The Wolf on the Hill Page 9

  Lying winded in the middle of the road, he saw the dark figure weaving through the undergrowth. The black wolf. When it saw he was incapacitated, it came to circle his body, sniffing and snarling. So brave now. Through the visor of his helmet, Caleb could make out the look of superiority in the wolf’s eyes that could only be Robbie.

  With arrogant grace, the wolf stepped over him to where the motorbike lay immobile. It lifted its leg and pissed over Caleb’s pride and joy. If a wolf could smirk, Caleb was sure he had witnessed it before the beast crept back into the long grass

  Despite feeling like road kill, Caleb managed to remove his helmet and take deep, heaving breaths. Only the notion that he could end up under someone else’s wheels gave him enough impetus to get back on his feet. The torn patches of skin and bruised ribs would heal quickly, but for now they hurt like fuck.

  He hobbled over to the bike and heaved it upright. The screaming pain in his chest and the jellied condition of his legs made it impossible for him to get back on. Using it as a crutch instead, he headed back to the cottage. Now he knew what he had to do.

  * * * *

  “Oh my God. Caleb! What the hell happened to you?” Mia rushed across the bar to check him over so thoroughly that he could almost believe she cared.

  “I came off the bike.” The cuts and bruises must have looked as bad as they felt, judging by her horrified reaction.

  “Are you okay?”

  He shrugged off the small hands touching his face, suddenly irritated by the open display of affection.

  “I’m fine. It’s no big deal, it happens all the time.” Usually without the assistance of someone’s murderous ex-boyfriend.

  “No big deal? Look at the state of you.” She gestured at the raw skin showing through his ripped clothes.

  “Don’t worry. It won’t happen again.” He carried on over to the bar and ordered a beer from a shell-shocked Naomi.

  “What do you mean? You can’t know that for sure.” Mia really didn’t have the right to play the nagging other half when she clearly only wanted him for one thing.

  He took a sip of beer. “I sold my bike.”

  “You did what?”

  If only he’d kept his fridge stocked at home, he wouldn’t have had to endure her fake concern.

  “I don’t need it for now, but I do need the cash to pay for the house repairs.” The dealer had been only too glad to get his hands on the bike. Caleb could always get a new one with the proceeds from the house sale.

  “But you love that bike.”

  “Love isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Is it?” Another mouthful of beer dulled the hurt he was desperately trying to manage, then he walked away to the gents’ before she could badger him for any more information.

  He faced his mangled reflection in the mirror and dabbed wet tissue paper on the scrapes and scratches. Selling his T-Bird was the way forward, the only financial means of getting out of this nightmare. In the meantime he predicted his wolf would get a lot of exercise, running off his nervous energy when he’d healed. Once he’d tidied himself as much as possible, he went back to the bar and his only ally—beer.

  On his return, he found Robbie draped over the counter. Caleb’s first instinct was to slam the fucker’s head repeatedly into the wood, but he settled for a beer beside the fireplace instead. The heat took the chill from his weary body, but even the smell of logs burning in the hearth couldn’t mask Robbie’s now familiar scent. That sickly sweet perfume of self-importance and wealth assaulted Caleb’s senses. The black wolf had marked the territory around the cottage and left no doubt in his mind that Robbie was responsible for the damage. If only he could figure out why.

  Mia fought back the tears Caleb’s cold demeanour had called to the fore. After a week of looking after him, getting so close, she could sense him now backing away. Creating that distance between them so he found it easier to leave.

  Only Robbie’s arrival had halted her outpouring of misery. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing her upset. “What can I get you?”

  “I’ll have a whisky, and whatever you’re having.” He held a twenty-pound note between his fingers, and she snatched it away without touching him.

  “No thanks. I’m working.” Her skin crawled to think she’d ever been with this man. He couldn’t hold a candle to Caleb.

  “What about after work?” His hand deliberately brushed hers as he took his change.

  Mia’s gaze inadvertently travelled over to Caleb brooding in the corner, willing him to come rescue her.

  “Are you two together then?” Robbie swirled the liquid around his glass, not bothering to turn around.

  Her pulse skittered and her stomach knotted. She wouldn’t tell him even if she’d known the answer for sure. “He’s leaving as soon as the cottage is sold.”

  “You need someone who can provide for you, who can give you the life you deserve.” He took a delicate sip of the whisky. Behind him, Caleb knocked back his beer with that masculine swagger that set them so far apart.

  “And that’s you, is it?” Caleb came ‘sold as seen’, whereas Robbie was more of a showpiece, his fancy exterior hiding all manner of cracks and flaws.

  “It could be.” He set his glass down and tried to make another grab for her hand. She pulled it away in time.

  “No. It couldn’t. You can’t bully me into loving you, Robbie. You tried that once before, remember?” The constant phone calls and messages had nearly driven her to the brink of madness, until she’d finally agreed to let him play some small part in her life again. Instead of severing all contact first time around, that mistake had led him, and her mother, to believe they still had a chance.

  As usual, what she wanted didn’t enter into Robbie’s scheme of things. “You know I bought the Henstridge Farm?” He primped his imaginary feathers and puffed out his chest.

  “Yes.” She didn’t care. This peacocking never did impress her, but Robbie always insisted on playing the big man. She let him prattle on while she carried on serving around him.

  “I’m thinking of putting an offer in on the Jackson place too, with it being the adjoining property.” Robbie’s words finally made an impact on her.

  “You can’t buy Caleb’s house!” The ground rushed up to meet her and she clung to the bar top to stop her falling. She couldn’t imagine anyone living there except Caleb, didn’t want anyone else there. It was too soon.

  Robbie’s haughty laugh rubbed more salt in the wound. “Why on earth not? He wants to sell. I want to buy. I could end up a big player around here if I secure both properties.”

  His shark-like determination gave Mia the chills. With hindsight, it was entirely possible that his dogged pursuit of her had probably had more to do with her family’s sizeable estate, rather than her winning personality.

  “Good luck to you.” That was all she could manage before she had to go and throw up.

  * * * *

  Caleb’s disappearing act from the pub meant that she had to wait until after work to pass on the information she’d gleaned from Robbie. Finally tracking him down to Rory’s, she was able to tell them both about the new development at the same time.

  “Robbie’s after your land. He’s the one who bought the Henstridge place and he thinks if he gets yours too it’ll make him some sort of property mogul.” She waited for Caleb’s reaction, expecting him to come out swinging for her ex. Nothing. The passion he’d once displayed so willingly now seemed to have fizzled out.

  It was Rory who got animated, pacing and gesticulating as he spoke. “That certainly gives the bastard motive. Let me chase a few things up.”

  He left the room, mobile already fastened to his ear with a look of determination that Caleb didn’t share. No, the victim of Robbie’s campaign remained in his seat, emotionless, staring out of the window like she wasn’t even there.

  Well, she cared enough for both of them. The love in her heart for him was greater than her parents’ disdain, or Robbie’s tyranny. S
omehow she had to find a way to make Caleb stay. Easier said than done with the void between them creating such an awkward atmosphere. She wanted to ask what had changed, or curl up in his lap and kiss him until the sun went down. But either of those actions could send him running in the other direction.

  Until he gave her an opening to discuss her feelings, she wouldn’t add to his problems. Not once did he express a wish to put down roots here, so she couldn’t expect to live happily ever after with him.

  Rory eventually returned to break the uncomfortable silence. “The estate agent confirmed Robbie made that first laughable offer.”

  “I don’t understand where he’s getting the money to fund this venture. Unless he has some secret fortune stashed away somewhere.” Although he lived a lavish lifestyle, Mia knew Mummy and Daddy provided most of that for him.

  “Someone like Robbie will have connections. I’m sure he’s a bank manager’s wet dream. Boy Wonder will have secured loans no problem.” Rory leant forward in his seat, more animated about proceedings than Caleb, who sat examining the scabs forming on his elbows.

  “Caleb? Thoughts?” Desperate to see him fight for his property, for her, she very nearly gave him a slap upside the head.

  He shrugged.

  Her palm itched.

  “We know Robbie trashed the place, probably to lower the price or scare me off. We can’t prove it, though. Even if we could, his is the only offer I have on the books.”

  Mia’s blood ran cold. “You’re not seriously thinking of selling to him after everything?”

  Rory moved over to Caleb’s chair, and for a split second she thought he might grab Caleb and give him the shake he deserved. “Don’t let the scumbag get away with it, Caleb. You’re worth ten of him.”

  Caleb narrowed his eyes. “Really? I thought I wasn’t worth the hassle?”

  Horror filled her belly as he repeated her words. Rory tactfully left the room to let them speak in private.

  “I didn’t mean it like that—”

  “No. You’re right. It’s not worth getting into an argument with your parents over me when I’m nothing more to you than a leg-over.”

  How she regretted those words—especially now as he stood before her, his wounds raw, and entirely her fault.

  “I’m scared of loving you, Caleb. That’s the only reason I said it. I didn’t want to admit how I felt about you when you’re so dead set about leaving.” A sob ripped from her throat as her heart cracked wide open.

  Caleb walked over to her, bridging that gap, and held her by the shoulders. “Forget everything else—Rory, your parents, Robbie, what might or might not happen—and look inside your heart. Figure out exactly how you feel about me and what it is you want.”

  “I love you. I want only you.” She didn’t need time to figure it out. For all her indecisiveness and fears, of this she was certain.

  The crushing weight of his silence bore down on her until her poor heart threatened to give up the ghost. Luckily, Caleb moved into action with some mouth to mouth to revive her.

  “Does this mean you’ll stay?” As much as she needed this kiss, she also wanted to hear him say it.

  “Yes. For as long as you want me here, I’ll stay. We might have to take care of our little rodent problem before we get to spend cosy nights in, but I’m willing to give us a go.” As romantic declarations went, it ranked somewhere alongside ‘get your coat, you’ve pulled’, but Mia would take it.

  At least he was giving them a chance to be together, and if Robbie was the biggest obstacle on her path to happiness, she would take every step within her power to physically remove him.

  Chapter Nine

  “Remind me why I’m doing this.” Caleb sat slumped in the passenger seat, a cloud of impending doom settling over the car as they pulled up to the house.

  “Because you love my sister, and you owe it to her to make this work.” Rory’s voice of reason only served to darken Caleb’s mood.

  He didn’t want to be reasonable. He wanted to be headstrong and stubborn and run away before he faced the strength of his feelings for Mia. By agreeing to stay and invest in a future here with her, he was opening himself up for all kinds of hurt. No one had ever got that close to him. He didn’t know how to be what she wanted, needed, and it scared the shit out of him.

  The car stopped and Rory got out, beckoning him to get a move on. Like a death row inmate walking the mile, he took his time, relishing his last moments before he faced his execution.

  “Caleb.” Mr Blake nodded a welcome at the front door. At least he wasn’t brandishing a shotgun after the last eventful visit.

  “Mr Blake. Mrs Blake.” He returned the civil greeting, although Mia’s mother clutched her husband close as if she expected some sort of attack.

  Caleb took a deep breath, and the first step to reconciliation. “Can I just apologise for my behaviour here during the dinner. I was rude and obnoxious. I’m sorry if I ruined your evening.”

  Gayle smiled a little too brightly, but accepted the olive branch. “Not at all, Caleb. I understand it was a difficult time, so soon after your father’s death.”

  “Thank you.” While he didn’t agree with her assessment, he acknowledged the sentiment in hope that it would make tonight flow smoother.

  To walk in on Robbie then, cosied up beside Mia in the lounge, nearly knocked him on his arse. Mia ditched the sleaze and rushed over to meet Caleb and Rory, grabbing two beers on the way.

  “Thanks for coming.” She kissed Caleb on the cheek. He enjoyed both her touch and Robbie’s seething reaction.

  Caleb splayed his hand around her waist in a possessive hold designed to wind him up even further. Mia ignored the one-upmanship and took him to meet the other guests at her impromptu drinks soirée.

  “This is Mr and Mrs Carson. Robbie’s parents.” The well-groomed couple bore the same dark hair and pinched features as their son.

  “Pleased to meet you.” He shook hands and exchanged pleasantries like any other civilised member of society, without revealing a glimmer of the intense hatred he bore for their offspring.

  “I hear you’re selling the house.” Mr Carson got straight down to business while his wife exuded boredom beside him.

  “Not any longer. I’ve decided to stay put.” Caleb made sure he’d said it loud enough for everyone to hear, especially Robbie. It worked.

  “You can’t!” The snivelling little shit jumped in to interrupt their conversation.

  Caleb watched the colour drain from his face with great satisfaction. “Why not, Robbie?”

  “You said you were leaving. I want the cottage.” Caleb half expected Robbie to stomp his foot and demand that Daddy buy him anything he wanted.

  Mia slipped her hand into Caleb’s. “You heard him, Robbie. He’s staying. And I’m moving in with him.” That surprised everyone in the room, Caleb included.

  “You are?” The thought distracted Caleb from their game of ‘Get Robbie to Spill his Guts’. Yes, he found the prospect of making love to her every evening and waking up to her each morning very appealing.

  “I am.” Her assertive response didn’t quite match the worry still showing in her eyes. Caleb squeezed her hand to show that he wholeheartedly supported the idea.

  “You can still sell me the cottage and move somewhere else.” Robbie ran a finger around the collar of his buttoned-up shirt.

  “Um, we don’t want to, Robbie.” Caleb gave him the same smirk Robbie had used with him once too often.

  “Robbie. What on earth has gotten into you? You’re making a show of yourself,” Daddy dearest scolded his son but Robbie continued to splutter and sweat.

  “I only bought the Henstridge place because I thought he would sell that piece of shit too.”

  “I’m quite happy with that ‘piece of shit’. If only I could stop the sneaky bastard who keeps trashing it in the hope I’ll sell it for half of what it’s worth.” Caleb made the most of having the upper hand in the room, as both the Carsons
and the Blakes gasped.

  “I need that fucking land!” Robbie’s pale features bulged and flushed scarlet, until Caleb thought he might explode on the good Axminster. Revenge tasted sweet on Caleb’s tongue.

  Mr Carson tried to bundle Robbie out of the room but he was too far gone to know when to stop. “I can’t develop a golf course on one poxy plot of land, you fucking moron. What do you need it for, except to use as a dog toilet?” Wrestling free from his father’s grasp, his hair mussed and clothes askew, he appeared even more deranged than his actions had suggested.

  “What are you talking about? What golf course?” Mr Carson asked the question most prevalent in Caleb’s mind.

  Robbie rolled his eyes. “We have some of the best land there is here in Olcan Hills. It’s wasted on scruffy mutts like him.”

  “What golf course?” Mia’s father now demanded the answer.

  “I’m in talks with an American investor to develop the land in a deal worth millions. A little scrote like Jackson here isn’t going to get in my way.” Robbie’s threats didn’t scare Caleb. Not now that he’d exposed his plans to all and sundry.

  “You can’t build a golf course here,” Gayle Blake chimed in, apparently more horrified by Robbie’s dastardly deals than the idea of Mia moving into the cottage.

  “It would ruin the community.” With female solidarity, Mrs Carson joined in the condemnation of her son.

  “It’s not happening, son. I don’t care how much it’s worth. We won’t destroy our community by shipping in a load of tourists simply to line your pocket.” Mr Carson was right. They couldn’t hope to survive if they were exposed as wolf shifters to the world.

  The one outstanding feature of this area was the privacy afforded the occupants to live as both wolf and human. An influx of new blood would destroy their civilisation.

  “But, Dad, I’ve already bought the Henstridge place,” Robbie whined but he’d lost any power he’d once held.