They all laugh, and Felix cheers, “I second that.”
Kaleb gently places a hand on my shoulder and whispers, “Callie?”
When I meet his gaze, there’s a drawn sadness in his eyes.
“I want to apologize for what you saw yesterday after school,” he starts, worry coloring his words, “and I hope that I didn’t scare you.”
“Why would you scare…?” A wave of understanding and compassion washes over me. “Oh Kaleb,” I lament, hugging his arm and resting my head against his shoulder, his toned muscles unyielding against me. “There’s nothing to apologize for. Even Captain America loses his cool sometimes, and I promise, you didn’t scare me.” I release a careful breath, as I dive a little into my past. “I understand what it’s like to…needto appear a certain way to others, and because of that, you have to lock a part of yourself away sometimes.”
I sniff, blink several times, the air suddenly feeling thinner, then pull back enough to look into his warm brown eyes. “But I want you to know, if you feel angry or sad or scared, it’s okay to show it around me. After you’re done yelling, or heaven forbid, frowning…” Kaleb laughs quietly. “You’ll still be Kaleb to me. The kind and compassionate boy that heard about a girl who could suddenly see ghosts and knew he had to help her.”
Kaleb clears his throat and murmurs, “Thank you. That means a lot, and you know you can…”
“I know,” I interrupt gently. “Soon. I’ll tell you soon.”
He nods in acknowledgement, forever a rock of patience and understanding.
I sit back up and send a teasing look at Connor and Felix. “That goes for the both of you, too. Connor if you ever feel the need to deliver a long winded soliloquy, I promise to keep it to myself.”
He rolls his eyes and shakes his head in response, but there’s a hint of a smirk to his lips.
With all that settled, there’s talk of skipping out on the rest of the party and hitting up the one movie theater in town. Felix jokes that we won’t have to worry about buying him a ticket.
While Kaleb is searching his phone for movie times, a girl with dark hair styled into a pixie cut saunters over and takes the seat on the other side of Connor, Felix dodging her just in time to not be walked through.
I don’t know what to make of this girl who rests her pointed chin in her hand and peers expectantly at Connor. Felix and Kaleb seem neutral over her intrusion, but Connor grows stiff and looks stonily out in the distance.
“Not even going to say hello?” she inquires, crossing her long legs, her pale skin on full display with her short jean skirt. She’s wearing a matching jacket with a black, cowl necked sweater underneath.
She sniffs the air delicately, then sneezes. Glaring at me, she rubs at her nose.
Seriously? Again?
Connor grinds his teeth, putting me on edge, and spits, “What are you doing, Sam?”
She licks her ruby red lips and haughtily replies, “Sitting here, talking to the Alpha’s son.”
He purses his lips and turns so he can glower at her. “Not a good idea,” he growls.
Alpha’s son? But if he’s the son of someone so important, why does he have those shadows in his eyes? Who would dare to… oh.Again, I pray that I’m wrong about what I see. That there’s another explanation beside the one I know too well.
Sam rolls her pale blue eyes and huffs, “It’s a mixed party. There’s supes and humans everywhere. Nothing wrong with me sitting next to you.”
Connor looks pointedly at Kaleb, who raises a single brow in response. “With them, there is,” he grunts.
Now, I’m really confused. The fact that Connor is talking at all means he doesn’t dislike this girl, but why would Kaleb be a problem? Kaleb doesn’t appear to hold animosity for this girl either.
Her delicate features fall into a furious frown, and she glares at Connor’s profile. “You don’t have to be such an asshole.”
“Better if I am,” he replies evenly.
Sam jumps to her feet, fists on her hips and snarls, “You do this to yourself, you know. What’s so wrong with your own kind?” Then she stomps away, surprisingly graceful in her high heeled, ankle boots.
“Anyone want to explain what just happened there?” I inquire, eyes wide and brows raised.
Surprisingly, Connor is the one to answer. “Alpha disapproves myconsortingwith non-wolves.” He rolls his massive shoulders and sighs. “Pack sticks with pack. Choose anyone else, lose the support of the pack.” His hands curl into fists. “I won’t let go of my friends, so he ordered the pack to reject me. Disobeying the Alpha… ends badly.”
Chapter 15
