The Hidden Alpha (Stryders #4) - HOLD

Chapter 33: Forgotten

Callum POV

There was a Swamp Thing walking to the abandoned bus station. 

Callum had never seen any person actually use the stop where almost no buses ran. He shouldn't know that. In fact, being outside the Barrier was expressly forbidden and frowned on. Being outside of it gave him space to breathe. To be away from everyone and everything. Have a peace of mind if only for a second. Where he could see beyond what the Barrier caged him in.

 Julian would give him a look again when he went back to the pack. Full of pity and sorrow that Callum couldn't take from him.

Instinct told him to pause and look back before he went back inside the Barrier. His wolf. 

Never to dismiss his wolf's sharp instinct, Callum turned to survey the thing again. Not only was this thing covered in dirt and mud, but it looked like it was wearing a distracting bright pink color alongside a matching luggage it was carrying.

Same luggage that rolled on to the road at that instant. He saw it first, before this Swamp Thing. The massive semi-truck that was bulldozing its way on to this secluded road. The speed limit here was merely a suggestion.

Swamp Thing was going after her luggage on the road.

Callum's eyes widened a little. That person was going straight to the road, and she wasn't looking like she would stop any time soon. He wouldn't see someone die in front of him. 

Not again. Never again.

He was moving before he could think about any of the consequences. Leaving the Barrier behind wasn't wise because Levi's men were always going to be on the hunt for him. 

Uncaring about if he was gentle about it or not, he shoved her back before she could step onto the road to her demise. Once he made sure that the semi-truck had passed, he turned to her angrily. Meeting a pair of pale blue eyes that bordered gray. Hair that was sticking every which way, with twigs and dirt on it. A smidge of dirt also was on her chin.

"Are you out of your mind?" he asked her, harsher than he intended. Trying to control his heart that was jumping out of his chest. Afraid this time he would have seen death right in front of him and he wouldn't be able to help. 

Her answer to him wasn't grateful like he would have expected. Defiant eyes and an air of superiority over her.

 Right then, he should have known that this woman was trouble. 

XXXX

Misfortune had followed him.

Swamp Thing that he saved managed to get inside the Barrier somehow. He hoped that she wasn't following him, and he knew that was unlikely after their encounter. She couldn't get out of the Barrier either. Just his luck.

Julian had asked Callum to meet him in his tent for a private discussion, away from prying ears.

"There's only one explanation for this. She's a witch." Julian crossed his arms as he looked at Callum, eyes intently looking for any signs that Callum had any problem with it. "I feel as though we should not let anyone else in the pack know this information."

"Not even Daria?" Callum inquired, knowing she was one of the very few trusted pack members. Personally, he felt that Julian's second chance mate was right for him. Julian always brushed him off when they spoke about her. Julian's hurt - would it ever go away? Julian's heart was still broken, and he wasn't letting anyone mend it. He didn't want to.