4. Orion

Chapter 4

Orion

I 'm in the shower when I hear the knock on the door. I managed to pick up the steaks shortly after Calista left the store earlier this morning.

Hastily, I wrap a towel around myself. The only person who would actually knock on the door is Evander, the pack's beta, who is still weirdly formal with me even though he's been my boss for years. I shake my head, getting some of the moisture out of my hair.

"One second!" I call to him.

I drag on a pair of shorts and head to the door, not bothering with a shirt. I pull it open, shaking my head. "Evander, you know it's weird when you?—"

I blink. Evander's not on my doorstep. It's someone else.

Dark eyes. Dark hair. A tall, athletic build.

Calista.

"Um." She looks away. "Is this a bad time?"

Shit. I look down at my chest and then back up at her.

"Stay there," I say. "One second. Just don't move."

I run back to my bedroom and grab the first shirt I see. I don't care if it's clean or dirty, I just want to be easily available.

Every moment feels like it's taking forever. Every minute that I'm not in front of her, it feels like she's going to disappear.

Tugging it on, I rush back to the door. To my relief, Calista is still there.

She looks me over again, and I swear I can feel the heat of her gaze through the fabric.

"I was in the shower," I say.

Duh, Orion.

"I gathered that," Calista responds with a little tilt of her lips. "So… is it a bad time?"

"No." I move so I'm not standing in the doorway. "Come on in."

"Okay." She brushes by me as she walks past, and her smell, that blend of vanilla and cinnamon, overwhelms me.

It goes straight to my cock.

I follow her, hoping she doesn't look back to notice me adjusting myself. I haven't been with anyone since she left, and that hasn't been a problem for me.

Until now.

"This is a nice place, Orion," she murmurs.

The compliment hits something primal in me. She likes your home. It makes me want to growl with satisfaction.

"Thank you," I manage to grit out. It's low and gravelly.

She turns to look back at me, her eyebrow raised. "Are you sure this is a good time? You seem…"

"I'm fine," I cut her off. I take a deep breath and try to clear my throat slightly. "What can I help you with, Calista?"

She bites her lip, and the motion makes blood leave my brain completely. She nods "I… Um… I was hoping we could…"

There are so many ways that I want that sentence to end. I was hoping we could talk about what happened. I was hoping we could chat. I was hoping we could make out on your couch.

Yeah. I need to get a reality check real quick because those things are not going to happen.

"Amara's house flooded. The trees destroyed her plumbing, and so I don't have anywhere to stay," she finally blurts. "I'm leaving. Tomorrow."

My ears start ringing. Leaving.

She can't leave. I just got her back.

"I just didn't want you to think I stood you up for coffee," she says quietly.

I blink. Questions ricochet through my mind. It feels so sudden but familiar.

We've been here before, that's for sure.

"I'm sorry," she whispers, looking to the side. "I… I should go. I need to pack."

"Do you want to go?"

It feels like, out of all the questions that I could ask, that one makes the least amount of sense. Of course she wants to go. She doesn't live here, after all. She's just visiting. There's nothing that would keep her here, and if she's here to see Amara, they probably have done all the visiting they need.

I should ask any other question. Such as why did you leave?

But that's not the one that I ask, all the same.

Calista blinks at me. "Um. I guess not, but I don't really have another option."

"I have somewhere for you to stay."

She flushes, a pretty blush climbing up her cheeks, and looks around. "Orion, I don't think I should stay here with you."

Oh. "I have somewhere else." She tilts her head and looks at me, and I shrug. "I've been buying properties around Oakwood. Vacation rentals. For tourists or… visitors to the pack. I have one that's empty. You can stay there."

She shifts. "That's really kind, but I…"

"Free of charge. There's no one in it, and it would just become a battleground between me and the spiders," I say quickly.

"This is a really generous offer," she says slowly. "I'm not sure… Why are you offering this?"

"I don't want you to have to rush. We can have our date tomorrow, catch up, and you can take your time finishing your visit with… all your friends in Oakwood. Most of the pack came with us to Colorado after Alaska."

There. That seems neutral. Her hesitation was clearly around money, so taking that out of the equation should help. The money doesn't matter to me. I was going to just take the loss on that one for the next month until it's booked again, but the thought of seeing her go so quickly? It's killing me.

The idea that she might be struggling with money, though, makes something inside me feel deeply unsettled.

Calista smooths her hair back, a gesture that I know she does when she's nervous, and I hold my breath. Finally, she nods. "Okay. If I can stay just for a couple of days, that would be really… nice."

I want to beat my chest and howl with triumph. Instead, I smile. "Let's get you settled."

Calista follows me out, and I feel a sense of relief.

She's staying. It might just be one extra day or an extra week, but the weird feeling I have of the past repeating itself is gone.

This time, at least, she's staying.

The next morning, I decide to head over to the rental a little early. I have a huge bouquet of ranunculus, which I know Calista likes, and I'm wearing the nicest pair of jeans that I own.

I want to look good.

I know that we had agreed to meet at the Oakwood Cafe at noon, but I can't help myself. I want to pick her up and take her there, so I'm aiming to be at the rental about forty-five minutes prior to that. I decided last night to go all out and try to make this the best damn coffee date that there's ever been.

I begged the universe for more time with her. I'm not going to just throw that chance away.

After I showed Calista the rental, I had to hustle to make dinner with my mom. I rushed through it, trying to keep her questions to a minimum, and eventually ended up saying that I had a headache so that I could leave early. I couldn't sleep and decided late last night that I would pick her up to take her on our date.

Date.

My palms sweat as I grip the steering wheel of my truck. What if Calista doesn't think it's a date? What if this freaks her out?

When the rental pulls into view, I've run the gauntlet of worst-case scenarios in my mind.

I'm only left with one thought.

You have to impress her.

It's a call to action. I grab the bouquet of flowers, careful not to crush their delicate stems, and open my door.

The rental is one of my earliest purchases. I own both of the units in this little duplex, which is far enough from the main stretch of Oakwood to be quiet and feel relatively isolated. There's a cute little wooden bridge that goes over a babbling brook in the front yard, and I note with satisfaction that the patch job I did on the railing seems to be holding up well.

Flowers in hand, I ring the doorbell. I have to make a conscious effort not to crush the stems of the flowers with my hands.

"One second!" I hear Calista call. There are some other sounds before I hear the lock snap, and the door squeaks open.

I hold out the flowers. "Morning! Glad I caught you before you left!"

Calista's eyes go from shocked to terrified in seconds. "Orion," she says, stepping forward and closing the door slightly behind her. "What are you doing here?"

I look her over. She's still in her pajamas, but her dark hair is wet like she just got out of the shower.

"I wanted to bring you these," I say, offering her the flowers. "I thought I could take us over to the cafe together."

Her eyes flicker with something other than fear for a brief second. "They're beautiful, thank you, but um, I wanted to ask if we could reschedule…"

My heart trips. Does she have someone over? She never said she was here with another male, but I never asked.

"Mommy!" a voice shrieks.

I blink. Where is a kid's voice coming from? There's not another house nearby, and I don't think the renters in the other unit have a kid…

Calista tucks her hair behind her ear, and my heart sinks.

"Calista?"

"Look, I didn't tell you, but I have a daughter," she says in a hushed voice. "I… I was going to tell you today."

It takes a minute for the words to sink in. "A daughter?"

All I can do is repeat the words. They feel so strange on my tongue.

"Yeah. I didn't want for you to find out like this?—"

"And her father?" I interrupt.

I can't help it, and my tone is much sharper than I meant it to be.

Calista braces herself, her eyes hardening. "We aren't together."

Okay.

I tamp down the mistrust that's racing through me. So, she didn't tell me she had a kid. I haven't exactly caught her up on the last five years, either.

"I… Amara was going to watch her, but something happened with the plumber, and now she can't, so… I have to cancel," she finishes. "I'm sorry. It's okay if you don't want us to stay here?—"

"Calista." She looks up at me, eyes wide. I want to reach out and hold her hand or do something to just… touch her. To reassure her.

Instead, I speak. "I'm not upset. It's been a long time. There's… stuff that's happened for both of us, in both of our lives, and that's…" I stop.

I don't want to lie and say that it doesn't matter. I would have loved to know about her daughter. I would rather have stayed in touch than just have been strangers like this.

"It's in the past," I say. Calista is watching me closely, and I give her what I hope is a reassuring smile. "I just want to see you. If today doesn't work, that's okay. You and your daughter can stay here for as long as you need."

She smooths her hair behind her ears. "Are you sure?"

I wish things were different, and I could tell her that I regret whatever happened to put this distance between us. But more than anything, I don't want her to run again.

"I'm sure." I nod. "And I'd love to meet her, if you?—"

"I don't introduce her to males," she says sharply.

I hold up my hands. "Okay. No problem. Thanks for letting me know. I'll talk to you later, then." I try to smile. Clearly, I overstepped, and I can take a hint.

This time, I'm not going to do anything that would make her run.

I step back, ready to turn, when I hear Calista sigh. "Wait."

I turn.

She studies me, her dark brown eyes assessing. I stand still, trying to hold on to an easy, neutral stance. Don't run, Calista. Please.

Finally, she gives me a brief nod. "Amara can watch her tonight. Can I raincheck you for then?"

My heart skips. "I will take any raincheck you want."

"So that's a yes?" Her eyebrows lift, some of the worry disappearing.

My smile is genuine. "It's a yes, Calista."

"Okay. Um. Your house?"

It's better than I could have hoped for. "I'll make dinner."

"Cool. Um. I'll… see you tonight," she says.

"It's a date."

I turn, deciding to take my win and go. I make it to the truck door before I hear her call my name. "Orion?"

It's not fair that after all these years, it can still give me goosebumps when she says my name. I turn.

Calista smiles. "Thank you for the flowers."

The door shuts, and she disappears.

I take a breath, settling my nerves.

None of this is going the way I would have wanted it to. I never wanted Calista to leave. I wanted her to be my mate. I wanted to have children with her, and most of all, I never wanted this strange, ugly distance between us.

You can't change the past. You can only accept it.

The affirmation helps.

As I start my truck, the distance that was once too large between us feels just that much smaller. Even though everything between us is wrong, the promise of dinner feels right.

Calista, in any capacity, always feels right.

I spend the whole day trying to get ready for dinner.

Ingredients are purchased. More flowers are obtained. I clean, even though I'm a fairly clean person. I want everything to be perfect.

I have so many questions about Calista and her daughter. I'm dying to know who the father is. Why they're not together. Why she was so curt when I asked.

If this male somehow harmed her…

I shake the thought. I need to let Calista set the pace between us. I need to prove to her that I'm worth her trust again. That whatever reason she had for leaving before, doesn't exist anymore.

I just want her in my life again.

When the doorbell finally rings, I take a deep breath before opening.

"You're right on time," I say, a smile plastered on my face.

When I see Calista on my porch, the smile slides off, replaced by sheer shock.

She looks amazing. Her long legs look like they never end. She's wearing a blue dress that buttons down the front, with short straps on top that show off her arms and a lot of skin right at her chest…

I look away. Don't be a creep . "You look great," I manage to grunt.

"Thanks," she says softly.

"Come in," I say.

She slides past me, and her scent hits me in the gut again. Somehow, with Calista, I feel like I'm always living the same story, over and over again. Everything about her feels right, familiar, and perfect.

Even though there's so much that's gone wrong between us.

She walks into my house for the second time in recent memory, and I take a second to just marvel at the fact that Calista is here, in my space, again.

This time, though, I hope she'll stay a little longer.

I shut the door behind her. "I picked us up some stuff from the store. I hope you still like steak and that pasta salad from the deli. They kept the same menu after the pack relocated."

Calista gives a light, if nervous, laugh. "I can't believe you remembered that."

"How could I forget?" I smile. "You were obsessed with it."

"Hey, it's good!" she laughs, genuinely this time.

So far, this is going well, and I start to relax. "Do you want something to drink? I have water, some soda…"

"Do you still make those great whisky sours?"

I pause. Of course I still mix a mean whisky sour. But I didn't think it was going to be that type of a date. I look at Calista. "I can make one of those. If you want," I add.

She nods, tucking her hair behind an ear. "Yes, please."

I head over to the bar to start mixing.

"So, how long have you lived on your own?" I hear Calista ask from the living room behind me.

"Oh, about four years now."

"How did your mom feel about that?"

I grimace. "She wasn't pleased."

"But you did it, anyway?"

There's a strange, bitter note in her voice. I turn back, the cocktail shaker in my hand. "Yeah. It was kind of a matter of necessity," I say.

I study her, trying to read her reaction. She looks… angry.

I'm about to open my mouth and ask why when there's a knock on the door. Calista's eyes widen, and they shoot to me. "Are you expecting anyone?"

My heart sinks, and a knot forms in my stomach. "No," I growl.

There's only one person who likes to stop by my house unannounced in the evenings.

I stomp to the door, my mood darkening as I go. When I open the door, my fears are confirmed.

"Mom," I say, my voice low. "What are you doing here?"

My mom blinks at me. "Well, that's no greeting for your mother! I was just driving by, and I saw Amara's truck out front, so I wanted to see what was…" Her voice trails off.

She's staring at Calista, who I guess moved behind me.

"What in the hell is she doing here?" my mom says from between clenched teeth.

I step back. "You remember Calista. She's in town, visiting Amara."

My mother stiffens. "And you'd let her back in? After all she's done to you?"

Behind me, I hear Calista suck in a breath. She shuffles on her feet.

I turn. I don't know why, but I reassure her. "It's okay," I say softly.

Calista shakes her head. "I guess it isn't a good time. I'll just go," she murmurs.

No. She's going to run.

The fury that I usually manage to keep carefully contained about my mother's meddling boils over.

I turn on her, blocking Calista from her view. "Mom. That was incredibly rude."

"Rude? Rude is disappearing on you five years ago...."

"Mother!" I shout, shutting off the tirade I can see coming.

My mom's jaw snaps shut.

I clench my teeth. "Calista is a guest. She is a friend. Mostly, she is someone who I want in my house, and in my life, right now. You don't get to be rude to my guest. And driving by my house? Coming over when you saw someone's car here? It's creepy," I snap.

My mother blinks. "Orion, this is no way to speak…"

"I am not a child. I am a grown man. Leave me alone," I bark.

Her eyes narrow, then start to water. "How dare…"

Nope. I am not falling for it this time. "Get. Out," I snap.

I can see my mother squirming. Her eyes scour my face, darting over me. I can see that she's genuinely upset and searching for something to say.

Normally, I'd cave and try to make her feel better. It's the best option, because otherwise she'll sulk for days.

But not today. Today, she crossed a line.

My mother will absolutely not be the reason Calista runs from me.

"We'll talk about your behavior later," she seethes.

She turns, and I wait until I see her drive away before I shut the door.

I turn back, take a deep breath, and then paste a smile on my face.

"That was weird. I'm sorry. Please don't leave," I say.

Calista's eyes widen slightly. She seems to think, looking at me, then at the door.

Finally, she nods. "I think you were in the middle of making me a drink."

I want to sag with relief. "I think I was."

"Let's get two, and then we'll talk?"

My smile widens. "I'd like nothing more."