Keeping track of her in the crowd, Callum jogged back to where Elliot, Rafe and Duncan sat beneath the oak tree. Behind him, the girl kept sneaking glances at him, while clearly trying not to. She headed toward the other end of the table and spoke with Susan, one of the women who had been at the garden on his first day.
She must not have mentioned him because Susan didn’t look over. In fact, Susan pointed in another direction, toward where the children were playing, then back at the table before disappearing inside the lodge.
The redhead looked at him, then away. She headed to the table, fiddled with a few of the trays of food, her gaze continually darting toward him and then away.
Callum was still staring at her when he reached the guys. “Who’s the redhead?” he asked, interrupting their conversation.
Three sets of eyes peered up at him, then around to see who he was talking about.
“That’s Vivian,” Elliot replied.
“Vivian,” Callum said, trying out her name. “It’s her.”
“Her?” Elliot sat up straighter.
Rafe, who was still staring at Vivian, replied. “Callum’s mate.”
Elliot’s brows pinched together. “Why are you here then? Talk to her.”
“I tried. She told me not to say anything.”
Elliot and Rafe exchanged a look. Duncan took another bite of his pulled pork sandwich and followed it up with a chug from his beer, before saying, “She’s shy.”
“No,” Rafe cut him off. He was already standing. “She’s smart. I’ll be right back.”
Callum watched as Rafe approached Vivian. Her eyes were wide when she looked at them. Rafe put his arm around her shoulders and turned her away, walking her toward the kid area, and behind the bouncy castle.
“Stop staring,” Elliot instructed, as he stabbed at his pasta salad, the curly, multi-colored rotini noodles illusively skirting his attempts. “Rafe will come back with some information.”
“But–”
“Cal, it’ll be okay. She’s safe. You know where she is. You just have to wait.”
I’m done waiting. Hell, he wanted to toss her over his shoulder and finally get the hell out of this pack. He wanted to get her alone, but he wanted to get her away from here first.
“She’s Norman’s daughter,” Elliot informed him. “If he catches you near her, he’ll be furious. Let Rafe sort it out.”
It seemed like an eternity, though it had probably been only a handful of minutes before Rafe came back around the bouncy castle. Vivian exited the other way, all but running for the restrooms.
Callum’s chest tightened. He nearly went after her, but Rafe got in his path, subtly shaking his head. He rested his hand on Callum’s shoulder and leaned closer. “She’ll meet you tonight. I’ll show you where.”
Before Callum could respond, Thatcher’s voice boomed across the gathering, making all four of them tense.
“Duncan!”
The pack alpha made his way toward them. He stopped, stared at each one, then motioned with two fingers for them to follow. “I might as well tell you all.”
Puzzled, they glanced at one another.
Thatcher led them into the lodge, through the busy kitchen and into a quiet room, which Callum assumed was probably his office. Though it was void of any family pictures, it had a few of Thatcher with friends, one of Thatcher bare-chested on a boat wearing aviators and holding up a big fish. Another wall held a few rifles, and an impressive-looking dagger collection.
Rounding the desk, Thatcher took a seat. The rest of them remained standing.
Thatcher rested his hand on the wooden surface, his gaze focused on Duncan.
“I just received some news.” He glanced at them all. “Last night, Mercer and a few others attacked King’s pack.”
Shock erupted in the room.
“What?” Duncan roared.
“Why?” Elliot questioned.
Thatcher looked to the alpha. “It appears he was aiming to burn down one of their buildings.”
“It appears?” Rafe leaned against one wall, his arms crossed over his chest, a confused frown on his face.
Duncan looked from Rafe to Thatcher, before pointing a finger across the desk. “You did this! What the fuck did you do to my brother?”
Elliot grabbed Duncan when he would have charged across the desk. Callum heard his cousin growling for Duncan to stop.
Rising, Thatcher slammed his hands down on the desktop. “Calm yourself down and remember who you’re speaking to. Your respect and loyalty are to me. Fuck that up and I’ll make sure you never find out what happened to your brother!”
Duncan’s fists clenched, and his nostrils flared, but the sunglasses shielded his gaze. Though anger still rolled off Duncan, he pushed out a fairly sincere, “Sorry, Alpha.”
Thatcher nodded. Seating himself, he restarted. “I sent Mercer to cause a little disruption to King’s birthday celebration last night.”
Duncan’s knuckles turned white.
“Your anger is misplaced,” Thatcher explained. “Your brother could have refused the mission but he didn’t. In fact, he agreed rather quickly. I was surprised.”
“Why wasn’t I informed of this mission?” Elliot accused, releasing his hold on Duncan to face the alpha.
“This was an opportunity for Mercer to prove himself. It didn’t involve you.”
“I train your soldiers.”
“It was time for Mercer to prove his loyalty.”
The glance that passed between Elliot and Rafe was so fast, Callum almost missed it.
Duncan removed his glasses, his gaze crazed and intense as he stared at Thatcher. “What happened to my brother?”
“They were caught.” Thatcher sighed. “Fortunately, for some reason, King has shown a bit of mercy. He’s keeping them prisoner rather than simply sending their bodies back to us.”
Duncan opened his mouth to speak, but stopped. He took a breath. “Let’s go get them.”
“It’s not nearly that simple, son,” Thatcher stood again, pacing the length of his desk. “An all-out attack will mean slaughter. Right now, as it stands, your brother is alive. We’re going to wait it out a little bit, and see what King wants.”
“I–” Duncan started once more and stopped.
“I swear we will get Mercer back.” He rapped his knuckles against the wood. “One way or another, we’ll get him back.”
Duncan glanced at his friends.
“Fine.” The one word was barely audible, but with it, Duncan turned to leave.
The rest of them followed, but before they could open the door, Thatcher called to them. “I don’t want this getting out. We want to avoid panic, retaliation, and another war with King’s pack.”
“Of course, Uncle.” Rafe nodded, trailing after the rest of them.
The further they got from the office, the faster Duncan walked. By the time the exit to the grounds came into view, he was at a run.
Outside, he fell to his knees and roared.
Across the parking lot, a few people glanced over.
The roar petered off as his lung capacity depleted. In his fist, his glasses crumpled. He whipped the pieces away, shattering them across the pavement. His chest rose and fell.
As a new member of the group, Callum was at a loss. Unsure how to help, he hung back and let Elliot and Rafe deal with the distraught beta.
Several minutes passed before Duncan spoke. “Why would he do this?”
“Thatcher?” Elliot asked.
Rafe snorted, looking displeased. “Or Mercer?”
Duncan’s shoulders slumped. “He’d been acting weird the last couple of days. Avoiding eye contact. When I couldn’t find him this morning, I figured he was hooking up with someone.” He glanced at Callum. “You know, maybe he’d found his mate.”
Callum glanced around at the three men before him. Two had lost their fathers early on, and according to Elliot, Duncan and Mercer shared a mother, but neither knew their father. In fact, they might have different dads.
When Callum had been young, his father had taught him all about the mating pull. What to expect, how to know it was time.
Until now, he didn’t realize how grateful he was for those conversations.
Callum stepped forward. “The mating pull can be really strong. It can make you impulsive. My guess is, he’s closer to his mate and that’s why he went, whether he knows that or not.”
“If he’s locked in a cage, that doesn’t help though, does it?”
Though it was rhetorical, Callum shrugged.
Duncan looked at Rafe. “Can we get him back?”
The shake of Rafe’s head was subtle.
Red rimmed Duncan’s eyes as he struggled to his feet. “I’m going for a run.”
As Duncan disappeared across the parking lot, Rafe turned to Callum. “Mind if I borrow Elliot for a bit? We need to discuss some things.”
Callum glanced between them.
Rafe nodded at him. “I’ll reach out to you about tonight.”
Vivian.
Callum’s gaze swung toward the side of the building. Out back, the festivities were still raging.
Elliot and Rafe headed for the truck, but before they were out of the parking lot, Callum was leaning against the lodge wall, watching the BBQ attendees looking for one specific redhead.
When he found her, he smiled.
He watched her as she worked. Directing people, engaging with children.
People liked her, and obviously she had a big role in today’s event.
He could barely contain his excitement. Tonight, he’d get to speak with her. Find out who she is, and together they could determine the future. He couldn’t wait to take her home with him. Finally, he’d be able to get out of here.
A boisterous laugh drew his attention.
Surrounded by several young men, Norman was enjoying the attention.
From what he could tell, the pack beta didn’t care much for Elliot and his friends. It might be a problem, but Callum didn’t care.
Vivian was his. Norman would just have to get used to that.