The Wolf's Mate Book 3: Callie & The Cats (12 page)

“Can we go to the station?” She asked as they
walked upstairs.

“Sure, if you want to.”

“I want to apologize to Eryx. I know he was
angry and I don’t want him to be festering in that all day.”

He marveled at how well she knew them both
already, just on pure instinct. Eryx was most definitely festering.
That was an excellent word to describe his current state of mind.
If he was angry when he left, he would be a twitchy furious ball of
emotion and not have any idea how to let it out without exploding
all over her and freaking her out.

He told her he would grab a quick shower and
they could head out, and although he told her to leave the dishes,
as soon as he walked down the hallway, he heard the water running
in the sink. Special. She was one special woman.

He dressed nicer than he would have for a
normal run by the station, finding his black casual slacks and a
thick white v-neck sweater in the back of the closet. He wasn’t a
dress up sort of guy, but he very suddenly cared what he looked
like. He’d hated taking a shower. If it hadn’t been for the fact
he’d been sweating up a storm before she sat down on his lap, he’d
have never wanted to wash off her scent again.

On the way to the station, she watched from
the passenger seat of his Jeep Cherokee and seemed to take in
everything that passed by. He pointed out the few interesting
things about the town, although not much was visible under the snow
banks. The old bank that was now a nice restaurant called The
Vault, their one grocery store, the gas station, the bar, the bank,
and the school.

“How big is your pride?”

“113 I think, now.”

She chewed her lip in thought when he pulled
into the visitor parking space in front of the station. All three
cruisers were parked, so if Eryx wasn’t inside he was on foot
patrol. Considering his mood when he left, that was probably a good
bet. “So the boys now, when they’re of age, the females their age
and even the older ones, will they let them alone to mate with who
they want?”

“Doubtful. The females all keep together like
a horrible sorority. If one of the females gets wind that a male is
interested in someone besides one of them, no matter the age,
she’ll gather the troops, so to speak.”

“It’s not right to keep your own kind from
being happy. But I guess all the groups do that to some
degree.”

“Do the male wolves mind if a female is
interested in a human or another supe?”

“Not really. The only way it might bother a
wolf is if he was interested in her. As long as they know that the
pack has to come first sometimes then it doesn’t really matter
what’s flowing through the veins.”

That was a very good philosophy. But lions
were not pack animals, not like wolves. They didn’t have to shift
on the full moon, or at any other particular time, and they didn’t
have monthly get-togethers. They were just a big family, at least
the males and male children.

He took her hand again. “Two of the females
work the desk so chances are when we go in there, you’ll see a
female and she’ll probably say something. I don’t expect you to
fight or anything, I’m not asking you to, but I just wanted you to
know that we don’t think any less of you for the person you are. If
you want to ignore her, all the females, we’ll keep you safe, I
promise.”

Her pretty eyes were calculating as she
looked into his eyes. “You’d rather I was stronger, though.” It was
a statement and not a question.

“I don’t think the strongest female wolf out
there could stand against a lioness when she’s pissed off. And our
shift is so much larger than yours, sweetheart, even if you could
make them stand down in human form, well,” he pulled her hand to
his mouth and kissed it. “We can talk together, later. I just
didn’t want you to feel like I was taking you into the lion’s den.
So to speak.”

She smiled again and pecked his cheek. He
wondered what had changed for her so quickly from this morning. He
wouldn’t complain. And he’d wait to ask when the three of them were
together.

Gathering her hand in his to make sure she
stayed close and didn’t slip on any ice on the sidewalk, he
considered the word that would describe their relationship to the
world: ménage a trois. Looking down at the top of her head, he
wondered if she’d given any thought to that. He had. A lot. Since
she’d recovered in the hospital, it had been banging around his
head like an errant freight train.

The blast of warm air as he opened the
station door for her shocked his subconscious from the wild
thoughts. He wanted to ignore Melania behind the counter, and had
very much hoped that it wouldn’t be her back there, but his luck
was just not that great. In their age group there were seven
females and Melania was their leader, of sorts. The most vicious,
she’d turn on her own kind for the slightest thing. He couldn’t
believe he’d ever given her a thought as anything except what she
was: heartless and debilitatingly cold.

She stood up slowly, her fingertips spread on
the countertop above the u-shaped desk and she looked as if she
were not a lion but a snake, ready to strike. The sharp reprimanded
growl didn’t come from him, but from his father in the doorway that
led to the offices and holding cells.

“Melania, I am certain that I do not need to
remind you that you are an employee of the city and you will
respect every person that walks through that door. Period.”

Ethan wasn’t sure that would work on her, but
it shut her up enough that he could get Callie past her without an
actual confrontation. Now he realized that the smarter thing to do
would have been to call Eryx and have him come home. He just
couldn’t think straight when Callie was with him.

They followed his father back to his office
and surprisingly, Eryx was there. He stood quickly, a magazine
gripped tightly in his hands, and his eyes went from his own, to
Callie’s and then down to where their hands were together.

“I’ll give you guys some privacy.” Their
father said quietly and shut the door.

Eryx waited and it was clear from the
confusion on his face that he didn’t know what to think or say.
Callie dropped his hand and walked over to Eryx, craning her neck
to look up at him. She was a damn tiny thing. She looked around a
little and then pulled a file box over and stepped on it, which
brought her close enough to Eryx that she could look in his face.
Cupping his face with both her hands she said, “If you make me list
all my faults since we met I’m not going to be thrilled, but I am
sorry. I’m sorry I hurt you and I’m sorry I said such mean things,
and I’m sorry I kissed you and left you sitting alone in the car
because that was just dumb. And I’m really sorry that I said that
I’d just have sex with you as if you aren’t special and wonderful.
Because I couldn’t just have sex with you, Eryx, either of you.”
She looked back at Ethan and held out one hand and he crossed the
office fast and grasped it. “It would be a lie.”

Eryx’s voice was steady but he recognized it
as the one he used when he was reining in his emotions tightly.
“Just like that?”

“Kind of. I realized the mistake I’d made and
I, well, we need to talk.” For a long moment Ethan worried that
Eryx was too worked up to be what she needed, but it didn’t
last.

He dropped the magazine and pulled her close
and kissed her, and then in a move that surprised him, his twin
turned their mate around on the box so she faced him, and she
wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him, too. After taking
turns kissing her until she complained with a laugh she was dizzy
from the turning back and forth, Eryx took them out in the cruiser
to do the rounds and then they headed home together. She was
excited to be in the cruiser this time around and curious about
their jobs in such a small town, teasing them about crime waves
involving cow tipping and toilet papering. When he suggested they
go to dinner at The Vault, Eryx agreed it was a good idea.

He pulled Eryx aside at home for a private
moment and mentioned his worry about how people might react to the
three of them. He was not surprised to learn that Eryx had wondered
about the same thing. The townspeople, and by that he meant humans,
were fairly hear-no-evil, see-no-evil sorts and ignored the fact
that one-fourth of the town’s population were mountain lions. But
seeing two men in a relationship with one woman wasn’t something
that was typical of this area and they didn’t want her to be
uncomfortable out in public with them. Unfortunately it was a
bridge they would cross when they had to.

Eryx went back to shower and change and Ethan
pulled Callie into his lap on the couch, devouring her mouth in a
deep kiss. When Eryx joined them, she climbed from his lap and went
straight over to him, moving gracefully until she was in his arms,
up on her toes, with her mouth pressed to his. Her tiny form was
engulfed by his brother's larger size, and he clasped his hands at
her back and lifted her off the floor.

He put her down and straightened. “You make
me feel like a giant.”

She puffed up her chest and went up on her
toes with an indignant look. “Are you calling me short?”

Ethan joined in his laughter as they both
declared her an elf for all intents and purposes.

The Vault was one of those restaurants that
their father called theme or kitschy. It had been a bank and the
bank had closed the branch and some well meaning humans had thought
it would be clever. You could eat in the actual vault, but you had
to have a reservation; otherwise you could eat in their regular
dining room and have typical decent restaurant food like prime rib
and pasta. It was all that passed for a restaurant in town except
for a small deli that made excellent sandwiches. They ate at The
Vault once a year on their father’s birthday. It had been a
tradition for as long as he could remember.

The human hostess glanced at the three of
them and at how Callie held both of their hands in hers, but
although there was a curious look in her eyes, there was no trace
of disapproval. And that was a good thing. They were just starting
out with her and there was no way he wanted Eryx to punch a human
female for giving them a hard time in front of Callie.

They took a seat on either side of her at the
square table. A candle glittered in the center of the table covered
with a crisp white cloth. The interior of the old bank was filled
with columns and marble floors, thick curtains covered the windows
and the vaulted ceilings were carved in relief. The waiter, a man
they had gone to high school with named Kellan, filled the water
goblets. “Hey, guys. Don’t see you in here except on your dad’s
birthday. What’s doing?”

“Kellan.” He said stiffly, not missing the
appraising look he gave to Callie. Oblivious, she twirled a lock of
her hair and chewed her bottom lip, studying the menu in front of
her. She was clearly one of those girls that had grown up thinking
she didn’t measure up to any of the other girls around her and that
men didn’t look at her. And considering what they’d learned about
her upbringing in the wolf pack and the rather vicious ways the
females behaved with each other, it was no wonder. They’d just have
to spend plenty of time making sure she understood just how
gorgeous she really was.

She asked for a glass of white wine and both
he and Eryx ordered beer, and then he ordered two appetizers for
them to share. He’d had to take the initiative, because she and
Eryx’s heads were together and they were talking quietly behind
their menus while Kellan waited. When they were alone, she leaned
over his way and put her hand behind his neck and pulled him close
so her lips were just a hairs’ breadth from his ear. “I was just
telling Eryx that I think Kellan should keep his eyes to himself
and he agreed.”

Little minx. After they ordered their meals,
all three of them getting rare prime rib and all the fixings, they
shared a plate of stuffed mushrooms and a plate of fried wedges of
mozzarella and Colby cheese, and then they tucked into their main
meals. During the course of the dinner, Callie was surprisingly
open and honest about her life and what had driven her on a mission
of her own. How she’d been determined to not stop for any reason
because she was afraid she’d want to go back to Allen. It was a
great relief when she admitted that she could no longer deny that
something was happening between them and she’d been a fool to fight
it.

All through the meal, she looked at and
touched both of them, not in any glaring way, as if she were trying
to prove a point or stake a claim, but just simply as if she
couldn’t stop herself from running a finger across the top of a
hand, or a gentle squeeze of a knee. He learned two important
things about Callie during that dinner. First, she had a fantastic
laugh matched only by her smile. And second, she had a tough outer
shell no matter what she believed of herself. When pressed, she
showed herself to have courage in spite of very serious odds at
different times in her life, and even the act of striking out on
her own, while she thought it cowardly, was something that he’d
never have the nerve to do on his own. Sure, with Eryx, with his
family, he’d take off for greener pastures in a heartbeat. But by
himself? He marveled at her courage.

After dessert and coffee, they headed home,
and it was a scene he wanted to replay every night for the rest of
his life.

“There’s a wedding on Saturday evening,”
Ethan said when they’d hung up their coats in the hall closet at
home. “It’s for Jane and Thad, she is one of the humans that works
desk at the station and he drives a truck for the city. We’d like
to go, if you’d like to come with us.”

“Like a date?” She cocked her head to the
side.

They both nodded.

“With both of you?”