He snorted as he leaned in a little closer to her, still gazing down at the soft waves lapping the base of the pier. “I think you’re giving them a little too much credit. STAT was so eager to get their hands on another werewolf that they simply ignored my background, figuring that was Jake’s problem to deal with.”
“Even if you’re right about the people at the top seeing you as nothing more than a risk/reward calculation, what does any of that matter when it’s obvious your teammates couldn’t care less about your past?” she asked, looking over and capturing his eyes. “You guys are closer than Julian and I have ever been. Or ever will be. He might be my brother, but in all the ways that matter, I’m on my own. I can only dream of what it’s like to be part of something bigger, knowing you’ve got someone on your side.”
Caleb regarded her silently for a long moment, his face unreadable. “I meant what I said earlier when I told Hudson that you’re part of the team. After what you did for Misty and all of us in Siberia, I know Forrest and the rest of my teammates think of you like that, too.”
She let out a little laugh. “That’s a nice thought, but somehow, I doubt it’s that easy. They all know I only agreed to work with STAT to find my brother. Doing one thing right isn’t going to outweigh that fact. People don’t trust that quickly.”
“I would normally be the first to agree with you since I’m not big on the whole trust thing myself,” Caleb murmured. “But when it comes to my team—mypack—I think you’ll find it’s easier than you think. You risked your life for them. That’s all they’re going to care about. So give them a chance, okay? Like you said, they accepted me, even with all my baggage. If you let them, they’ll be there for you, too.”
Brielle didn’t know what to say. Suddenly, she found herself blinking to keep tears from welling in her eyes. Where had these emotions come from? Was she so needy for acceptance that merely thinking about being part of the STAT team was enough to make her cry?
Sadly, the answer to that question seemed to be yes.
She and Caleb stood there at the metal railing, gazing out at the passing ships and chatting about some of that baggage he’d mentioned earlier. Unfortunately, beyond getting him to admit to having been in jail more than once, she couldn’t get anything else out of him. If she didn’t know better, she would think he didn’t want to make himself look bad in her eyes, which was insanely hilarious. He was amazing. Nothing he could say would change that.
“Why hasn’t there ever been anyone else?” he asked quietly. “I mean, you’ve mentioned several times that it’s just been you and Julian. Why aren’t you with a guy?”
The question was so blunt that all Brielle could do was stare at him with her mouth open.
Caleb held up his hands apologetically. “I didn’t mean that the way it came out. I just meant that you’re a beautiful woman. I find it hard to believe there haven’t been men interested in spending time with you.”
Brielle felt a burst of warmth and happiness swirling up inside her chest at his words, and suddenly, she wasn’t upset by his choice of words anymore. The fact that she was reacting so strongly to him calling her beautiful struck her as both silly and juvenile. What was she, a sixteen-year-old going gaga over the latest boy band singer?
“I tried a few times,” she said, brushing her hair back when the breeze coming in from the water tossed it playfully around her face and forcing herself to answer his question instead of thinking about the way his casual compliment made her feel. “I dated a few guys, but it never went anywhere. Having a brother around who was constantly getting into trouble certainly didn’t help. What about you? Do you have anyone waiting for you back home when you return from saving the world?”
He let out a snort of amusement that quickly turned into a laugh. “I’m an omega. By definition, I’m a loner. Like you, I’ve dated, but it never seemed to work out. I’ve never had a connection with anyone.”
Brielle gazed up at him. Why did it bother her so much that this amazing man hadn’t found someone to share his life with? For some reason, it seemed like such a waste.
“Maybe you simply haven’t found the right woman yet,” she murmured, fighting the urge to reach up and caress his chiseled jaw. She wanted to do it so badly, she could almost feel his scruff under her fingers.
“Or maybe I have,” Caleb said, bending his head to touch his lips to hers.
He kissed her slowly, tentatively, like he wanted to give her a chance to pull away if she wanted to. She didn’t pull away—or want to. Instead, she reached up and buried her fingers in his shaggy hair, pulling him down and opening her mouth to invite him in, desperate to let him know how much she wanted this.
Her tongue tangled with his, and she moaned at how good he tasted. One of his strong arms wrapped around her, tugging her against him, lifting her up on her toes a little until her breasts were pressing firmly against his powerful chest as he slipped his free hand into her hair.
It felt amazing.
Heat poured through her, and she came damn close to wrapping her legs around him and climbing him like a tree. The need to be even closer to him was overwhelming.
They quickly went from kissing to making out with an intensity that kind of scared her. She’d never come close to getting swept away by a man’s kiss before. She’d never even considered letting it happen. But with Caleb, it was almost too easy to lose herself in the moment. To let the fire fill her up inside and make her burst into flames right there in the middle of Odessa.
As Caleb’s big hand tightened in her hair, tugging at the strands in the most delicious way she’d ever experienced, Brielle couldn’t help but wonder what it was about him that made her respond this way. Then she felt his rumbling growls welling up through his chest, the vibrations slipping inside her to do crazy things to her soul, and she stopped caring about why or how. She simply enjoyed the sensation of being in his arms.
When something grazed her tongue, sharp enough to draw blood, it wasn’t that hard to figure out it was his fangs. Why they had extended in the middle of them kissing was a mystery, but she decided she didn’t mind them at all. In fact, the sensation of those fangs scraping across the surface of her sensitive tongue was kind of interesting.
Before Brielle had a chance to experiment a little with that, Caleb abruptly broke the kiss and pulled away. The move was so jarring she almost fell over.
Opening her eyes, she saw that Caleb looked dazed, his eyes glowing vivid blue as he gazed down at her. The tips of his fangs were peeking out over his lower lip, and he was growling softly with nearly every breath. She knew all of that put together meant that he was on the verge of losing control of himself and going omega, as he liked to call it. She’d be lying if she said it didn’t worry her a little, but she refused to believe he would ever hurt her, no matter how much control he lost.
Unfortunately, from the expression slowly crossing his face, Brielle wasn’t too sure if Caleb believed that as much as she did. She could tell he was fighting hard to regain his control, his eyes darting left and right like he was wondering if running away might be the best option. If it weren’t for several other tourists walking along the pier, he might have done it.
“Caleb,” she said softly, reaching out to place her hand on the sleeve of his leather jacket and wondering what she’d done to make his inner werewolf come out. “Just breathe and tell me what’s wrong.”
Caleb didn’t say anything, but as she stood there watching, his breathing slowed, the blue glow fading from his eyes and his fangs retracting. But even then, Brielle noticed he still didn’t move to close the distance between them. It was ridiculously stupid, but the separation hurt all the same. And for the life of her, she couldn’t understand why.
“Caleb, are you okay?” she asked. “Why did you push me away? Did I do something wrong?”
