Calliope's Mate - Book 2

Caleb walked slowly back up the stairs. He went to his door, intending to go lay down, but he could smell Calliope. She had recently walked by. He sniffed the air and followed her scent to her room. Her door was cracked open.

He hesitated, unsure if he even had the strength to knock. He wanted to apologize, to beg for her forgiveness. But there was a tightness in his chest that wasn't a physical pain. He was scared she would push him away. He stood there, thinking of what he could say.

Caleb swallowed what little pride he held. He raised his fist to the door, but he paused. He could hear that her breathing was staggered. Sobbing... he could hear her sobbing. Everything in him shattered. What had he done to the one person who was kind to him, even when he was awful to her? He shuddered as he knocked gently on the door.

“Enter,” she called out softly.

He slowly opened the door and stepped in. He left the door open. He didn’t want her to think he was cornering her. He looked around the room but didn’t see her. But he could hear her sniffling softly.

“Cali?” He says gently.

He listened and walked around to the other side of the bed. He saw her sitting on the floor, her back against the bed frame. She held her stuffed black wolf in her hands.

Caleb froze as he looked at her red face. He wanted to console her, but he didn’t want to touch her without her consent. He slowly walked past her and sat against the wall. He was in front of her, but several feet separated them. She didn’t look at him; instead, she kept her eyes on the toy.

He watched her. He wished he could take everything back. Everything mean he had ever said to her. But deep down, the thought of his great-grandfather lingered. His screams as she tortured him still lingered deep in his memories. Always there as a reminder of what she could do. However, the girl that sat in front of him did not look like the monster he made her out to be.

“I’m sorry,” he said, breaking the silence between the two of them. “I wish I could take back much of what I’ve done and said. I should never have tried to force you. I won’t even make an excuse or blame others. I did this all on my own. I cannot ask that you forgive me. I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t. I want you to know how truly sorry I am.”

Calliope listened as he talked but never looked up at him. Her hands were trembling as she held the wolf. Part of her wanted to crawl into his lap as she had done so often with Theo. She wanted comfort. She wanted something that didn’t exist anymore.

For the first time in so many years, she wanted Theo. She wanted to smell him, to be held by him. And she felt guilty for this. Guilty that her own mate was sitting a few feet from her, and she wanted someone else. She wanted to believe that Caleb was truly sorry. She wanted to believe that he could change and be the mate she wanted. But part of her was reluctant to trust him.

She had always trusted Theo, but even with him, her love for him faltered. When he stayed away, hiding her own supposed death from her, it was hard. It was hard for her to be near him when he always seemed too distant. He wasn’t perfect, but he never purposefully hurt her. And yet, part of her wanted Caleb. He could break her heart, try to kill her, but she would still want him. Perhaps even more than she wanted Theo.

She brought the wolf to her nose and sniffed. The smell had been long gone, even before his death. She longed to smell him again.

“I miss his smell,” she finally said after several minutes of silence. Caleb flinched, feeling like she just hit him. He looked at the wolf, knowing he was second best compared to her first love. But he put on a small smile and leaned forward.

“Did he smell like Juniper, like I do? I can hold the wolf and put my scent on it?” He asked.

“He didn’t smell like juniper,” Calliope said with a shake of her head. “Juniper was my scent to him. I spent so much time after his death surrounded by his favorite things, his favorite smells. And now it has made it so Juniper is one of my favorite scents.”

“So what did he smell like?”

“Orange blossoms and pomegranate. I used to love oranges so much. Candied orange peels, orange cakes, they were my weakness.” She answered as a smile crept onto her face.

Caleb smiled back as he watched her face brighten. But then he leaned back, remembering how he once asked her how Theo died. And he thought about what Briana said to him moments before.

“You never told me how he died.”

“I’ve tried,” she replied, still looking at the wolf.

“I’d like to hear it. Please?” Caleb pleaded softly. Calliope finally looked up at him. He saw how broken she was, how sad her eyes were. He licked his dry lips, trying to find the ability to speak. “I want to hear it.”

“If I tell you, then I will want to show you memories. And if I start to tell you, I will not stop until I am finished. You cannot pull away when you hear things you don’t like.” She said as she clutched the wolf tighter in her hands.

Caleb slowly crawled over to her and sat down beside her. He groaned and gripped his chest. She looked at him with concern. Even after what he had done hours ago, she could not fight her natural instinct: her instinct to love and care for him and his well-being.

“What’s wrong?” She asked as she reached over and touched him. Caleb winced and moved away from her touch.

“It’s nothing, I’ll be fine.” He stated.

Calliope saw that he gripped his chest and side. She reached over and lifted his shirt. She saw part of the bruise before Caleb pulled his shirt down.

“I said I’m fine, please don't,” he begged.

He felt guilty for having her worry about him. Especially for an injury he deserved. But she reached over and touched his arm.

“Let me see,” she requested. Her voice was firm, but it was gentle.

He pulled up his shirt, exposing the bruises in the shape of her wolf paw prints. She gasped when she saw them.

“Caleb, why haven’t you healed from this?” She asked as she touched the bruises. When her fingers grazed the purplish skin, steam began to emit.

“Altan refused to heal me,” he admitted to her.

He didn’t care if it made him seem weak. He wanted to be vulnerable in front of her. She was the only one who wouldn’t judge him. But as she touched him, he could feel his ribs begin to heal. Altan began to come forward with her touch, with her closeness. Caleb closed his eyes to breathe in her scent. She was so close, and her smell so strong. Calliope watched as the bruises began to heal. Once nearly gone, she took her hand away and sat back.

“Are you ready?” She asked. Caleb looked at her and nodded. She closed her eyes and took a breath. “Many years ago, our territories were slowly being raided by sun wolves. They raided resources, but most importantly, they kidnapped human women and girls.”

“After three years of these constant raids, they stopped. Theo searched for years for where the sun wolves went, but he never found them. Then, after many years, there were sightings of sun wolves in our territories. Theo and 11 other warriors went out on a scouting mission. They wanted to count their numbers and return. In and out. But when he got there, they were ambushed. What we thought was a small camp was a decoy to funnel him and his group to a clearing.”

“I wasn’t there, but we were relayed what happened: they held him down with silver chains and hooks. And... then a man came up in his human form...” her voice wavered. Tears were falling down her cheeks. She had never told this story. And as she told it, she still had to lie to him, omit her ability to see through his eyes. “A man came up with a silver sword and cut Theo’s head from his body, killing him.”

Calliope covered her face with her hands and began to sob. Caleb reached over and touched her shaking shoulder. He wanted to embrace her, but he didn’t dare cross that boundary, not until she was ready.

“The man that killed him...” She said as she tried to control her crying. “Was your Great-Grandfather. He held the sword... he swung the sword that killed Theo.”

Caleb took his hand back, shocked at what she told him. Her torture of him made sense. But it also made him tremble. Was it true? But why would she lie to him? He looked down as she held out a hand to him. Memories. She wanted to show him memories.

He slowly took her hand, and his eyes went red. She first showed him the memory of coming across Theo’s body. She was in wolf form. He watched as she sniffed the blood and nudged against his cold hand. He could smell the faint scent of orange blossoms and pomegranate.

Calliope then showed him a brief memory of his great-grandfather prior to her brutal attack. It was him crawling on his back, apologizing for killing Theo. She then showed him a dark vision. He saw nothing, but he could hear someone speak. The person admitted to his family mining the silver that was used against Theo. How they sided with the sun wolves for greed. Suddenly, Calliope pulled away, and Caleb’s eyes returned to normal.

He looked at her with confusion on the last part.

“Why was it dark, who was that talking?”

“I was blindfolded,” she lied. “It was your ancestor, Jaxson. His Grandfather, Ezra, was the one who sold pure silver to the sun wolves. Then, Jaxson was the one who helped hide the sun wolves in the Guide Stone Pack. He helped to hide all the women who were forced to bear children. He helped to ensure Theo died. All to spite me because we punished them for their wrongs.”

Caleb looked down at his hands. He heard it. He heard his ancestor boast about selling the pure silver illegally. How they hid in plain sight. How they blamed Calliope for everything. But Calliope did nothing wrong, they were just greedy and power-hungry. And now he felt like a fool. All this time, she had offered to show him these memories. And he always declined. She was a monster to his family, and so, to please them, he treated her as such. But they didn’t know the full story. Either that or they didn’t care. But she wasn’t a monster. She killed the man who killed her mate.

“Cali...” He whispered as he looked at her. “I am so sorry.”

She put her hand in his. She felt lighter having finally told him about Theo’s death. Her heart felt lighter, softer. He may have tried to hurt her earlier, but she also knew she was at fault for things, too. She hid things from him, just as he did. But she had the upper hand because she knew his secrets. But she also knew she had put Theo first in her heart many times. Compared Caleb to Theo.

“I’m sorry I made you feel like you were never enough,” she replied as she leaned her head against his shoulder.

Caleb rested his head against hers and sighed. At this moment, he didn’t want to move, didn’t want to breathe. He wanted to stay like this, vulnerable with her. He wanted to make up for everything he had done to her. He wanted to start over, to do it over again. She was not a monster. She was broken, enacting revenge that was just.

“I don’t hate that I need you,” he murmured. “Not anymore. I want to be here, like this forever. And I’ll wait for you. I’ll wait a hundred years if that is what it takes for you to forgive me. But I won’t leave, I’ll be here, waiting.”

*Author’s Note*

🥹 I might have gotten a little teary-eyed writing this! Hopefully, you guys are enjoying the story!

Song time! Another Life by Motionless in White has been THE song for the first half of this book. You’ll recognize some of the phrases in the song because I weaved it into the story. Hope you enjoy it!