Besides, if she knew who I really was–what I really was–she wouldn’t want to have anything to do with me either. I was saving us both the trouble of her telling me to go take a hike.
It might not be easy to keep my distance when we were a part of the same pack, but I’d been doing an okay job of it until today. And the last full moon. But besides those two instances, I’d been making it work.
I’d just have to be more diligent.
No more running with the pack if she was around.
No more taking her to the lab.
No more going into the lodge at all if I didn’t have to. It just wasn’t worth the risk of running into her.
When it came to Callie, I was like an addict. The more I got, the more I wanted. If you put my drug of choice in front of me, I’d have no choice but to take a hit. But if I stayed away entirely, I had a chance at remaining sober.
“Are you sure, Wyatt? I’ve never heard of you caring about any woman. If you really like this one, maybe it’s worth giving it a shot.”
I shook my head and walked past him toward the house. “That’s all right, man. I know the deal well enough to know I need to leave her alone.”
“Maybe it’s not like that,” he said softly.
I held back a sigh and shrugged instead. “It’s always like that and you know it.”
My usually smiling brother sobered up fast and gave me a nod.
He’d lived with being a half-breed just as long as I had so he knew the drill. He knew we were good enough for some things, but not for others, and one of those was dating the alpha’s sister. Hopefully now that I’d laid it out for him in terms he’d understand, he’d drop this whole mess. He needed to forget about Callie McCoy as much as I did. I just hoped it would be as easy to do as it was to say.
Chapter 16
Callie
“That’s it,” I growled at my ceiling before kicking the covers off my legs.
I’d officially had enough.
Ever since the kissing incident with Wyatt two days ago, I’d been left simmering with all these emotions and absolutely no outlet.
I was shocked.
I was confused.
I was angry.
I was defiant.
I was just looking for an excuse to dump all this mess on Wyatt’s head since it was his fault I felt this way to begin with. Problem with that was, I hadn’t seen him since he’d kissed me silly and then drove off right after. The bigger problem was, I didn’t even have anyone I could confide in.
Sure, there were my sisters, but I knew any one of them would make this into a much bigger deal than it was. They were constantly pestering me about my non-existent dating life, and if they got wind of this, I’d never hear the end of it.
I had a couple friends in the pack outside of my family, but I’d seen more than half of them hanging off Wyatt and his brother at one time or another so that was out too.
Instead of being able to vent everything that was going on inside my head, it had been left to stew. And fester. And balloon into this giant knot in the pit of my stomach.
Which was why I’d had enough.
I climbed out of my bed and went on a search for some clothes. For a brief moment, I thought about getting dressed up or at least putting some effort into my appearance, but quickly squashed that idea. I was going to confront Wyatt and give him a piece of my mind, not ask him out on a date.
I walked past the large mirror in my room and stopped short at my reflection. Still naked from the full moon last night, I was also covered in mud and had twigs and leaves sticking out of the curly mess of hair on my head. Clearly a shower was in order.
I didn’t usually get so dirty during the full moon, but last night was an exception to the rule. I’d spent the first half of it looking for Wyatt, and when it was clear he wasn’t showing up, I spent the second half trying to forget about him. That led to a long string of sparring sessions with my packmates and me looking like I’d taken a mud bath last night.
As I washed away the forest under the hot spray of my shower, I fortified my resolve. I let my confusion and hurt morph into an anger that would carry me through the confrontation on my horizon.
When I was clean and dressed in my usual jeans and plaid shirt, I stormed out of my room and down to the ground floor of the lodge. Rage fueled my limbs as I marched back toward the pack houses and straight up to the one marked with a large number three.
I stood there for a moment as a sliver of doubt crept into my mind. With a shake of my head, I reminded myself that all I needed was closure so I could get past this nonsense with Wyatt and forget about him all together.
With a quick nod, I reached out and rapped on the front door three times. Seconds later, I heard a woman call out, “Be right there!”
I frowned at the door until I remembered Wyatt mentioned his mom lived with him.
“No, Ma. I’ll get it!” came a muffled reply from deeper inside the house.
“Nonsense, I’m right here,” the woman said before the door was pulled open and I came face to face with who I assumed was Mrs. Carter.
She smiled warmly at me, and the first thing I noticed was the red rash that seemed to spread from her nose to her cheeks like the wings of a butterfly. I smiled back as best I could as I took in how thin and frail she looked. Her collarbones jutted out at sharp angles in her chest and her shoulders seemed to hunch forward, like just holding herself upright was a chore.
“Can I help you?” the woman asked sweetly.
I shook my head and focused on her light brown eyes again, which only further confirmed this was Wyatt’s mom. They looked just like his.
“Oh. Um. Hi. Is Wyatt home?”
Just as I said his name, the man himself appeared behind his mom. His brown eyes were wide with what looked like fear as they darted between us.
That emotion seemed so out of place. What would he have to be scared of?
“Ma. I got it. Can you go sit down, please?”
The woman placed a pale hand on her thin hip as she turned to face her son. “Will you quit hovering? You’re suffocating me.”
“I’m sorry, Ma. I just need you to go to your room for a few minutes while I handle this.”
The woman shot a look over her shoulder at me before turning to her son again. “Handle what? This sweet lady here doesn’t seem threatening to me. Why she wants to see you when you’ve been such a grouch lately is beyond me, though.”
“Ma. Please,” he said, his voice lowered, edging on desperate.
The whole scene was confusing. I didn’t understand why Wyatt was trying to get rid of his mom. Was it for my benefit or hers? I also didn’t understand why this woman looked so sick. Werewolves didn’t get sick. We got injured, but never ill.
So, what was going on here?
“Mom. I’m begging you, please just give me a few minutes here.”
I stared at Wyatt in confusion until the wind picked up behind me and swirled around the space between us. His leather scent reached my nose along with another peculiar one. My eyes widened as I realized what I was smelling and what it meant.
Wyatt’s mother was human.
Wyatt
I saw the moment realization struck Callie and winced before looking away. There was no hiding the fact my mother was human. Not when a werewolf was close enough to see her and smell her. The cat was clearly out of the bag and now I needed to run damage control.