Wolf at Her Door: BBW Paranormal Romance (17 page)

He shook his head. "I can't tell you. I made a promise to him that night. That's all I can say."

"This is ridiculous," Faith said, annoyed. "I understand you have your honor or whatever, but you need to tell her." Faith turned to Ainsley. "Do you have anything from when Callen and Heather were together in the past? Maybe a piece of clothing or jewelry? Something that would have meaning to both of them?"

Ainsley smiled and left the room. In minutes she came back with a long, faded ribbon and held it out in her hand.

"Callen and I don't travel with much. It's easier to move around if we travel light, but we have a few things that we could never part with, and this is one of them. This is the ribbon I tied their hands with at their hand-fasting in Salem."

Faith smiled and gently took the ribbon. She knelt in front of Callen and I and looked up at both of us.

"Hold each other's hand, fingers intertwined," she said.

I slipped my fingers between Callen's and she pressed our hands so our palms touched. Next, she took the ribbon and wrapped it around our wrists and down over our hands.

"Callen," she said, "open your mind to Heather. Think about your times together and then take her to that night. Replay it for her so she can see the truth."

Faith closed her eyes as her hands wrapped around ours. Slowly the room began to drift away. I was alone, but I could still feel Callen's hand in mine.

Flashes of memories came and went before me. They reminded me of my dreams, but they weren't. They were Callen's memories and from his point of view. It was strange seeing myself through his eyes and experiencing his love for me. He didn't need to say anything. I was feeling it.

The last memory faded and then I saw myself drive away in the car with Gavin. Everything was so real, it was like I was there and living through Callen's eyes and hearing his thoughts.

Chapter Eleven

Callen

Six Months Ago

After Heather left on her date, I stayed hidden for a little longer. I wanted to follow them and keep an eye on the man she was with. I wanted to rip his throat out for just being near her and for being on the receiving end of her smile. I couldn't help but think she might be better off without me.

Knowing I was alone, I changed back into human form and got dressed. I stopped and looked around, but there was no one. It wasn't like me to hear things that weren't there.

Don't leave.

It was the same whisper from earlier. I turned around, trying to find where it came from. How did he know what I was thinking?

"You didn't come all this way to turn around," he said.

The man's voice came from behind me. I spun around to grab him, but he was too fast. I never saw anything move so quickly before.
What is he?

At first I thought he might be a shifter, but not even I could move that fast. If my abilities were those of a normal shifter, I would have thought he vanished.

Waiting on the balls of my feet, I watched for the flash of his short silver hair. As he moved in front of me, I leapt towards him and wrestled him to the ground. With my forearm at his neck, I pressed him hard against the cold dirt and grass.

"Who are you? What are you?" I said.

"I'm here to help you," he said. "I know you recognize my voice."

He was right, and I always trusted his and the other voices who helped guide me to Heather. I had to. It was the only way I knew to find her.

"I saw you die," I said. "It was the Depression. Even if you lived through that explosion, you wouldn't be alive now."

"You think MacCullochs are the only immortals? Or do you think Heather is that special that she's the only one who comes back?"

He was getting on my nerves. I didn't want more questions, I was looking for answers. Narrowing my eyes at him, I let them flash amber as a warning to him.

"Why does she think you're her father?" I growled at him between clenched teeth.

"Because I am. At least I am in this time and in several other times, too," he said. "Now let me up and we can talk in her apartment. You don't want to draw any attention."

He tilted his head towards the apartment building, and I noticed a couple of lights were on where they were off earlier.

Standing, I extended my hand to him and helped him to his feet. I wanted to trust him, his voice was always helpful before, but I still didn't know what he was. Until he explained that to me, he wasn't getting my full trust. I would have preferred staying outside with him in case Heather came home, but the thought of being in her apartment and being that much closer to her was irresistible.

As we entered her apartment, I tried to push aside my desire to look at her things and learn about the modern day Heather. Instead, I breathed in deep and filled my lungs with her scent. I couldn't describe it, but it made me alive and whole again.

"You can't give up, Callen," he said as he entered the kitchen. "Not after all this time."

I sat on the couch and grabbed a nearby pillow that still had Heather's warmth. When her father appeared again, he had a couple of bottles of beer in his hand and handed one to me before sitting in an arm chair.

"My name is Abram," he said. "You must trust me when I tell you that what happens to Heather is not your fault."

"Then it's my clan's fault. If it wasn't for her loving me, she might live and have a full life."

"No. It is because of you that she is able to come back. Heather has been returning for many years, longer than you have been alive. She needs to return, we need to return. It's part of what we do."

"What are you?" I asked.

"We are angels. We come to Earth in human form to watch and learn."

"But you feel different. I can tell you're different by your scent. Heather is human."

He laughed. "Yes, well, I am human, too. You're ignoring certain things about her because you love her. If you thought about it, you would see the signs. But I do have the angel spirit within me. Heather will become the watcher and will get the spirit once I pass. Assuming she outlives me this time."

"Fine, assuming you're telling the truth, how come you remember but she doesn't?"

"I am telling the truth, Callen. I'm an angel, I cannot lie." He took a swig of beer then sighed before he continued. "Ahh, poor Heather. She loves you so much that after several deaths, she couldn't do it anymore. She didn't want to come back. She wanted to be with you, but losing you each time was too much."

I nodded, knowing exactly how she felt. There had been so many times after she died that I didn't think I could go through it again. Every time I found her, my love grew even more. It made losing her each time that much worse.

"So why does she come back?" I asked.

"To fall in love with you all over again," he said with a smile. "After her death, she begs me to erase her memory. She doesn't want to remember the pain of being taken from you, but she makes me promise to always send her back. The more she comes back though, the harder it is to erase those memories from her. She's been holding on to some. She doesn't tell me, but I suspect she sees them in her dreams."

I tilted the beer bottle up to my lips and let the cool liquid flow down my throat. Leaning back against the soft cushion, I thought about what he said and realized he was right. Each time had been getting easier. There were times where I thought she even recognized me.

"Well, thank you, Abram, for all your help. I didn't realize the voices were angels, but I knew they helped me find her and for that, I am indebted to you."

Abram's face went dark as he stared into space. His jaw clenched and I knew he was having a vision. I didn't know how long it would last, but it seemed to agitate him the longer it went on. As his hands turned into fists, I decided it was time for me to leave.

I set the beer down on the coffee table and stood. Abram shook his head as if clearing his vision. His face was paler than before and his face looked pained as he focused on me.

"I'm sorry about that. I get visions sometimes, and this one I didn't like," he said as he stood from his chair. "Callen, I know you are an honorable man and I know you will do anything for Heather. Trust me when I say I cannot tell you what I saw, but I need your help to ensure it doesn't happen."

"Anything, Abram. Whatever it is, tell me and I will do it."

"Never tell Heather any of this. Do not breathe a word of it to her. She doesn't need to know the sacrifice I'm willing to make for her."

"Of course. You have my word. What is it you need me to do?"

"Kill me," he said. "Make it swift so I won't feel much pain, but do it now. She needs this. We're doing this for her."

Present

I was thankful when the vision of my memory got cloudy, then dark. The last thing I wanted Heather to see was what I did next. Her knowing was bad enough.

Even in the darkness, I knew Heather was beside me. I squeezed her trembling hand and felt comfort when she squeezed back. The room slowly came back into view with Faith still kneeling in front of us but no longer holding our hands.

I turned to Heather, whose eyes were red with tears. With my free hand, I cupped her cheek and she leaned into my palm. She swallowed hard past a lump in her throat and tried to force a smile, but it only made the tears spill onto her cheeks.

I pulled her tight against me and wrapped my arms around her. She melted into my arms and cried. I kissed the top of her head and brushed the hair back from her face. Heather looked up at me and held up the ribbon that had been wrapped around our hands.

"I remember," she said. "I remember everything."

Chapter Twelve

Heather

I took a deep breath and dried my tears. Now wasn't the time to be sappy and sentimental. As I looked around me, I saw Ainsley and Bran together and remembered what was really important at that moment. We needed to do something to protect ourselves from Niall.

"So if I'm right, we can't defeat Niall," I said. "Gracelin needs to kill him."

"And that will never happen," Ainsley said sadly. "Despite how awful he was to her and her knowing he will never love her, she will not stop loving him."

"But then we're going to die," I said. "And I am not ready for that. I've done that way too many times. We need to get her here, now." I turned to Faith. "If she was able to bring you and Callen briefly to her, do you think you can summon her here?"

Faith smiled. "My niece Hannah is an expert at that," she said. "I'll get a hold of her and my sister Eliza and have them meet us."

"Meet us?" Callen said. "You can't do this here?"

"No, we need to be outdoors," Faith said. "Is there anywhere here that might attract Gracelin so we can bring her here faster?"

"No. She loves heather and it grows wild around her cottage," Ainsley said. "But I don't know anywhere around here that would have it."

"Pop's garden," I said. "He used it as a border around it. He said it was good luck to have so much purity." I left out the part where he said it reminded him of me.

"That's perfect," Faith said. "Let's get going now. It's best to do this in the moonlight."

***

When we arrived at my father's house, a beautiful woman with black hair stepped out of the car. She was just wearing jeans and a t-shirt, but somehow I couldn't take my eyes off her.

A motorcycle pulled up, driven by a man with sandy blond hair and a tight t-shirt that showed off his rippling muscles. His passenger was around my age but had long red hair a lot like Ainsley's, though it was not as wild. He helped her off the back of the bike then walked over to me. With a look in his eye like he knew me, he grinned and put his hand out to me.

"And so we meet again," the man said as his girlfriend joined him. "Hannah, this is Heather. I met Heather about six months ago when her asshole boyfriend left her on the side of the road."

I laughed "That was you? Caleb? Crazy naked man?"

"In the flesh. And it's such a small world here in Jersey that I'm here again if you need any help."

Callen stepped forward and gave Caleb a look, then stuck his hand out to him.