Fighting the Inevitable (19 page)

“
That was a
roaring success.” Demetri’s dry remark had him hissing through
clenched teeth.

“
Fuck off,
Demetri. I’m going home. Stay away from the pack until I decide
what to do.”

Demetri barked out a
laugh without humour. “You want to decide? Maybe you should let me
decide, Caleb, because so far you’re fucking everything up. What
the hell is all this ‘the woman I intend to spend the rest of my
life with’ shit? Has the redhead cast some kind of spell on you
because since you’ve met her you haven’t been behaving
normally?”

Caleb bristled, his eyes
going flat as he pinned his friend with his gaze. “Her name is
Annie. I suggest you use it. What goes on between us is none of
your business either, so keep your comments to yourself. Now, I’m
going home.”

“
Caleb…”
Demetri tried once more to get his friend to talk but he walked
away ignoring him, climbing into his car and speeding off down the
road. He watched the car retreat, sensing Stephan
approach.

“
What’s going
on, Demetri?”

He turned to look at his
friend, meeting puzzled eyes. “The hell if I know, Stephan.
Whatever is going on is done for tonight. Go home. I’ll keep an eye
on Caleb.” As he headed over to Caleb’s, Demetri’s thoughts were
once more on the woman who was the centre of the current storm. If
Caleb continued to act aggressively out of character, then he would
have to step in and protect his friend. He would do what needed to
be done to protect not only Caleb but also his people. If Rhianna
Armand proved to be a threat, he would have no qualms about
neutralising that threat.

~~~~~

Caleb didn’t sleep well.
He tossed and turned most of the night trying to think of some way
to make things right. He’d wounded Rhianna’s brother gravely. His
ignorance of the events leading up to Rafe’s turning was no excuse.
Sighing loudly, he got up and headed in for a quick shower. Pulling
on a pair of old faded Levis and a silk shirt, he knew he had to do
something to repair the damage he’d caused. His erratic emotions
were making life difficult to say the least.

He was so used to always
being in control. He didn’t know how to handle the extreme mood
swings he was now subject to. It was all Rhianna’s fault. He’d been
just fine up until the night she’d walked into Karpathia’s. Now he
had all these raging emotions deep inside him, and it was
disconcerting to say the least.

Caleb shook his head as
he pulled on his boots. He wondered if Demetri had gone home or
stayed the night so he could continue with his berating of him
first thing this morning. His friend had been livid last night,
screaming furiously at him about starting a war with the
Weres.

That had been an
unexpected turn of events. He hadn’t expected Hanlon to react so
aggressively. They’d managed to co-exist for over two centuries,
which was pretty good going considering the natural loathing Weres
had for Vampires. Hell, he’d even become somewhat friendly with the
Alpha over the years.

He dug out his cell phone
and called Hanlon. He had to nip this talk of war in the bud before
it got out of hand. “We need to talk.”

“
Didn’t you
do enough of that last night, Ryder?”

Caleb strangled down a
deep sigh at the animosity in the Alpha’s tone, and counted to ten.
“Just meet me in half an hour, Hanlon. I’m coming alone.” He
disconnected the call, knowing the Alpha would show up. Although,
the call was frosty to say the least, Jared Hanlon didn’t want a
war any more than he did and he would meet him on the Old Forest
Road. Glancing at his watch, he saw it was barely six am, so he had
time to meet with Jared before he went to pick up Rhianna for
lunch.

Caleb was early, leaning
against the hood of his new Porsche, waiting for Jared to appear.
He wondered if he would come in wolf form or human. The form he
chose would be a good indicator of just how furious the Alpha was.
He waited for half an hour staring sightlessly in front of him with
his arms crossed, Hanlon obviously making a point by showing up
late. His head turned to the trees as he scented a human
approaching and Jared strode from the trees in a pair of old denims
and a denim shirt.

Caleb schooled his
expression carefully and tried not to let the Alpha see his sigh of
relief.

“
What do you
want, Ryder?” Jared’s bark was aggressive as he came to a halt a
few feet away from him and folded his arms across his wide
chest.

Caleb’s golden brown eyes
regarded the Alpha for a long moment before he dropped his
carefully constructed mask and let his true weariness show. “A way
out of this sorry mess, Jared.” He saw some of the tension leave
the Alpha’s body as the Were walked closer. Caleb moved over
slightly and Jared rested his long body against the hood beside
him.

“
You were out
of control last night, Caleb,” Jared finally said with a deep sigh.
“I’ve never seen you so wild before, not in the whole two centuries
I’ve known you.”

Caleb nodded his head in
agreement, his lips twitching in a rueful smile. “I surprised even
myself last night,” he admitted. “I appear to be caught up in a
situation I’m at a loss to deal with. Rhianna, she’s like no one
I’ve ever met before. I find myself experiencing strong protective
instincts over her, being subjected to emotions I haven’t felt in a
long time. This whole feeling thing is a complete minefield to me.
I don’t understand it and I don’t know what to do with
it.”

Jared swung his head
around and regarded Caleb’s intently. “You love her?” He couldn’t
keep the incredulous note from his voice. The finer feelings in
life were a bit sparse when it came to vampires. Some of them did
remember enough of their former humanity to be able to bond
emotionally with others, but usually it was all about sexual
gratification with no strings attached.

Caleb frowned, his brow
furrowing deeply as he pondered the question. Was he in love with
Annie? Was he even capable of love? He knew there were a select few
in his life that he did have deeper emotions for, but they were all
vampires. Never had a human interested him.

He stared down at the
road trying to work out how to respond. “I don’t know,” he finally
sighed. “It’s been so long since I’ve felt the emotion I don’t know
if I’d recognise it. All I am sure of is, at this moment in time,
she is all I think of. From the very first moment I met her I’ve
craved to be with her. Her scent, her beauty, her blood, her body,
every single part of her calls to me. I want her and yet I give her
space to get to know me first. Usually I just take what I
want.”

Jared chuckled, shaking
his head in amusement. The situation wasn’t really funny but seeing
the bewilderment on the vampire’s face made him laugh. “Sounds like
love to me, Caleb. It explains your shocking behaviour last night
too.”

Caleb met his gaze. “We
were at the club last night. She was telling me about her little
bookstore she was going to open, mentioned the unexpected life
insurance policy her brother had and the very kind man Jared Hanlon
who had given her the news. It wasn’t hard to work out that
‘Wolfie’ was her brother. You’re a good Alpha, Jared. You always
make sure families are taken care of when you add to your
pack.”

He shook his head,
offering a wry smile. “I lost it, my friend. Her pain and grief at
losing Rafe is so deep. I was infuriated that he was alive and with
your pack when she was suffering so because of his
loss.”

Jared felt a stab of
guilt. He could understand the vampire’s reaction because he too
felt for Rhianna’s loss and the fact Millie was his mate. However,
protection of the pack was paramount. Personal feelings didn’t come
into it. The pack had to come first. He sighed and heard the
sadness behind it. He hoped his friend would understand.

“
You know how
difficult it is for us to maintain our secret, Caleb. Do you think
I want Annie to be suffering like this? I barely know the girl and
yet I like her immensely. I can see why Rafe has struggled so hard
with joining the pack, why he craves to return to her. She is
sweetness, innocence and kindness all rolled into one. I take no
pleasure in her pain but it is necessary to protect the
pack.”

Caleb shifted, standing
straight and stretching his long legs. “I understand your dilemma
even if I disapprove of it, Jared. I can’t condone anything that
hurts Annie, but I do understand it. I know your pack laws forbid
outsiders from knowing your true nature. I know you can’t break the
laws, not even to save Rafe.”

Jared nodded his head
sadly. “He’s the only one of five innocents to survive a forced
turning. It took three weeks for him to be coherent enough to begin
to understand what had happened to him. Many days I thought he
would lose the battle, but he fought hard to live. I believe he
fought for Annie’s sake. I think somewhere deep inside him, he
wanted to return to her.”

He turned to his side so
he could look directly at the vampire. “He’s a latent Alpha, Caleb.
His nature is too gentle to allow him to lead. He abhors violence
and that has been an added reason why he’s struggled so hard to be
one with the pack. His last meeting with Annie when he was in wolf
form seemed to help him to integrate more. He seemed more at peace
with himself and even began to take women to his bed. That was
until last night.”

Caleb looked down at the
road and pursed his lips thoughtfully. “How is he
today?”

“
We put him
in the safe room last night just as a precaution, but apart from
weeping, he maintained enough control so I let him out after a few
hours. Aaron is his closest friend so he stayed at his house last
night. Aaron says he is quiet and withdrawn but appears stable
enough. He reckons Rafe will work out his issues in his own mind
and find a balance eventually.”

Jared straightened and
took a few steps from the car, automatically letting his eyes roam
over the surrounding area for any signs of movement. He had come to
the meeting alone, but he wouldn’t put it past some of his pack to
be hanging around just in case there was trouble. He didn’t see any
of them but he knew they were there.

Caleb watched him with a
slight smile on his lips. He, too, knew the other Weres were about
but he didn’t take it as an insult. After last night, it was only
right they were wary of him and why he wanted to speak to their
Alpha.

“
Jared, the
only way I can see out of this mess is for Annie to know the
truth.” He watched the other man tense, and held up his hand as the
Alpha spun around to face him. “Hear me out first. You can’t tell
her of your existence but I can tell her of mine. I hadn’t planned
on letting her know my true nature so soon, but it would appear
it’s necessary for the truth to come out. Once she knows of
vampires, she will find out about Weres. Once she knows of Weres,
there will be no reason to keep Rafe from her.”

Jared frowned, digging
his hands in his pockets. “That’s just semantics, Caleb, and you
know it. It doesn’t matter who tells her about Weres. It’s the fact
she would know of our existence.”

“
What do you
think your mate will say when she finds out about all of this?”
Caleb countered, watching the Alpha tense further. “Do you think
she’ll agree to stay with you knowing your part in her friend’s
misery? I’ve only met Millie once but I could sense her deep
attachment to Annie. She will not roll over and agree to mate with
you, Jared, you know that yourself, otherwise you would have taken
her for your own by now.”

Millie’s beautiful face
sprang to Jared’s mind and his wolf howled loudly and began to pace
restlessly. What Caleb said was true. His Millie would fight him
tooth and nail over Annie and Rafe. He didn’t need the vampire to
tell him that. He sighed and his frown deepened.

“
This is what
I will agree to, Caleb. You reveal yourself to Annie and we’ll see
how she handles that bombshell. If she’s willing to accept you for
who you truly are then I’ll meet with you again and we can discuss
whether or not she can be trusted with the knowledge of our
existence. If I feel she can handle it, I’ll take it to the pack
and we’ll put it to a vote. I can’t make this decision arbitrarily,
my friend. I have over two hundred lives to protect here. They
deserve to have a say in this.”

Caleb regarded him
intently for a long moment and then finally nodded his agreement.
“Will Rafe be strong enough to hold on until a decision is
reached?”

Jared’s eyes turned sad.
He genuinely liked the big man and it pained him greatly to lose
him. “I don’t know.” He had to be honest about it. “You have to
understand, Caleb. I can’t risk the lives of two hundred for the
sake of one, no matter how much I like him. If Rafe isn’t strong
enough to work this out then…”

He didn’t complete the
sentence but then he didn’t have to. Caleb knew exactly what the
outcome would be if Rafe went rogue. Walking over to the Alpha, he
held out his hand. “I understand, Jared.”

Jared clasped Caleb’s arm
in a firm grip and managed a crooked smile. “I’m relieved I do not
have to go to war with you, Caleb.”

“
As am I,”
Caleb smiled, before turning and striding back to his car. He slid
in quickly and tore off down the road.