Page 91 of Callen's Captive
“That means the ladies’ restroom—” Blade stopped mid-sentence when he caught Callen’s glare. “Okay then, not in the mood. Better hold off a minute, Kate.”
“Why?”
“Prince Charming here needs to run perimeter. It will only take a minute.”
Callen stripped out of his clothing and shifted, glad to get away from both of them. They were grating on his nerves now.
He ran the initial perimeter, found nothing, and then widened his search to make sure the area was safe, but mostly because he didn’t want to go back yet. Then he remembered Kate was waiting to go to the bathroom, so he stayed in his wolf form, howled the ‘all clear’ to Blade, and continued running through the woods. A third perimeter, because it felt good, freeing, and he didn’t have to answer any questions or smell her intoxicating scent while looking at that sweet face and knowing he’d probably never be allowed to touch her again.
After twenty minutes, he returned to where he’d left Kate and Blade. Blade was sitting up against a tree, with Kate sitting cross-legged next to him.
“I’m still not sure what you meant by full circle,” Kate said.
“I was referring to how I carried Callen fifty miles back to his pack. We were in enemy territory, and he was too wounded to escape on his own, so I carried him.”
“I thought you didn’t know each other before then.”
“We didn’t,” Callen spoke. “I had walked into a trap. Blade was there, in the shadows, watching, waiting.”
“For what?”
“For the bear shifters to leave so he could steal their honey.”
“You risked going into a dangerous situation for honey?”
“It works like currency among bear shifters. I wasn’t exactly in a good frame of mind back then. Half the time, I was causing trouble for all the wrong reasons. But that night I needed honey to get some information from another sleuth of bears.”
“Why not grab your honey and go? Or let him escape? What made you bring him to his pack?”
“He was dying. I knew if I carried him, gave him the chance to heal, he might live. Seemed more important than the honey.”
“You risked your life for him,” she said, sounding amazed.
“He would have done the same for me.”
“No, I wouldn’t have.”
“He’s only saying that to impress you, Kate. Wants you to think he’s some badass instead of a big softie.”
“I’m guessing you didn’t know he was an enforcer at the time.”
Blade shrugged. “Wouldn’t have mattered. Being an enforcer is just a job.”
“You rescued me from Briggs, Kate. You risked yourself, and you didn’t know a damn thing about me either.”
“Now that’s interesting,” Blade said.
“How’s that?” Kate asked.
“We both had to save his ass.”
Blade was grinning, and Kate laughed. God, it felt good to hear her laugh.
“What Blade means,” Callen said, shooting him a look, “is that he made one of his usual impulsive decisions and took a chance on me even though everything about the situation said he should have left me and escaped while he could. Just like you, Kate.”
“What situation?”
“The one where I’d been sent to kill him,” Callen said.
