Page 12 of Winning the Wolf

Caleb opened the passenger door to his Land Rover before going around to the driver’s side. Getting in, I buckled up and sat staring at the yellow stoned façade of the Georgian mansion. It had a small set of stone steps leading down to the gravel driveway and the many large windows stretched across the front of the building. I’d always admired the beauty of the place, set in grounds of lawns and woods. The perfect place for the alpha to run the pack, as if we were all in a Jane Austin romance novel.

Killick came out of the house, whistling to Caleb before he could jump into the vehicle. The friends met on the gravel, talking under their breath. Killick glanced at me, his gaze cold.

For some bizarre reason, his nonchalance bothered me, especially considering we’d spent the last two days together. I shouldn’t have cared. The pack had disowned me long before my sister’s latest antics, why did I expect it to be any different now?

Waving goodbye, Caleb joined me in the truck and drove me away from the house. I breathed a sigh as we exited the iron gates and headed towards town.

“Tough couple of days, huh?”

I had been staring out of the window, watching the trees flash by. Jolting back to reality, I hummed an affirmative reply. Exhaustion and worry pulled at my nerves, making it hard to concentrate.

“My brother can be a dick, too,” Caleb said as we drove down the gorge.

A burst of laughter escaped me, making us both jump. He was right, my sister was a dick. She’d messed up, beyond repair. And now, I had to decide how to go forward.

“Ever since our brother… you know,” I muttered, “she’s been off the rails. I just don’t know what to do anymore.”

Clearing his throat, Caleb ran a hand through his long chocolate brown hair and glanced at me sideways. “It’s a tough one. However much you try and help a person, it’s often thrown back in our faces.”

“Tell me about it.”

I’d heard rumours about Caleb’s younger brother. He was apparently into drugs and sex in a big way.

“They’re our siblings, though, you know?” Caleb’s voice was tight. “We’ll never stop trying.”

My eyes glassed over, the shimmer of tears making my vision blurry. For once in my life, someone understood the anguish that both my siblings had caused me. And here I was, after losing one of them, basically losing the other.

“I don’t understand why she’s done it.” A sob wrenched from my throat as I tried to take a shaky breath.

Caleb looked at me, sympathy in his gaze. “Our siblings are alike. They’re in pain, so they hit the self-destruct fuck it button. I know how it feels to be the responsible one, the grown up, always looking out for the other.”

Swiping at the tears that tracked down my cheeks, I kept my gaze ahead, not wanting to show him how his kindness affected me. No one had been able to understand what I’d been going through, not even my own father, who had basically abandoned us in his own grief.

“How is your brother doing?” I asked, ignoring the twinge of jealousy.

I wished my brother had still been around. He would’ve known what to do about Nyla, he always had.

“He’s…” Shrugging, Caleb eased off the pedal as we came down through the gorge and into the main street. “…in rehab.”

“I’m sorry.”

What else could I say? My sister wasn’t addicted to drugs, but she was pretty drawn to the bad boys who treated her like crap. This time, she’d gone too far.

Shrugging again, Caleb sucked his bottom lip into his mouth as he switched the indicator. A bolt of warmth spread through me as the car turned into a car park. Okay, why was I craving a bit of Caleb’s attention all of a sudden? First, Killick, now, Caleb. Talk about wanton whore.

As soon as the engine was switched off, I jumped out of the car and looked down the road. There were several small shops and cafés just before the bend. The Cheddar Caves were on the left, just down from my shop. Well, our shop. Nyla had dreamed of having a little coffee shop that sold cakes. I’d loved the idea of selling dreamcatchers and natural gems, so we’d decided to combine our gifts and open an alternative coffee shop.

My gaze drifted to our little dream. The building had taken three years to transform. It now looked like a tepee with material waves stretching up to a wooden beam to form the roof. The front door was fashioned to look like a tepee opening, the glass decorated with dreamcatchers.

“This is my sister’s pride and joy…” I shook my head as Caleb joined me. “…Mine too, now. Why would she risk it all?”

Caleb shrugged his shoulders and indicated that we go in. I braced myself as we strode across the car park and I unlocked the front door. The shop had been closed for two days now, which was completely unlike us. Rain or sunshine, we’d been dedicated to making our little shop work.

“Tepee Treasures and Coffee. Who came up with the name?”

Following me inside, Caleb scanned the shop. The shelves were stacked with dreamcatchers, crystals and different cultural treasures. I’d fallen in love with bags and pillowcases made in India, so I’d brought those into the shop too. Our ancestry had hailed from ancient Inuits and Americans centuries ago, which I liked to honour by buying and selling their wares.

“It was Chris, actually,” I said, flicking on the lights to the café.

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