Page 26 of Marked by the Pack (Crooked Point #2)

Tuesday

Emma

“Well, I’m exhausted from moving all my stuff in today,” Kebe said. “But it was so great meeting you.” She patted Callum’s thigh before standing up and stretching.

The hem of her shirt lifted ever so slightly, revealing a tattoo of some symbols I didn’t recognize. I wouldn’t have noticed the tattoo at all if I hadn’t been following Callum’s gaze.

I wasn’t usually a jealous person. But I’d also never felt the way I felt for Callum with anyone else. And I really didn’t like how touchy-feely Kebe was being with him. And how okay he was with it.

More often than not, Callum was the one touching me . He was sensitive about the scar on his thigh. He could barely look at me when he talked about it. And yet…Kebe had just touched him on his thigh and he hadn’t even flinched.

“The pleasure was all mine,” Callum said with a smile.

She smiled back.

Yeah, I didn’t like this at all.

“Night, Emma,” she said with a wave. She turned around before I could respond.

“Goodnight,” I said to her back as she went up the stairs .

Silence settled over the living room. I wasn’t sure whether to say something, or just let it go. But I didn’t get a chance to decide because Callum made the decision for me.

“She seems lovely, doesn’t she?” Callum asked. “While you were upstairs I offered to give her some private showings tomorrow. So I won’t be able to help you with painting tomorrow morning. And afternoon probably. These things always take longer than I assume they will.”

Yup…he’d definitely made the decision for me. Private showings? No. Just…no. “I’m not really comfortable with that.”

“If you don’t want to paint alone, we can just push it off a day. One day won’t make a difference.”

I thought he was excited to move in with me.

That he couldn’t fathom spending one more night apart.

He’d literally said those exact words to me.

And yes, normally one day wouldn’t make a difference.

But honestly, in this case it could. One day with the two of them alone could lead to us breaking up.

“It’s not that,” I said. I tried to think of anything to make him cancel the showing without him thinking I was super paranoid and controlling.

“Isn’t it supposed to be sunny tomorrow?

It would probably be best to postpone.” Postpone long enough for me to talk to Zoey about this predicament. She’d know what to do.

“No, it’s going to be overcast. I already checked.”

Damn it. I really wasn’t okay with this. “I don’t know, Callum.” I tried to lower my voice. “I get kind of weird vibes from her.”

“Weren’t you the one that asked her to move in with Zoey? ”

“Yeah, but I don’t really know Kebe. I was just having trouble talking to Zoey about the werecat stuff and I thought her having another friend to bounce theories off of was better than me dry heaving. But now I think I made a mistake…”

“I don’t think so. I meant what I said. She seems lovely.”

I disagree. I think she seems like she’s hitting on you even though I spent the afternoon telling her how we fell in love. “But you can never really trust anyone, right? We don’t know who she is. Or where she came from.”

He shrugged. “I feel really comfortable around her. I don’t really know how to explain it… But talking to her feels more natural than usual. Like I’m not tripping over every word trying to remember if people say carpe diem these days or YOLO.”

I wanted to laugh. Because I hadn’t heard anyone use YOLO in years. But I was more concerned about the rest of what he’d said. “Do you have to do that with me? Watch what you’re saying?”

“I wasn’t comparing you to her. She just seems like kind of an old soul, you know?”

No, I didn’t know. And it did feel like he was comparing us. “But do you, Callum? Watch what you’re saying around me?”

“What is this about?”

“Why aren’t you answering me?”

He sighed. “I watch what I’m saying around everyone, Emma. Because what I’m mostly thinking during a conversation with someone is how much I’d rather being doing something else.” His eyes dropped to the side of my neck .

“So you like talking to Kebe, but when we’re talking you’d rather just drink my blood?”

“That’s not what I said…”

“That is what you said, Callum. You just looked at my neck.”

“This isn’t coming out right. You’re not most people. I just looked at your neck to show you what I was referring to. I meant strangers. Strangers like Kebe. And I was just trying to say that I didn’t feel that way around her.”

“So you don’t want to drink her blood. You just want her to flirt with you and touch your thigh?” God, I sounded exactly like how I didn’t want to sound.

Callum raised his eyebrows. “You’re jealous?”

“No.” Yes. Gah! “Let’s just pretend I didn’t say anything.”

“Hey.” He grabbed my hand and pulled me onto his lap. “There’s nothing to be jealous about. I love you .”

I pressed my lips together. How could I be worried when he was staring at me like that? “I didn’t like the way she touched you. And how okay you were with it.”

“I didn’t even notice. But if it makes you uncomfortable…”

“No. It’s okay. As long as you swear there’s nothing I need to worry about.”

“Absolutely nothing.”

I let my hands settle on his shoulders.

“But when you touch me?” He smiled at me. “I notice.”

I couldn’t help but smile too. “You know, you can say whatever around me. I won’t make fun of you for using an old-fashioned phrase. Like calling my outfit a petticoat or something. ”

He laughed. “A petticoat goes underneath… You know what? Never mind. Thank you. And I’ll cancel my appointment with Kebe for tomorrow.”

“That’s not necessary. I trust you.” I didn’t necessarily trust Kebe.

But I definitely trusted him. Really I was the one that had broken his trust. He’d been a little annoyed with me for talking to Bennett this afternoon.

I was going to try to be better about letting Callum in.

Not holding anything back. “Can I talk to you about something else?” I asked.

“Anything.”

“Can you have kids?”

He raised his eyebrows again. He seemed more surprised by this question than me being jealous. “I…I don’t know.”

“How do you not know?”

“I’ve never met another vampire, Emma. In all the years I’ve been alive. Not one. At least, that I know of. Whoever changed me left me on my own. And everyone I’ve…” He cleared his throat. “I don’t know.”

“What were you going to say. Everyone you’ve…what?”

“Everyone I’ve had sex with was someone that didn’t last the rest of the night. I told you. The idea of feeding arouses me. I’ve killed every woman I’ve ever been with.”

My heart started pounding in my chest. I took a deep breath to try and steady it. “Except me.”

“Except you. And last time I checked, you’re not pregnant.”

I smiled. “And I also don’t have a secret 9-year-old kid right now.” I’d been so surprised when he hadn’t used a condom the first time we were ever togethe r

“Right.”

Right. I bit the inside of my lip. “So we just don’t know.”

He nodded. “But that’s something you want?”

“I never really thought much about it. I was so focused on finding you again. But now that we found our way back to each other? Yeah. I want us to have a family.”

“I don’t know what a combination of us would mean,” Callum said. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

I knew that would be his concern. It was the same reason he wouldn’t change me. But maybe that would fix everything. “So you could change me.”

“Emma…”

“Or you could change back.”

“Well, that’s one thing I know isn’t possible.”

“Zoey and I were talking and she said she knows someone who may have information on a cure…”

“Who? Otto? He’s probably trying to kill me.”

I laughed. “No, just some friend.” What Zoey did at night wasn’t something she wanted everyone to know about. “I don’t know if she’s talked to him yet. But maybe he’ll know something. Maybe…”

“Emma, what do you think I’ve been doing for the past 200 years? There is no cure. If there was, I would have found it already.”

“But…”

“There’s a reason why I crossed paths with Otto and his friends ten years ago. We were both looking for a solution to our problems. The only difference is, I’m older than them. And I already know there is no cure. For me or for them. If there was, I would have found it. ”

“Well, where have you looked? There are so many…”

“Every continent. Every country. I’ve been all over the world searching, Emma. There is no cure. And no one else like me.”

“How is that possible? In just this one town, there’s a vampire and werecats.”

“I think we were both drawn here. I wanted to protect the town from them. And they wanted to protect the town from me. If there were more of us…I think they’d be here too. Someone would have found me.”

“But someone changed you.”

“Almost 300 years ago now. It’s just me, Emma. And I can’t change back. Even if I could…I wouldn’t know what that meant. My body shouldn’t be alive anymore. It might just kill me. Which was fine when I was searching years ago. I didn’t have anything left to live for until I met you.”

“Then I’ll change…”

“No.” His fingers tightened on my waist. “You’re going to live a long, full life. A human life.”

“And what about you?”

“I’ll figure out a way to end my life when yours ends.”

Was he trying to break my heart? I felt my tears slide down my cheeks. “Callum, you can’t…”

“I won’t be able to keep living without you. I couldn’t possibly. Emma.” He reached up and brushed my tears away with his thumbs.

“You’re talking like you’ve already decided all this. And I’m not agreeing to any of it. I need to talk to Zoey. To see if she’s talked to her friend yet. If you won’t change me, I’m not giving up on a cure. ”

“And I’m not going to let you waste away your whole life looking for a cure that doesn’t exist.”

We were at a stalemate. Again. Callum wouldn’t change me into a vampire. And he didn’t want me to go chasing after a pipe dream of changing him back into a human.

I felt…frozen. And I wasn’t sure why my heart felt like it was breaking even though Callum was right in front of me. I tried to blink away my tears, but it was no use.

Callum wiped more of my tears away. “But if you really want children…I’m willing to try.”

“Yeah?”

“After we’re married.”

I smiled through my tears. “You keep talking about marriage, but I still see no ring on my finger.”

“It’s coming. Just you wait.”

I smiled harder. We weren’t really in a stalemate. We both wanted forever. We just had different definitions of what forever meant.

“It’s late,” he said. “You’re probably tired. Should we head back to my place?”

Even though he was never tired, he could easily tell when I was. “Is it okay if I spend the night here with Zoey? She needs me.”

“Of course. But I’ll miss you.” He leaned forward and kissed my forehead. And then the tip of my nose. When he reached my lips I was smiling so hard.

“Call me when you’re done with your appointment with Kebe.”

“I will. ”

I slowly climbed off his lap. It was strange. His skin was so cold. But recently I felt colder whenever we were apart. Like he somehow warmed my soul.

I wrapped my arms around myself after I waved him goodnight. I made my way up the stairs and lightly knocked on Zoey’s door. I didn’t want to wake her up if she was sleeping.

There was no response, so I opened the door.

It was dark, but I could just make her out in bed, under her comforter. I tiptoed in the room and gently sat down on the side of her bed. “Zoey?” I whispered. “Are you okay?”

She didn’t respond.

I knew when she needed me. And tonight, I was going to hold her while she cried. I knew how much she liked Otto. I honestly knew exactly what she was feeling. I’d been heartbroken for ten years.

“Can I hop in?” I whispered and lightly touched her side. But my hand sunk into the comforter. What the hell? I pulled back the sheets and stared down at the pillows.

It felt like my heart was beating in my throat. Where the fuck was she?!

Had Otto come tonight?

Had one of the other guys?

Had they hurt her?

The wind blew, sending a chill down my spine. Wait, the wind?

I stared at the open window. The curtains fluttered in the chilly autumn breeze.

They’d taken her.