Chapter Forty-Four
Catherine woke with a smile on her face. All around her she smelled apples and spice: Graham. She shot up and looked around. His scent wasn’t as strong as it would be if he were still here. She jumped up and checked the bathroom. Her disappointment faded as she caught her reflection. She touched her shoulder where a bite mark was healing. She smiled to herself.
“Couldn’t even wait to try again until I woke up?” she asked no one.
The smile that came to her face could not be helped. He was home! He’d tried to mark her again. She had to find him. Catherine dressed quickly in blue jeans and a tank top. She threw her hair up into a ponytail, making sure to show off his “mark.” She threw open the door and her smile grew even wider.
“You couldn’t have at least told me where you were going?” Toma asked, scolding his older brother.
Timone looked down at his brother, his arms folded and his indifferent bored expression firmly in place. “You’re not my warden.”
“I had to ask Cynthia where you were! You could have said, ‘Hey, little bro, I’m heading out for a few days. Be back soon.’ Is that so hard? I was worried sick!” Toma exclaimed, his hands firmly on his hips.
“This is so adorable,” Catherine interjected.
Both men turned to face her, one with an ear-splitting grin, the other with a roll of his eyes. Toma held his arms wide. “Short stuff!”
Catherine squealed and ran into his arms. He lifted her up and spun her around.
“Alright, Toma, that’s enough. She isn’t your woman,” Timone said with a sigh.
Toma set Catherine down but kept his arm around her shoulder. “I’ll have you know Catherine has always been and will always be one of my besties. I’ll hug her as much as I want even with her big hulky bodyguard telling me not to,” Toma said, giving Catherine’s shoulder a squeeze for emphasis.
“So it was you last night?” Catherine asked, craning her neck to look up at Timone.
For a moment, the briefest of seconds, Timone’s face softened and a reassuring smile pulled at the corner of his lip. “Yeah, it was me.”
Catherine felt tears pricking her eyes. She held her arms out and went to hug him but he took a step back. “I’m going home and if my mate smells you on me…” he reasoned.
Catherine smiled and decided to show her gratitude by respecting his wishes. “Thank you, Timone. You saved my life. I owe you big time.”
He shrugged his shoulders and shoved his hands into his pockets. “Your mate is paying me half a fortune. No thanks needed.”
“Does that mean you were here the whole time?” she asked, baffled.
He nodded. “Lucas picked me up on his way into town. Only he and your alpha knew I was here.”
“Why wasn’t I invited?” Toma asked, looking thoroughly offended.
“I needed to remain unseen, something you are incapable of.”
Toma scoffed. “That’s ridiculous.”
“Plus we both know you have a proximity problem with this one,” he said, motioning to Catherine. “If I was MacTavish I wouldn’t want you hanging around my girl while I was away either.”
Toma responded by giving Catherine a wink and wiggling his eyebrows. Then he noticed the mark on her shoulder and tsked. He touched the tender spot. “We may have to have ‘the talk’ with your man, Short Stuff. That just won’t do. Shall I mark the spot with an X to help him out?”
1
Timone smacked Toma on the back of the head while Catherine giggled. “If only it were that easy. It’s a whole mess. How long are you staying? I can tell you all about it!”
Toma looked at Timone. “Well, I was just here to pick him up. I’m not sure I have permission to stay.”
1/3
Chapter Forty-Four
“At least let me make you lunch,” Catherine pleaded, holding both of his hands. “I have so much to tell you. An hour, tops!”
Toma and Catherine turned to Timone, lips pouting and eyes wide. Timone sighed. “Fine.”
“Great! Let me just find Graham and then I can make you something.” Catherine said. Both men looked at each other. Timone’s eyes narrowed in aggravation and Toma rubbed the back of his neck. “What?”
“Uh, he’s actually down in the dining hall now,” Toma said, his voice gentle.
She squinted her eyes in suspicion. “Oookay, then perfect! He can join us.”
Catherine walked ahead. Every few steps she could hear the siblings bickering about something. Because that wasn’t out of the usual, she ignored them as she made her way to the bottom level. She walked down the hall and into the dining room. She caught his scent immediately and as if drawn by magic she
saw him within seconds.
He was across the room, sitting by the fireplace. Goddess, had he gotten hotter since he left? He ran his hand through his dark hair which was turning redder with being in the summer sun. He’d gotten a bit of a tan to his skin too which brought out a few freckles on his cheek bones. He was wearing his long sleeves and his arms rested against the table. He must have just shaved this morning because it was a lot shorter than he normally kept it.
Catherine took a step in his direction but then faltered as a woman beside him put her hand on his forearm and laughed. Catherine didn’t recognize her. She was one of the most beautiful women she’d ever seen. Her goldilocks blonde hair flowed down her back in silky waves. She had bright green eyes that sparkled even from across the room. She had soft, pale skin without a single blemish. She was dressed modestly in a loose t-shirt but even with that Catherine could see the outline of her model-like figure.
There were beautiful women all over, that wasn’t enough to get jealous. What was enough though was when Graham looked at this woman. The way his eyes lit up and she laughed at what he told her. Then his smile grew into one she’d only seen for herself a rare number of times. The worst part… Graham hadn’t even noticed Catherine enter the room.
“Who is she?” Catherine asked, having felt Toma and Timone come in quietly behind her a minute ago.
“Her name is Chloe,” Timone answered. “He brought her with him last night.”
Catherine turned to look at him, a glimmer of a tear in her blue eye. “He brought her here?”
Timone answered with a nod. “He had her stay at your house,” he supplied further.
A knot in her stomach uncoiled only to wrap around her lungs and tighten. Her heart was battering against her rib cage as she watched her mate interact with another woman. Catherine was not a jealous woman. Why did he bring her home with him? Was she with him the whole time? What did she mean to him? Catherine was not a jealous woman. Did he bring her as a replacement? She would certainly be easier wouldn’t she? He could mark her without Jensen’s approval. Had they kissed? Had they slept together? Catherine was not a jealous woman. Why did he leave her alone and seek out this other
woman?
Catherine spun on her heel and walked away as quickly as she could. She heard Toma cuss behind her but she ignored him. She pushed through the kitchen doors and walked into the pantry. She grabbed the shelf with one hand and her chest with the other. She’d held it together. For six days she held her emotions back wanting to be strong and worthy. She was exhausted, she had been attacked and now she was losing him.
The pantry door opened and she smelt Toma’s familiar honey fudge scent. He turned her around and she buried her face in his chest while he wrapped his arms tightly about her.
“It’s probably not what you think, Kitty. You just need to talk to him,” Toma whispered. She nodded into his chest.
Toma said nothing else as she cried. He helped her wipe her face and then kept an arm around her as she walked back into the kitchen. Pans crashed to the floor, catching their attention. They both looked up to see a crimson faced Mable, staring with her mouth open.
“…I… I’ll fix it!” she stammered, rushing around to pick up the pots.
Toma chuckled and stooped down to help her. She glanced up at him and her face turned impossibly redder. He winked. “Hey, beautiful.”
Mable dropped the pots she’d just picked up. “I’m so sorry. Um, I didn’t mean…”
“It’s okay. Gorgeous,” Toma laughed. “I got ’em. You just sit there looking pretty and let me handle this mess.”
2/3
Chapter Forty-Four
Mable gaped at the handsome man showering her with attention. Catherine decided to save her by walking up and smacking him lightly on the back of his head. “You really are a dog, aren’t you?”
Toma stood and gave them his best cool guy expression. “Only for an appropriate audience,” he said before giving Mable another wink.
“Alright, that’s it. Just get out and get some food,” Catherine said, pushing at his back. He kept his lusty gaze on Mable until Catherine succeeded in shoving
him out.
Mable was trying her hardest to seem busy as she cleaned the counters. “Who was that?”
“My friend Toma. Don’t mind him, he gets a bit flirty when he sees a pretty woman.”
“I don’t mind him,” Mable whispered, her earlier blush returning.
Catherine gave her a little smirk. “I’ll make sure he knows.”
“N-no, he is far out of my league.”
“That is definitely not true. You’re a beautiful, kind-hearted woman and he is a… well he’s something,” Catherine said, glancing through the inventory as she shook her head.
“Rebecca came by today,” Mable said, clearly trying to change the topic.
“Oh yeah?”
“She told me you wouldn’t be here and offered to help make breakfast and lunch. She also said tomorrow we will need to go above and beyond. Apparently Alpha Lucien will be in the pack for a few days.”
“Lucien?”
Mable gaped at Catherine. “You’ve never heard of him? He’s… Well, legend says he is one of the original lycans on the continent. He is Native American and centuries old. Some say he even holds magic. We’ve always been warned to stay away from him, especially the girls.”
Catherine pondered this. “So he’s a big deal and Rebecca wants us to make him some really fancy meals?”
“Yeah, apparently Chef Daniel never impressed him.”
“We’ll have to change that then won’t we?” Catherine said, thankful for the distraction.
Surrendering to Destiny
