Page 75 of Pretty Little Shadow
"Hello?" I called out, my gaze flicking around the foyer. From the outside, the house looked extremely modern and uncomfortable, but the inside was decorated to look warm and cozy.
Callum appeared in the doorway of a room down the hall. He nodded once in greeting as a curly blonde wolf came padding out behind him with a massive yawn.
She headed straight to me.
I debated running for the door, but decided not to.
"Sable says she'll only shift back after you pet her," Callum informed me. His eyes narrowed when he saw what I was holding. "Is that from Kat's café? Did she ask for that? I told her I could get another cake."
"Darius said I had to try it with the latte," I lied.
Callum seemed to believe me. "Alright. Both of our mates have already warned me to stay out of your way, so you have nothing to fear."
With that, he disappeared into his office.
I set my drink and Kat's cake slice on a decorative table nearby just as the gigantic wolf reached me. I scratched behind Sable's ears, and she wagged her tail furiously, snuggling up close to me.
After a minute or two, she let out a sound that almost resembled a sigh. Then she licked my hands a few times—I tried not to wrinkle my nose—and stepped away.
She trotted back to the room her and Callum had emerged from. I wiped my hands on my shorts and grabbed the drink and cake again just as Kat stepped out. I'd never met her in person, but the pictures of her all over the news ensured that I knew what she looked like.
Her mass of blonde curls was up in a wild bun that tilted slightly to the side. She wore neon pink yoga shorts and a cropped white t-shirt. Her eyes were bright, her light skin tanned from the sun, and her smile was wide. "Hey. Sorry about Sable, she's a pain in my ass. I'm Kat."
"Nice to officially meet you, I guess." I strode down the hallway, hoping I looked more confident than I felt.
Her smile widened. "Yeah. Thanks for coming."
My gaze flicked to the room her and Callum had come from when I passed it. One of the doors stood open, and I realized it was an office.
Callum lifted a hand as we passed, and Kat called out, "Come find me if the pain gets too bad!"
"I'll be fine," he called back.
She rolled her eyes at me. "He likes to pretend the pain doesn't drive him insane when we're apart."
"I can still hear you, Kitten."
Kat held up a finger.
I waited.
She went back to the office, made a face at her mate, and shut the door.
Her cheeks were flushed as she turned back to me, and she fanned her face as she led me down the hall again. We passed a gigantic kitchen and a few other rooms on our way to another office.
This office held a huge desk with two computers on it, and two desk chairs. There was chocolateeverywhere. Truffles, candy bars, brownies, cookies, and everything else I could think of, all of it packaged neatly or labeled with the name of some kind of shop.
"Callum and I work in the same office most of the time," Kat explained. "It's easy for me to leave my feet on his lap or touching his while we're together so he doesn't have to deal with the pain. We just take turns so neither of us is constantly trapped in the other person's space, though I don't think either of us would really mind that."
She was still flushed.
I eyed her. "Are you okay?"
"Oh, yeah. He just said something suggestive through the bond earlier to tease me. It affects me more when I'm nearing heat. I get extra horny. It's kind of fun, but also a pain."
"Is the mate bond weird?" I asked her.
"A little. I think it would be weirder for me if I wasn't a werewolf, but I already have Sable inside my head. Merrily didn't really like it at first, but her and Grayson barely liked each other when they sealed their bond. Liv and Niall have been obsessed with the bond since the beginning, but they were together for years before they found out they were mates."
