Chapter 35: Chapter 35

VANESSA I glance over at Callum as he drives, the shadows dancing ominously across his profile.

He really is beautiful. His face is seared into my memory, but I still get caught up in looking at him sometimes, admiring his sharp jawline and impeccable bone structure. The symmetry of his features is almost too perfect to be real- like he was cut from stone, some sculptor’s fantasy brought to life.

It’s not his face that gets me, though. Or even his body, stacked with mouth- watering lean muscle that ripples with every movement. It’s the way he sets me ablaze with a single glance. The way he puts on a hard front with other people but softens all of his sharp edges for me. The way he lets me see the real him, and the way he really sees me.

It’s the sweet words and the gentle touches and the all-consuming intensity of his presence. Every time I’m with him, I’m reminded why I fell for him in the first place- and why even after everything he put me through, I’m still hopelessly, crazily, irrevocably in love with Callum Conway. 2 We spent hours up on that mountain overlook today. We kissed and cuddled and spilled our secrets, then watched the sun set over the horizon. I didn’t want to leave, afraid that the spell would wear off the moment we did. It hasn’t yet, and now I’m watching him from the passenger seat, contemplating what life could look like if I opened myself up to trusting him again.

The truth is, I want to forgive him. I want to move forward. It’s not pride or stubbornness that’s holding me back, it’s the crippling fear that he’ll abandon me again and I won’t be able to survive it a second time. Loving and being loved by Callum isn’t safe or sensible, but it sets my soul on fire. It makes me feel truly awake and alive, and now that I’ve been without that fire and had it reignited, I know there’s no going back. This is it.

He’s it.

The way he opened up to me today revealed that there’s a way forward for us, but it’s still scary and uncertain. It doesn’t come with any guarantees. I just have to decide if I’m willing to take the leap of faith; if I’m willing to trust him to be there to catch me if I do.

I’m so tangled up in my own thoughts that I don’t even realize we’ve made it back to the packhouse until Cal cuts the engine of the Corvette, unbuckling his seatbelt and climbing out of the car to walk me to the door. As we start up the front walk, I contemplate asking him to come inside, not ready to leave this little bubble of contentment we’ve been in all day. The invitation is on the tip of my tongue when the door swings open before we can even reach it, Vienna peering out at the two of us anxiously.

“Good, you’re back,” she breathes, ushering me inside. I hesitate, but then she looks pointedly toward Cal, beckoning him with a lift of her chin. ” You too, Romeo. Come on in.”

My brow furrows in confusion, but Vee doesn’t clue me in as to what’s going on. My puzzlement is short lived, though- understanding quickly dawns on me when I cross the threshold and spot Rob and Chase standing together in the kitchen waiting for us.

The happy little bubble of contentment pops, a frisson of nervous energy skittering up my spine. Chase said he was going to ask Rob about Cal’s incident last year when he returned from Denver, and here he is, back from his trip and looking at Callum with a stoic expression that I can’t quite read.

Chase crosses the room to us, greeting Cal with a fist bump and leaning in to speak to him in a low murmur. “Not trying to ambush you with this, but after you told me about what happened last year, I’ve been digging through my dad’s old files. Rob said he’d talk to us about it, fill in some gaps so we have the full story. You cool with that?”

Callum stiffens, his eyes flying to Rob, then pinging to settle on me. When I see his shuttered gaze, I suddenly feel guilty for asking Chase to do this, forcing Cal to dredge up his past yet again. My intentions are good, though. What if this could help him in some way? What if things aren’t really what they seemed?

I tip my head with a reassuring smile, and Cal’s Adam’s apple bobs with a hard swallow as he turns back to Chase, giving him a jerky nod in agreement. I release a breath I didn’t even know I was holding. This is it the moment of truth. Maybe whatever Rob’s about to tell us will help Callum to banish his demons once and for all.

The five of us move into the living room, claiming seats around the big leather sectional and settling in.

I plop down right beside Cal, setting a hand on his thigh and giving him a pointed look.” You’ve got this’, I communicate silently, and he covers my hand with one of his own, his thumb idly gliding over my skin like he’s the one trying to reassure me.

“So for starters, you’re right that Vaughn had doubts about what happened that night,” Rob says gruffly, diving right in.

He leans forward to rest his elbows on his knees, a lock of his salt and pepper hair flopping down over his brow. “That’s why he wanted to investigate it himself rather than just sending our pack’s enforcers.”

Chase clears his throat and laces his hands together in front of him, his expression stern. He can really turn on the whole serious Alpha thing like a switch-sometimes it’s hard to reconcile the teasing, playful Chase with this version of him. “What made him question it?” he asks.

“Well…” Rob blows out a breath, lifting a hand to rub his temple as if trying to jog his memory. “Mostly, the way Troy hauled Cal in here that night, demanding exile. It’s not every day that a father is eager to turn over their son like that.” 1 “He’s not my father,” Cal mutters, his body tensing beside mine. I give his thigh a little squeeze in support.

Rob turns his gaze on Cal, sitting up and raking a hand through his hair. “Fine, stepfather. Either way, that didn’t sit right with Vaughn.” He turns back to Chase, eyes rounded in sincerity. “He thought about what he would’ve done if it were you that night. He’d have asked for leniency, not exile. Maybe even taken the blame himself. He would’ve tried to protect you.” 2 Callum grunts, the leather cushion of the sofa creaking as he shifts his weight in his seat. “Slight problem with that comparison,” he grits out. “Troy isn’t half the man Alpha Vaughn was, and he’s never thought of me as a son.”

Rob shrugs a shoulder as he looks to Cal again. “Maybe not, but it still didn’t sit right with him that Troy was calling for you to be exiled. Vaughn didn’t believe in punishing people for honest mistakes. He saw how shaken up you were that night, so he knew it wasn’t an act of malice.”

“We were drunk,” Chase murmurs, staring down at his interlaced hands. ”

Young. Stupid.”

“Exactly,” Rob sighs.

A hushed silence falls over the room, and I can’t help but feel a little bit deflated. I was hoping that Rob would be able to provide something we were missing. The fact that Troy’s a jerk who doesn’t give a shit about Cal isn’t exactly news.

“So then what’d you guys find when you investigated?” Vienna questions, shifting eagerly on the edge of her seat. She’s been really into true crime documentaries lately, so this whole thing is right up her alley. Her eyes are sparkling with twisted fascination, her body practically buzzing with anticipation. (1)

Rob frowns, clearly taking no pleasure in revisiting the memory. “The woman was a call girl,” he says.

“Apparently she was staying at the lodge with some rich guy all week. He left the night before and paid up the room through the weekend, and she probably thought she could make some cash off of the other guests if she hung around.”

“She never asked me for money,” Callum grumbles, his eyes downcast.

“Maybe she was taking a night off,” Rob suggests. “Or maybe she’d already had a paying customer earlier, because she had a bunch of cash in her purse. Vaughn was more caught up on Troy’s reaction to the whole thing, though. Given how pushy he was about you being punished, Vaughn thought that Troy being the one there who just happened to catch you seemed a little… convenient.”

Chase’s brows fly up. “He thought it was a setup?”

Rob hesitates for a beat, frowning. “He couldn’t prove anything.”

I feel vindicated, my heart soaring. I knew there was something off about this story, and based upon what Rob just told us, I’m not the only one. Alpha Vaughn suspected something fishy, too. Armed with that knowledge, maybe now we can finally do what he couldn’t- get to the bottom of what really happened last year. If my hunch is right, then maybe we can finally put Troy in his place. Maybe Cal can finally come to terms with everything and stop seeing himself as a monster.

“It doesn’t matter,” Callum mutters, his voice so low that it’s barely audible. He lifts his head, his pained gaze scanning over the others. “It doesn’t change what happened that night.” My hand slips from his leg as he abruptly shoots to his feet, mumbling that he needs some air and pacing toward the back door of the packhouse.

I jump up to follow him, but Chase is already a step ahead, muttering “I’ve got this” as he passes me to go after Cal.

I stand there frozen for a moment, watching after the two of them as they step out onto the back patio and close the door behind them.

Through the glass door, I watch Callum pace away, then turn sharply, his mouth moving with words I can’t hear. He tugs at his hair in frustration, slumping down into a patio chair. I turn away and drop back down onto the sofa, a heavy weight settling in my chest like a boulder.

Maybe I should’ve just let the past be.

“Hey.” Without missing a beat, Vee pops up from her spot on the couch, rounding the coffee table to come sit by me instead. She slings an arm over my shoulders as she flops down, pulling me in. “I know what you’re thinking, and this isn’t your fault.”

“Yeah.” I offer her a weak smile, though I know it doesn’t quite meet my eyes.

Rob rises from the other side of the sectional, throwing an awkward thumb over his shoulder. “I’m just gonna…”

Vienna gives him a nod and he takes off, leaving the two of us alone in the living room. As soon as he’s gone, Vee elbows me, giving me a hard look. “Ness, seriously. Don’t beat yourself up over this. You were just standing up for your man! I would’ve done the same if I were in your shoes.”

I whip my head around to the sou of the back door opening, throat tightening as Chase ducks inside.

“He’s fine,” he provides before I can even ask, stooping to pull open the drawer of a nearby side table.

He retrieves a lighter from inside, his other hand diving into his hoodie pocket to fetch a joint. “We’re just gonna hang outside for a little while,” Chase explains.

I nod, glancing past him to look at Callum through the glass door again. He’s sitting in a patio chair, shoulders hunched, heade down. I resist the urge to go to him, still feeling guilty for putting him in this position. ”

“They have to fight their own demons,’ Vee murmurs to me after Chase exits again, nodding toward our guys on the patio outside. She understands better than most what that entails – Chase was in a bad place when the two of them first got together. “You just have to decide if it’s worth it to stick around while they do.”

I’m surprised how quickly the answer comes to me- that it’s definitely worth it. Callum is worth it. Even after everything, especially after everything. If we can get through this and come out on the other side, it’ll make us both stronger. Closer.

Unbreakable.

He’s spent the day lending me trust, and now it’s time for me to do the same.