Page 77 of Hers to Call
“You know, Selena, you can still order your morning pastries from me.” Calita paused as she rounded the corner to the front of the store.
Becca stood there with a gun trained on Selena. Her phone went silent for a second then started ringing again, vibrating across the counter. It broke her stupor.
“Becca. What are you doing here?”
Becca swung the gun on her. Her face was splotchy, her eyes red-rimmed. “You ruined everything.”
Calita raised her hands. “I haven’t done anything to you.”
“He was supposed to be mine.”
“You know that’s not how mating works, Becca,” Selena said softly.
“He was mine. He wasn’t looking for a mate.” Becca’s hand shook as she brought the gun higher.
Her focus was solely on Calita. Becca’s rage-filled eyes raked her face with a sneer. Calita’s heartbeat stuttered. Would she die here right on the cusp of getting her dreams? She reached for her connection with Simon, needed to feel him if it would be her last few minutes on Earth. She felt his desperation, his fury. She sent him her love in return.
“You don’t have to do this, Becca.” Calita kept her voice calm and forced her heartbeat to slow.
“It should be me. I took care of him when Miranda left. I helped him take care of his father as he lay dying. I was there for him! You can’t just come in take what I worked for.”
Calita kept her body from tensing as Selena moved. She looked into Becca’s eyes, keeping her attention. “You’ve done so much for him. I know that.”
“Then you know you don’t deserve him,” the woman whispered.
“I didn’t intend to take anything from you,” she insisted loudly to cover up Selena’s movement.
“If I can’t have him, you shouldn’t be able to either.” Becca’s arm holding the pistol steadied.
The world around Cali slowed down as the woman bit her lip, her face calming as she aimed the pistol. Becca’s words resonated, and reminded Calita of another time, another person who’d claimed if he couldn’t have her no one else could. Anger started to fill her, battling with desperation. Unbidden, her gaze shot to Selena as her best friend lifted a small step stool and raised it over her head. Becca saw Calita’s eye flicker to behind her. She swung to look as Selena brought the stool down on her shoulder. The gun went off before clattering to the ground. Becca screamed and Selena raised the stool again. Calita didn’t think, she simply tackled Becca before she could attack her friend.
They hit the floor hard, wrestling. Becca screeched and grabbed her hair. Calita didn’t bother with hair pulling, she punched the woman as hard as she could in the face. She landed blows any way she could, scrambling across the tile floor with the woman. She cursed as they bumped into the gun, sending it scurrying across the floor. Selena picked it up and leveled it at them. Still, they fought.
Calita knew if she stopped, Becca could overpower her in seconds. She didn’t know how long they fought on the floor, all she knew was that she was done being a victim. Fur exploded along Becca’s arm, the wild smell of bear permeated the air and Calita cursed. No way could she take a three hundred pound bear if Becca changed.
She fought harder, hoping to disable Becca before she could fully transform. The gun went off and both women froze. Selena lowered her arm from the ceiling and pointed it at Becca, breathing hard.
“If you shift, I’ll shoot.”
Calita slipped as she sought purchase on the tile, banging her knee against the hard floor. She rushed to her friend’s side, wanting to be on the other end of the gun in case Selena made good on her promise.
Becca growled and seemed to consider it. After a moment, she stood and charged them both, fur exploding all over her body as her bear form took over. Selena fired but it didn’t slow the bear as it crashed into them, sending them into one of the counters. Cali shook away her shock and kicked out, fighting for her very life. Calita heard her name being called vaguely before she was hauled up, arms banding around her waist. She didn’t stop fighting, she still swung. Nate growled into Becca’s face, his bear ripping through his clothes. He pulled her up, grabbing and spinning her around away from Calita.
“It’s over, love. It’s over.” Simon pulled Cali’s head into his chest, his forehead on the top of her head. “Calm yourself, baby.”
Calita clutched him, adrenaline still spiking through her system. Pride was there, mingled in with the fear. She hadn’t laid down, she’d fought for her life, unlike last time.
“She was going to kill me.”
Simon gripped her tighter. She looked up as one of Nate’s deputies grabbed the gun from the floor and unarmed it, tucking it into an evidence bag. Another deputy led Becca from the shop, her arms handcuffed behind her back, a blanket wrapped around her nude body. Calita searched for Selena and found her bundled into her mate. Nate’s face was hard, his normally stoic countenance suffused with fury, his hair in disarray as he gripped Selena, tucking her under his blanket. The fact that she could’ve died settled on Calita’s shoulders and then the trembles started.
“I have you, love,” Simon whispered, settling on the floor with her still in his arms.
“I want to go home,” she whispered.
“In a minute. I just…I need a minute to hold you.” Simon rained kisses along her face and neck.
***
