Page 8

Chapter eight

Ryann

Raider walks in shaking his head.

“What’s wrong?” Callan asks.

“These fans or anti-fans get weirder every day. I just got a random message on a sticky note at practice. Into the bin for you, my weird little friend.”

It’s almost devastatingly adorable how cute Raider is when he’s relaxed. He’s the perfect combination of incredibly sexy man and delighted boy. That aura changes in a split second, though, and serious Raider emerges.

He pauses, glancing around, and leans in close to Callan. “Freddie got out of prison six months ago. I just rang my contacts. They tried to find us to let us know, but we must have forgotten to update them. Stupid, stupid mistake!”

Callan closes his eyes. “Nothing we can do about it now. We just need to keep him away from Kit. While I have you here, Raider. Are we going to talk about your mother’s request?”

Raider stiffens, and all the fun and joy that has started to return vanishes. “We are not.”

“What’s the request?” I ask curiously. Just watching these guys interact is doing more to bring down my walls than anything else. They are fascinating and clearly deeply in love with each other. They feel like a family.

“She would like him to meet his sister,” Callan says in a low voice.

“What’s so bad about that?”

“HALF SISTER! She’s not part of our lives. I don’t want to see her. Pass that on and stop trying to organise my life!” Raider explodes and storms out up the stairs.

We sit listening to his foot thuds in silence .

“So, um, that was successful.”

“Wasn’t it just?” Callan sighs. “I can’t really blame him. He was meant to take her as his omega, but she just vanished, instead leaving a twenty-one-year-old guy trying to hold the family up. And with Kelly already gone, they just stopped seeing him.”

I’m trying to follow what’s going on, but all I can hear is his omega. Raider had an omega?

Why is it so hard to breathe? I can take her, I know I can.

“I want to tell you to leave him alone and keep her far away.” I fold my arms over my chest and glower at the stairs. Protective? Jealous more likely. What are these guys doing to me?

“But Raider will never heal if he doesn’t forgive her and Kelly.”

“Who is Kelly?” I’m falling into the trap Callan is weaving. He’s using the pack to suck me in.

“Older brother. You’d probably know him. He’s a pro-surfer Kelly Raines.”

I choke.

Hard.

“Don’t tell me you know him?”

“Yeah, we’ve met in passing. I photographed one of the competitions one year.”

Callan sits back. “Small fucking world.”

“Isn’t it, though?”

“Kelly took off when he was twenty-four. He didn’t tell anyone where he was going. Didn’t leave a note. He just vanished. For years, no one could find him. Bethany pulled a similar stunt not long after. Raider’s family had been really close until then. But, now, Raider was suddenly responsible for all of it.”

“The hopes, the dreams, the failures, the disappointments, the good days and the bad. There were so many bad and on his good days, he had only Kit and you to share it with?”

Callan nods. “Yeah. Nothing he did could break through the grief. So he stepped away. And they didn’t notice.”

There’s something strange in his voice. “What else didn’t they notice?”

Callan purses his lips. “They didn’t notice us. In all the years, they never realised he wasn’t alone. Where they failed him, we kept him together. He is ours now.”

Oh, the possessive rage in this alpha’s voice.

“They tried to coerce him into taking an omega, and he would have done it because he loved them. But she was never ours. It would have destroyed our pack, but he was so desperate to fix his family that he would have done it for them. It was irresponsible and selfish of them. ”

I stare at Callan, wishing I could soothe the rage. Maybe I can. I sit up on the couch on my knees, slant my head to the side, and brush my lips over his.

He tenses, and I pull back, hovering, waiting for his reaction.

“Why?” he asks.

“Because I want to. Because I think you, Raider, Kit, and Wren are incredible, and I like you far more than I should. Even if I am a prisoner.”

Callan surges towards me, his arms wrap around my back, pulling me into his chest.

Our lips meet again with more softness than the first time. A brush, another, a third. His tongue flicks out and licks just a tiny part of my lip. I shudder, wanting more but loving this game.

His hands are so large on my back, and he smells so good. Soft lips and a body that is both firmer than mine but still soft. Parchment and tea. I slide my hand up, gripping his hair and tightening my fingers in the silky strands.

We shouldn’t be doing this. I shouldn’t be doing this.

It’s only going to make it harder.

When his lips brush mine, he takes my bottom lip and sucks. I’ve never been kissed like this. The languid teasing caresses are messing with my mind. I want to beg him for more and curse him in the next breath.

His next kiss changes everything. I open my mouth as his tongue sweeps in, and the taste of him has me groaning. I arch, pressing even closer to him.

This alpha can kiss.

His hands don’t explore my body. The places where we touch aren’t overly sexual, and yet, this is one of the most intimate, intense kisses of my life.

He draws back and cups my cheek with one hand, running a thumb over my bottom lip. “We’re a mess of a pack, Ryann. You don’t want to get involved with us.”

His words hurt. They shouldn’t because I know I can’t have them either, but I want them.

Have I ever wanted anyone before?

Not that I can recall.

I was thinking that love wasn’t in the cards for me.

No, this isn’t love. This is lust. I push myself free and stand up, putting even more space between us.

“You’re right. It would be a terrible idea.”

Callan looks down at his hands. I can’t quite see his expression, but I can feel the disappointment in the air.

“Do you have any family?”

The question is so random that I’m stumped for a minute .

“No. Other than my uncle. He’s all I have.”

Callan nods. “Family can be difficult. Take my dad, for example. When I told him Kit was my alpha, he hated it. He was so against it, so vocal about how he’s not a proper alpha.”

I step closer to him, incensed.

“But when I brought Raider home, I got to see how much my dad would have loved me if I’d been a big, strong, dominant alpha who plays sports like Raider.”

I sit on the coffee table, riveted to his bitter words.

“My whole life, I’d been trying to get this man to love me, and it wasn’t until I brought Raider home I discovered he never would. Still, I can’t abandon him, though I’ve tried a million times.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Kit’s family is wonderful. They love him to death and back. They accept all of him. Wren has three dads and two mums. He’s got five younger sisters who call him up and want him to escort them to the shops. He’s so protective of them.”

Callan stops to take a breath.

“Raider’s mum is lovely. She loves her kids so much. Charles Raines is friendly and charming. Sol is thoughtful, and Wayne is funny.”

“Callan, what are you doing?”

Callan sits forward and takes my hand. “I love numbers. They make sense. And I like patterns and connections. It excites me. I’ve never been into sports, I’m too uncoordinated. I can’t even dance. But I take care of this pack. Even if we are a little bit messed up.”

I close my eyes. His lips brush mine, and I can’t help but tilt my head up, offering myself to him.

“Ryann, Wren likes to paint,” he whispers urgently. “Kit loves murder mysteries. He always wants to see if he can guess who it is before the end of the story, and he will talk through everything you want to watch. Raider is a massive space nerd. He loves all the facts and has about a gazillion and one posters and books. Sometimes, we go for drives just so he can see the stars.”

“What are you doing, Callan?” I repeat desperately.

“I’m breaking down that bloody wall you have been keeping up. You don’t want to tell us anything? You want to keep us at a distance? But I don’t want that.”

“You just said-”

“I didn’t mean it. Get involved. Be involved.”

I stand up, pulling away with difficulty. Each step backwards is harder than the one before.

“You don’t know what you’re asking. ”

“So, tell me something, anything.”

I shake my head. That way lies certain pain.

“Ryann-”

“I can’t!”

I rush out of the lounge, heading to the backyard, but I pause before I reach the door. I’m scared to go outside. Oh, help me please, but I’m far too scared. I don’t want to. I can’t turn the knob.

“What are you so afraid of, Ryann?”

I turn and look up at Callan. I can’t give him all the truth, but maybe I can give him something. Maybe that will tide him over for a while.

“Do you have a phone I can borrow?”

He nods and holds a hand out, gesturing for me to go ahead of him back into the house.

We sit on the lounge, and I rapidly type the information into the search bar. I find the old article and pass it to him.

“Read it out loud,” I say, glancing around. Wren and Kit are here, looking puzzled, and Raider is sitting on the stairs.

Callan looks at me in confusion but obediently clears his throat. “A man and woman have been found dead in a house fire, which the police are saying was just a simple case of human error. The blaze was reported by the couple’s teenage daughter who wasn’t at home, but arrived to find the house lit. Police are saying the fire isn’t suspicious and have praised the quickness of emergency services and neighbours. The couple, Dave and Shirly Smith, are survived by their only daughter.”

Callan’s voice stops. The air is thick and unpleasant while I wait for his reaction.

“Is-” he cuts off and clears his throat. “Are you that girl?”

I nod. I don’t feel the pain that I used to when I spoke about them. Maybe the pain is going, maybe the memory is getting easier to hold.

Callan stands up, dropping his phone, and before I can think, he’s got me in his arms and is holding me tight. I’m safe in these arms. I can be safe here.

“Was that supposed to make me want to stay away from you?” he murmurs. “If that was the case, you’ve failed. I just want you more.”

“How old were you?” Raider asks, and his voice is shaky. I startle, and Callan releases me enough to turn and find Raider staring at us.

“Sixteen.”

“But why didn’t you move in with the coach?” Wren asks with narrowed eyes from behind Raider. Kit is watching with a pale face.

“Because I got an offer with my photography, so I left to pursue my career.” The familiar story falls into the room and sounds like a lie .

Callan doesn’t let me go, and it’s doing something to me. I can feel myself leaning into his embrace. Wanting to stay here where it’s warm and safe.

Damn it!

I try to pull away, but he just holds me tighter.

“Just let me hold you for a moment. I can’t even imagine how horrible that must have been for you. How much you would have struggled, grieving and finding your way in the world alone.”

“You aren’t alone now,” Kit says.

This is going in exactly the opposite way of what I had guessed it was going to go.

Why do these alphas have to be so confusing?

“Get dressed!” Wren snaps.

“What?”

“Kit, get dressed. You need to keep her safe.”

“Why?”

“Because we all have a game we need to be at, and she used to play. When was the last time you went to a game?”

Callan lets me go, but I’m too busy staring at Wren to answer that. He holds up the phone showing a write up they did on me the year before my parents died.

“You were one of us. Come to our game.”

I shake my head, but I can’t think of a single reason not to go, and the truth is, I’ve missed hockey so much. Losing it was losing another member of my family.

“I want a wig.”

“I’ll do your makeup, give you contacts. You will look beautiful, and coach will never know you were there.”

My heart flips over. I haven’t allowed myself to go to a game. I have even been on the ice. The scent of it wakes me from my dreams sometimes.

I turn and find Callan smiling at me.

He makes my stomach flip. He makes me nervous and unsure.

I’m always sure.

Raider stands up and moves towards me. He puts a hand on my cheek, so gently, so softly, and stares into my eyes.

“I am so sorry for your loss.”

There is so much compassion and a haunting agony in his voice that tears immediately prickle my eyes. I blink them away and clear my throat, stepping back to break the spell on me.

“Give me one night at the hockey rink, and I will do anything you want.”

Raider laughs. “You sound like me. ”

I bite my lower lip as he flashes me a grin over his shoulder. Does he know how sexy he is or is it totally unconscious? I can’t be certain anymore.

Wren puts his hands on my shoulders and massages them.

“Just forget everything but the game.” He leans in close. “I’m sorry your attempt at pushing Callan away backfired. But, then again, judging by how hot you looked while you were kissing him, maybe I’m not after all.”

I let out a squeak, but he’s already gone.

“Come on, Ryann. Let’s go get you dressed.”

I wave at Callan as Kit drags me away. His smile is kind and promises me that this isn’t over.