Page 76 of Hers to Call
A woman froze as she came to the door of the small ranch style house, her eyes darting to the side where a covered car was parked. Nate headed to the car, but Simon kept his eyes on the female.
“Alpha.” Tessa moistened her lips, her gaze pinging between them and the deputy’s car coming up behind them in the drive.
Nate whipped the cover from the car and revealed a blue sedan, the front end damaged. They all stared at the woman.
“Something you want to explain, Tessa?” Simon’s voice deepened, his bear suffusing his body with power.
“She wasn’t supposed to get hurt. Just run out of town.” Tessa put the suitcase she was toting on the step and sat down beside it.
“You ran my mate off the road. She could’ve been killed!” His voice echoed in the surrounding forest.
Tessa bared her neck, tears cresting her cheeks. “I wasn’t the one driving the car. I just gave her the message. She was never supposed to be hurt.”
“Out with all of it. Now.” Simon clenched his hands at his side. He didn’t dare take a step close to the female.
Not that he would put a hand on her, but his bear wanted her submission, and between the animals, he wasn’t sure what would happen.
She wiped a hand down her face. “Becca called me and said that Calita was taking you from her. I was just supposed to make sure she was headed away from town.”
Nate grunted. “Towards that dead zone. What did you think would happen to her?”
“Becca said she would just talk to her, that’s it, I swear.”
Simon’s heart thumped against his ribs. “Becca was driving the car?” He staggered back, shock blanching away his anger.
She nodded. “We…the rumors around town. I helped her with that, but that was it,” she whispered.
“You’ve been undermining this clan?” Gavin stepped closer to the female.
Nate put an arm out to stop him. “Where is Becca?”
Tessa sniffled and wiped her eyes. “We’re supposed to meet in Pleasant Hill and leave the state together.”
“No other clan anywhere near here will take you. I’ll make sure of it,” Simon swore softly.
She gasped and lowered her head. “I told Becca we would be banished. She was so desperate.”
“What in the world would she gain?” Nate asked.
“She wanted Simon to herself.”
“I’m mated.” Simon was confused.
Tessa shrugged. “If she could get Calita to leave before you mated her, then there would be no one for you, but her.”
“What the hell?” Gavin stormed off.
“Calita,” he whispered. “Where is Becca now?” A sense of urgency started to fill him.
He didn’t wait for the answer, he rushed to Gavin’s truck. Nate ran behind him, instructing one of his deputies to stay with Tessa. Gavin hopped in and kicked up dirt as he sped out of her driveway. Simon pulled his phone out and dialed Calita’s number. He cursed as it rang until the voicemail picked up.
“Faster, Gavin,” he implored.
His Beta floored it, and the truck spit out onto the highway, leaving a cloud of dust behind them as they sped away.
***
Calita perused the back room, doing mental calculations. She’d have to get the builder to enlarge the room back here as well. A bigger place to store her supplies would be needed. She smiled and ran her hand across the wall. She was doing it. She was going to open her own bakery. She couldn’t wait to call her father and tell him. She’d also get him to send her the recipe book that she’d left at their house. It was full of recipes that had been passed down from his side of the family. Over the years, she’d tweaked them to suit her, making them fancy as her father had complained. Her phone went off in the other room, so she backed out of the storage closet.
