“I’ll leave you guys to your…workshop.” Kayden’s brows raise in our direction.
“Thanks, babe,” she yells out as he leaves the kitchen. She turns back towards me with bright eyes. “Right, where were we?”
I release a staggered laugh because only I would find myself in this situation.
35
CALEB
“Good, Evan,” I say as I pace back and forth in front of him.
He’s got his hands pressed against the ground as he does well-repped push-ups.
“Keep going,” I encourage. “Remember when you couldn’t even do a couple with good form at the start? Now look at you.”
Evan releases a low groan as he works even harder. I don’t know if I’ll ever tire of watching him push himself to new limits. We all know the brain is capable of talking us out of things when shit gets tough, but our bodies can put up with a lot more than we realise.
A part of me thinks Evan lost that when his narcissistic brother beat him to a pulp, and that resilience inside him turned into self-hatred instead.
I know he’s mentally strong; you have to be to endure that kind of abuse. It’s going to take some time before he registers it himself.
Evan stops after his last set and presses himself back onto his knees. His face is red and blotchy, but that’s a sign of a good workout. “Oh, Goddess,” he pants. “I’m exhausted.”
“As you should be. You worked hard. Now, we should?—”
Caleb, I need you in the office,Felix’s voice echoes through my head.
Evan frowns. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah,” I murmur. “Sorry, I need to cut this short. I’m needed at the house.”
“Oh.” He hesitates. “That’s okay. I’ll see you another time?”
My eyes roam over his innocent face. “Yeah, I’ll see you soon, pups.”
I lean down to press a soft kiss to his cheek and watch as his skin tints, knowing full well it has nothing to do with his workout. I head back to the house and walk straight into my office. Felix is already there with our head guards, Carson and Aimee.
“What’s going on?” I ask.
“Speculation that Ryker is planning something in the North,” Felix states. “Making surprise appearances to intimidate them.”
The sound of my father’s name always makes my blood run cold.
“Threatening to attack innocent packs,” Carson carries on. “To take over, I can only guess.”
I curse under my breath. He never learns. He’s always thirsty for more power, more blood, more land. I don’t need this right now.
“Are you keeping an eye on him?”
Aimee nods. “As best as we can. If it escalates, I fear our new pack members might act out if they believe your future actions could reflect Ryker’s.”
My nose turns up at the thought. I’ve been through too much to care what other people do with their lives. As long as I get to live mine in peace, then why do I need to tear down others? It’s never made sense to me.
“Ryker needs to go, Caleb,” Felix says as he folds his arms over his chest.
I stare at my Beta for a long moment. “You really think I don’t know that?”
“He’s going to ruin everything for us.” Felix’s hand throws up in the air. “He’s going to get us exiled or killed. We can’t keep living like this. Something needs to be done, and I’m getting to the point where I don’t care how we do it.”
