And Then There Were Four by Lilith Carrie

Driving from the main house, I found myself thinking over everything that had happened. Yes, I had created a bond with Talon and it had been a wonderful moment. But the last thing that I expected when I got called into my father’s office was that he was going to explain to me that he had set all of this up.

Tears streamed down my face, realizing that I had been deceived. The only thing that I had wanted was to come here and get an education and be able to make a difference in the world. I had thought that I hadn’t gotten accepted to those universities because I wasn’t good enough. But at the end of the day, it was because my father had made sure I didn’t.

He had pulled strings to satisfy his own needs and desires, making sure that I came here to fulfill some destiny that he thought was the right path. No one had explained anything to me, and in fact, no one had even asked my opinion on all of it, or what it was that I had desired.

Instead, they treated me like some child that was incapable of being able to decide what she wanted. I wasn’t going to stand for it. If I wasn’t finishing up a semester right now, I’d probably pack my bags and leave.

The thought of leaving though made a part of my soul ache.

Could I really leave them after everything?

Before I knew it, I found myself outside the cafe that was on part of the college campus. Rain poured down outside as if it felt the pain I had within myself. Reaching up, I dried my tears and tried to figure out my next step. More than anything, I didn’t want to go home.

At least not right now.

Grabbing my purse, I quickly darted from my car and ran across the sidewalk to the front entrance at the cafe. The bell chimed above the door as I opened and closed it, the delicious aroma hitting me in my face making me feel more at home.

My mother had always said there wasn’t a problem that couldn’t be fixed with a good cup of coffee or a hot cup of tea. Tonight she was right. I wished more than anything she was here with me right now. I wanted to tell her everything that was going on, but I knew she wasn’t in a good state, and burdening her with my problems wasn’t the right thing to do. The chattering of individuals could be heard all around me, but it was the soft music that seemed to calm me.

Jazz… a book lover’s soulmate… well at least that was my opinion.

“What can I get for you tonight?” The barista asked as I looked over the menu and quickly ordered a cup of tea with milk and honey.

Paying the woman, I waited patiently for her to complete my order. My eyes scanned the room looking for an empty table, and instead of falling on Caleb, who was sitting in the far corner going over a bunch of paperwork.

As if sensing that I was looking at him, his eyes looked up to meet mine, and a smile crossed his face. There was something about his smile that seemed so familiar to me, and in the chaos of my daydream, I almost didn’t hear the barista calling my name. “Ivy!”

“I’m so sorry…” I replied sheepishly as I took my drink from her. Her scolding look did nothing for my uneasy soul. Turning back, Caleb gestured for me to come over and I welcome the idea of casual conversation that didn’t involve the current dilemma that was going on at home.

“Caleb, isn’t it a little bit late for you to be out tonight? Shouldn’t you be home relaxing?” I stated with a teasing smile as I took my seat across from him.

“I could say the same for you, Ivy.” He replied with a deep laugh, “What brings you out tonight? You don’t look like you’re in a very good position right now.”

If only he had known the truth, I was far from being in a good place. In fact, all I wanted to do was lock myself away and be free of all the drama that was going on currently in my life.

“There’s just a lot going on at home that doesn’t make me feel comfortable being there right now. I wish things were easier, but alas, that is not my life.” He nodded, as if he knew exactly what I meant and quickly picked up the coffee that he had in front of him and took a long sip.

“Why don’t you explain to me what’s going on? Perhaps I can give you some guidance. After all, sometimes an outsider’s opinion seems to help people work through their issues.”

“Oh, I couldn’t possibly do that. I would hate to be a burden on you. I’m sure that you have so much that you need to attend to tonight.” He laughed at my statement, shaking his head no.

“Unfortunately, I am a single man who does nothing but work his entire life, so I am more than welcoming when it comes to casual conversation. If you know what I mean.”

In fact, I did know what he meant. Sometimes having casual conversation that didn’t revolve around the life you currently walked was often a very nice thing to have.

“I completely understand what you mean.” I replied with a sigh, “I have some guy issues at home and I also found out that my father went behind my back and made sure that I didn’t get into any of the Ivy League schools that I had applied for, just to be able to make sure that I came here.”

Mouth formed and O as his eyes widened in shock at what I had said, “That is definitely something to be upset about. Why on earth would your dad do something like that? Does he not know how wonderful it is to be accepted into a prestigious school?”

“I don’t know. My father and I’s relationship has been strained for a long time, and it just seems like he wants things his way and doesn’t really take into consideration anything that I want.”

Caleb nodded his head thinking over what I had just said, “I am familiar with the person that your dad is. He is known around the town for being a very aggressive businessman and his godsons, I believe are not much better than he is.”

I was confused at his response and wondered where it came from. I didn’t realize that there was a possibility that Caleb could, in fact, know the boys and my father, although it would make sense if he had lived in this town for quite some time.

“Did you grow up here?”

Caleb’s smirk crossed his face as he slowly nodded his head, “I did actually. I went to school with Damian. We ended up graduating a year apart. I graduated ahead of him. But he was definitely known to be a very extreme kind of person while we were in school.”

“What do you mean extreme? I mean, he is a bit of an a s s h o l e, but at the same time, I’m sure it’s just all the stress that causes him to be that way.”

I didn’t want to think of the fact that Damian was a complete d i c k his entire life. Part of me wanted to believe that he could be a soft, sweet, and gentlemanly. That he was simply stressed with all the work and everything else that came with taking over a pack. So they call it. I didn’t understand what it all entailed or what his life really was like, but I wanted to find out eventually.

“Well, they just aren’t normal like the rest of us. I guess you could say.”

Caleb’s statement had me wondering if he knew exactly what they were. I had learned that there were a lot of people in this town who were actually part of the pack Damien controlled. I figured that Caleb more than likely wasn’t one of those, but it didn’t mean that as a human he didn’t know.

I wanted to ask him but again, I knew it wasn’t for me to mention something like that, and if he didn’t know about that, I didn’t want him to think that I was crazy. Because honestly, I felt crazy 100% of the time and I already knew the truth.

“Well, how normal could they actually be? I’ve learned quite fast when I got here that most of them were as far from normal as possible.”

“Oh, so they told you their secret, did they? Well, as much as the majority of humans don’t seem to believe in certain things, I think it’s pretty obvious that at the end of the day, we are what we are. No matter what DNA says.”

Shock filled me, his words were almost as if it was a confession. I wanted to ask him, but I didn’t want to intrude. Could the man in front of me be more than what he was? Was he like the rest of them?

“Are you a—” I started but quickly pulled back on my conversation. I was acting s t u p i d. There was no way that Caleb was a werewolf. He didn’t act like the others at all.

“A werewolf?” He finished with a sly grin across his lips, “why yes, Ivy. I am.”