17 | Trust

I charged up the steps of my porch and into my house to find Tamara and Roxie, Mary-Beth's school friend standing in my living room looking toward me warily. I dropped my purse on the floor by the door, shrugging my coat off of my shoulders, "Is Cal here? He called me on my Cell, said something was wrong with Mary-Beth. That it was an emergency."

Tamara grabbed hold of Roxie, dragging her slightly, "He's upstairs with her now."

I nodded my head, "Thanks."

I left my stuff by the front door without a care. Tamara caught hold of my arm as I moved to pass her, "It might be better if you wait down here with us. Cal is assessing the situation. I'm sure he'll be down in a minute to let you know what's going on." I could see that she was tense and the look in her eyes was imploring me to stay where I was. That was something I took as a bad sign. I lowered my gaze to her hand before lifting mine and slowly prying myself loose.

I gave her a tight smile, "Well the thing is she is my responsibility and unless Cal has a medical license I think I'll take a look for myself. Thank you." I rushed up the stairs taking them two at a time. I could feel the blood rushing through my veins as I got closer to the top. I didn't know what had happened that the school wouldn't call me, unless this had something to do with our other situation. Had someone found out? Had someone hurt my sister? My mind was a chaotic sea of thoughts and worries.

I found Mary-Beth writhing on her bed, skin placid and hair drenched in sweat, "Oh my god!" I rushed toward the bed only to have Cal jump in front of me, grabbing hold of my shoulders. I pushed against his hold as I peered around him to Mary-Beth. Her face was pinched up in pain and she looked like she was on the edge of death. I felt the sickening feeling in my stomach that I was going to lose her, that I was going to fail in my job of caring for her and be left all alone in the world.

"Cal if you do not let go of me and get out of my way I swear to all that is holy..."

"We need to talk." He interrupted my threat.

I blinked up at him, lips pulling down into a frown, "Right now? You don't think taking my sister to the hospital is more important?" He didn't say anything else as he began to drag me from her room. I looked back over my shoulder to Mary-Beth, digging my heels in. I had the desperate need to make her well again. Cal practically threw me out into the hallway and closed the door shut behind us. I brushed my hair out of my face, "You better have a damn good reason for trying to keep me from my sister."

He reached up and rubbed his hand over his hair, causing parts to stand on end, "There's no easy way to say this, Lucinda..."

"Well, then just say it!" I snapped at him. Cal stood up a little straighter, eyes flashing amber for a moment. I bit the inside of my cheek as I realized that my demanding tone was probably not the way to go. I turned away from him, running my fingers through my hair, "Sorry. I'm just on edge. So, if you could just skip on over to the end part and I can get back to my sister..." I looked over my shoulder at him, "That would be appreciated."

He held my gaze, "Your sister is going to shift."

I blinked at him, digesting his statement, "As in..." I twisted and pointed a finger at him, waving it in a small circle.

His brows pulled together at my signal, "As in she will be a werewolf, yes."

"A werewolf?" I repeated back a little breathless as I felt my body go slack.

"Yes, a werewolf."

I began to pace back and forth, wringing my hands, "I heard you the first time, Cal. I might be panicking but I'm not deaf." I paused in my steps, breathing in deeply as I tried to sort out my thoughts. I turned my face toward him, scanning the serious expression on his face, "So, you're telling me my sister is one of you?" I couldn't quite look Callum in the eyes. This was a lot to take in.

He breathed out loudly, "Yes."

"Did you know?" Cal looked down for a moment in a suspicious manner that had me narrowing my eyes, "Did you know that she was, like you?" I couldn't say the word. It felt to odd to put it in reference to my own sister, despite the reality of the situation. We had barely made it a little into a month of living in Twin Peaks. I couldn't help but feel all of this was happening because of me.

He remained silent at my question for a moment, before sighing, "I suspected she might have the gene, but in these cases, it's not an absolute that the trait will activate. In some people, it lays dormant through their entire life and they are none the wiser to it. The werewolf gene is recessive, usually both parents have to be active carriers for the shift to happen. If she is shifting then it's likely that both her parents..."

"Were werewolves...you're saying that my father was like you?" My jaw slackened at that thought. My emotional side did not want to believe that was possible. That I could have lived my entire life with my father and never known that he was, well not entirely human. My rational mind, on the other hand, was already connecting odd behaviors and patterns I had witnessed growing up and had written off with whatever ridiculous reasoning my father had given. My eyebrows lifted in shock as startling though passed through my mind, "Oh my god! If you suspected this that means...Does that mean that I'm like you? That I'm going to change?"

"No, you're definitely not like me." Cal replied quickly under his breath. I narrowed my eyes and he cleared his throat, "You are a carrier. I can smell it on you..." I watched his nostrils flair a little, "But it's faint. Which meant one of your parents had been full blooded or a little less."

I felt like I needed to sit down, legs trembling as I tried to wrap my head around this new information. Perhaps that was why I had been drawn to twin peaks. Maybe somewhere deep inside of me there was a small piece that wanted to be with other people like myself. I shook off the thought as quickly as I had it, burying deep down inside of myself. I was only a carrier which meant I was practically average, but that wasn't the case for Mary-Beth.

I glanced back at her door, the faint sounds of whimpering coming through. I closed my eyes and breathed in deep, "The other day when we talked, you knew all of this and you didn't think it was important information."

"I told you I would tell you everything I thought you needed to know. I never thought you would need to know this. How was I to know you and your sister didn't have the same fucking parents?" He corrected, like a diplomat.

My eyes fluttered openand I held him in a pointed stare, "Well, since the circumstances have changed do you think that there's anything else I should know?" I watched the way his body tensed at my question, making me more suspicious that there was something that he had to tell me.

He shook his head, "Nothing you need to know." There was that word, the need to know clause. I wanted to argue with him about it, try to get him to tell me everything but the sound Mary-Beth crying out from the other side of door silenced me. We both tensed, but said nothing. I could see he was as anxious as I was but he was better at hiding it.

"Whatever. Can I at least hold you to your promise that you're going to help me? I don't really understand what is going on right now, but I need to know that you're going to help me and Mary-Beth."

"On my honor."

"That means fuck all to me at this point, Cal." I hissed as another groan of pain came from my sister, back arching followed by the sound of snapping bones. The sound had me cringing and wanting to help her, even though I knew there was nothing I could do for her now. This was Callum's world of expertise.

"Luce, I am your Alpha. I am going to do everything in my power to help your sister through this. That being said, I don't think it would be in your best interest to be in this room." His warning came out in stern voice. I didn't like the thought of not being there for Mary-Beth. I was all she had left. I could only image what she was thinking and feeling right now. She must have been terrified. The thoughts circulating in my head were doing nothing to calm me down. Callum must have understood because he stepped forward, invading my space, drawing my attention to him.

I tilted my head back as he hesitated for a moment before grabbing onto my shoulders. I could feel the warmth of his skin burning through the thin material of my blouse. My mind was suddenly drowned out by the pulsing sensations in my body, "Mary-Beth is going to shift, when she does the wolf will be in control. I do not want to risk you getting hurt."

"She's going to want to hurt me?"

He blinked down at me, fingers digging in a little deeper, "Not because she wants to hurt you but because the wolf will know only instinct. She will most likely be feeling the panic and pain of your sister and be in attack mode when she emerges...†Cal dipped his head down, never breaking eye contact, "As your Alpha, the safety off every member of our pack is important to me. So, this is why you can't be in there with us. I promised to protect you both, Lucinda." I found my gaze drifting to his lips for a moment, unable to help myself. I leaned in a fraction of an inch, my head swimming.

"Lucinda..."He called my name with concern, "Are you still with me?"

I had to shake my head to keep myself from giving into the urging of my body, "Yes. Sorry. This is just a lot..." I pulled away from him, needing more space between us to maintain control. I both mourned and welcomed the emptiness of his nearness. I took in a slow breath, settling into myself once more before I felt strong enough to meet his gaze again, "I need you to promise me she'll survive this."

"She'll survive this."

I stared him down, and he didn't waver under my gaze, "I'm trusting you, Cal." I said the words as a warning.

His lips twitched, "I appreciate that. I know how hard this must be for you."

"Yeah. I'm sure you do." I replied in a non-convincing tone. I stared at Mary-Beth's door for a moment before turning away from him, "I'll wait downstairs with your cousin."

"Actually, I think it would be best if you stayed the night at Tamara's. I'll bring Mary-Beth over in the morning and we can all talk." His words had me stiffening. I didn't like the idea of leaving her completely to his care. I didn't know Cal all that well and he was suspected of being a murderer. He had been in the woods the night my sister had found that body. He claimed to be saving her, but how did I know that was true? I had been following my gut instinct to trust him this entire time, but there wasn't much proof that he was a good man. Likewise, there was no proof he was a bad man either. I teetered back and forth, trying to weight my options.

I looked back over my shoulder at him, eyes narrowing, "If anything happens to my sister, being shot with a silver bullet is going to feel like a picnic compared to what I will do to you."

He grinned at my comment as if it amused him greatly, "That's the spirit. You're going to need that attitude if you're going to be hanging around a pack of wolves."

I clenched my teeth, "See you bright and early, Cal." I turned away from him, walking down the stairs. I would be getting absolutely no sleep tonight. In fact, I couldn't remember the last time I got a full night's rest. At this point I was beginning to think it might be a smart financial investment to take up stalk in all the major coffee companies.

When I hit the bottom step Tamara glanced in my direction, "How is everything?"

"He wants us to stay at your house for the night."

She looked toward the stairs for a moment, before meeting my gaze again, "Of course. I'm sure Roxie won't mind giving up her room for the night." I noticed the look on Roxie's face at her aunts words, like she was going to object but the look she got had her shutting her mouth and sinking deeper into the couch where she sat.

"Don't worry about it, I'll take the couch. I don't plan on sleeping, anyway." I replied dryly as the sound of Mary-Beth screaming carried down into the first floor. I stiffened, resisting the urge to run back up the stairs to her. Cal had made it clear there was nothing I could do for her now. If I stayed I would be endangering myself. I felt anger rise up inside of me at my own helplessness. I was going commit this moment to my memory and promise myself that I would do everything in my power to make sure I never felt this way again, "Let's get the hell out of here." I snapped as I moved to snatch of my coat and purse, waiting by the door where I had left them.