Chapter Forty-Two
Caleb
Ilike having Jay here, but it’d be nice if she could see me in a much more macho light. The king is really kicking my ass today. Although, it could be much worse.
The king has decided I’ve had enough for now. His means to motivate me really piss me off, but they’re effective.
Taking a break, I walk over to Jay, and she hands me water. “Hey, what’re you all talking about?” I put the bottle up to my lips and chug.
“Jay was just about to tell me where she got the hickey.”
I cup my hand under my face trying to catch the dribble from almost spitting my drink out.
Jay stills. “What? I have a hickey?” She frantically feels around her neck as if she could locate it by touch. “Where?”
Taya hands Jay a compact mirror from her purse. “Here.”
I’m shocked I didn’t notice it before. Hidden under the strap of her dress lies a purple, mouth-shaped bruise right on her collarbone.
Jay moves her strap to the side, and her eyes widen.
I may have lingered longer than I meant.
“Jeez. It almost looks like someone was about to mark you,” Taya says.
“What? No . . . You think?” The pitch of voice rises at the end, nearly coming out as a squeak.
“Looks like it. It’s on your marking spot,” Taya points.
Jay’s lips part and whips her head toward me.
I swear I catch hope in her eyes that this might be true. It is. I was trying so damn hard not to mark her by claiming her in every other way I could, but my hunger for her is insatiable.
“Or trying their hardest not to,” I mutter, barely realizing I’ve said this.
Taya looks at me quizzically.
Jay’s cheeks turn rosy.
“Er . . . I just meant whoever it was, they probably thought she was too young.”
Taya jerks her head back, rejecting my statement, then looks to Jay. “Nonsense. You’re twenty-one, aren’t you?”
“Technically . . . I don’t really know for sure when my actual birthday is, so I just say I’m twenty-one.”
“Is it serious between you and whoever gave you”—Taya points at her hickey—“that?”
Jay side eyes me, squinting and grinning at the same time.
I wipe away my shit-eating grin, similar to when she looks at me like that.
She focuses her attention back on Taya. When she whips her hair, her delicious honey scent wafts my way.
Man, she smells good.
“You know, I’m not sure . . . It’s hard to tell what he’s thinking sometimes. Maybe . . . Caleb can tell us. What does it mean when a guy is holding himself back from marking someone?”
It means you’re mine and waiting until your wolf can recognize me is fucking torture. It means you will never belong to another. It means, if you knew what I was thinking, the truth might scare you. But also you’d never have to guess what might be on my mind because the answer will always be you.
“How should I know?” I lie.
“But do you agree that’s what they were trying to do? Do you think someone wanted to make me theirs?” Jay asks.
Her eyes search mine, pleading for the truth.
“Yes,” I say in the most serious tone.
Our stare lingers with longing desire, and all I want to do is kiss her and tell her how I feel.
Taya’s eyes shift back and forth between us. “Oh-kay, well . . . If you don’t have any plans to mate with whoever was juvenile enough to give you a hickey . . . Maybe you can join the Hunt!”
Oh, fuck no.
I shoot her a don’t-even-think-about-it look. “Over my dead body.”
“Why can’t I join? I’m not attached . . . Right?”
Jay is playing a dangerous game.
Somehow, I shrug. “You just said you don’t even know if you’re twenty-one.”
She raises an eyebrow at me and flips her hair. “Maybe not, but I’m plenty old enough for a lot of things.”
Damn, is she ever. I bite my bottom lip.
“If you don’t know when your actual birthday is, what day do you celebrate?” Taya asks.
“Typically, April 25th.”
“That’s tomorrow!” Taya says. “We should celebrate.”
I agree with Taya. Birthdays have always been a big deal in my family, so I want to make Jay’s special.
Jay laughs like it’s a ridiculous notion. “And do what?”
Taya meets Jay’s laughter with genuine curiosity. “Well, what do you normally like to do for your birthday?”
“I’ve never really celebrated it.”
Her confession breaks my heart. She’s never celebrated a birthday before?
“Well, I guess that’s not completely true . . . It was never an official celebration, but I would normally hangout with Jeff and Casey.”
“Jeff and Casey?” Taya inquires.
Ugh, him? I hate that guy. Out of love and respect for her, I call it what it is. “It’s her family.” I stuff my hands in my pocket.
With the way she’s smiling at me now, my words don’t taste as bitter as they did coming out.
I’ll do anything to keep her looking at me like that. Like she might . . .
Wait. That gives me an idea. The light bulb goes off in my brain. “I’ve gotta go. Do you mind hanging out with Taya and Sam for the rest of the day?”
“Not at all, but where are you going?”
I grin.
***
I am going to make Jay’s birthday special if it kills me.
I have the activity planned. Now if I can only figure out what to get her . . . I’ve been wracking my brain and putting a hole in my floor from my pacing. I’ve thought of a few things—special editions of classics and author-signed copies—but, agh, those don’t seem right. It has to be perfect.
She’s never really had anything, so you’d think this would be easy.
Wrong. Deadass wrong.
Things don’t mean anything to her, and she’d be happy with nothing. Which makes it much harder to give her anything.
I want it to mean something. I want her face to light up when she sees it.
But what do you give someone who has never wanted anything?
Except, maybe her freedom . . . And I’m sure she wouldn’t mind not having her life threatened anytime she tries to leave me .
. . Oh and maybe privacy? I did stalk her .
. . And might’ve stolen a thing or two of hers .
. . but she doesn’t know that so . . . Well, everything else I listed she might like . . .
I tap my chin, thinking it over. Shaking my head, I laugh to myself. “Nah, I’m not giving her freedom.” I want to make her happy, but I couldn’t possibly let her go. Birds can still be happy in a cage, right?
Think. Think. What can I give her?
Then it hits me. Of course!
I strap on my boots, and I rush out the door, slamming it behind me. I’m headed straight for the woods, and I won’t leave until I find what I’m after.
When I call my wolf forward, he is more than happy to join my cause. I’m cautious about where I step, but I still hustle before it gets dark. Retracing my steps, I locate the place where I first had her in my grasp. It’s crazy how far we’ve come since then and how things have changed.
Every moment with her has burned into my memory, so it doesn’t take me long to find what I’m looking for.
***
I’ve never ran so fast in my life. I knock on the door. When did I get so out of shape?
When you started spending your time stalking a certain someone and not running, my wolf says.
Oh right. I shrug. Worth it.
The door creaks open slowly, though Medein is nowhere near the threshold.
“Caleb, what a nice surprise. What’re you doing here?”
“I need your help.”
Within minutes, the ashes of Jay’s photo float in a black cauldron with olive and amethyst flowery herbs surrounding it. In a dark stone mortar, Medein is crushing more ingredients with a pestle, then dumps them in with the rest.
“Do you think you can fix it?”
“I can do more than that. I can restore it to its original form,” she says. “What happened to it anyway?”
“I destroyed it. Not one of my finest moments.”
Medein’s eyes scan me up and down quickly, full of judgment. “Why?”
I had a good reason then, but any reason will still make me seem like a monster.
I scratch my head. “To keep her safe?”
Her stare drops to her task. Shaking her head, she exhales, “Men.” She wipes her hands, then focuses her attention on the grimoire lying open on her counter.
Smooth rocks are spread on taupe linen in a deliberate pattern.
She speaks in an old tongue—a dialect that must predate any time period I’m aware of.
The particles swirl in the water like a whirlpool, until a white glow blocks our view of the cauldron.
When the magic’s beam fades, the photo is intact, better than it was before.
I look to Medein for permission, and she nods, then pick up the photo and read the text on the back.
Her birthday is April 27th. It’s when her wolf will finally recognize me as her mate. It’s a special moment.
But I won’t tell her. I’ll wait. I don’t want to take that away from her.
“Thank you, Medein. How can I repay you?” I ask.
Whatever she wanted, she would have it. Medein helped me right one of my many wrongs. For the things I’ve done, I’d spend the rest of my life trying to make things up to Jay, but this is one I won’t have to.
“How about the truth, then?” She picks up the cauldron and moves to the sink, dumping its contents, turning her head to avoid the steam.
“The truth about what?”
When the cauldron is empty, she takes a rag and turns to face me. She leans back against the counter as she wipes it down. “It’s her, isn’t it?” She looks up at me. “The one you want to be with.”
I swallow. Nodding, I say, “I’m sorry.” Medein has been nothing but kind and will make a hell of a match for someone. But there’s only one person who is meant for me, and I won’t let her get away.
Medein smiles somberly. “I can’t say I’m not disappointed. Jay is a lucky girl.”
She stands on her tiptoes to put the cauldron on the wooden shelf. When she can’t reach it, I offer to help her.
“No, thanks. I got it.” With a wave, it floats up to the wooden shelf and perches with a soft knock. Medein then takes the same rag and gently dabs the photo before handing it to me. “Don’t blow it.”
I chuckle.
Yeah, I won’t be giving Jay the photo tomorrow. I’ll wait until she knows I’m her mate.
I look past Medein and see that it’s nearly dark outside. “I have to go.”
***