Confidence In A Mate [Cackle Lands 2]

Chapter 2

Table of content

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Cree’s other books

About the author

CHAPTER 1

“Cal you can’t go to Thornridge by yourself, and you know it.” Miller argued removing the shirt Cal had just put in his backpack.

Cal continued to place items in his backpack, calmly saying, “I can, and I am. Now go play pattycake with Or and leave me alone.”

“Damn it Cal, you are not completely healed, and even if you were… which you are not… you still would be no match against Patrice and her army. You know that. Why are you being so stubborn?” Miller practically shouted removing Cal’s brush and pants, and putting them back in the dresser.

Cal tossed his toothbrush and toothpaste into his backpack and turned to Miller, “Because I owe them!”

“Cal, what the hell are you talking about? You owe them what?” Miller asked in frustration, taking Cal’s toothbrush out of the bag.

Cal snapped, “Will you stop taking things out of my damn backpack!”

“No! Now answer my question.” Miller demanded.

Cal went to the dresser and took the pants out that Miller had put back. Turning to Miller, Cal said, “Sometimes I think you forget that we are only half-brothers.”

“Maybe because I don’t think of you that way. To me, you’re my brother. End of story.” Miller softly replied.

Cal sat on the end of the bed, holding his pants and just looking at them, whispering, “I wish I could. Don’t get me wrong Miller, I would die to save your life, but I am still only half your brother. We have the same dad but our moms are two different people. Your mom is sweet, loving, and kind. Mine is cold, heartless, and just plain evil. Hell, I don’t even call that b***h mom—I call her Patrice.”

“Cal…”

“No, Milly. You have to listen to me.” Cal said then shrugged his shoulders and looked at Miller, knowing his heartbreak was there for anyone to see and in his voice for anyone to hear, “Patrice tossed me away because I wasn’t going to give her the Alpha position. Dad has always shown me his love. I mean, I know that if you and I were in danger he would save you over me…”

“Cal…”

Shrugging, Cal said, “It’s okay, Milly. You are the result of a true mated couple. It was all explained to me…in great detail, joy and candor, by Cass, a long time ago…but it’s okay. Dad never made me feel that way. He was always there. And your mom… s**t, not one day did she ever make me feel as if I didn’t belong in the family.”

“Cal, of course you belong in the family.” Miller said, sitting next to Cal on the bed.

Cal shrugged again, whispering, “Maybe, but she didn’t have to treat me as if I was one of her own. We don’t even have a blood bond. The thought of our parents in that ground about kills me.

I have to do something.”

“And we will, just not yet. Cal, I’m just as upset as you are that they have been in that hellhole for half a year and we had no clue. However, the timing needs to be right. The plan has to be right. Patrice has some of the best guards in all the cackle lands. If we go in there in the wrong way, all that will happen is that we will die, and our parents will still be where they are or worse…dead.” Miller whispered.

Cal sniffled, saying, “Dad has to be going insane. He was an enforcer for the cackle, and now he is in an underground cell. s**t, dad ran fifty miles every day, Milly. He never stayed still a moment except when he was sleeping, or mom made him.”

Miller sighed, “I know.”

Cal laid his head on Miller’s shoulder, “I hate this.”

“Me too, Cal. Me too.” Miller softly replied.

“What are we going to do, Milly?” Cal asked, sniffling and wiping away a tear.

Miller put his arm around Cal, whispering, “I don’t know, but we will figure it out. Or and Jackson are working on it as we speak.”

Cal’s breath caught in his throat and he sat up straight, turning his head, asking, “What do you mean?”

Miller looked at Cal in confusion, “What? What’s wrong?”

Cal stood and turned to face Miller, “Are you telling me that Or and Jackson are conducting a meeting about rescuing our parents right this very minute?”

Still looking confused, Miller replied, “Well yeah. Nyx is helping… Cal where are you going?”

“To f*****g kick someone’s ass.” Cal snarled marching out of his room and rushing down the stairs.

He could hear Miller right behind him, calling his name, but Cal was in no mood to listen to his brother. Making his way straight to the conference room, Cal saw two guards who stepped in front of the door. One saying, “Stop right there.”

“Get the f**k out of my way, or you are going to discover how your own balls taste.” Cal snarled.

“Sir, you will back up. No one in or out.” The guard stated in that monotone voice so many of Orion’s guards seemed to use.

Cal took a menacing step forward, snarling, “Let me explain this to you slowly in words of one syllable so you are capable of understanding me. Move. Now. Or. I. Move. You… Cause. You.

Much. Pain.”

The guard didn’t budge. Miller caught up to Cal, and gripped his shoulder, “Cal, what are you doing? Let them…”

Cal whipped around to face off with his brother, “I can’t believe you. You knew they were formulating a plan and you didn’t say a f*****g word to me. You knew how important this was to me and you completely f****d me over.”

“Cal…”

“No! I’m tired of f*****g listening to you, Or, Jackson…Fuck all of you. I can’t believe it.” Cal shouted, his anger at a level he could never remember it getting to in his entire life. “You deceived me.”

“Cal that’s not…”

“You f*****g let me believe that all I had to do was wait for Nyx to heal, and for Or to get other cackles to join us to help rescue our parents.” Cal snarled, then mimicked Miller’s voice, “The timing has to be right, Cal. The plan has to be right, Cal. What you mean is the plan to rescue our parents will be best if I’m not in it.”

“Cal…:”

Cal tossed his head back giving a harsh angry laugh, then looked at Miller, “You don’t want me going to Thornridge. You don’t think I have anything to offer.”

Miller gasped, “That’s not true, Cal.”

“It doesn’t matter that I got us out of that cabin when Rupert was nipping at our heels, or that Lenox was ready to kill you. You don’t think I have a damn thing to offer in rescuing our parents.”

“Cal you need to calm down.” Miller softly said.

Cal was so angry he never heard the door open or see Or, Jackson, Nyx, and Warren standing there, “You all think I am some weak, pathetic hyena that can’t offer a damn thing to help.”

“No, Cal.” Miller said sounding almost desperate.

Cal let out a short breath, feeling every part of him going numb. “No faith in me. You and the rest of them have no faith in me. You all see the hair, nails and makeup, and think I’m a dimwit space cadet who should be patronized.”

“Damn it Cal, that’s not true.” Miller rasped.

Cal let out a watery laugh, “God, I am so f*****g stupid. You see me just like the rest of our old cackle did. A drama queen who has nothing but space between my ears.”

“I most certainly do not! Stop talking like this, Cal.” Miller rasped, crying just as much as Cal.

Cal’s voice went so quiet that had they all not been shifters they would never have heard him.

“It’s funny, Milly, I am the one who saved your ass…got us out of Whitewing cackle lands, and even Thornridge…did you never wonder how we did it? Did you notice how I got us out of there without one guard able to find us? If I’m so dimwitted, how did I do it? Tell me that, Miller!”

Miller slowly took a step towards Cal, whispering, “I don’t know. I was so scared… I…”

“It’s because I knew those lands better than any hyena in that cackle. I was always scared that Cass was going to come after me, and if I had to make a quick exit, I wanted to have a way out.

With some friends help, I created that way out in many different locations.” Cal replied still speaking softly.

Miller’s eyes widened, “What? I had no idea… I…”

Shaking his head, Cal said, “No, you didn’t. I didn’t want Cass going to you and hurting you for lying to him. If you didn’t know, your scent would indicate your honesty. So, I kept it to myself.

I was going to show you guys the different tunnels I had created. It took years, but I did it.”

Cal stood there, swiping at the tears, “They are my parents, damn it. I have a right to help free them. I’m not an airhead diva. Damn you all! Just f*****g, Damn you all! I might have expected this from Or, and maybe even Warren, but not you, and damn sure not the man who keeps saying he’s my mate.”

“It’s because you’re my mate that I didn’t want you involved, Cal.” Jackson said from behind Cal.

Cal turned around to see everyone standing there. His eyes focused on Jackson. Shaking his head. “Mates stick together. There is nothing you won’t say or do to keep your mate happy and well loved. Nothing and no one will ever be as important to you as your true mate. You will never be more loved, nurtured, and cared for by your mate. You will want for nothing…”

“As long as you and your true mate are together.” Miller finished saying.

Cal shook his head, disappointment in every man in the room around him had his heart breaking.

“Your sniffer has to be as broken as mine, Jackson. There is no way we are true mates.”

“Cal, there is nothing wrong with my sense of smell. You are my mate.” Jackson insisted.

Shaking his head, Cal said, “If that’s true, then you wouldn’t have dismissed what I have to offer, and if that doesn’t convince you then how about this? Consider our mating denied. I will have nothing to do with someone who has no faith in me.”

“It’s because you are my mate I don’t want you put in danger. This is not going to be easy or safe for any of us. It is inevitable that people are going to die, I don’t want you being one of them.”

Jackson argued.

Cal sighed still shaking his head, whispering, “Oh Jackson, you forget something very important about true mates.”

“I forget nothing. It is the job of a true mate to keep his partner safe and alive.” Jackson stated firmly.

Nodding, Cal replied, “True, but you forget… as long as your true mate breathes, so shall you, but if anything were to happen to him and he stops breathing, so shall you.”

“Exactly. That’s why I don’t want you anywhere near this mission. I want you to keep

breathing.” Jackson stated in that dead tone voice.

Cal gave him a sad smile, “But what you forget is that if I am your true mate, then that makes you mine. Therefore, going or not, my life is already threatened. If you die, I die too, wherever you are. At least if I was by your side I would have a fighting chance.”

Jackson’s eyes widened as his mouth opened in that “Oh” shape. Cal could tell he had never even given that a thought. It was too late now. Cal had always said, he was not about to stay where he was not wanted. Looking at Orion, Cal said, “Thank you for giving me asylum when I had nowhere else to go. However, I think it’s time I went.”

“Cal, no!” Miller shouted.

Jackson drew in a sharp breath and before he could say another word, Cal turned, “I’ll be leaving in ten minutes. I’ll be out of your territory in less than half an hour. Good luck on your mission.”

Turning to Miller, Cal quietly said, “If you get mom and dad out of there, tell them I’m sorry.

Tell them I love them. Tell them… Tell them I wish I could have done something to help.”

With those words Cal went back to his room, grabbed his stuff, and left. He was halfway up the lane when he shifted and started to make his way off Trident land. Away from his brother, his mate, and any future joy he may have had.