Chapter 6 Cal
CHAPTER 6: CAL
Slipping quietly into the darkened room, he shut the door firmly behind him and used a touch more of his power to form a noise-dampening shield from the moisture in the air around the door. It wouldn’t block normal conversation. The pack would likely panic if he tried to block all sound. It would help, though.
No one had drawn the curtains, and the reflected glow of the streetlights outside cast a faint yellowish light into the room. Something in Cal that had been coiled tight relaxed as he caught the soft sounds of Luca’s breathing and his now familiar scent in the air.
Stepping closer to the bed, Cal stared down at Luca’s sleeping face. He looked so relaxed like this. Cal hated it. Luca might be infuriating, but he was a ball of energy when he was conscious. This forced lassitude was unnatural. The bed dipped as he sat down on its edge and reached out to gently brush a stray lock of hair from Luca’s forehead. His breath caught as Luca’s eyes shot open and cool fingers reached up to grab Cal’s wrist.
Cal froze, giving the shifter time to process where he was .
“Cal?” Luca whispered, not letting go of his hand.
“Your family is just outside. I came to check you for any lingering poison,” Cal said. “They can hear us talk, but the wards here will block a whisper,” he added in the softest voice he could.
“Why?” Luca whispered back.
Cal shrugged. “In case you wanted some privacy.”
Luca’s eyes widened in surprise. “Thank you. Usually everyone’s in my business.”
Cal huffed. “I noticed,” he said, absently touching the red claw marks Aria had left on his neck. At least she hadn’t drawn blood.
Luca snarled as he noticed the move and reached up to trace his fingers over the skin of his throat, stroking over and over again until he’d replaced any lingering scent of Aria with his own. Cal couldn’t hide the way his body shuddered in response and Luca’s hand trailed down further, stroking over his pecs before landing back on the covers.
“She doesn’t get to touch you,” he growled, loud enough for those outside to hear.
Cal smirked and raised an eyebrow, inordinately pleased at the soft blush revealed in Luca’s cheeks when he reached over and flicked on the bedside lamp.
“And you do?” he asked, curious to see how the prickly shifter would respond.
Luca frowned and changed the subject. “I can feel your magic inside me.”
Cal tilted his head to the side and searched Luca’s expression for a hint of what he was feeling. He still looked a bit out of it, which wasn’t surprising, and there was an undertone of suppressed panic in his words.
“I’m sorry I didn’t have time to ask your consent. You were dying,” he said, genuine remorse in his words.
It wasn’t hard to read between the lines and see that someone had hurt Luca deeply in the past. His aversion to touch and casual affection was not typical shifter behaviour. He hadn’t hugged his pack farewell when he’d first arrived and he’d skilfully avoided brushing up against anyone in the crowded bar when he’d stalked away from Cal, which was quite a feat with the dancefloor heaving the way it had been. The only one he hadn’t avoided touching was Cal, despite the sharp words he attacked him with. Did he even realise? Luca was a contradiction. One Cal wished he could resist the urge to explore.
“It feels like liquid moonlight running through my veins. You shouldn’t feel that good,” Luca murmured, words slurring and eyes fluttering as his exhaustion threatened to pull him back under.
“May I check you for any lingering poison?” Cal asked.
Luca nodded, but the movement was so slight he could’ve just been falling asleep.
“I need your words, baby. Do I have your permission?” Cal whispered, cupping Luca’s jaw and squeezing gently to pull him back to consciousness.
Luca blinked his eyes back open and made a visible effort to focus. “Yeah. Do it,” he said.
“Good boy,” Cal murmured, unable to help himself as he stroked his fingers down the scruff of Luca’s unshaven face.
The endearments just kept slipping out despite his best efforts. He wished he could say he was trying to rile Luca up to get back some normality, but that wasn’t it at all. His brain just took a hike whenever he was in the same room as the shifter and words spilled out of him he knew he shouldn’t say.
Like he’d told Luca before, if he wanted Cal to stop saying it, all he had to do was explicitly ask. The shifter’s protestations seemed more habit than anything else, and Cal could sense the satisfaction of the wolf inside the other man. It liked his brand of caring dominance. Welcomed it, even. Drawing on the reserves of his magic in the building’s walls, he let his magic wash over Luca, searching for any hint of the dark poison that had almost stolen him away.
“Not a boy,” Luca whispered belatedly, but his expression turned thoroughly blissed out as the blue glow of Cal’s power surrounded him like a warm bath and he subconsciously tilted his head back, baring his throat to him.
Cal closed his eyes on the too-tempting display and focussed on the feedback he was getting from his magic. Relief flooded through him as he felt the now strong, clean pulse of Luca’s blood rushing through his veins, their pulses synchronising until he couldn’t tell if it was his own heart or Luca’s he was hearing.
“You know what you need to say if you want me to stop calling you that,” he said, reluctantly letting his power drain away from the shifter despite the fact it wanted to weave itself so tightly through him that they could never be untangled. “You’re all clear.”
Luca whimpered in protest as the glow around his body started to fade.
“You okay?” Cal asked, pausing.
“My wolf likes your moonlight,” Luca said, his annoyance seeming to cut through some of his tiredness.
“Is that a bad thing?”
“Wolf instincts are the worst,” Luca’s mouth snapped closed as soon as the complaint left his mouth, as if he couldn’t believe he’d uttered it.
Cal frowned in confusion. Wolf instincts were one of a shifter’s biggest strengths. He’d never heard one speak like that before, and that kind of self-hatred surely wasn’t healthy. What had happened to Luca to make him feel that way? And how could he make it better? Maybe Marco would tell him .
As if sensing the direction of his thoughts, Luca whispered, “Don’t tell them I said that.”
Before he could dig into that any further, the door swung open and the rest of Luca’s pack joined them. As Cal shifted out of their way to lean on the wall nearby, Vin caught his gaze with a questioning look, pointedly glancing over at Luca’s still ever so slightly bared neck. The vampire didn’t miss much. Cal just shook his head. Even if he had a clue what was going on between him and Luca, he wouldn’t have told the vampire anything.
“How are you feeling?” Marco asked Luca, taking the spot where Cal had been sitting on the bed.
“Fine.”
“Try again,” the Alpha growled, reaching out to clasp his shoulder gently.
Luca couldn’t hide his wince at the contact, and Marco quickly withdrew his hand. “Everything aches, but Cal gave me the all-clear. I’ll be fine soon. Y’all can go back to whatever you were doing.”
“You need to be more careful,” Marco said.
“He needs to come home where we can keep an eye on him properly,” Aria said, still glaring daggers at Cal.
Cal glared right back.
“He shouldn’t be moved right now,” Rafe corrected.
Cal watched as a mask of indifference descended on Luca’s face. He could tell Luca was trying so very hard not to explode at his well-meaning family who were oblivious to how much hurt they were causing when they spoke this way about him as if he wasn’t right there.
“Okay, time’s up. You’ve seen he’s conscious and recovering. Now get the fuck out of my penthouse so we can all get some sleep,” Cal growled, letting some of his own exhaustion show through when he usually would’ve kept it hidden to lend weight to his words as he shepherded everyone except Marco toward the door. He would’ve pulled the Alpha off the bed as well if he’d thought he could get away with it, but he knew that was a step too far.
“Back off, witch,” Aria snarled as he stepped in close to get her moving.
“We played this game already. This is my den. You listen to my rules or you pay the price. It’s late. I’m tired. You need to leave.”
Aria had barely started lunging at him before a snarl came from behind him. Luca’s body knocked him to the side as the shifter staggered out of bed to bare his fangs at his sister with a snarl.
Stunned silence fell on the Lunetti Pack as they all stared at Luca.
Gently taking Luca’s elbow, Cal turned him away from Aria and manoeuvred him back to sit on the bed. “I’ve got this, baby. I can handle her.”
“ Baby? ” Aria snapped, and Cal cursed silently for the slip-up his tired mind had made.
He kept a firm grip on Luca’s shoulder to stop him staggering back to his feet again. The man was going to collapse if he kept this up. He was still too weak from the poisoning.
“Aria. Say your goodbyes and go bring the car round out front. You’re not helping,” Marco said, concern in his eyes as he watched Luca breathing in short, panicked breaths where he sat on the bed.
Cal felt a moment of sympathy at the pain he saw in her face. He wouldn’t want to leave Luca in this state, either.
“Fine. But if you hurt my brother, I’ll kill you,” she spat at Cal.
For fuck’s sake. She had the same quick temper as her brother, and this was not the time to lose it. Luca had dropped his head into his hands and was squeezing his hair in tight fists. Turning his back on her, Cal crouched down in front of Luca and dug his thumbs into his shoulder muscles, kneading the tension away as best he could. Taking an exaggerated breath, Cal held it for a count of three and then exhaled, letting the air blow across Luca’s collarbone. The next time he inhaled, Luca echoed the breath, just as he’d hoped. The touchy shifter would’ve got even more upset if Cal had tried to tell him to breathe, but something inside him recognised the calm Cal was offering and snatched at it.
Once everyone else had left, Marco moved to sit next to Luca and put a careful arm around his waist, tugging gently until Luca leaned his forehead into his shoulder, taking comfort from his Alpha. Ignoring the urge to snatch Luca away, Cal went to pull back and give them some room, but Marco shook his head and silently gestured for him to stay where he was.
“I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” Luca said.
“You almost died only hours ago. Your body is still fighting to stabilise itself. There’s nothing wrong with you,” Marco said, gripping his nape firmly and scent-marking his neck. Apparently, Luca could accept another’s touch sometimes. At least from his Alpha.
“And that made me challenge my own sister over a damn witch?” Luca muttered.
Cal flinched a little at the venom in the words, even though he understood his boy was just feeling vulnerable and lashing out.
Marco looked up at Cal and seemed to consider carefully before he replied. “Sometimes we form a connection with someone even when we don’t mean to. Aria will understand and forgive you. She was out of line.”
“I don’t want a connection to anyone,” Luca said.
Marco huffed a laugh. “We both know that’s not true. You have plenty of connections. You’re just afraid. ”
Luca stiffened in his Alpha’s hold and it took all of Cal’s self-control not to pull him into his lap.
“We’re all tired. You can talk about this later,” Cal said.
Preferably when he wasn’t around. Or never. Never was good. Because he couldn’t afford a ‘ connection ’ with the Lunetti Pack and their criminal enterprise. Nor did he want one. He and Luca agreed on that much.
Marco nodded once and got to his feet, squeezing Luca’s shoulder in farewell. Cal followed him out to the exit, needing to make sure everyone was out of his space.
“I can see how protective you are of him. Thank you,” Marco said.
Cal shrugged with discomfort. “It’s what he’s here for.”
Marco smirked at him. “You and I both know that’s not what’s making you step in when we get too much for him.”
“Whatever you’re thinking, it’s not going to happen because neither of us wants it to.”
“The two of you reek of desire,” Marco said.
“That’s not the kind of want I’m talking about,” Cal said, internally wincing at the thought of Luca’s sister smelling their desire. He could maybe see why she’d been so pissed now.
“About his past, you need to know—” Marco started saying, but Cal cut him off with a raised hand.
“If Luca wants to tell me about that, he will.”
Marco sighed. “You’re a better man than I had reason to hope for when we brought him here, Calder. His trust in you is going to freak him the fuck out. Don’t prove his fears right.”
“I would never hurt him,” Cal said.
“Your mere existence may break him,” Marco said.
Cal frowned in confusion, but the Alpha just waved goodbye and let himself out.
As he turned back toward the living room, the door to Luca’s room was a draw he couldn’t have resisted if he tried. He thought he was quiet as he moved to turn off the bedside light, but not quiet enough for wolf hearing because Luca stirred and opened his eyes.
“Thank you for not letting him spill my secrets,” Luca said.
Cal sighed. Shifter hearing was a real pain sometimes. “They weren’t his to tell, no matter how well-meaning. Do you need anything before I go to bed? Some water?”
Luca stared up at him and Cal lost himself in the stormy grey of his eyes, softened by the dim light of the lamp and the deep quiet of the early hour. Without a word, Luca flipped back the covers next to him, leaving the sheet exposed, and then turned his back as if he hadn’t just rocked Cal’s whole understanding of their dynamic with his clear invitation.
“Luca…”
“Don’t overthink it. I’m not offering anything else and we will never speak of this again. I just … need,” Luca whispered.
Cal pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath. This was going to be agony, but he was helpless to deny Luca anything. “Okay, baby.”
Moving back to close the door, he quickly stripped off his clothes, all too conscious of what a flimsy barrier his boxer briefs were between him and the sweetest, most infuriating temptation he’d ever faced. He was careful to keep space between them as he slipped into the bed and pulled the covers up over them both before flicking off the light.
Sleep wouldn’t come for him no matter how still he lay staring up at the ceiling in the darkness. He couldn’t make himself face away from Luca, even though he knew he should. As if doing so would be turning his back on the need Luca had been so brave to voice. The subtle scent of Luca’s warm body beside him was intoxicating, and he’d been hard as steel since he slipped under the soft cotton of the sheets.
Sighing again, he turned to face the man whose presence was such exquisite torture and drank in as much of his muscled form as he could make out. Why couldn’t he get Luca out of his head?
“Stop thinking so loud,” Luca muttered, before letting out his own sigh. “Fuck it,” he added.
And, before Cal could process his intentions, Luca had shuffled across the sheets until his back was pressed tight against Cal’s chest. That would have been shocking enough, but then he grabbed Cal’s hand and pulled it around his body, nestling in close. Well, if Luca was going there, then so would Cal. Nuzzling his nose into the dip behind his ear so he could drown in his delicious scent, Cal pushed his leg between Luca’s until he was thoroughly wrapped around him with no chance of the shifter pulling free. All the tension immediately left both their bodies as if they could finally relax despite the fact there was no way Luca could’ve missed Cal’s erection trapped enticingly between them.
Ignoring the low thrum of sexual frustration, Cal waited until the man in his arms was breathing deep in sleep and then let the sense of rightness carry him off as well.