Chapter 5

    ** Callen’s POV **

  Trying to do the sports session with the pups is difficult today. Not because the kids are being difficult, but because I can’t get my mind off the absolute goddess of a woman I’d met on the way here.

  

  Her auburn hair had hung in loose curls down her back and I envisioned myself wrapping it around my hand and pulling her head back as I rut into her from behind. Her crystal-blue eyes had mesmerised me and I wanted to see them staring up at me whilst she kneels in front of me and sucks on my c*ck.

  

  What a shame she is human and imagining doing all that to her is as far as I can go. As joint Alpha of our little ragtag pack, I have to lead by example, and interspecies dating is something we have forbidden.

  

  I am curious about her situation. She said she had recently separated from her husband, and the kid said he didn’t know his father, that his father was missing. Which is really sh*tty, because that boy is 100% a wolf shifter, and I suspect his mother has no idea. It’s either a tremendous stroke of luck or fate that they are here because, without a pack to guide him, that pup would have been in some serious trouble.

  

  Whoever fathered Jaxon and bailed, leaving him to be raised by a human and without a pack needs shooting. If they hadn’t come here and the boy shifted, he could have hurt his mother and exposed our kind to the humans or drawn the attention of the hunters.

  After my session with the kids, I mind link with my twin brother and our Betas, who also happen to be twins, and tell them we need to meet urgently.

  

  “Where do you want to meet?” Remy, one of the twin Betas, responds.

  

  “At home, I’m headed there now,” I say as I jog through the woods.

  

  I arrive at our cabin to find Ryder, Remy and Parker waiting for me on the front porch. We all live here together. When we had been building our small village for our pack in the woods, we had shared accommodation. When we got around to building our cabins, we decided we liked each other’s company and decided to build one big cabin to house us all rather than two separate ones.

  

  We have no plans to move into our own cabins unless we find our mates. Twins usually share a fated mate, so we would most likely only need to build one more cabin if we find our mates.

  

  “Is beer appropriate for this urgent talk? Or do we need to fight someone?” Parker asks.

  

  “Beer is always appropriate,” I grin.

  

  Ryder and Remy raise a finger, indicating they want a beer too, and Parker heads inside.

  

  “Everything good at the school?” Remy asks as I take a seat on the wooden armchair beside Ryder.

  

  “Yeah, the pups did great. Regina said they’re really learning how to fit in with the other kids.” I nod.

  

  Parker returns with four bottles of beer and hands each of us one before sitting beside Remy on the bench. “So what is so urgent that you had to pull us from work?” he asks.

  

  “There’s a new woman in town,” I say, wondering how exactly to approach this because, at just the mention of her, my mind has gone straight into the gutter.

  

  “Wow, what a shocker. I can’t believe a woman has moved into a new town. That’s so unusual,” Remy snorts, and I scowl at him. I’ll make him pay for that sarcasm later.

  

  “Shut up, smart ass, I’ve not finished,” I huff. “She has a kid, and he’s one of us.”

  

  “So we have an unknown she-wolf in our territory, and she hasn’t asked permission?” Ryder growls. His wolf’s territorial nature comes through in his voice.

  

  “No, that’s the thing. She’s human, and I don’t think she has any idea what her son is.”

  

  “Shit. Where is the kid’s father?” Parker asks.

  

  “They don’t know. The pup said he is missing, but I suspect he ran out on her, or the hunters got him.”

  

  “I hope for his sake the hunters got him because if I find out who the piece of sh*t is that got a human pregnant and then left her to raise a shifter pup alone, I’ll kill him,” Ryder growls even louder this time.

  

  “Amen to that,” I say, raising my bottle, and the Beta twins nod.

  

  I take a long swig of my bottle of beer, letting the cool, bitter liquid fizz down my throat whilst we all process our murderous thoughts.

  

  “So now we have to explain to her what her son is without scaring her,” Parker sighs.

  

  “We will need to be careful. If we don’t gain her trust first, she may take the kid and run,” Remy says.

  

  “Yeah, and that kid needs us. You should have seen him. He hugged me as soon as he saw me. It was like he was desperate for that pack connection. He needs to be with a pack.”

  

  “You two know better than anyone what it’s like to be raised without a pack and with no idea what you are. We can’t let that kid go through what you two did,” Parker says.

  

  “We won’t.” Ryder shakes his head. “Callen, do you think you can get close to the mum? Try to gain her trust before introducing her to us. Only once she trusts us all will we tell her the truth about us and her son.”

  

  “I think I can do that. I certainly don’t mind spending time with her. She is so damn hot,” I say with a pained groan. 

  

  Why couldn’t she be a shifter, too? Life is unfair sometimes.

  

  “For fuck's sake, Callen. Make sure you keep your damn dick in your pants. Do you hear me? Do not f*ck her,” Ryder growls.

  

  “I know, I won’t, but I can’t promise not to imagine doing it,” I grin.

  

  “You’re such a perv,” Remy laughs.

  

  “Just wait until you see her, then you’ll understand. She has this hot little body that’s just screaming to be ravished, and her eyes, oh goddess, I could stare into them forever,” I hum as I close my eyes and picture the woman of my dreams again.

  

  “Go take a damn shower and then get to work. Maybe take her some flowers to welcome her to the town. Focus on the kid. Women love men who love their kids,” Ryder says.

  

  “Since when are you an expert on women? As far as I know, you’ve never actually dated one, especially not one with kids,” I snort.

  

  Ryder gets that far-away look in his eye again that I’ve seen him do whenever we bring up dating or fated mates. I down the rest of my beer and then get up to take my shower. There’s no point trying to talk to him when he goes to this place in his mind. I wish he would tell me about it. We might not have grown up together, but we shared a womb, and now we share a house and a pack. One day, he might trust me enough to talk about whatever happened.

  

  “Do you know where she lives?” Parker asks as I pull open the door to our cabin.

  

  “I have a pretty good idea. She doesn’t know anyone here, so she must have her own place, and there was only one house available as far as I know.”

  

  “The place on Alpine?” he asks.

  

  “That’s the one,” I nod.

  

  “I think I saw her, actually. Yesterday, while running, I saw two women through the window. I thought they were just viewing the place, though,” Remy says.

  

  “And you didn’t think to mention anything? Who is the second female?” Parker asks.

  

  “I didn’t know it was important. They could have been the estate agents for all I know,” Remy shrugs.

  

  “The second one will be her sister. She mentioned she attends the university in the next town over,” I explain, glancing at my brother, who is still lost in his own thoughts.

  

  With a sigh, I head inside to shower and imagine all the things I’d like to do to the little human that has managed to put a spell on me. I have a feeling she has just earned her starring role in all my future fantasies.