Fighting the Inevitable (36 page)

“
Demetri
stopped by,” she answered quietly, resting her head against his
chest and wrapping her arms tightly around his waist.

The mention of his friend
made him stiffen before he sucked in another deep breath. “I know,
I’ve already spoken to him. Did he upset you, Annie, because if he
did, I’m going to bloody kill him?”

Rhianna couldn’t help
laughing at the outrage in his tone, turning to look up at her
beautiful man. “Caleb, love, you can’t go around beating people up
just because they speak the truth,” she said with a bit of humour
in her eyes. “Demetri might be a pain in the ass, but he was only
pointing out the inevitable.”

She sighed, trying to
keep her emotions in check as she rested her head back on his
chest. “You’re a vampire, and I’m human. You’re going to live
forever, and I’m going to die.”

Caleb’s arms tightened
around her, and a low groan escaped him. “Don’t say that, Annie,”
he whispered. “I don’t ever want to think about you dying. I can’t
bear the thought of not having you in my life.”

She stroked his chest,
trying to soothe him even as her hand trembled. “It’s something we
have to talk about, Caleb. We can’t bury our heads in the sand, no
matter how much we want to. It’s going to happen one day. I’m not
sad about dying. Well I am, but only because I know how much it
will hurt you. What does make me sad is growing old, while you stay
forever young.”

Caleb squeezed his eyes
shut tightly, wanting desperately not to talk about it, but knowing
he had to because she needed to. He let out a long breath and
looked down at her, his finger tugging gently at her chin to raise
her gaze up to his. “You will always be beautiful to me, my Annie,”
he whispered, softly. “I will always love you, and I will always
want to be with you.” He tried to put all of his emotion into his
eyes, so she would see it and believe it.

She smiled her beautiful
smile, her face glowing with her love for him, and he lifted her up
so he could crush his mouth desperately against hers. All his fear
of losing her was in the hard punishing slant of his mouth over her
soft lips, his hands clutching her tightly to him. He didn’t want
to lose her ever.

Her gentle response to
him slowly soothed him, and his lips softened against hers, as he
carried her over to the wooden bench beside the water and cradled
her in his lap. His tongue delved into her moist heat to taste her
sweetness. Nothing in the whole world tasted as good as his woman.
She was sweetness and redemption all rolled into one. He finally
released her mouth and cradled her head against his chest, as he
stared unseeingly into the water before him.

“
Caleb…”
Rhianna hesitated, toying with a button on his shirt. “You know how
Weres mate with humans. Can vampires do that, too?” She held her
breath, when he stiffened against her, her fingers nervously
pulling at the button until it suddenly snapped off in her hands,
and she looked up guiltily.

Caleb didn’t seem to
notice. His golden brown eyes were burning like amber, as he
continued to stare unseeingly into the water, every muscle in his
body locked tensely. He finally looked down at her, and she
couldn’t read the expression on his face.

“
This isn’t
the life for you, Annie,” he finally said, his tone so quiet it was
hard to hear it. “This isn’t the life I want for you. I should have
been less selfish. I should have stayed away from you, but I wanted
you so badly I just couldn’t. I don’t ever want to look into your
beautiful eyes and see them become jaded the way it happens to my
kind. Something about living for eternity makes everyone change in
the end. We forget how to laugh and to love. We become selfish and
cold. I would rather die, than see the love for life disappear from
your eyes, Annie.”

She blinked slowly, a
frown beginning to mar her brow. “Isn’t that my decision to make?
Isn’t it up to me how I want to live my life? Can you honestly look
at me and believe that I could ever become shallow and unfeeling?
Maybe your kind has lost its way a bit, but that doesn’t mean you
can’t change. You’re proof of that, Caleb. A few months ago you
were like Demetri and look at you now.”

“
Only because
I met you, Annie. I’m not a shining example to wave in the air as a
precursor to how my race can evolve. I’m an anomaly, an oddity, not
the start of a new breed of vampire. You would have, maybe a few
centuries, where you could retain your identity, your personality,
if I turned you, maybe a little longer because you would still have
Rafe and Millie around you to hold onto your humanity. Then the joy
would start to recede, the light would fade from your eyes, hell,
you’d probably even start to like Demetri.”

Rhianna’s lips twitched
in a little smile. “That would be a fate worse than death,” she
remarked dryly, and then she turned serious again. “I’m willing to
take the risk, Caleb. I’m willing to believe in our love being
strong enough.”

He groaned and buried his
face in the side of her neck, hugging her tightly. “I’m too scared
to take the risk, Annie,” he ground out hoarsely. “I can’t bear the
thought of ever doing anything which would hurt you.”

She sighed and stroked
his hair with a soothing hand. He was so stubborn sometimes. He
worried like an old woman too. She smiled as she cupped his face
gently in her hands and brushed her lips lightly against his. “I
know what I want, Caleb,” she murmured against his mouth. “You know
you want it too. We don’t have to make a decision right now, we
have plenty of time. Just promise me you’ll think about it,
love.”

She met his gaze and saw
longing warring with reluctance and her smile widened. It was clear
he wanted her for eternity, and she knew, without a doubt, she
wanted him for eternity too. It was just a matter of getting him to
see things her way, and she was sure she would win the battle.
“Come on, love, let’s go home,” she smiled

CHAPTER
seventeen

Millie couldn’t stop
touching Rafe. When he had opened the door to them earlier, she had
shrieked with joy and thrown herself into his arms, laughing and
crying at the same time. Jared’s wolf had protested loudly, as his
mate wrapped herself around another man. He had tried his best to
give her a moment with her adopted brother, but his wolf had won
out, and he was soon growling and pulling her away from his
beta.

Jared was surprised to
see how easily Rafe handled his overt aggression. Usually
aggression caused his beta to flinch and turn inward, but Rafe had
smiled slowly and lowered his eyes submissively, letting his Alpha
know he had no designs on his mate. It was only this submission and
the obvious changes in Rafe which enabled Jared not to attack him
every time Millie stroked his arm or his cheek, as she was doing
right at that very minute. He couldn’t stop the low growl, which
erupted from his throat as he clenched his hands at his
side.

“
Mills, will
you let up with all the touching?” Rafe suddenly laughed. “You’re
driving Jared nuts. Any more and he’s going to kick my ass, and I’d
prefer for that not to happen.”

Millie’s cobalt blue eyes
swung to Jared, and she took in his strained expression and tense
stance. “What is your problem?” There was a hint of belligerence to
her tone. “He’s my brother for goodness sake.”

“
You have no
blood relation to him,” Jared answered darkly, taking a step closer
to her and shooting Rafe a black look.

“
Jared,”
Millie sighed, trying to fight down her exasperation. “Rafe has
been taking care of me since I was a little girl. As far as I’m
concerned, he’s my brother and that’s the end of it. So, stop
acting like an ass.”

“
He can’t
help it, Mills,” Rafe chuckled, putting a bit more distance between
them to try to soothe his Alpha a bit. “He’ll be like this until
you mate with him properly.”

Jared looked at his beta
in surprise. Rafe was quoting pack etiquette, as if he’d been with
the pack all his life. It was coming out naturally, and he could
see Caleb was right. Rafe was ready to come back to the pack. This
time he would come willingly and become fully integrated. He smiled
with contentment. He had managed to do right by Rafe and the rest
of the pack, and it had come to a satisfactory
conclusion.

He saw Millie watching
him intently, and he shot her a wicked smile. He stepped closer and
pulled her into his arms, dropping a quick kiss on her upturned
mouth before he turned back to Rafe. “I’m calling a pack meeting
tonight. I would like you to attend. Will you have an issue with
that?”

Rafe shook his head. “I
was waiting for Annie to come home, and then, I was going to head
over to the compound anyway. I thought I’d hang with Aaron for a
while, if he wasn’t busy.”

Jared’s smile widened. He
barely recognised the man in front of him; he was so much easier in
himself. Little Annie really was a miracle worker. Maybe he should
take her to the pack meeting and see if she could settle down all
the angry wolves tonight.

The object of his
internal musing suddenly appeared through the front door, her
vampire firmly attached to her as if they were joined at the hip.
Her face lit up when she saw her friends, and she gave Millie a
quick hug before she turned to her brother. A long silent moment
passed between the siblings, and then, Rafe was scooping up his
little sister and hugging her enthusiastically.

“
You’re about
ready to go home, aren’t you?” Rhianna smiled, happily.

Rafe nodded. “I am.
Jared’s just been telling me there’s a pack meeting tonight, so I
need to attend that. I think I might stay there tonight and see how
it goes with a view to staying full time. You’re okay with
that?”

“
I’m okay
with whatever makes you happy, Rafe. You know there’s always a
place for you here, if you need it.” She turned to look at Caleb,
who smiled his agreement.

“
No, I’m pack
now, sis.” Rafe smiled. “I’ll still come by for a visit, though,
and I’m sure Jared won’t mind if you come visit the compound
either.”

“
You’re
welcome any time, Annie, but leave Caleb at home,” Jared laughed.
“He’d only try to start another war, if one of the pack ventured
too close to you by accident.”

Caleb frowned darkly at
the Alpha and then smoothed out his expression when Rhianna tutted
lightly at him. “Fine, you can go by yourself,” he grumbled,
irritably, “but she’s your responsibility when she’s there,
Jared.”

“
Caleb!”
Rhianna rolled her eyes and stepped into his arms. “You really need
to work on this over protectiveness, love.”

Millie watched the way
Caleb and Jared squared up to each other, her eyes narrowing. “So,
if you’re not a Were, Caleb, what exactly are you?” she suddenly
asked. All heads turned to look at her, and Caleb stiffened
noticeably.

He looked at the dark
haired woman for a moment, and then slowly relaxed. She was going
to find out anyway. “I’m a vampire, Millie,” he answered and
watched her blue eyes grow huge in her head, as she took an
unconscious step closer to Jared.

“
Werewolves
and now vampires, too?” she gasped. Millie swallowed hard. Her gaze
turning to Rhianna, who was watching her reaction with a slight
smile on her face, “You’re okay with this, Annie?”

Rhianna laughed. “My
brother’s a werewolf, Mills. Having a vampire as a boyfriend is
really a moot point after that.”

Millie stared at all of
them, her face turning pale and a slightly wild look coming into
her eyes. Jared frowned down at her with concern on his face,
feeling her stiffness against him.

“
Mills, why
don’t you come and help me make some coffee?” Rhianna said quietly,
watching her friend intently. “Jared, you can let go of her. She’s
not going to vanish into thin air.” She shot the Alpha a pointed
look and their eyes locked for a moment, before he slowly released
his grip on his mate with a slight nod of his head.

Rhianna threaded her arm
through her friend’s and led her out of the sitting room and into
the kitchen. She chatted lightly about how beautiful the Botanical
Gardens were as they walked, her friend relaxing as her words
washed over her.

“
Annie, how
can you be so calm about everything?” Millie asked when they were
finally alone. “Rafe is still alive, but he’s a wolf. Jared’s a
wolf, too, and Caleb is a vampire…why are you just accepting all of
this?”

Rhianna smiled at her,
trying to project reassurance as she sat down at the kitchen table,
waiting until her friend sat down beside her. “Mills, I know it’s a
lot to take in. Believe me, it was all a bit of a shock to me, too,
at first. I forgot how to breathe when Caleb revealed himself to
me. The very same night I found out about Rafe and Jared, so I kind
of got hit with it all at the same time like you have.”

Millie ran her hands
through her black curls and met her friend’s eyes. “It doesn’t seem
to bother you, though,” she said, almost accusingly. “How can you
just accept it without batting an eyelid?”

Rhianna gave her another
smile. “Because, I refuse to allow myself to become hung up on
labels, Millie. I love Caleb more than anything in the world. I
don’t look at him and think ‘he’s a vampire’. I look at him and
think of how much I love him, and how much he loves me. With the
wolves, it’s the same thing really. I look at Rafe, and I see my
big brother, and he’s not dead anymore, so it doesn’t matter if
he’s a part time wolf. He’s still Rafe. He’s just got a little
extra part to him now. If someone had asked me if I could have my
brother back just slightly altered, I would have jumped at the
chance. I wasn’t asked, but I got that miracle. I can’t very well
freak out about it, can I?”