It didn’t take me long to spot Callie’s wild curly brown hair with my mom beside her in the far corner of the place. Problem was, they weren’t alone.
I started off slowly in their direction, but the closer I got, the faster my feet moved.
The guy they were talking to was tall, but not as tall as me. He had dark hair and dark eyes and a wide smile directed right at Callie. I grit my teeth as I got close enough to smell that he was a wolf too, which didn’t make me feel better at all.
I was about halfway to them when the unknown wolf reached out and put his arm around Callie’s shoulders. My vision went red for a moment as I watched his hand dangle way too close to her chest. She looked up at him and smiled and I picked up the pace, almost running by then.
“What’s going on?” I asked as I approached them. My voice was deep and rough with an edge to it, but there was nothing I could do about that. I was having trouble just keeping my shaking hands at my sides and not wrapping them around this guy’s neck instead.
My eyes zeroed in on the arm still resting on Callie’s shoulders as my insides rioted.
“Hey, Wyatt. This is Ricky. We just ran into him,” Callie said. Her wide smile slowly faded as she looked into my eyes. I didn’t know what she saw there, but I knew what was going on behind the scenes and it wasn’t pretty.
I clenched my hand into a fist for a moment before unfurling my fingers and extending them toward Ricky. “Wyatt Carter,” I said, purposely leaving off any pleasantries because they would be a fat lie.
“Ricky Rouse. Nice to meet you.”
“Yeah,” was all I could muster up.
Out of the corner of my eye, I caught my mother’s disapproving look, but I was past caring about my manners. This guy had his hands on Callie, and that was unacceptable.
I folded my arms across my chest and stood as straight as I could. Make sure this clown knew I had the size advantage here. “How do you know Ricky?”
Callie frowned at me before giving Ricky a little smile which only made my blood boil. “We used to be in the same pack back in Charlotte. We were friends growing up.”
“Well, you might have been trying to be friends, but I was always trying to be your boyfriend. Wasn’t I your first kiss?”
My blood pressure spiked as I blacked out for a second. My hands were so tightly fisted I was losing feeling in them, and I was seconds away from removing the arm he still had wrapped around Callie. Worse, my whole body was vibrating with the need to shift.
“Well, I’m in her new pack and I was her last kiss, so…”
“Wyatt!” my mother whisper-yelled.
“Wyatt!” Callie actually yelled at the same time.
I shrugged, my eyes not leaving Ricky’s for a second. His lips thinned into a straight line and his nostrils flared, but all I did was smile. I knew I could best this guy at anything. All he had to do was say the word.
“Well, you never forget your first kiss, right?” Ricky said as he pulled Callie tighter.
A low growl escaped my lips as I took an involuntary step forward on shaky legs. “Well, you never forget your first ass beating either, and I’d be happy to oblige.”
Callie’s eyes widened before she slipped out from under Ricky’s arm and stepped into my space. Her little hand landed on the center of my chest, and just that small touch stopped me in my tracks and slowed the trembling.
“Let’s take a walk.”
My eyes were still trained on Ricky, who did not look pleased to be standing alone now. “I’ll leave as soon as Mickey Mouse does.”
He narrowed his eyes at me. “It’s Ricky Rouse.”
“I don’t care.”
He growled softly and took a step toward us as Callie pushed me backward. “Think about your mom, Wyatt.”
Just like that, the wind left my sails and I deflated like a hot air balloon. I glanced at Mom to find a look of disappointment with a small sliver of fear in her eyes and shame filled my body. When I looked back at Ricky, he had a smug smile on his face and the rage was back.
“Yeah, Wyatt. Why don’t you take care of your human mommy while me and Callie get caught up?”
Fury raced through my veins and the convulsions were back as I tried to nudge Callie aside to get to Ricky. But she was unmovable. With one hand still on my chest, she turned back to Ricky. “It’s time for you to go.”
He scoffed. “You think I can’t handle some half-breed? Please. He probably can’t even shift without the full moon.”
A million comebacks danced around my mouth, but before I could spit one of them out, Callie beat me to it.
“Ricky, you inbred imbecile. Turn around and walk away before I let Wyatt make you walk away.”
His face reddened with anger before he spat on the ground in front of us and spun around. “Human lover,” he mumbled before stalking out of the nursery.
The rage dissipated slowly along with the trembles as I watched the place he’d disappeared from. When it seemed he was gone for good, I took a deep breath, remembering for the first time that Callie still had her hand on my chest. I looked at it and then at her just as she peered up at me.
“That was–”
“Wyatt Carter,
