Chapter 4
four
CALLUM
I stared down at the massive, snoring blonde furball on my lap, still scratching her belly lightly.
Some cooking show played on the TV. I didn't give a damn what it was or why it was on.
Finally, my female was with me.
I hadn't expected to find her wolf sitting on my couch, but I’d been itching to meet Kat’s other half for nearly as long as I'd been fighting the urge to drag her back to our home, kicking and screaming if I had to.
The werewolf was mine, whether she liked it or not.
The beast clearly enjoyed my presence more than the woman did, for the moment. I was going to have to figure out a way to change that. Or at least convince Kat to get over her distaste.
When she was touching me, my magic was settled, for the first time in my agonizingly long life. Without my family, I would've been driven mad by the price of my power a century ago.
As it was, I couldn't call myself stable.
Being in constant pain would fuck with anyone’s mind. I’d seen it firsthand, and not just in myself.
But now that the object of my obsession was in my home, and would soon be mated to me, I could attempt to stabilize.
My phone vibrated, and I picked it up to read my messages.
Liv
You dead yet?
She totally wants to kill you
Me
If a small female werewolf could take me out, I would deserve to die
Liv
We both know you wouldn't fight her off
Fair point.
Me
Her wolf is snoring on my lap right now, and my house smells like coffee, so I don't think she's hatching a murder plot at the moment
Liv
Maybe she made the plan while she was drinking her coffee
Or while the wolf sleeps
Me
According to my research, she's forced to sleep when the wolf does
The connection is strange.
Liv
Shapeshifters make a lot more sense
Me
Are we talking about shapeshifters again yet?
Liv
Nope
Me
Alright
Do we have a date for the start of the beta competition?
Liv
Nah, Gwen’s probably still scrambling
Dare’s snooping around, but he thinks it'll be a few days before your wolf's sister figures her shit out
He says she's a wimp
Me
I hope you're referring to Gwen
Liv
I'm not stupid enough to insult the woman you’ve stalked for five years, who I just helped you abduct, if that's what you're insinuating
Me
Abduct is the wrong word
Liv
What else would you call it?
Me
I claimed her
Liv
You are not a werewolf, you cannot claim someone
Me
Fine
She did try to sell me her soul, so technically, I collected payment
Liv
In the form of abduction
Me
In the form of payment collection
Liv
IT'S ABDUCTION
Me
This argument is pointless
Liv
What are you going to do now that you’ve stolen her? You know she's not just going to fall in love with you because you force her to mate with you, right? This isn't Beauty and the Beast
Me
Love isn't part of this
You're aware of that
Liv
I'm aware you believe that
Me
Her presence suppresses my magic’s cost. I waited until she was old enough that I wouldn’t fuck up her magic as it settled, and now she's going to stay near me at all times. It's simple.
Liv
Sure it is
Me
You're aggravating
Love is pointless
Liv
You've said that at least a few hundred times at this point
I don't think she's going to be as amenable to your plan as you think, but that's your problem
Me
I'll handle it
Thank you for bringing her here. I don't think I could've kept my shit together through all of that on my own.
Liv
No problem
You know I'm always down for a good abduction
Me
Payment collection
Liv
ABDUCTION
Me
Fine, I abducted her
She belongs to me anyway
Liv
Repeat after me
I CAN NOT OWN A PERSON
You’d better hope wolf chicks are into caveman shit, or you're fucked
Me
There are worse things to be than fucked
Liv
Murdered is a better word
You will definitely not be fucked if she's not into the caveman thing
Merrily chose that moment to text me, and I grimaced as I navigated to that conversation instead
Merrily
Kat needs to be at the dress store at 10 AM
Here's the address
Me
That's in thirty minutes, and she's sleeping right now
Merrily
I suggest waking her up then :)
She was furious.
If someone was going to kill me for the abduction, it was Merrily. Not Kat.
Me
No
Merrily
Would you prefer she walks down the aisle to you in the nude? Because I can arrange that. It would only be slightly more scandalous than you murdering someone so you had an excuse to abduct your soulmate.
Point made.
Me
Alright, I'll get her there
Merrily
Lunch is at my house afterward. Be there. With her.
Me
Do not tell her
Merrily
See you soon.
Fuck.
Kat's wolf stirred.
I texted Liv again.
Me
Merrily is going to tell Kat about my plan
Liv
Did you think she wouldn't?
She doesn’t like abductions the way I do
Me
I wasn't thinking straight
Liv
You haven't been thinking straight since you met Kat
Me
That's beside the point
Liv
You know she's going to learn the truth eventually, right?
Me
No
Liv
Well she IS going to learn it eventually
I might be able to convince Merrily to give you a few days, but you know how she is
Me
I'd rather Kat doesn't find out until after the ceremony, if she has to find out at all
Liv
After she's permanently abducted?
Me
Precisely
Liv
You're disturbed
Me
Aren't we all?
Liv
Yes
Not as much as you, though
I'll try to convince Mer, but no promises
Kat does deserve to know, whether you like it or not
Me
Thank you
Liv
Don't be late for the dress thing or Mer is definitely not going to keep her mouth shut
I set my phone down and looked at the pretty little wolf on my lap. I wasn't sure what to call her, so I just lifted a hand to her ear and tugged gently. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt her.
She opened sleepy eyes and stared at me for a moment before turning and licking my arm. She didn't seem to realize it was covered by my coat until she tasted fabric and growled softly.
I wasn't sure why she growled.
I'd learned everything I could about werewolves, but I knew there would be things no one thought to write down or share. This was one of them.
When she lifted her nose and licked the side of my face, I got the message.
She wanted to lick my skin.
I wanted to lick Kat’s, in a far less playful way.
It had been three months since she went into heat, which was far too long to go without tasting her.
"Your human has a wedding dress appointment," I told the wolf.
She closed her eyes and made a sound suspiciously similar to a snore.
I nearly smiled.
"Merrily. She’s the autumn fae queen."
The wolf's eyes opened, and narrowed.
That would be her possessiveness. All magical beings were possessive of their mates, so it was entirely unsurprising. A good sign, though.
"The other fae royals are my family."
The wolf relaxed for the most part.
"I have raw steak in the fridge," I added.
I'd prepared for Kat's wolf being more of a wildcard than the woman was, and everyone I talked to had mentioned that bribery was a near guarantee when it came to getting a wolf to do what you wanted.
"If you shift back now, I'll give it to you after the dress fitting. "
The wolf studied me for a few minutes, then shook her head.
Shit.
She climbed off my lap and jumped off the couch, padding toward the door that led into the garage.
Apparently, she wanted to go in her wolf form.
I grabbed the clothes Kat had left on the couch when she shifted, and followed the wolf out to my black SUV.
I'd deal with the shifting problem when we reached the dress shop.
Somehow.
Kat's wolf sat in the passenger seat. She didn't fit even slightly, and kept putting her paws on the center console so she could lean over and lick my hand where it sat on the steering wheel. Or she’d lick my cheek. Or the side of my neck.
It wasn't unpleasant.
Even if I hadn't liked it, the lack of pain that accompanied it would have been worth some discomfort.
When we reached the dress shop and parked, I stared straight ahead, debating how much to push Kat's wolf.
The wolf liked me, which was a good thing. The more she liked me, the less likely she would be to try to escape.
I didn't want to ruin that by pushing her.
I also didn't want to piss off Merrily any more than I already had. She didn’t believe in abducting someone, even if fate declared them yours.
Merrily was the person who dealt with most of the nightmarish organizational requirements that came with running Rumor's Cabinet, so staying on her good side was important. She was basically a sister to me, as well.
The Cabinet was far from united, so her job was miserable. I'd probably made it much worse by murdering Simon. The werewolves weren't powerful, but they made up more than sixty percent of the city’s three and a half million immortals, so they did have some sway.
They were the only species of magical beings that lived all over the city, not just in their own Borough. And while no one had liked Simon, they were still loyal to him.
Loyalty was arguably the most important thing to wolves.
I had been intensely careful to make it clear through the media that there was no one else for me.
Kat may not have realized that was what I was doing, but that wasn’t important.
She would have had no reason to question my loyalty, even while I was keeping my distance so her magic could settle safely.
Her wolf leaned over and licked the back of my hand again.
The icy pain that felt like tiny daggers embedded in my skin was already eased just by her presence beside me. With her rough tongue on my hand, it vanished entirely.
Yeah, I'd rather piss off Merrily than Kat's wolf.
I stepped out of the SUV, grabbing Kat's clothes just in case I managed to talk the wolf into shifting back.
The wolf climbed over the center console and onto the driver’s seat, then jumped smoothly to the pavement.
I scratched her ears lightly as we walked toward the dress shop together. Her size was average for a werewolf, which was slightly larger than a nonmagical wolf. Her curly blond fur was ridiculously soft.
She nuzzled my arm as we stepped inside the building. The boutique's walls were pink, and the tile floors were white stone.
Liv and Merrily were in the waiting area. Mer sat on a couch, curled up with her phone in her hand like always, either reading or working. Liv was leaned up against the wall, chewing gum and fiddling with some kind of fidget toy. The earbud in her ear probably played a spicy romance book.
Both looked up when we entered.
Kat's wolf trotted over to them and licked Liv's arm. Liv looked somewhere between surprised and amused. Merrily shook her head, lifting a hand to stop the wolf before she was also licked.
"My skin is too sensitive," she said.
Kat's wolf licked the sleeve of Merrily’s sweater instead, very lightly, before trotting back over to me and rubbing up against my side.
Thankfully, she chose that moment to shift back, and left a very beautiful, very naked, Kat in her place.
It took a hell of a lot of self-control not to think about fucking her as she got up off her hands and knees, muttering something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like cursing her wolf.
She ripped the stretchy shorts, sports bra, and loose t-shirt from my hand before she stalked toward a door that was clearly labeled as a bathroom.
My self-control failed me, and I absolutely stared at that tight, bare ass as she went.
Liv shook her head at me when I looked back at the queens.
Merrily sighed, her fingers still moving quickly over the screen of her phone. "You’ve created a real mess, Callum. You could’ve warned me you were planning this."
"If I’d warned you, you would’ve tried to stop me."
She didn’t deny it.
Kat stepped out a moment later, barefoot, but clothed.
"You forgot my shoes," she said to me, barely glancing my way as she strode past.
"Those chunks of foam you wear barely qualify as shoes," Liv countered.
"They’re the most comfortable shoes on the planet, and there’s no drying time, which is ideal with all the rain."
My eyes followed her ass to the door.
I didn’t care what shoes she wore. She was mine.
Finally.