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.

only child, while I’m the oldest of seven.She’s over here often enough that she’s basically a member of the family, and

Mermaid obsession?" she queries as she follows me

was last week," I say with the wave of a hand, glancing back at

of the stairs, stepping over to the front door and calling

"I’m heading out!"

my mom calls back instantly, her

I’ve never given her a reason not to trust me, so she doesn’t give me the third degree or question where I’m going.She knows I'll be responsible and come home at a decent hour, because that’s what

head to the

asks as we make our way toward her car at the curb, snow crunching underneath our

laugh, giving her

to get out of

into the

never say that out loud because I

so even if it feels like a rolling death trap, I’ll act like we’re riding in luxury

and we pull away from the curb, heading out of town

our own territory of Riverton, so the

enough 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 can’t help but

still coming?

just don’t

grumbles, shaking her head

mean, Cal? Out of

the urge to pick up my phone and text him back, knowing that Vee will see it

even know

you suddenly texting him like it’s a

not a thing.You’re the only one making it

of my black jeans, my fingers itching to reach for it.Vienna shoots me a dubious side-eyed

you're not dragging me out here tonight so you can

bonfire sounded fun," I say

with Mia for the hundredth time."She’s quiet for a moment, but I can practically hear the gears turning in her head before she finally mumbles, "he just gives me the

laugh, swatting at Vee’s arm with

him either, Vee.You can’t judge

you should, if the cover

the urge to pick up my phone and reply to

way! Vienna is suspiciously quiet for the rest of the drive, but

her and Chase, and I think she’s nervous

on fire immediately after, like she couldn’t bear to be under the same roof while he was hooking

that’s not jealousy, I

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

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

told myself this was for her, to bust her out of the funk she’s been in lately,

long legs spread and his dark

his grin this eerie, ominous

my back, a shiver races down

"Ladies,"

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

I take it, curling my fingers around the cold neck

back

fan of being whistled at, but I find myself blindly following his command, reaching for Vee’s hand to drag her

causing a knot of anxiety to form in my gut.It’s silly that I’m nervous- he

"You made it,"

utters, the deep timbre of his voice seeping inside me and unraveling the tightness in the pit

his eyes

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

much of a beer drinker, but right now, I’d benefit from loosening up

I ask once I swallow it down and notice that he’s

Callum shrugs.

I narrow my eyes on

fooled me last night.

an anomaly," he murmurs, his gaze sliding from me and lingering on

off and I needed it.Most of

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

that you were saying about keeping a clear head?" I tease, eyeing the joint and

slowly as he

explains, holding it out to me in

want?" I sink my teeth into the cushion of my lower

my mouth, then travel back up to

asks in that deep, rumbling voice of his, and my heart beats a little faster,

keep my eyes trained on his, arching a

what if I

softly to himself and takes another hit of the joint

that.Just trying to get a read on you." He exhales the smoke toward the fire, sinking

a smirk as I watch him, the picture of a

guess, you’re a bad boy

meet mine and he grins menacingly, running his tongue over his straight

"The worst, babe."

pet names, but surprisingly, I don’t hate the way it sounds rolling

he’s daring me to be the first