn’t the first time she’d reacted poorly to his growls. It was yet one more reminder of how different they were.
“I’m sorry. I’ll watch myself more.”
“You shouldn’t have to watch yourself around me. You should be able to be yourself like I should be myself. We either like and accept each other for who we are, or we go our separate ways, which is what I’m trying to do, but you keep following me!”
“I’m not following you, not exactly. I told you I’m headed to my pack.” He pointed in the direction they’d been walking for the past several hours. “Which is where you’re headed.”
It took a moment, but what he said sank in. Callen saw the enormity of it in her face. Betrayed. She felt betrayed. A moment later, she slapped him across the face.
“You knew I didn’t want to go with you, but you tricked me into it!”
“I didn’t trick you. I just didn’t correct you.”
“Dick move, Callen,” she said as she stormed off in the opposite direction without even a goodbye.
He deserved the slap and more. He had let her waste hours going the wrong direction because it suited his needs. She had just started to trust him too, and then he had to go and ruin it.
Kate was hiking down the trail fast, eager to make up for lost time, or maybe just eager to get away from him. She was right. It was a dick move. Now she was unwittingly heading farther into Drake’s territory.Fuck.
“It will be dark soon, Kate,” he called. “Are you really ready to be out here alone, in the dark?”
She stopped, and he suddenly felt like an ass for what he was doing. He’d never been one to manipulate before, unless it was to gain the advantage over the enemy, and yet he hadn’t hesitated doing so with her not once but twice now. He had a lot of excuses he could use, such as the fact that he didn’t have time to take her to town as she wanted, and she was safer with him, at his pack. When it came down to it, he simply wasn’t ready to lose her. She’d get over her anger, eventually. He hoped.
“I hate you,” she said as she turned back toward him and barreled up the path. He was getting his way. He had Kate with him, safely away from the WSSO, but it didn’t feel like progress, not in the least.
The longer they hiked in silence, the moodier his wolf became. He didn’t understand the nuances of what was happening between Kate and him—hell, Callen wasn’t sure he understood either. His wolf wanted to calm her, watch over her, please her, but Callen couldn’t even approach her. Callen had created this rift, and his wolf knew it. The damn beast was biting the hell out of him every few minutes, trying to push him into approaching her, to make things right again.
Callen veered off the path to where he knew red raspberries grew by a rocky slope. When he offered her a handful, she shook her head and sat down on a rock, waiting for him to eat his fill. It wasn’t exactly deer or rabbit, but it was better than nothing. He held out a second handful, and she still refused.
“Refusing to eat is a stupid way to get back at me.”
“I’m allergic. You know, another one of those human weaknesses.”
Hell. Callen let the berries fall to the ground. He’d lost his appetite. He started pacing, then stopped himself when he thought of Blade who had been pacing a lot lately, trying to soothe his own wolf. Callen’s wolf didn’t want to be soothed, at least not by Callen.
“What?” she asked.
“Nothing.”
“You stopped pacing suddenly. What’s wrong?”
“I’ve been thinking about Blade.”
“Is the fact that he likes a human bothering you?”
“Enough already!” Callen lashed out. “I have nothing against you being human, Kate. I hate that I tricked you into coming with me, but I don’t regret that you’re here, where you’ll be safe. Hate me all you want for manipulating you, but stop thinking I don’t want to be with you because you’re human. If I could blood-bond you, I would, and then you’d know for sure how much I want you.”
“Blood-bond? What’s that?”
“Never mind.” He shouldn’t have mentioned the blood-bond. What the hell was he thinking?
Kate marched over to him and poked him in the chest with her finger. “Do you know what I’m tired of, Callen? You dismissing my questions because you think I won’t understand what you’re going through. Maybe I won’t understand, but at least I’d try. The problem is that you never give me the chance!”
Callen lightly ran fingers down her arms until their hands touched. She interlaced her fingers with his. Touching, holding her felt more than right, it felt perfect.
“I have nothing against Anna. She’s good for Blade. What happened between Blade and me. . . I shouldn’t have left when I did. I don’t know if they made it back.”
“Of course, they made it back.”
