Broken Bond

Chapter 4

VANESSA

Here’s the thing- I don’t give out my phone number to guys.

Ever.So imagine my surprise when I was stocking the coolers at work this morning and my phone vibrated against the bar top with an incoming text message from Callum Conway.

His number wasn’t saved in my phone, but I immediately knew the message was from him, and it didn’t take long for me to figure out how he got ahold of my digits.

The sneaky devil must’ve sent himself a text from my phone when he was checking out my music last night.

If it were anybody else, I’d probably be annoyed with the underhanded way he went about getting my number, but instead I found myself smiling down at my phone, heart pounding as I considered how to respond.

Exchanging messages is harmless, right? At least that’s what I kept telling myself as we texted back and forth all morning while I smiled down at my phone like a fool.

I might’ve gotten away with it, too, if I wasn’t working the same shift as my best friend.

Vienna knows I don’t give my number out, so she was baffled by the fact that I was so caught up in texting with Callum, and honestly, same.

All of this is so foreign to me, but there’s just something about Cal.

He’s bold without being sleazy.

Clever without being cliché.

And for the first time, I'm...curious.

A lot of girls my age date around, Vienna included, but I never have.

She thinks I’m crazy, and she’s said as much when I’ve turned down dates or refuted advances from good-looking, smooth -talking guys that other girls would jump at the chance to go out with.

Call me a hopeless romantic, but I’ve never seen the point of dating or getting close to someone when I have a fated mate out there somewhere waiting for me.

Humans talk about soulmates, but in shifter culture, finding that person is a very real possibility.

Once we turn eighteen, every full moon presents a chance for us to find them.

Our packs shift and run together under the light of the moon, and if you’re lucky enough to be in the proximity of your fated mate on one of those nights, you’ll feel it- the pull.

My parents say it’s like an irresistible force that draws you to your mate, and once you lay eyes on one another, BAM! The bond snaps into place.

Even though all of us have a fated mate out there, not everyone is lucky enough to find theirs.

Statistically, less than half of us will actually find them and get to experience that magical fated mate bond, but I’m an optimist.

My parents are fated mates, and I’ve seen how deep that connection goes.

They really are two halves of a whole.

I want that for myself, and I’ll hold out as long as I have to in order to find my other half.

Which is why it’s so out of character for me to be acting the way I am right now, carefully applying my makeup and straightening my hair, changing my clothes five times before settling on an outfit that screams casual, yet sexy.

I’m nervous.I don’t get nervous around guys.

What the hell has gotten into me?

"It’s not too late to back out, you know,"

Vienna sighs from the doorway of my bedroom, and I’m not sure if it’s due to her own apprehension or if she’s sensing mine.

I know she’s just as anxious about seeing Chase tonight, but she’s gone the opposite way of me, putting minimal effort into her hair, makeup, and attire.

She's trying to send the message that she doesn’t care enough to dress up for him, but I think she looks even more beautiful when she goes casual and lets her natural beauty shine through.

If the Alpha has designs on playing it aloof with her again tonight, he doesn’t stand a chance.I shake my head as I cross the room to Vienna.

"Nice try,"

I laugh, snatching her by the arm and threading mine through the crook of her elbow.

"We’re doing this."

"But it's like ten degrees outside," she grumbles as I pull her toward the staircase.

"Let it go, Vee.The cold never bothered me anyway."

She stops in her tracks, hitting me with a dubious stare and raising a brow at my Disney reference.

"Frozen? Really, Ness?" I giggle, starting down the stairs and yanking her with me.

"It’s Mia’s favorite right now."

Her lips pull into a smile at the mention of my four-year-old sister.

over here often enough that she’s basically a member of the family, and my littlest sister Mia has

happened to her Little Mermaid obsession?" she queries as she follows me down the

wave of a

is." I bound down the rest of the stairs, stepping over to the front door and calling out to my mom as I slide my

"I’m heading out!"

back instantly, her voice carrying

question where I’m going.She knows I'll be responsible and come home at a decent hour, because that’s what I’ve always done.Plus, I’m nineteen, so

head

asks as we make our way toward her car

giving her

trying to get out

and drop into the seat, rattling with a hollow, tinny sound as

car is a hunk of junk, but I'l] never say that out loud

it with her own money, so even if it feels like a rolling death trap, I’ll act like we’re

a groan and we pull away from the curb, heading out of town and toward Norbury’s

to our own territory of

time for Vienna to give me the third degree about Callum once again when my phone lights up with an incoming text message that I

You still coming?

just don’t

her

mean, Cal? Out of

you’re reading into it so much," I reply with a casual shrug of my shoulders.I resist the urge to pick up my phone and text him back, knowing that Vee will see it as me

even

suddenly texting him like it’s a thing?"

only one making it into

in the thigh of my black jeans, my fingers itching to

here tonight so you can

bonfire sounded fun,"

the hundredth time."She’s quiet for a moment, but I can practically hear the gears turning in her head

laugh, swatting at Vee’s arm

either, Vee.You can’t judge a book by its

you should, if the cover gives you the heebie

giving into the urge to pick up my phone

for the rest of the

tension between her and Chase, and I think she’s nervous about seeing him again after the

with some girl, and Vee practically dragged me out of the packhouse like it was on fire immediately after, like she couldn’t bear to be under the same roof

that’s not jealousy, I

a bunch of other cars at the side of a forest road deep in Norbury’s territory, climbing out and trudging through the trees while allowing the

glow of the fire comes into view up ahead, and I can feel the tension rolling off Vienna in waves, making me second guess whether it was the right decision to

the funk she’s been in

back ina big wooden chair, his long legs

his hood, giving his grin this eerie,

hot at my back, a

"Ladies,"

me out of my temporary trance when he reappears with a bottle

take it, curling my fingers around the

my attention back to Cal, and I snap my gaze back to him as he nods to the empty bench beside his

fan of being whistled at, but I find myself blindly following his command, reaching for Vee’s hand to drag her with me over to the bench.I sink down onto it, Vienna taking the spot

he doesn't say anything, the tension of his silence causing a knot of anxiety to form in my gut.It’s silly that I’m nervous- he invited me tonight, after all.He clearly wanted me

"You made it,"

voice seeping inside me and unraveling the tightness in

his eyes are already on me, focused

his hood that only a sliver of his blue-green irises are visible.I part my lips to respond, but my breath gets caught somewhere in my throat when he suddenly reaches out to take the bottle of beer from my hand, his fingers brushing mine and sending a zip of electricity running through my body.I barely conceal my flinch, watching as he brings the beer

sip from the bottle.I’m not much of a beer drinker, but right now, I’d

once I swallow it down and

Callum shrugs.

drinker." I narrow my eyes on him

me last night. Straight vodka, was

murmurs, his gaze sliding from me and lingering on the fire, the reflection

it.Most of

Chase passes him a joint.He takes it between his fingers, raising it to

saying about keeping a clear head?" I tease, eyeing the joint

slowly as he coughs out the

off," he explains, holding it out to

sink my teeth into the cushion of my lower lip, giving a

dip to my mouth, then travel

aren’t you?" he asks in that deep, rumbling voice of his,

eyes trained

what if

and takes another hit

wrong with that.Just trying to get a read on you." He exhales

twitch into a smirk as I watch

guess, you’re a bad boy

meet mine and he grins menacingly, running

"The worst, babe."

I don’t hate

like he’s daring me to be the first