Chapter 106 Chapter 106
Calum sat there, stunned by the information dumped on him in the last hour. Never in his life could he imagine some of the things they told him. Then again, he had been chained to a wall, so he supposed the rest wasn’t so far from unbelievable. The alpha of this clan, from his grandfathers’ time, had quite clearly been insane, and since then the depravity had spread through the generations like cancer.
If Calum had been anyone else, they would have broken his friends out of their chains and got out of here fast, leaving the alliance to come in and clean up this atrocity. There were complications to doing just that. Firstly, he wasn’t ever able to walk away when others needed his help, even if they didn’t know they did, and this clan clearly needed help. Secondly, Shaelan was his mate, he knew that for sure now, and he’d marked her as such.
There was no other explanation for the range of emotions he went through being near her. The lecture he gave Devin not too long-ago kept flashing through his mind. He’d ridden him hard for marking Rayne when she was unaware, and now he’d done the same damn thing. Yes, she had asked him to mark her so she carried his scent for a few days, but what he’d done, that was never leaving. In fact, if he had his way, he’d be renewing his scent on her frequently. Which brought him to another snag, she had just found out about her own heritage… adding a lifelong mate to that may not go over well right now. How did he find out where she stood with that?
“Calum?”
He blinked and turned to look at Marilyn. “Yes?”
She smirked, “You’ve been sitting there staring at Shae for so long we thought you’d fallen asleep with your eyes open.”
He cleared his throat, “No ma’am, wide awake.”
“I was saying, we need to get you somewhere safe for a day or so…”
That made his mind focus again, “Come again?”
“You can’t stay here.” Shae whispered, “or you’re going to end up back in chains.”
He snarled, “They can try.”
Nona got up, picking up the cups on the table. “She’s right. You can’t stay here… until we get more involved in this, get the ducks in a row...”
“There’s something else…” Turning he looked at Shaelan, his eyes wandered over her. His cat rubbed gently across his skin, almost purring, which he didn’t know he was capable of.
“Heh,” Nona gave her head a shake, “I’m well aware.”
Shae got up to help her. “Aware of what?” She took the cups from Nona’s hand. “That my change is coming… or however you say it?”
“That too.” Nona nodded, “but I don’t believe that’s what he’s referring to.”
“It’s plain as day.” Marilyn added looking entirely too happy.
“What?” Shaelan looked from one woman to the other. “What is?”
He stood up slowly to move in her direction, she was giving off that aura again, the one of pure anxiety. His cat demanded he comfort her. Calum was in synch with that, but he hadn’t planned on broaching the subject in front of the others. Hell, until he found out he hadn’t been given the breeding herb, he hadn’t even known what was going on. The guys would never let him live that down. Taking the cups from her hands, he set them on the table and gave her a hesitant look. “You’re my mate and you bear my mark,” he smirked, “two of them.” He loved how she blushed as he reminded her.
She looked down at the floor, then back to him. “Is that why I feel so…” she lifted a hand, like she didn’t know how to say it.
“Yes.” He wanted to pull her against his body and remind her of it, but they weren’t alone, and he had already proved he had issues controlling himself where she was concerned. The fact that he stood here with her in the village was testament enough. As her dark eyes caressed his face, it was all he could do to keep his hands off her.
“Did the temperature in here just go up?” Marilyn said loudly.
Nona huffed out a breath. “I think it did, Mari.”
Calum cleared his throat and jammed his hands in his pockets like a bashful teenager. He tilted his head and watched Shaelan. “I know all of this is a lot to swallow in such a short time, but I can’t change that.” He paused, trying to figure out if that look on her face was a good or a bad one, for him. “I can give you time to digest all of it.” He sighed, “or try to.”
She was wringing her hands together in front of her. “Okay.”
Her voice was barely audible, even with his acute hearing. He realized the only way he could give her time, would be for him to leave again. If he stayed near her, he would not be able to keep his hands, mouth, or teeth, off her. Turning his head away from her, he looked at Marilyn. “Where were you thinking I could go?”
She looked a Nona, then smirked. “The caves.”
Nona nodded, “No man will go near them, so that’s the perfect spot.”
“Caves?” Shae looked at her aunt, “we have caves?”
Marilyn threw her head back and laughed, “Yes we do. It’s a cave the women—that don’t want to breed—go when their heat hits.” She shrugged, “how do you think us older ones got out of being tossed in a room with the men in the yard?”
Shaelan’s brow furrowed. “Are there women there now?”
Laughing harder, Marilyn shook her head. “definitely mated to him if your looking at me like you want to scratch my eyes out.” She sobered when Shae’s expression didn’t change. “No, baby Shae, there are no women there right now.”
Shaelan was blushing again and biting her bottom lip, Calum wanted to lick it. She had to stop doing that or… yeah, he needed to get out of here and give her time to work through all this.
“Okay,” she finally answered, avoiding Calum’s eyes.
Leaning closer, despite just deciding he wouldn’t go near her, he lifted her chin so she would have to look at him. “No male near you but Brock… and even he’s questionable right now.” He waited until she gave a little nod. “I’ll try to give you time, but if I smell another man’s scent on you… I can’t promise they’ll survive.” Her eyes went wide. “And if anyone lays an unkind hand on you again, I will kill them.” Waves of anxiety hit him again. “I know that sounds uncivilized, and it may be, but clan have their own laws and the two most important are you never mess with someone’s mate and women are to be cherished, nothing else.” She nodded again, her eyes locked on his and biting her lip again. He bent his head and inhaled her scent, that cinnamon fragrance that was her, and an aphrodisiac to him. “I better go,” he whispered against her ear, “or I won’t be.” Straightening up, he meant to step away, he really did, but his legs weren’t doing as ordered. He looked at her swollen lip and decided it was the only thing stopping him from taking her mouth the way he wanted. Grasping her chin, he tilted her head up and kissed the side of her mouth, then the other side before licking across her lips so he wouldn’t hurt her. “I’ll see you when my friends get here.” Devin and Gage, you better be hauling ass.
“We’ll keep her safe, Calum.” Nona assured him.
He released her and stepped back before he could change his mind. Turning, he grabbed his phone off the table and his pack off the floor.
“I’ll take you to the caves,” Marilyn said, “none of the patrols so much as look at me.” She snorted, “in fact, any man sees me and runs the other way.”
“That’s their loss.” He told her, and he meant it.
“Damn. I can’t wait to meet your clan.” She said as she moved to the back door.
He gave Nona an abrupt nod. “Thank you for the food, and everything.” That was one strong lady, she’d been going against the alpha all along, and the man didn’t even know it.
“Calum.”
Just hearing Shaelan say his name, had him stop and turn to her.
“Be careful, please.”
The worry on her face made his cat rub against him. He winked at her, “they no longer have the element of surprise.” Backing toward the door, so he would leave, he held her look until Marilyn closed the door after him.
Turning, he inhaled slowly, checking around them. He could smell the whiskey Shaelan had given him on her. “You have some of that whiskey I can bring with me? It’s going to take something to keep me calm while I’m away from her.”
She laughed and patted him on the back. “Honey, where do you think I make it? You’ll have a whole distillery of it, if needed.”