Page 77 of Callen's Captive
“I’m mad, Callen.”
“I know.”
“I wanted to return to my world, but not like this.”
“If I had known about the virus, I would have taken you back immediately.” If the virus spread, it wouldn’t matter where it started. Damien was right. The humans would burn the entire fucking forest to wipe out every shifter in existence.
She stood there, stunned. “This isn’t about the virus. It’s about you, us. I’m not ready to say goodbye to you.”
His hand eased down her cheek to her neck, then followed the sensuous curves of her chest until he reached her hip. He took that last step closer, leaving no room between them. “We don’t have to leave quite yet. Maybe a night or two here, time to get to know one another better?”
“That will only make it harder,” she said, tears in her eyes.
“It’s already hard,” he said, waggling his brows. He didn’t even know where the capacity to flirt with her came from, but he wasn’t going to fight it. He needed her strength, her courage, and her tenacity if he was going to get through this.
She laughed, but then her smile quickly faded.
“It’s okay, Princess,” he said as he leaned his forehead against hers and took in her lovely scent. This wasn’t right, none of it was. He should be introducing her to the pack, asking her to blood-bond with him—anything but watching her hold back her tears as she prepared to say goodbye to him.
Her hands cupped his cheeks with a tenderness that only reminded him of what he was giving up. “I want to, but. . .” She bit her lip, trying to collect herself. He didn’t need her to finish the thought. He understood. Touching her, kissing her, would only make the inevitable that much harder.
Callen backed down the ladder into the root cellar he hadn’t been in since he was a kid. It was smaller than he remembered, but not much had changed. At one time, this cellar had held enough food stores for the entire pack, back when the pack had been a lot smaller. Now this was one of three cellars needed to store summer fruits and vegetables. Whatever had been here had been taken for the move, with only a few apples and carrots left behind.
Damien kept the cash in the same old cabinet his dad had used. With a quick pull, Callen opened the top drawer and found piles of cash in plastic bags. He chuckled, knowing Kate would appreciate Damien’s foresight. After Callen stuffed several bags of cash into a backpack, he grabbed a few of the abandoned apples.
The trapdoor above slammed shut, thrusting him into complete darkness.
“Not funny,” he called up to Kate. Hell, if this was her way of keeping him from leaving her, it wasn’t going to work. He pushed up on the trapdoor, but it wouldn’t budge. Something was holding it down.
“Kate, open the door,” he yelled up, but she didn’t answer.
His wolf was on high alert and with good reason. He couldn’t hear her anywhere above.
With his wolf’s anger fueling him, Callen held onto the ladder for leverage and threw his shoulder against the wooden door. Muscles strained and bruised with each blow. By the tenth try, the door gave way slightly, as whatever was on top of it shifted. Soon, the trapdoor gave way fully, and he pushed aside the heavy coffee table that trapped him.
Kate was gone, and the front door was wide open. Two other scents lingered in the air, both of them male. Callen didn’t recognize either. Whoever had taken Kate, wasn’t from his pack.
