Not matter what it is, I'd never judge him. When I showed up at Dark Moon pregnant and needing somewhere to hide, he took my back without a word. I don't know why, but we've been close ever since. Now it's his turn. He deserves a chance."
Jessa cringed. Shot taken and well aimed at that. What the hell was she supposed to do with all of that information? She didn't know much about Calder's past. When she'd asked about his family he'd revealed very little and changed the subject. At the time she didn't want to push. There had to be something there that made him uncomfortable.
Plus, Niki was beginning to scare her.
"Fine. You win. I'll wait and talk to him. Are you happy now?" Jessa strode back into the room and plopped down on the couch. Her stomach growled so she grabbed one of the sandwiches and shoved it her mouth.
Niki grinned down at her. "I am. I was getting damn tired of outmaneuvering you and I sure as hell didn't feel like running after you. This motherhood thing has a way of wearing you out. I can't believe I'm being defeated by a ba—." She stopped mid sentence and hung her head. "Shit. I'm sorry that's pretty rude for me to complain to you. I'm not kidding when I tell you I lack in good people skills."
"You're fine. If we're being honest, I wasn't exactly heart broken when I first found out I couldn't get pregnant. Other than the money I was missing out on, I wasn't sure I was cut out for motherhood either. But it seems meeting someone like Calder and watching him love on Hannah woke something up in me I didn't know I had."
"What made you come here? If the Blackwoods made you sign some sort of contract, they must have planned for the possibility a child wouldn't be conceived."
"They did. It was pretty well spelled out in the contract. Apparently I was naïve. Simon warned me that I knew too much. Said there was no way in hell the Blackwoods would let me just walk away. I came here because he sent me here."
Niki's eyes widened and she paced across the room saying nothing. This continued for several minutes of her going back and forth until Jessa couldn't take it anymore.
"What's wrong?"
"Something's not right. Simon should have sent you to Rafe, his alpha." Niki pulled out her cell phone and pushed a few buttons before holding it up to her ear.
Unease crept up Jessa's spine. If Niki was this worried it had to be something bad She seemed fearless.
"Fuck. No one is answering." She looked down at Hannah. "Please don't let that be your first word, baby girl, okay?"
"What's wrong? Who did you try to call?"
"Dean. He's with Bhric and Calder was on his way to meet them."
"Wouldn't they let you know if something happened?" She didn't like the way this conversation was headed.
"Maybe. Depends on who is hiding what."
"So what do we do? Is there someone else we can call?"
Niki shook her head. "Nope. First you need to tell me more about Simon. Anything and everything you can remember. I don't care how trivial it is. Every detail."
14
C alder met Bhric , Dean and Kane at the edge of the four corners treaty line just inside the neutral zone. The territorial land sanctioned by the councils comprised of separate areas for wolves, cougars, the psy and then everyone else who didn't fall into a pureblood classification.
His own lineage as a full-blooded grizzly didn't count. Since there were no bear clans in this region, he fell into Bhric's territory and that suited him just fine. While Rafe was hell bent on changing the minds of his people when it came to that pureblood nonsense and had successfully mated with a cougar, Kane wasn't having as much luck with the councils he worked for.
Up to this point Calder had never crossed over into the Cougar Clan territory and he wasn't about to start now. Kane and the brothers Gunn gave him the creeps. On the outside they looked like normal shifters, but the weird stories and rumors clung to them like stale smoke in the bar on Sunday morning.
Their official titles were
Jessa cringed. Shot taken and well aimed at that. What the hell was she supposed to do with all of that information? She didn't know much about Calder's past. When she'd asked about his family he'd revealed very little and changed the subject. At the time she didn't want to push. There had to be something there that made him uncomfortable.
Plus, Niki was beginning to scare her.
"Fine. You win. I'll wait and talk to him. Are you happy now?" Jessa strode back into the room and plopped down on the couch. Her stomach growled so she grabbed one of the sandwiches and shoved it her mouth.
Niki grinned down at her. "I am. I was getting damn tired of outmaneuvering you and I sure as hell didn't feel like running after you. This motherhood thing has a way of wearing you out. I can't believe I'm being defeated by a ba—." She stopped mid sentence and hung her head. "Shit. I'm sorry that's pretty rude for me to complain to you. I'm not kidding when I tell you I lack in good people skills."
"You're fine. If we're being honest, I wasn't exactly heart broken when I first found out I couldn't get pregnant. Other than the money I was missing out on, I wasn't sure I was cut out for motherhood either. But it seems meeting someone like Calder and watching him love on Hannah woke something up in me I didn't know I had."
"What made you come here? If the Blackwoods made you sign some sort of contract, they must have planned for the possibility a child wouldn't be conceived."
"They did. It was pretty well spelled out in the contract. Apparently I was naïve. Simon warned me that I knew too much. Said there was no way in hell the Blackwoods would let me just walk away. I came here because he sent me here."
Niki's eyes widened and she paced across the room saying nothing. This continued for several minutes of her going back and forth until Jessa couldn't take it anymore.
"What's wrong?"
"Something's not right. Simon should have sent you to Rafe, his alpha." Niki pulled out her cell phone and pushed a few buttons before holding it up to her ear.
Unease crept up Jessa's spine. If Niki was this worried it had to be something bad She seemed fearless.
"Fuck. No one is answering." She looked down at Hannah. "Please don't let that be your first word, baby girl, okay?"
"What's wrong? Who did you try to call?"
"Dean. He's with Bhric and Calder was on his way to meet them."
"Wouldn't they let you know if something happened?" She didn't like the way this conversation was headed.
"Maybe. Depends on who is hiding what."
"So what do we do? Is there someone else we can call?"
Niki shook her head. "Nope. First you need to tell me more about Simon. Anything and everything you can remember. I don't care how trivial it is. Every detail."
14
C alder met Bhric , Dean and Kane at the edge of the four corners treaty line just inside the neutral zone. The territorial land sanctioned by the councils comprised of separate areas for wolves, cougars, the psy and then everyone else who didn't fall into a pureblood classification.
His own lineage as a full-blooded grizzly didn't count. Since there were no bear clans in this region, he fell into Bhric's territory and that suited him just fine. While Rafe was hell bent on changing the minds of his people when it came to that pureblood nonsense and had successfully mated with a cougar, Kane wasn't having as much luck with the councils he worked for.
Up to this point Calder had never crossed over into the Cougar Clan territory and he wasn't about to start now. Kane and the brothers Gunn gave him the creeps. On the outside they looked like normal shifters, but the weird stories and rumors clung to them like stale smoke in the bar on Sunday morning.
Their official titles were
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