Page 98 of Callen's Captive
Chapter Twenty
CALLEN
Callen reached over in bed, searching for Kate. When he didn’t feel her lush body beside him, his eyes sprang open, suddenly on high alert. Her scent, strong as ever, calmed him, especially when he realized where they were. She’d likely headed off to the bathroom. He really needed to talk to her about leaving his bed in the morning without at least a kiss, and preferably something more.
He dressed, unable to get the smirk off his face. She’d come to him, without any hesitation. Though his gut clenched tight as he thought of how he was essentially disobeying Damien and walking away from the pack, Callen had no choice. Kate was his, and he’d let nothing come between them. He would simply have to work with Blade, Hayden, and Liam on the outside and find a way of handling Drake. After all, no one in his pack would truly miss him if he didn’t return.
As he strolled across the warehouse, he heard Blade and Anna arguing in the distance. He’d never heard them argue before. Never get between a blood-bonded pair, his father had always told him. Good advice, and he couldn’t wait to blood-bond Kate, to bind himself to her in a way that he could truly see into her soul and let her see into his.
“Callen,” Blade called. “Get in here.”
Blade ordering him. That wasdifferent. Callen had already diverted toward the exit, to head out and run the perimeter and give them privacy to resolve whatever the issue was. Callen’s wolf didn’t particularly like being ordered around by anyone, except their alpha or second. And Kate.
Thinking of her returned that smile to his face. Hell, he was grinning like he’d just lost his virginity instead of her. He’d been nervous with her last night, afraid of hurting her, scaring her. Her expression, even when she’d closed her eyes, had been peaceful, sweet, innocent. Sweet perfection, his Kate.
As Callen entered the office, he noticed Anna with her arms folded over her chest and Blade leaning on the desk, supporting his still shaky legs. He’d made a lot of progress in the few days they had been here, but he needed time before he could continue his job of transporting documents and samples back and forth between the lab and the dead drop. Callen could take on Blade’s duties for now, leaving Kate behind with Blade and Anna. That would give him the chance to let Damien know he would not be returning to the pack. Damien could assign him any tasks outside the pack, and he’d do whatever Damien wished, but he wouldn’t let himself get infected and separated from Kate. Damien had Tess, he’d understand Callen making Kate his priority.
Blade took one look at Callen and scented the air. Callen hadn’t showered yet, and he’d have Kate’s scent all over him. That pleased him and his wolf considerably. He wanted everyone to know he’d claimed her.
“Bloody hell,” Blade said.
“Not the reaction I had expected,” Callen said, losing his smile.
“I was hoping you hadn’t slept with her. It complicates matters.”
“I don’t see how it’s any of your damn business.”
Blade’s jaw tightened.
“Show him already,” Anna said, her worry cloying at Callen even at this distance. In that moment, Callen’s wolf howled, and he knew something was wrong. Kate. He hadn’t seen her yet. Callen raced to the conference room where she kept her belongings. Her backpack was gone.
“Where is she?” he yelled as he darted back to the office.
Blade led him to the computer by the lab. It was off, but hanging on the corner of the monitor was a silver necklace with a rectangular pendant. Callen traced her bite makes with his thumb, each groove in the pendant a testament to a time when Kate was nervous or afraid.
“When?”
“I don’t know. Anna found this a few minutes ago. We were arguing over whether to tell you first or—”
Callen didn’t stay to listen. He shifted and shot to the door, picking up her trail as he dodged the crates and equipment in the warehouse. Damn door was slowing him down. He had to shift back to human form to turn the damn handle. As he flung the door open, the smells of fall struck him. Clean, crisp air combined with pine needles and decaying leaves, but her scent was there, mixed in and very faint. Kate had left hours ago.
Despite the blustery wind scattering her scent, Callen found the direction Kate had headed. He shifted back and sprinted toward the highway.
He walked along the shoulder, barely noticing the cars that passed by. With each step his wolf took, he played back his time with her last night. From the moment she had pressed that condom into his hand until after he’d claimed her, when he had fallen asleep curled around her, she had seemed fine, better than fine. Relaxed, happy. The few tears he had noticed had been from the pain as he had entered her, at least that’s what he had thought at the time. He’d been careful with her, hadn’t he? What the hell had happened to make her leave like that, without even a goodbye?
Her trail ended abruptly. His wolf walked back and forth on the asphalt, expanding his search onto the road at one point, nearly getting hit by a car in the process. Then he went over the guardrail but found no trace of her scent there either. Her trail just ended. Callen laid down on the shoulder, his head on his paws, confused, shaking, scared. Kate had hitchhiked. There was no trail to follow, no way to find her. His Kate was gone.
Some hours later, a sheriff’s car pulled up behind him. He’d shut down, unable to move from the last spot that held her scent. Someone had probably thought he’d been injured and called the local sheriff’s office to put him down. The thought was tempting, but that was only the confusion and the sense of loss talking. He’d find her. Somehow he’d find her.
When the car door creaked open, Callen leapt over the guardrail and raced through the trees, without knowing or caring what direction. A howl in the distance finally snapped him out of his fog. That was Blade’s wolf calling for help.
Callen broke into a run, trying not to think of Kate as he prepared himself for whoever had found the warehouse. He ground to a halt when he saw Blade standing outside, in human form, not wolf.
“Sorry, Callen. I didn’t mean to alarm you, but I wasn’t sure you planned to come back, and I couldn’t risk you getting too far that you wouldn’t hear me. I’m still not up to running or tracking, and there’s something you need to see.”
“I didn’t find her,” Callen said, blindly following Blade into the warehouse, getting irritated that he had no idea of where to look for her.
At the computer sat Anna, her leg bouncing with nervous energy. Kate’s pendant rested securely in her hand, the long silver chain pooling in her lap. Seeing it was a visual reminder that Kate had left him.
