Wolf's Fall (Alpha Pack #6)(28)

She stopped in at Lora Hart’s room. Lora taught the first through third graders in one area, and was always thankful for a break. Calla popped in and smiled at the chorus of happy greetings from the sweet faces that looked up from their work.

“Hey, guys,” she called.

“Miss Shaw,” Lora said with a smile, greeting her that way for the kids’ benefit. Calla insisted the teachers not use “Princess Calla” when she came to take over. It might be too distracting for the young ones to process the difference between “princess” and “teacher.”

“Mrs. Hart, would you like a break? I saw Mr. Hart earlier and I thought you might like to have a late lunch with your mate.”

Pure gratitude flooded Lora’s face. “Are you sure? I mean, if you don’t mind, that sounds lovely!”

“I’m positive, or I wouldn’t have offered. Just show me what you guys are working on today and I’ll take it from here.”

Quickly, the teacher showed her the plans and where she’d put the materials for the art project the students were going to make. Calla assured Lora she and the kids had things under control and not to worry about hurrying back. The grateful woman fled, as though Calla might suddenly change her mind.

With a chuckle, she got to work. The children proved to be the very best medicine that afternoon. The day wasn’t without its challenges—a boy peed his pants, one threw up, and one spilled paint all over the floor. But there wasn’t a dull moment, and she didn’t think of Nick once. Until Lora came back two hours later.

Calla said good-bye to the kids, with the promise to come back later in the week and stay all day. Her heart tugged as she left. Wistfully, she thought of having her own children someday. Pregnancy wasn’t in the cards for too many vampire females, but maybe the Fates would bless her.

But that wasn’t going to happen if her mate wouldn’t come near her.

Marching to her brother’s office, she pushed inside and shut the door with enough force to make him jump.

“We need to talk.”

Six

“If you want me to stop bellowing for you in the hallways, then you might stop barging into my office without knocking,” Tarron pointed out in annoyance.

“This is important.” Calla threw herself into one of the stuffed chairs and ignored his scowl. “I need for you to help me come up with a way to put me and Nick together for an extended period of time.”

“Are you serious?”

“No,” she said, deadpan. “Because I’m totally fine with me and my mate living hundreds of miles apart in separate states. It’s all good.”

“Your mate?” Sitting back in his chair, Tarron exhaled a breath. “Well, that solves that little mystery.”

“I’m sure you suspected, given our talk before.”

“Will you be angry if I admit I’d hoped it was a passing thing? Infatuation?”

A tiny shard of hurt speared her stomach. “Why would you hope that? Don’t you want me to be happy?”

“Of course I do! I just— Look, I’m not going to beat a dead horse. You know my reasons for being skeptical of a wolf-vampire union. But if you’re certain Nick is your mate—”

“He is. I pretty much knew it the moment we met.”

“Does he know?”

“Yes. We’ve discussed it, but only briefly,” she admitted, biting her lip. “He ran. And that’s the problem—how can we work things out when we’re so far apart?”

“All right. I’ll do all I can to support you,” he said gently. “You can trust me.”

She relaxed, some of the anxiety dissipating. “I know. Thanks, big brother.”

“Let me think about it, okay? Maybe I can suggest some type of training exercise for coordinating during emergencies.” He paused and added thoughtfully, “That might not be such a bad idea, anyway.”

She beamed at her brother. “Genius! Get them here for a few days and I can do the rest.”

He shook his head with a laugh. “I like your confidence.”

“More like optimism.”

“Same thing.”

Pushing to her feet, she went around her brother’s desk, threw her arms around him, and hugged him tight. He hugged her back fiercely and kissed her temple.

“I only want you to be happy. Nothing else matters.”

“Thanks. Love you.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he said affectionately. “Out of my office, brat. I’ve got a million things to do.”

“Oh, whatever. I see that Candy Crush app minimized on your tool bar, you slacker.”

“Damn.”

Giggling, she let him go and made her way out, feeling a whole lot lighter. Tarron would schedule the training, and Nick wouldn’t be able to avoid her. It was a win-win all around.

What to do now? She would go back to the school area, except classes were done for the day. She might as well go for her daily walk. In fact . . . Yes. She’d go back to the waterfall—hers and Nick’s—and relive every single moment of their rendezvous. That sweet memory would keep her going until they met again.

On the way out, she was confronted by a guard. To her annoyance, she couldn’t dissuade him from accompanying her, no matter what she said.