And that was the problem. Derek settled back against Cal’s chest and they stayed like that for a long time.
They didn’t know how long they had until the Council would call for Cal. All they knew was that Mikael’s contact still had nothing new to tell them, still no explanation, and that time was short.
Maybe it was that fact that made the three of them cling to one another so much. They bowed out of anything going on at the Jarvela farm, and Kit stayed home with Cal and Derek more than he normally would’ve.
They took naps together in Cal and Derek’s bed, with Kit sleeping between them like a little boy. They cooked together and played board games. They watched movies and when at the end of the night, Kit went to his own bedroom to sleep, it was because he knew his parents needed time alone together.
Derek and Cal made love every night, sometimes more than once. It felt as if a clock was ticking somewhere, that this happiness they’d found would be torn away from them at a moment’s notice.
“I don’t think I can go into another job like the old ones,” Cal confessed to Derek. “Not… not those ones like the last one.”
Not to deal with humans who had seen too much.
“Somehow, we won’t let that happen,” Derek promised, even though he knew it wasn’t a promise he could keep.
“We gave our lives to them. Isn’t that enough?” Cal whispered into Derek’s chest. “I thought it was enough.”
Again, Derek held his mate as he cried, holding back his own sorrow this time, because being strong for Cal meant more in that moment.
Kit was at the other farm, doing something with the other boys, and Derek and Cal were reading on the couch.
They should’ve been outside, raking the leaves, but instead, they’d chosen another moment of just being together.
Cal’s cell phone began to ring on the coffee table, and they both froze, Derek in the middle of turning a page.
Cal put his book down on next to the phone and picked it up.
“It’s an Italian number,” he said quietly, and didn’t look at Derek when he swiped the screen. “This is Ewan Calder.”
It felt so weird, hearing Cal call himself Ewan.
“Yes, sir. Right. I’m completely healed and I no longer rely on morphine. That’s right.”
The one-sided conversation is going to kill Derek.
“No, sir. I refuse to go to any more cover-ups. This is not a negotiation, sir,” Cal said in a tone that scared Derek with how little emotion it held.
“No. Absolutely not. My home is now in Finland, where you sent me and my son.” Cal chuckled darkly. “No, sir. I want a release. Yes. No. No. I refuse.” The person at the other end of the call raised his voice enough for Derek to hear, even though he couldn’t make out the words.
“Yelling at me doesn’t help, sir. Get me those release forms and I’ll come train your new people for a week. But I’ll be home for Christmas, with my release papers in hand.” Cal turned his head so he could look at Derek. There was some sort of triumph in his gaze. “Yes, sir. You make that happen, send me the tickets from here to there and back, and I’ll be there. Within my terms, of course. Yes. I’ll talk to you soon, sir.”
Cal ended the call and put the phone back on the table and a lot of the tension he’d been carrying since Nico and Rider’s visit seemed to fall off his shoulders.
“They gave in to your terms?” Derek asked. It seemed too good to be true.
“Yes and no. They’ll still try to get me to take those jobs, but with what I promised them, they know it’s something. It’s important, the knowledge I have. To train their newbies, sure there are other enforcers, but….”
“But they sent you to the worst cases over the years,” Derek concluded, making Cal nod grimly.
“I’m still not happy about going, but if I have to, I will.” Cal looked at Derek, his expression heartbreakingly vulnerable for a moment. “If it means to get to come back and never go away again, I’ll do it. I’d do anything.”
And that was why Derek didn’t want him to go at all.
Instead, he said, “Okay.” Then moved to embrace his mate, because there was nothing else he could do.
Since there was leeway in Cal’s terms—a week and home before Christmas—they had no clue when he’d get the actual summons.
They tried their best to stick to their routines, but this time they socialized more. Cal and Derek left their den a couple of times to go to the other farm, just to have something else to think about.
