Page 75 of Callen's Captive
Hell, he couldn’t fathom the thought of leaving Kate, but he had no choice. Drake had to be dealt with. Either Callen returned to Damien and trapped himself inside an infected camp, or he took whatever measures were necessary to end Drake.
Kate stirred, but didn’t wake. Callen petted her hair lightly to help her sleep. He couldn’t pinpoint where or when, but somewhere along the way his Kate had learned to open up, to start trusting him, maybe even love him. A mission of this nature, going up against the alpha on enemy territory, meant Callen may not make it out alive. He hated the idea of leaving Kate, especially knowing how she’d isolate herself again and continue her mission against the WSSO. They’d catch her in time.
Callen had tortured a lot of shifters and humans in his twelve years as the pack’s enforcer, but he had never harmed a female. That’s exactly what he’d be doing, harming Kate in the worst possible way, teaching her she couldn’t rely on anyone.
He turned his thoughts to the days ahead, what supplies he’d take from home, which town to head for, and which route to take. Riverview was certainly out of the question. They’d left the WSSO behind and he didn’t plan on leaving them any way of finding Kate. Devil’s Peak was close to home, which might make it safe, unless Drake intentionally infected his own pack. Distance. He needed to get Kate as far from here as possible.
“He’s coming!” Kate cried out in her sleep.
“Kate.” Callen shook her gently, hoping to end the nightmare without waking her.
“Don’t! No!”
He caressed her cheek and whispered, “Kate.”
Her eyes flew open, she sat up, and flung her arms around him, shaking. She melted against him, giving him an instant sense of calm. Her hair tickled his nose as he buried his head in the crook of her neck. Breathing her in, the familiar and soothing scent of his female, made him more convinced than ever of what he needed to do.
“They were chasing me again.” Her words came out muffled with her face pressed against his chest. “I turned my mom over. There were three hideous slashes across her chest and blood everywhere. I was so scared, I ran. I left her there!”
“It was just another nightmare.” He eased her face away from his and smoothed her tears away with his thumbs.
“It wasn’t. I saw him this time, the man who killed my parents. Dark black hair and dark eyes.”
He didn’t want to tell her, but he had to. “I think shifters killed your parents.”
She was shaking her head, pulling away from him. “Why would you say that?”
“You mentioned three slashes, Princess. No one uses a knife with three blades.”
“He must have slashed her several times.”
“Cuts not stab wounds. Do you recall the marks? Were all three parallel to one another, roughly the same length?” She nodded. “To do that damage with a blade, especially when the victim is fighting for her life, is near impossible. You saw claw marks, from a wolf, a shifter.”
She shoved his hands off of her and shot to her feet. “You’re making this up! To scare me away from you so you can go back to your pack and forget about me.”
“I’d never do that,” Callen said with such a loud growl from his wolf that she jumped. He forced his wolf down. There was no place for wounded pride at the moment.
“Why did you jump just now, Kate?”
“I-I don’t know why. Your growl, it scared me.”
“Why? Have I ever hit you?”
“No, of course not.”
“Threatened to hurt you?”
“Callen, why are you—”
“Or forced you to do something you didn’t want?”
“No! Why are you doing this?” She was bouncing on her heels, nervous energy leeching from her.
“You jumped away from me when I growled. And it’s not the first time. My growling bothers you.”
“I’m getting better about it. I don’t always back away.”
“But why do you back away in the first place? Because you heard growls that night. Growls from the shifters who killed your parents.”
