Page 10 of Marked by the Pack (Crooked Point #2)

Thursday

Emma

I ran my fingers down the neck strap of my camera. I stopped at the knot. Callum had ripped it ten years ago. And I’d kept it. I’d kept it just like he’d kept everything from that night.

A part of me was still frozen in the moment when we first met.

And for some reason, I’d kept replaying it the last couple of days, wondering what memories of me Callum would hold on to after I was gone.

It was morbid. And ridiculous. I should have been living in the moment with him.

But…a moment for me was fleeting. A moment for him really would last forever.

Unless I could get him to change his mind about changing me.

“You look lost in thought,” Zoey said as she walked into the kitchen. She placed a huge container of salt down on the counter.

“I was. But now I’m just curious about what that is for.”

“Salt things.”

I laughed. “Salt things such as…”

“I put it around my bed last night. To make sure I was safe.”

“Safe from what exactly?” I asked.

“Vampires? ”

The way she said it made me pause. “I’m pretty sure the salt thing is for witches.”

Zoey shrugged. “Fair. But a few days ago we didn’t think vampires existed. And…enter Callum back into our lives. You never know what might come to town next.”

I laughed. If only she knew… I cleared my throat. “So last night was interesting.”

“In what way?” Zoey asked as she poured herself a cup of coffee.

“I know you said that Otto wasn’t interested in dating you.

But…he was definitely looking at you like he wanted to devour you.

” I frowned at my choice of words. I really didn’t want him to devour Zoey.

I really didn’t want Zoey interacting with Otto at all.

Of all the guys at the bank…Otto was the most dangerous.

Titan had told me as much. That since Otto was the youngest, he had the least control.

But the more I told Zoey how dangerous Otto was, the more she seemed to want to be with him. At least I’d already convinced Callum to let Bennett keep the mind control pocket watch. Honestly though, it didn’t seem all that helpful. And Otto wasn’t always with Bennett.

“Yeah. I think we can come to some sort of arrangement.”

“An arrangement?”

Zoey laughed. “I meant I think we’ll end up dating.”

I pressed my lips together. “Zoey…” I let my voice trail off.

I didn’t want to push her toward Otto anymore by saying he was a bad boy.

But I didn’t know what else to do. She could not, under any circumstances, date Otto.

I tried to think of how I could word this differently.

“Zo ey, I’m worried about you. I told you several times that he’s not a good person.

” That seemed better. Being a bad person wasn’t sexy.

“ You’re worried about me ? I’m worried about you , Emma.”

“Why?”

She gestured to the side of my neck.

I looked down at the strap for my camera. I knew she thought it was foolish to hold on to it for so long. But it had all worked out. “I like the memory,” I said.

“Of him biting you?” Zoey stepped forward and pushed my hair away from my neck. “What happened to him only drinking animal blood?”

Oh. She wasn’t talking about my camera cord. She was talking about the bruises and tiny cuts on my neck. I put my hand over the dark spots. “He only did that because I asked him to. I told you. I wanted him to prove that he could stop once he started. That he wouldn’t hurt me.”

“Why would you ask a vampire with very little control to start feasting on you?”

“Callum has control. This is proof.”

“If he had control he would have told you he doesn’t drink human blood anymore.”

“He doesn’t…”

“He clearly does,” Zoey said. “And fine, maybe you asked him to. But if you did, he should have only done it once. There is more than one bruise on your neck, Emma. And no amount of makeup can cover that up.”

I swallowed hard. Fine. I’d asked Callum to do it more than once. But he’d never asked me. I…I liked it. I liked the way he looked at me when he did it. I liked the way it made me feel. Like I was giving him so mething he desperately wanted. Desperately needed. “I have it under control,” I said.

“But what if he doesn’t?”

“He does. And this isn’t about me. We were talking about you.”

Zoey sighed. “Right, because anyone I date could possibly be worse than a vampire.”

“Otto is worse than Callum. He…” I started choking.

Damn it! The blood oath I’d taken to find out Otto’s secret was the worst thing I’d ever done.

I didn’t want to know their secret. It felt like it was literally killing me.

And I couldn’t warn Zoey because I physically couldn’t.

But I knew someone who could warn her. Callum.

He hadn’t taken the blood oath. I needed him to warn Zoey for real.

To protect her. Because there were things worse than vampires walking among us.

I cleared my throat. “I gotta head into work. Can we maybe talk about this again tonight when I get back?” I’d convince Callum that Zoey needed to know the secret for her own safety. And bring him over tonight to tell her.

“Sure. I’ll be back a little late because I have a dinner thing. But we can talk about this when I get home.”

I nodded. “Please be careful today.”

“You too!” she called behind me as I walked out the front door.

The cool autumn air swirled around me. Callum wanted me to meet him at one of his listings to take some photos.

I walked down Main Street and smiled to myself.

Everything was going to be fine. And it was a little hard to be upset in such a cute little town.

It was easy to fall in love with Crooked Point.

The Halloween decorations from the Fall Festival had been toned down a bit.

It was more simple fall décor now. The pumpkins and hay remained, but nothing too scary.

Not that it was super easy to spook me anymore. I’d seen it all at this point.

And I knew better than anyone that nothing was simply black or white.

Callum wasn’t a monster just because he was a vampire.

And Otto wasn’t a monster either. But he didn’t have the same control as Callum.

That’s what worried me. Maybe one day it would be safe for Zoey to date him. But that day wasn’t today.

I turned off Main Street and smiled. I double checked the address and walked up to the old Victorian house.

Zoey had taken me here when we’d gone house hunting.

It was the only house in town that felt like me.

It wasn’t new, with cold lines, and colder details.

The house was old and needed work, but it was full of life.

And maybe I had a thing for old Victorian houses since I’d first met Callum in one.

I knew Callum was the listing agent for this one. I’d run into him when Zoey and I were looking. And God, I’d been so mad at him. He’d been wearing these brown colored contacts, trying to pretend he wasn’t who I thought he was. It was a travesty to hide his beautiful golden eyes.

The front steps creaked under my feet. I knocked on the door and Callum opened it.

“Hey, baby.”

I loved it when he called me that. “Hey, yourself.” I stood on my tiptoes and kissed him.

“So this place needs new photos, huh?” I walked past him and smiled at the worn wooden floors.

It definitely took a certain eye to capture this beauty.

“Let me see what the old ones looked like.” I typed in the info for the house on my phone but no listing came up.

“I pulled the listing,” Callum said.

I looked up at him. “Why? I’ll have the photos ready in no time. I can have them edited by tonight if you want.”

He put his hands in his pockets as he stared at me. “You like this house, right?”

“No, I love this house.”

He smiled.

“I mean…what’s not to love?” I turned to stare at the old fireplace.

A few of the stones were missing. But it truly was beautiful.

“It just needs some love put back into it.” I turned back to him.

“And maybe some new bathrooms. A few updates and it will be as good as new. Hell, if I knew anything about renovations, I’d want to do it. ”

“Well…I know some things about renovations.”

He had offered to fix Zoey’s lights last night. “And here I thought you were just a real estate agent?”

He smiled. “I’ve had a lot of professions over my life.”

“Mhm.” I could picture him getting his hands dirty, wearing a pair of worn jeans instead of the fancy suit he was currently sporting. One of his last professions had been the coach of a soccer team. I had a feeling he was pretty good at everything. “So were you a carpenter in a past life?”

“It’s just something I’ve dabbled in. I fixed up that old house where we first met.”

“This reminds me of that place actually. One of the reasons why I love it so much. ”

“Well, it’s a good thing I took down the listing then.”

I just stared at him.

“I think we should buy it, Emma. Fix it up together. Make it our home.”

Our home? The way he said it made tears pool in the corners of my eyes. I really liked the sound of that. “Really?”

“I could tell how much you loved this place when you first saw it. Your whole face lit up. Well, it lit up when you weren’t staring daggers at me.”

I laughed. “You were being terrible.”

“Maybe this will help make up for it.” He gestured to the room around us.

“You’re serious? You want to live here? What about your place?”

“This feels a bit more like us, don’t you think?”

I smiled up at him. “Yes.”

He smiled back at me. “It’ll probably take us several months to renovate it. Maybe it’ll be ready in the spring. What do you think about a spring wedding? We could move in right after we exchange vows.”

“You still haven’t officially proposed.”

“Haven’t I?”

I laughed. “No. You haven’t.”

“Hmm.” He pulled me in close. “I’ll have to fix that.”

I was smiling so hard it hurt. Why was I so obsessed with forever when he was standing here promising me forever? Besides, I had a lifetime to make him make it an actual forever.

“It’s a good thing you want to live here, because I actually already bought it. ”

“You’re ridiculous.” I couldn’t stop smiling.

“And you’re beautiful.” He leaned down and kissed me.

I wrapped my hands behind his neck, deepening the kiss. How had I gotten so lucky? He was perfect. In every single way.

I couldn’t believe that Zoey was worried about me. Callum would never hurt me. I’d been so lost without him for ten years. I needed him. But I needed Zoey too. I pulled back. “We need to tell Zoey the truth. And by that I mean I need you to tell her the truth.”

“About…what exactly? My intentions with you?”

I stared at him. “No. I need you to tell her what Otto really is.”

He sighed. “I figured she wouldn’t stay away from him after last night.”

“Yeah, he looked smitten with her.” Otto really did. I think Zoey had had a crush on him for a while. And I could tell it was reciprocated. Now that Zoey was ready to settle down…that was a very dangerous thing.

Callum laughed. “I was talking about the other thing.”

“What other thing?”

Callum lowered his eyebrows as he stared at me. “The under the table stuff.”

“What?”

“He was fingering her under the table, baby.”

I laughed. “I don’t think so.”

“She literally screamed ‘Yes’ to a question that did not need that much excitement. Actually she screamed it when Otto asked if she liked an audience. Since it was clear that she was currently very much enjoying that. ”

I opened my mouth and closed it again. “Oh my God. You’re right. When he was talking about the Ferris wheel…”

Callum nodded.

“Callum, this is horrible. They’re going to start dating, I just know it.”

He didn’t respond.

“Unless you tell her the truth.”

“I really don’t feel comfortable with that,” he said. “It’s not my secret to share.”

“Cut it out with the gentleman’s honor thing. We both know you’re not always a gentleman, Theo .” I emphasized his fake name that he’d tormented me with.

He smiled. “I was trying to protect you.”

“Fine, but you’re not a gentleman in the bedroom.”

“Hmm.” His hands slid to my ass.

I swatted them away. “I’m serious, Callum.

I need you to tell Zoey the truth. Because I physically can’t.

You didn’t want me to date Bennett because he was dangerous.

And I don’t want Zoey to date Otto because he’s dangerous.

Every time I warn her that Otto is a bad, dangerous boy, it just makes her want him even more. I’m at a loss. Please.”

“How exactly do you want me to present the news that she’s falling for an immature supernatural creature?”

“I don’t know…just tell her the way you told me about yourself?”

“You want me to fuck her at the train station?”

I laughed and pushed his arm. “No. I just want you to tell her the truth. We’ll console her together. We’ll do it tonight. After dinner. ”

He sighed. “Okay. You know I’d do anything for you, Emma.”

I knew. He’d given up what he craved most for me. I wished Otto could do that for Zoey. But I wasn’t exactly sure what Otto craved most. It seemed like he just loved blood and carnage.