Chapter 2 #2
I probably shouldn’t have told Jonah about it, but I did. He was livid. Not out of possessiveness. Jonah wasn't possessive of me in the slightest. He was pissed because he couldn't protect me from Callum.
Wolf packs were always run by an alpha, who was always female. Her beta was always male, and his role was to protect her.
The alpha and beta ended up mated more often than not, but that obviously wasn't going to happen between us. Our history of almost being in-laws was too strong, and even if I’d had time for sex outside of heat, I really hadn’t been attracted to anyone but Callum since I was with him that first night.
That was probably a bad thing, but unfortunately, true.
Should I have been terrified that the man known for torture sent me roses and lingerie two to three times a year, and spent hours going down on me the day afterward?
Absolutely.
I wasn’t, though.
Wasn’t sure I wanted to know why, either.
"What are you going to do if he shows up with a ring?" Jonah gestured to the door of the café. "What if he uses the bond to force you to mate with him? That shit is permanent."
"He's not going to do that."
"You have no idea what he's going to do. You’ve never even had a conversation with him that wasn’t about your bargain."
That was fair. Like I said, he was an enigma.
A very attractive one.
"I don't know what I'd do if that happened. I obviously have no desire to mate with him, but considering the deal I made—"
There was a knock on the thick glass door that we hadn't unlocked yet.
Jonah swore viciously.
I looked over my shoulder.
My eyes landed on a woman I recognized from the tabloids, with Rumor’s most gorgeous man standing behind her.
"Crap," I whispered.
Sable wagged her tail. "I knew he would come after us." Whatever the strange space was that she existed in when she wasn’t in control of our body, she could move and respond from it. I could too, when she was running the show.
Apparently she’d woken up at some point, and listened in on me and Jonah.
She was way more obsessed with Callum than I was.
"Sneak out the back. I'll buy time." Jonah was already on his feet and walking that way.
I hurried after him, ignoring the clatter of my chair as it crashed to the tile behind me. "He would just find me. It'll be better to face him."
"You're insane," Jonah muttered.
"There are worse things to be than insane."
"Like what?"
I ignored the question, because I didn’t have an answer.
The woman knocked on the door again, harder and louder. Her name was Liv Morning. She was both the spring fae queen, and according to the internet, Callum’s best friend.
Her skin was light, her collarbone-length hair platinum blonde, and from the pictures I’d seen, she was always dressed like she was about to go for a run, in colorful leggings or loose shorts and a sports bra.
Jonah unlocked the door and pulled it open. "What do you want?"
I mentally face-palmed.
If he got us both killed by my hot, sort-of-stalker, I was going to haunt him in hell.
Liv looked past us. "Can we come in?"
"No." Jonah didn't budge.
Liv smacked a hand to his chest, and he jolted backward with a curse, making enough space for her to get by. "I only asked to be polite. We’re coming in."
Callum took one step through the door, grabbed my wrist, and tugged me toward him. The ache in my arm vanished as soon as he touched me, but I barely noticed.
I stumbled into his chest, my hands splaying over the thick muscle there that I had never seen. Or even really felt. Our trysts were always one-sided. The king would take off his sports coat, but otherwise stayed completely clothed.
Our eyes locked as he looked down at me. The chill of his magic still felt blissful, even though I wasn’t going into heat.
And, standing in the doorway of the café I’d sold him my soul for, Callum kissed me.
I was so shocked, I froze.
He ended the kiss after a moment and casually stepped inside, pulling me with him and shutting the door behind us.
The windows were tinted enough to hide us completely from the photographers who must’ve been outside.
And they were the reason for the kiss, of course.
"What was that?" Jonah grumbled. I thought he was talking about the kiss until he rubbed the center of his chest. Guess he was talking about whatever Liv did to him. "I thought you were all about flowers."
"Spring magic is a lot more than flowers, asshat." Liv flashed him a glare. "It’s energy, for starters."
"I assume you're here about the announcement all over the news," I said.
Jonah stepped in front of me, ignoring the glares of both fae in an attempt to use himself as a personal shield. Callum was still holding both my arm and a big chunk of my soul, so it wasn’t like Jonah’s shielding would help much.
"Yeah. We're about to have a real problem, and she's the solution." Liv gestured to me.
"What happened?" I asked, going around Jonah rather than trying to move his hulking form.
"I killed Simon," Callum said calmly.
I blinked.
Jonah did too.
"Simon, as in, the Beta?" I finally asked. "The one in the Cabinet?"
"The one who stole your sister and made most of the wolves in the city hate you five years ago," Callum said, the face of neutrality.
Neutrality… and sex. At least as far as I was concerned.
My sister Gwen was the main Alpha, which meant she was the woman who all of the werewolves in the city technically answered to. It was more of a title than an actual position of power, though it supposedly came with riches and a fancy villa on Crescent Orchard.
Gwen stayed in power because of the Beta, who fought her battles for her the way any decent beta would. Alpha females led, and beta males protected. There was no alternative in our society.
When either one died, the other was allowed to pick someone else to replace them, assuming the person they picked was willing. Simon had been the Beta for more than a century, and he’d killed his way through half a dozen Alphas in that century.
No one liked him.
No one had ever liked him, actually. But he was impossible to beat in a fight, which meant he held the position anyway.
Until last night, apparently.
"The rest of the Cabinet is going to use the murder to try to put Callum in prison so they have more power. There’s no way out of Shadowside Penitentiary, so we need to get ahead of that with a mate bond." Liv gestured between me and the king, who was still the face of neutrality (and sex).
My chest tightened.
I honestly had no idea what to think.
"He wants to fuck you again," Sable declared.
I ignored her.
"You think you need to get ahead of a murder with something as permanent as an immortal mate bond?" Jonah sounded skeptical. "You people murder immortals all of the time."
Callum's low, even voice made my gut tighten. "Killing another member of Rumor's Cabinet is a punishable crime. Killing someone directly involved in a difficult part of your mate's past is an expectation."
"So you want to marry me to stay out of prison." My own voice was very flat.
"He still wants to fuck you," Sable put in.
I had no idea if she was right, and it ultimately didn’t matter at the moment.
"Yes." Liv nodded twice. "Having a pretty little werewolf mate who has issues with Simon will protect him from the Cabinet’s retaliation. Given the size of the bargain you made, along with how well Callum upheld his side of the deal, you're not going to have a choice in the matter. Sorry."
"You don't sound sorry," I stated.
"I'm not. I'm not the moron who sold my soul to open a café." She glanced at Callum.
I could feel him staring at me even though I was looking at her.
Her insult was fair, so I had no problem with it. I’d heard similar from many people. Jonah in particular.
"The ceremony will be this weekend. You'll move in with me today," Callum said. "We need to make it look like we’ve embraced a long-standing hidden relationship."
"Is that a requirement of the bargain, or..." I trailed off when he lifted an eyebrow. "Of course it is."
"So if they fake a mate bond for a while, Kat's side of the bargain will be upheld, and she'll be free to go," Jonah stated.
"No. It has to be a real mate bond." Callum didn't take his eyes off me. I probably should’ve been alarmed, and kind of was, but the whole moment was pretty surreal.
How often did a vicious king walk into your coffee shop and tell you that you were going to be their mate for the rest of your immortal life?
Not often. Obviously.
"After we seal the bond, I’ll be free from the bargain. Right?" I checked.
"Kind of," Liv said.
Callum didn't comment.
I was starting to realize why we hadn’t talked when we hooked up. The guy was a little too neutral.
Sable, on the other hand, was deranged. She basically purred as he continued staring at me.
"Get in the car." Liv pointed to the parking lot. "The red Lambo is mine. I'm driving you. Callum's packing up your shit."
"I can pack my own things."
"No." Callum didn't bat an eye at the request, or his refusal.
"This is insane," Jonah pointed out.
If I’d been in danger, or if he could actually have a prayer at taking down one of the fae, I was sure he would’ve defended me a little more.
But it didn’t seem like I was in danger.
And we would both die before we could actually injure a fae. Shifters were the least magical kind of immortals, and our animals were pretty unpredictable.
Like my wolf. Who would be much more likely to snuggle with the fae king than attack him.
I gave Jonah a small smile. "I sold my soul. Guess this is the cost."
"At least we're not killing her," Liv offered.
Jonah growled.
"Can we have a minute?" I asked the fae.
"No." Callum once again showed no emotion.
Asshole.
I looked at Jonah anyway. "I'll be back to check on the café when I can, and I’ll work from wherever his place is. Fae Row, I guess? The cafés run themselves, so don’t worry about them."
"I wasn’t going to." Jonah’s voice was tight.
"I'll call you."
"You won't." Callum's voice was steel.
"If you're going to be my husband, you don't get to make decisions like that for me. I'm a wolf. I need a pack," I shot back.
"Consider me your jailer, then. Every decision made will be mine."
"Um, what?"
"You wanted a bargain, Kitten. Welcome to the world of the fae. Now, get in the car. We're done talking to your boyfriend."
"He's possessive." My wolf sounded gleeful, the horny bitch.
I ignored her yet again and forced my anger down long enough to look at Jonah one last time. "If Simon is dead, Gwen will be forced to run the Beta challenges. Sign up."
Jonah's expression darkened. "I have no interest in being hers again."
"You know that's not true."
Callum grabbed me by the waist. I attempted half-heartedly to push his hands away, but he didn't release me. His lips lowered to my ear instead. "Get. In. The. Car."
"Fuck you too," I muttered under my breath, pushing his hands away again and taking a reluctant step toward the door. He let me go this time. "I need my laptop."
"Callum will grab it." Liv shooed me out. "This has been so much fun, but it's time to go."
I didn't have to look over my shoulder to see Jonah shoving a hand through his hair, but I did anyway, and tapped into the mental pack link we basically never used.
A mental link was just too intimate when there were only two people in the pack. We were basically siblings at that point, so we didn't need any amount of intimacy.
"We'll figure this out. Sign up for the challenges," I urged.
"If he does anything you're not comfortable with, tell me immediately. I'll kill him if I have to." Jonah dodged the subject.
Callum would absolutely kill Jonah before Jonah could so much as hurt him, but I wasn't going to be the one to point that out.
"Alright. Be careful," I said.
"You too."
We both released our holds on the bond, and it faded back to its normal, barely-there presence.
Liv basically pushed me out of the cafe, and I didn't fight her.
There was no point.