Page 80 of Callen's Captive
“Nothing. Pray if you believe in that sort of thing.”
“You don’t sound like you do.”
“Not lately.”
She shivered. “The way shifters fight, settle things, it’s all so cold, heartless.”
“Survival. Pure and simple. I thought I was up against three wolves. They’d taken you, hurt you. There was no question what I had to do. Remove the immediate threat to you. Unfortunately, that was Blade. I should have recognized his scent.”
“I think I understand the WSSO better now, or at least the fear behind the people who run it. They don’t understand life here, Callen, what shifters are about.”
“And you, Kate? Do you understand?”
“Honestly, I’m not sure I do. I’m not saying it’s wrong. Just different.”
That was probably the nicest way he’d ever heard anyone compare their two peoples and cultures. His mind drifted to when he first saw Blade and Anna together at Liam’s compound. The devotion they had toward each other was impressive, but Callen hadn’t expected anything to come of it. He had thought Blade was merely infatuated with Anna. With her blond hair and blue eyes and a smile a mile wide, it was easy to see why.
Getting to know Anna had made Callen think differently about humans. After all, if Blade of all shifters could fall for a human, then perhaps their two peoples weren’t all that different, not in the ways that really mattered. Blade was often impulsive, impatient, and even a bit juvenile at times, but there was no one more loyal or had as much heart as Blade.
“Callen?”
Kate’s hand was on his shoulder, lightly shaking him, probably afraid anything harder would cause him to lose his grip on Blade’s wound. Nothing could tear him from Blade at this moment. He had to keep up the pressure until Blade’s wolf repaired the artery.
“Callen, the shirt. It’s soaked through already.”
A growl sounded from nearby. Kate swung about, standing over him and Blade, her arm outstretched with the gun poised high and ready to shoot.
The answering growl that erupted from Callen held no thought, only pure rage. Rage that he could to nothing to protect his mate, not while his hands on Blade’s neck was the only thing keeping his friend alive. Callen had to rely on Kate to protect them, to risk herself should another shifter attack.
“That was some growl,” Kate said.
He couldn’t make out what she was thinking or feeling. Growls tended to put her on edge. Callen let his eyes drift upward toward her. It was all he could do while maintaining the pressure on Blade’s wound.
Kate wasn’t panicking. In fact, she looked stronger than he’d ever seen her, which was good. Callen needed her strength now. Blade wasn’t going to make it.
Callen swallowed hard, struggling to remain calm. He couldn’t lose Blade, not now, not like this.
“I think your growl worked.” Kate stepped back over Blade. “I think they’re gone.”
Callen raised his head long enough to listen. They’d moved on.
“Do you want my pants?” she asked.
Her pants?He took another look at her and realized she was only wearing a bra and jeans, her white shirt pressed against Blade’s neck, soaked through with his blood.
“I think the blood is slowing,” she said.
Callen glanced back down at Blade. His friend’s breathing was strong, but his color was too damn pale.
“What do we do? Should I go for someone? Back to Damien, perhaps?”
“No.”
“Callen, we have to do something! Your friend is dying.”
“We wait,” he said, oddly surprised at how calm he sounded despite the terror seizing him.
“Wait for what? Is someone else on their way to help? How? Cell phones don’t work out here.”
