Page 74 of Callen's Captive
Chapter Fifteen
KATE
Kate followed Callen down the trail. He stopped talking after they left Damien, and he wouldn’t tell her what he and Damien had discussed. In fact, he wasn’t really talking at all, except to dish out orders as needed.
Don’t drink that water, don’t touch this, stay away from any shifter who approaches, keep walking, no stopping for breaks.
Clearly, Callen wanted to get as far from his pack as possible. Before the shifters had started whispering, she had heard Damien tell Callen about the virus, and that Callen wasn’t allowed to rejoin his pack. It seemed she’d be getting what she wanted after all, to leave the woods with Callen.
It was an empty victory. Kate never wanted to keep him from his pack.
Her heart sank for Callen. He was being denied his family and friends. He hadn’t even been given the chance to say goodbye. It wasn’t as if he could continue communication via phone, text, or video chats. His exile was permanent and cold.
She’d been staring at his back for the past two hours as they walked. “If you snuck back in and came into contact with one of them intentionally, they’d have to let you back in.”
“I can rejoin the pack anytime I wish.”
“You can?” Her stomach knotted at the thought of him returning to his pack. She could survive without him, but that’s all it would be. . . surviving. With Callen, there was laughter and light, joy in even the most mundane tasks. She’d even begun to think of pulling away from the dangerous hacking she’d been doing and using her talents elsewhere, though she knew she could never completely abandon the fight against the WSSO. She only knew she wanted more out of life. Above all else, she wanted Callen, but not at the expense of his happiness. Heneededhis pack, she’d seen that in how his face darkened as each of those shifters bowed their heads and walked away, leaving him behind.
The enormity of the situation was beginning to sink in. Damien had given Callen a choice between her and his people, and he’d chosen her. Callen wanted to be withher. She should be celebrating, but she couldn’t, not knowing what it was costing him.
“There’s more,” Callen said, waiting for her to catch up.
That regret suffusing his face sickened her. She knew in that moment she had misjudged the situation; she had overestimated what she meant to him.
“No,” she said, backing away. “Don’t say it.”
“Damien asked me to return.”
“Once you enter, he won’t let you leave.” Arguing was stupid, Callen would make his own choice, regardless of what she wanted.
“His second is gone, working with Liam’s pack to keep Drake and this virus in check. Damien needs me with the pack, in case anything happens to him. He needs someone who knows how to protect and lead the pack. Someone who will keep shifters from leaving and infecting the human population.”
Kate stared at him as she shoved her shaking hands into the pockets of her jacket. “Why doesn’t he recall his second? Let you work with the other pack?”
“Damien’s second is uniquely qualified in this regard. He knows Drake, how he thinks, his fears, his desires. Keeping that virus from being used as a bio-weapon is best for everyone, human and shifter. Damien’s doing everything he can to prevent an all-out human-shifter war, and that has to be the priority. Which makes protecting Damien at this point a priority for me. He’s the strategist of our pack, not me.”
Kate swallowed hard, biting back the scream that was suffocating her from within. She fought the need to plea for Callen to stay with her, to let someone else help Damien keep the pack in line. She wasn’t ready for Callen to go, but this situation was bigger than her wants and needs, bigger than Callen’s.
“You’re going to return to him, aren’t you?”
Within seconds he pulled her into his arms and wrapped himself around her, reminding her what heaven felt like. He must have heard her trying to stifle her cries.
“I don’t want to leave you,” he said, his breath striking her neck.
“Then don’t.” She hated herself for being selfish, but she couldn’t lie to him. She wanted him, needed him, more than she’d ever needed anyone in her life.
* * *
CALLEN
Callen watched the light from the fire dance across Kate’s face as she slept. In the morning, they’d reach his pack’s original camp, the place of his birth, the place where he’d grown up, trained, fought, and laughed. The place where he had run alongside his entire pack in more Runnings of the Moon than he could remember, loving each and every run and the brief feeling of belonging those had given him.
Every time he thought of Drake’s stupidity and paranoia, his anger rose to such dangerous levels his wolf tried to force a shift. Callen couldn’t allow that. In his state of mind, he might give his wolf free rein, and he knew how his wolf thought; killing Drake would be the solution to this madness.
Killing Drake wasn’t a bad idea, but Callen would have to kill more than Drake. Any of the shifter’s crazy underlings would happily unleash a plague should anything happen to Drake. Loyalty to an alpha was not always a good thing. Callen should find Hayden, discuss the possibility of infiltrating Drake’s pack and stealing the virus. Blade would be a good choice, except he hadn’t thought to ask Damien where the scout was. He and Anna were alive, and he might never see them again. . . yet another reminder of how his life was falling apart.
Callen caressed Kate’s cheek. Before joining Hayden to discuss his idea, Callen would take Kate somewhere safe. Definitely away from Boulder, as the city was close enough to be a first strike for Drake.
