Chapter 4 #2
But HPAW did find me, and I do know. It doesn’t matter how charming this man is. My mission takes precedence over my personal feelings. It has always been, and it will always be. The humans are relying on me.
“You did this for me?” I dart forward and snatch Caleb’s marked hand before he shuts the door.
He stills, his eyes going comically wide as I pull his hand toward me and press a chaste kiss to his mark. I maintain eye contact, getting a direct view of his dilating pupils. We’ve observed mated pairs doing this. It’s a sign of affection between the shifters, one Caleb clearly enjoys.
His rough hands find my face. He cups my cheeks, the pads of his thumbs stroking over my cheekbones. He’s kissing me a second later, his lips meeting mine in an innocent, soft kiss that’s over with just as quickly as it began.
It leaves me breathless. Odd. With the way my heart is pounding, this might as well be my first kiss. How embarrassing.
Caleb releases me. I clear my throat.
Shifters are intimate creatures. Caleb will expect me to have sex with him or, at the very least, crave him. The knowledge that I’ll have to sleep with a shifter has always filled me with disgust, and to my immense shame, I now feel a slight thread of excitement.
I’m fighting the urge to lean in and steal another kiss. I can’t fathom how sex will feel. It’ll ruin me. It’s a small price to pay.
Caleb peers at me for a long moment, practically staring into my soul, before he finally retreats. The door shuts with a quiet click, and I collect myself as he walks around the van and climbs into the driver’s seat.
I feel marginally better as he starts the engine.
“I won’t force you to talk,” he starts, glancing at me through the rearview mirror. “But I’d love to know how you ended up in those woods.”
I grimace, throwing my arm over my eyes to hide most of my face. I suspect Caleb is going to be closely monitoring my expressions, and this feels like a natural way to hide them.
“It all happened so fast,” I start. “I was walking home from work—I’m a server at the Chickie Dickies in Dell Rapids—and…
I’m not sure. I keep my mark covered, but a customer must’ve noticed it.
Humans don’t care much for shifters, y’know?
I was grabbed from behind, and I don’t really know what happened or how I was brought here.
Everything was fuzzy. I know they beat me, and I think they gave me something to keep me drowsy.
I woke up tied to that bed just a few hours before those shifters found me. ”
Caleb turns, peering at me over his shoulder. His brown eyes are piercing, full of poorly concealed anger. I don’t think it’s directed at me, but it still has my hackles rising. Caleb is frightening, and I don’t intend to get on his bad side.
“What did they look like?” he asks. “Did you catch their names, or anything identifying?”
I shake my head. “I’m sorry.”
Caleb’s eyes slip shut for a brief moment before returning to the road. “You have nothing to apologize for. Logan has a unit of shifters tracking your scent. They’ll find whoever hurt you. I promise.”
No, he won’t. We thought through every detail, and the HPAW soldiers should already be long gone. It’s an almost six-hour drive to the cabin from the border, and HPAW was meticulous in their planning.
“Do you have any family we should reach out to?” Caleb asks, returning to his earlier questioning. “Is there somebody looking for you? Friends? Coworkers?”
I shake my head again. “No. My parents are dead, and I was an only child. I don’t really…” I give a dramatic pause. “I don’t have any close friends. I don’t think anybody is looking for me.”
That’s the first honest thing I’ve told Caleb. It’s depressing to admit.
“So…” I start, wanting to change the subject. “You’re Alpha Knox?”
“I am.”
I wait for him to continue, to elaborate, but he doesn’t. He’s not offering up much, which I suppose is to be expected. I’m human. His kind hate mine, and mine hate his. There’s no trust.
“How did you come about this…job?”
Caleb cocks his head to the side. “I forget how little humans know about us.” He takes a minute to think.
“I was born into this pack, and my title was decided when my wolf showed his dominance. My father was the alpha before me, but that was a coincidence. The position isn’t a birthright.
It’s given to the most dominant wolf, regardless of bloodline. ”
It isn’t a birthright? HPAW will be quite interested in that detail.
“And you—” I pause, coughing.
Caleb meets my gaze in the rearview mirror. “Rest, Evelyn. I’ll answer your questions later.”
He falls silent. I don’t push. I could try to engage in conversation, but it’s probably best I don’t. I might encourage Caleb to ask questions in return, and lies can be complicated to keep track of. I have rehearsed answers, but I should avoid giving them when I’m injured and dazed.
Caleb seems like the type of person to notice inconsistencies, and I can’t draw any more attention to myself.