“You haven’t been there all this time, have you?”

“Aye. As your soon-to-be mate, I’m protecting you.”

She smiled. Her head was still tender, but she felt much better, her lupus garou genetics kicking in to heal the mild injury more rapidly than a human’s could. “So what happened while I was sleeping?”

Guthrie came to sit on the bed next to her. “Logan was upset that he wasn’t able to stop Baird before he got to the keep and injured you, so he waited in his wolf form, watching the back gate and lingering there in case Baird managed to escape.”

“None of the humans saw him shift or wearing his wolf coat, did they?”

“Nay. Ian spoke with him and told him how dangerous that could have been, both if any of our visitors had seen him and if Baird had confronted him. Even though Logan insisted he had bigger teeth than Baird at the time, so he would have been fine.”

“Yeah, but there were more than one of them. He should have known that. They could have seen Logan. Killed him. He’s just lucky you followed him.”

“Aye. The kid’s a good tracker, though. He stayed out of sight and downwind of them. But Ian counseled him soundly—and the other boys also because they were eating Logan’s story up.”

She frowned at Guthrie. “What could Baird and the others with him have done that they need me back so badly?”

“We don’t know. His brother Vardon said they should never have listened to this scheme of Baird’s. We just have to figure out what scheme that is.”

Chapter 16

At dinnertime, Guthrie had asked if Calla wanted to eat in her room, but she declined. She wasn’t really even hungry, but she wanted everyone to know she was fine. She took her place beside Guthrie in the great hall, beginning to feel like that truly was her place, as many times as she’d sat there now. Many of the pack members came to wish her well and apologized for not taking better care to see that Baird was stopped, word having quickly spread throughout the pack. She was trying really hard not tear up at all the kindness they’d shown her.

Guthrie was talking to Duncan about one of the sword reenactments, simulating a movie scene, when her phone rang.

She glanced at the caller ID. Baird? She couldn’t believe it. Then again, if he was facing serious backlash from his pack because she had left him, she could understand it to some extent.

Her temple throbbed as if in sympathy. She ignored his call and turned the phone on vibrate. He called again. And again. She couldn’t quit thinking about what he’d said—that he couldn’t live without her. She had thought he meant he couldn’t live without her because he cherished her so much, but the conversation that Logan and Guthrie had heard seemed to imply that Baird and his kin really would be dead without her.

No matter what he’d done, she wasn’t going back to him, ever. He’d dug his own grave.

Still, curiosity overwhelmed her. She hated this. Hated that he wouldn’t let her go. When the phone rang again, she leaned over to Guthrie, who was still speaking to his brother, and said, “I’ve got to take this. Be right back.”

He looked up at her questioningly and saw the phone in her hand.

“I’ve got to take this call. Be a couple of minutes.” Then she hurried out of the great hall, noticing that a number of eyes were on her. She stalked through the kitchen to the door that led outside.

As soon as she stepped outside, she realized she should have grabbed a coat. “What do you want, Baird?” she asked, standing in the cold. Maybe if she just talked to him, she could get him to tell her the truth about what was going on with him and his pack. And how that involved her.

“I want you back. I’ve told you so and I’ll keep telling you so.”

“You have to be crazy! After you struck me?”

“I didn’t want to do that to you, Calla. You know I never would have if I hadn’t needed to protect myself.”

“You thought I’d—”

“Bite me? The thought crossed my mind when you were stripping out of your clothes and I assumed you had no intention of making love to me.” He paused dramatically. “I’ve been quiet up to now about this, and I didn’t want to mention it to you because it’s not your fault, but I’ve run into a bit of a financial problem and—”

“That’s why you wanted to marry me?” she asked, furious. So it truly did have nothing to do with wanting her for a mate.

“Nay. That’s not all, love,” Baird quickly said. “I still want you. But you see, I’ve got to call in a substantial loan and well, if you came back to me, I wouldn’t have to do it.”

“So you do need my money.” She couldn’t believe it! “Did you borrow your pack’s money without their knowledge? And someone has learned of it, and you’re in deep trouble?” A pack leader couldn’t just take the pack’s savings and do whatever he wanted with them.

“Nay. Hear me out,” he said, sounding irritated. “If I call in the loan, I’ll have plenty of money. But it’s not about that.” Again, he hesitated.

“If you don’t need my money, I don’t understand what this has to do with me.” Or his pack wanting him dead.

“Just this, love. If you don’t agree to be my mate, I can’t hold off on this any longer.” He waited for a heartbeat. Then when she didn’t respond, he said, “Just don’t expect much in the line of Christmas presents from your parents this year.” The phone clicked dead in her ear.

Her thoughts were swirling. What did Baird mean by that? Her parents had borrowed money from him? Her heart skipping beats, she immediately tried calling her father, but she punched the wrong button in her haste and had to try again.

“Calla?” her dad said.

“Dad, I got a call from Baird. He says he needs to call in a loan he lent to—”

“That bastard. He said he’d wait until we could get our finances together.”

Her skin chilling with anxiety, she felt her stomach twisting into knots. “Why did you borrow from him? I thought you were doing well.” She realized then that over the past year she’d been so busy getting her own business operational, with the move and all, that she hadn’t paid attention to how it was going for her parents. They’d always done well with their hotels, so she’d never given it any thought.