Bear with Me (#2, Completed)

20. Betrayal

CALLUM

Watching her fall asleep on my chest, like a kitten nestled in my arms, made my heart swell with content and serenity. Never before in my life had the sight of a sleeping person brought me so much joy. But she was not just any person- she was my spitfire, alive and safe in my embrace. And she was magnificent, down to her cute snoring as she was finally getting some rest.

Every cell in my body, every neuron in my brain protested when I had to leave my sleeping beauty alone in bed, but there were still many things that I needed to get sorted back at the sleuth. 

On top of that, the doctor had been strict in his instructions about letting her recover properly. My mate lick healed her wound, yet she had lost a serious amount of blood. Coupled with all of the revelations from the past day, it was no surprise that she was completely exhausted. Not to mention that Riley probably had a thousand more things left to tell her- or show her around the Windcrest pack- so it was best to leave my mate with her best friend for the moment, even if I wanted nothing more than to take her home and introduce her to my world.

Picking up the nearest pen and piece of paper, I quickly scribbled a note, leaving it on the pillow next to her where I previously lay. Our bond pulled at me to kiss her goodbye, but I did not want to risk waking her up.

Still, my lips turned upwards in a blissful smile when I brushed the unruly strands of hair from her face and I took one last look at my mate. Goddess, she was my heaven.

When I finally made it back to the sleuth, the first thing that I did was convene a meeting with Jack and the bears who stayed behind to deal with the aftermath of my face off with the men who went after Scar and me.

All of them were human and stood very little chance against Mahon and me, especially after they dared harm our mate, but what bothered me was the mystery of how they managed to find my mate. Even more so, what were they doing with the two rogue wolves? Did they know about the existence of our world?

"Alpha, can we speak in private?" Jack asked after our meeting ended.

If his scrunched up face was any indicator of what was bothering him, it was not good news that he wanted to share with me. I waved for him to follow me as I led him to my private study.

"How is Scarlett doing, Callum?" His concern for my mate touched me, even if I knew that as my closest friend and Beta, I could always count on Jack to protect my mate if I was ever not around.

I grabbed my favourite bottle of scotch and poured us each a drink before I slumped into my chair.

"Good. I left her to rest with the Windcrest pack. That girl is a fighter, I tell you that- you should have seen how she went after those guys, most almost twice her size, with nothing but a folding chair." I could laugh at the memory now, as long as I didn't think about what happened after.

"That explains the chair we found," Jack chortled, but he must have read my mind because his smile disappeared as quickly as it had shown up. "How are you, Cal?"

My eyebrows shot up in surprise- I hadn't expected his question. "Me? I'm fine. Why would you even ask?"

"Because I saw you in that cabin, Callum. I have known you since we were kids, but I had never seen you so distraught before. The pain was etched on your face, and I could feel your soul fall apart. I can't even imagine what I would do if anything happened to my Mara, even after years of being together, and you almost lost your mate who you had just found."

I shook my head in a desperate attempt to fend off the dark memories. I didn't want to dwell on the raw emotions that took hold of me at that moment. Living through it all once was torture enough, and I couldn't bring myself to think about it again.