Wolf at Her Door: BBW Paranormal Romance (14 page)

I didn't need to look to know who was pulling up in front of the house. I recognized his stench in the air. She turned and looked at me, her eyes a little sad as she wrung her hands nervously.

I wanted to go outside and tell Gavin she was mine. Did she love him? Did she care for him? I didn't know those answers. I only knew my presence would make things more difficult for her. I needed to do what was best for her right now. I had to leave.

Chapter Seven

Heather

I looked out the window by the door and recognized Gavin's car parking at the curb. I wondered if I didn't answer the door if Gavin would turn around and go home. He never came over unannounced, and never at night.

What is he doing here?
I thought.

Looking at Callen, I tried to figure out how I would explain this man coming to my home. Did Callen know about him? If he knew I had a boyfriend, would he have come over? Would he have kissed me?
Dammit, Gavin, why are you here?

Turning back towards the door, I noticed Gavin was already out of his car. What was I going to do? The butterflies kicked into full gear, but this time out of nervousness.

Even though I had no reason to, I felt guilty seeing him walk towards the door. I should have broken up with Gavin a long time ago. I didn't know why I didn't. Maybe I was afraid of being alone, especially with my father gone. But I should have done the right thing.

As I tried to think of what to say to Callen, I glanced back towards the kitchen. My heart sank, seeing he was gone. I ran into the kitchen to look for him as Gavin rang the doorbell.
 

I crossed the room to the back door and found it unlocked. I looked into the yard, but there was no one there. The wrong guy left! The doorbell rang again and I huffed towards the door, annoyed.

I opened the door to find Gavin smiling at me as he held a small bouquet of flowers. Gavin was model handsome as he stood in front of me, but I didn't care. We didn't click. He was never the guy for me.
 

What does he want?
I thought, annoyed.
He's never brought me flowers before.

I couldn't help but be suspicious. Gavin was never impulsive or romantic. It was one of the many reasons we didn't work.

"Hi, I was thinking about you and figured I'd stop by," he said as he looked behind me into the house. "I got these for you."

I took the flowers from him and forced a smile. "Thanks. Well umm, I'm going to bed early so I'll just talk to you another time, okay?"

His face grew stern and his eyes flashed amber. He let out a low growl and flashed sharp teeth at me. I had never seen Gavin truly angry, and it frightened me. I took a step back into the house and pulled the door close to me.

"Where is he?" he asked. "I can smell him. I smelled him the night your father was killed."

"What are you talking about? There's no one here."

He pushed the door open hard, making it slam against the wall, and pushed me aside. I stumbled against the doorframe as he entered the house.

He stopped in the living room and sniffed the air. A low growl came from him then stopped. The ground rumbled and Gavin began laughing slowly, but it wasn't his laugh. A chill ran down my spine.

"Get out of my house," I said.

I stepped closer to him, pretending to be strong even though I was shaking as much as the ground. I didn't know who Gavin thought he was or what was going on, but I was done with it.

Gavin turned towards me. His eyes glowed as if he was about to shift, but then they turned red. I gasped and stepped back until I felt the wall behind me.

He lengthened his neck and back, standing straighter and making himself even taller. Tilting his head to the side, he looked directly at me and grinned. I covered my face and turned away, not wanting to look at him. He wasn't Gavin anymore.

With two long steps, he was standing before me. I was too afraid to look and I didn't have to, the strong heat that emanated from his skin told me how close he was.

"My, you're a pretty one," he said, his voice gravelly.

"Get out," I whispered.

He leaned towards me and inhaled deeply. "Oh, he was here. Your boyfriend does have reason to be jealous."

"He's not my boyfriend."

"No? He seems to think he is."

Through my fingers, I saw Callen running through the door as he tore off his clothing. His eyes were focused on Gavin then quickly changed to amber. I must have blinked because suddenly a silvery white wolf was in his place charging towards us.

Push him.

It sounded like my father's voice, but I knew only I heard it. I remembered him telling me that night to trust myself and what my insides were telling me. I was afraid of what all that heat coming from Gavin's body would feel like, but I trusted my father.

I pushed Gavin away and ran further into the living room, putting the couch between us.

"Cold!" he groaned as he turned towards me.

Gavin's eyes were now blue and even though he was trying to move towards me, he seemed frozen to the ground. The white wolf soared into the house and toppled Gavin over.

The wolf stood between me and Gavin and bared his teeth. I had seen plenty of shifters in their wolf form before, but Callen was the largest. He planted his paws firmly on the floor and waited for Gavin to make a move.

Gavin moaned and shook his head. I could tell he was himself again. He rubbed his eyes and looked towards the wolf and I. His face fell and he briefly looked sad, then he clenched his jaw as he stood up.

"I knew it," he said. "I knew there was someone else. And after all I did for you."

"After what you did for me?" I said in shock. I couldn't believe he was going to ignore everything that just happened. He had to know something. "You never did anything for me."
 

"Who else was there for you after your father died?" he said.

"You want to know why you keep bringing that up? Because that was the one good thing you've ever done. You know we were never serious. I know you date other girls. What I don't know is why you always came back to me even though there was nothing between us."

"I tried, Heather. I really did," he said. "But you were always so much of a priss I had to go elsewhere."

"You're such an asshole. I'm glad nothing ever happened between us."

"I did care for you though. And I still do. Maybe I even love you. But one of the reasons I kept coming back was for him," he said, pointing to the wolf. "I knew he'd show up sooner or later. I refuse to let a crime go unsolved in this town. I know who killed your father that night. His was the only scent that mixed with Abram's. I just needed to be patient."

"What are you talking about?" I asked, confused.

"Why don't you ask your boyfriend? Ask him why he killed your father."

Gavin walked out of the house and got into his car. I rushed towards the door and slammed it shut behind him.
How dare he say that! How dare he bring up my father!

I was furious. My face was hot and I shook with anger. I banged my fist against the thick wood door as I tried to let go of the anger, and then I remembered I wasn't alone.

Sitting on the couch with the throw blanket across his lap was Callen. He was naked except for the blanket and when our eyes met, he looked away.

"Don't tell me it's true?" I asked as I walked over to him.

He shook his head. I tried to meet his gaze, but he wouldn't look at me.

"I was hoping it wouldn't come to this," he said. "I cannot lie to you as much as I wish I could right now."

"So you did?"

A pain shot through my chest and the room lost its air. Slowly, my memories of that night played through my head. I remembered coming home that night to the lights and the yellow police tape. Gavin telling me Pop was gone. Gavin comforting me as I collapsed.

How could the man of my dreams be the killer?

I dropped into the one piece of furniture that reminded me of my father, the recliner. I couldn't look at Callen. I didn't want to.

"Please leave," I said.

He didn't say a word as he rose from the couch. I turned away as he left the blanket on the couch and headed towards the door.

"I know it doesn't make sense, but I only did it because I love you," he said.

The thud of the door closing felt like losing my father all over again. I couldn't cry though, I was too numb. I got up and curled up on the corner of the couch and pulled the blanket towards me. It was still warm from his body, and it had his musky scent. I held it close as I closed my eyes and tried to shut out the rest of the world.

Chapter Eight

Callen

Having torn my clothes after shifting, I left Heather's and changed back to my wolf form. I needed a run so I sprinted towards the woods. I couldn't tell her the truth. I promised her father I wouldn't, and I was a man of my word.

As I ran through the forest, the low branches of the trees whipped against me as I rushed past. I didn't know how far I went or if I was running in circles, but the ground changed from solid dirt to a thin, sandy mixture. It wasn't the first time I had run in the Pine Barrens, but the strange softness beneath my paws always surprised me.

The dry, sandy earth made it harder to gain traction so I slowed down. Ahead, I noticed a path and weaved through the tall trees to follow it as I looked for an area to rest.

I couldn't get Heather out of my mind. I didn't know how she would forgive me for what I did. If she knew the truth, she would understand.

As I played out scenarios in my mind to get Heather back to me, I heard the sound of footsteps crunching dried leaves. Lifting my snout, I took several short sniffs of the air. It was definitely a human female. I was never wrong. I moved closer to the trees and slowed my pace even more. It was late, and I was in the middle of the Pine Barrens. No human in their right mind would be in the woods alone. I was curious what they were doing here.

Through the trees, I spotted a woman in her thirties with long blonde hair. She was dressed in black, and dangling from her arm was a basket where she was placing berries and leaves she was collecting. I had spent enough time with Gracelin to recognize this was a witch.

I crept slowly, not wanting to frighten her. I didn't mean her any harm. Normally I would have continued on my way, but she had a shifter's scent all over her. She was obviously someone's mate. It intrigued me that a shifter would let their mate wander the woods alone. It seemed dangerous. I wondered if he was nearby, too.

Moving through the trees, I entered the path in the direction she was heading. Her eyes flicked towards me, then back at the dark red berries she was picking.

"Oh hello," she said. "I don't think I've seen you around before."

I entered the trees and shifted into my human form, not wanting to appear naked in front of her.

"I'm Callen MacCulloch," I said. "I hope you don't mind my intrusion. I didn't expect to find a human out here on her own. Is your mate close?"

"No, he had to work late. He doesn't know I'm here," she said, laughing. "I know how you shifters are so overprotective, but sometimes you need to realize we're not as weak as you think."

"I don't have to know your mate to tell you we don't protect the women we love because we think they're weak," I said. "It's usually because we find you so strong that we fall in love."

"Really?" she said as she stopped what she was doing to look towards my voice. She set her basket down and then slipped a small backpack from her shoulders, unzipped it, and pulled out some clothing. Covering her eyes, she held the clothes out towards me. "Get dressed so we can chat. I want to hear more. I'm Faith, by the way."

Stepping out from the cover of the trees, I took the clothing from her and unfolded them. They were a pair of work out pants and a t-shirt. Both items were black.

"Nice to meet you, Faith. Do you always walk around with an extra set of clothing?" I asked as I pulled the clothing on.

"It's something that comes in handy more often than you'd think," she said with a laugh. "Come this way, there's a fallen tree up ahead where we can sit."