Caleb
I knew exactly when Ruby arrived in the building. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end as if us being within such proximity of each other drew us together with a strong magnetic pull. Her floral perfume, the leather jacket she wore, her coconut shampoo, and her shea butter body lotion that she’d massaged into her skin smelled like heaven.
I could sense how nervous she was feeling and there was a hint of fear too. I’d have to talk to Brian about that. He was a good guard dog to have on the door, but he was a touch too harsh with her. I quickly picked up the phone and informed my assistant to send Ruby straight up here.
“Hi, Lauren. Ruby is here. Yes, Ruby! Could you see that she’s sent straight up, please? Brian’s being his usual abrupt self, which is probably something to do with Aaro
CalebHer eyes widened with shock. “Huh? With you?” She stood up and walked over to the window.With her back facing me she blew out a shaky breath and pressed her hands against the sides of her face.I leaped up from my chair to approach her. “You’re eighteen. We’re together and I don’t want to lose you.” I thought I’d blown it, blurting it out forcefully like that. She stepped back, shaking her head. “There’s no way Dad would ever ... no. I couldn’t. He would freak out.”The way she backed away from me at that moment felt like someone had driven an icy blade through my heart. “Then what? You’ll move to Montana?” I replied, frustrated. If a look could speak volumes, mine would be begging and pl
Caleb Blind rage burned behind Aiden’s eyes. His face was an inch from mine, standing nose to nose. A low growl vibrated through his chest as his lips curled up over his teeth in a threatening snarl. The way he’d scented the air when he burst through the door must have done it. He could smell Ruby all over me and it sent his temper soaring. I didn’t want to hurt Aiden. The moment one of us changed, that would be it. Our primal sides would need bloodshed and it would be a fight to the death. He knew it and I knew it, yet neither of us had turned. It surprised me he hadn’t. Fighting wouldn’t resolve matters. It wouldn’t achieve anything, but sometimes, when people are blinded by anger, they just don’t want to listen, no matter what you say or do.
Caleb I knew that he knew. Of course, he would scent her on my lips. He was waiting to see if I lied. “Aiden, please calm down and take a seat,” I spoke reasonably. “Calm down?” Aiden’s eyes narrowed as he shot me a scathing look. I owed him the truth. I had a lot of respect for the guy because, in all fairness, Aiden was a wonderful man, despite all the bad things that have happened to him. My father and I permitted him to stay in this pack, despite never becoming part of it because of the title he held. It caused a little controversy around here, and it took a while for the community to accept him. Sure, I did it for selfish reasons. I didn’t want him whisking Ruby away to another state. The chances were, I’d never see her again and I couldn’t have that.
Ruby My attempt to sneak back into the house and creep up to my room was foiled by Sam’s announcement of my arrival. “Oobie!” he squealed with his arms outstretched. I winced at the high-pitched sound, scooping him up into a hug and carrying him off into the kitchen where my mom was busy preparing lunch. There was an awkward atmosphere that clung to the air. “You’re in the doghouse when your dad gets home.” Her voice was straining as she applied pressure to the knife she was using to cut through a block of cheese. “Why?” I whined at the injustice. “I wasn’t gone long.” They had kept me under lock and key longer than I’d ever been grounded before. “Mom, I just wanted to get out of the house. I am eighteen, I’m not a child anymore.”
Ruby“Can we please talk?” Dad eyed us desperately, imploring us to listen. We backed up towards the door, preparing to escape. “Caleb and I were fighting.” He let out an exhausted sigh. “I just thought—” He circled his hands around, struggling to justify this.”I squealed with shock as soon as he mentioned Caleb.“What? Oh, my God. Dad, why would you do that?” I demanded an explanation, livid that he got into a fight with my boyfriend.My insides were screaming. That was Caleb’s blood. I felt sick.“I know this seems bad.” He ran a hand up and down in front of himself, gesturing at his presentation. “But it looks a lot worse than it is,” he splutter
Caleb Even in my favorite thinking place, standing under the shower faucet, the arrangement with Aiden was still ringing fresh in my mind. I enjoyed the feel of the water jets as they massaged my shoulders, cascading a waterfall down my back. I used to find it therapeutic. Only, nothing seemed to lift the downbeat mood I was in. It was time that I faced facts: a deal was a deal. It was only a matter of time before I had to tell Ruby the truth and risk losing her forever. I had just sold my soul to the devil. Aiden and I had shaken on his deal, but not before I included a condition of my own. One, he agreed on. I asked for a little more time, so he granted me the whole of summer. He even shocked me by suggesting that we make dinner reservations at the Ivy Orchard after graduation. Either it was a genuine heartfelt gesture or a
Caleb She growled in embarrassment and hid her face in her hands. “Ugh, fine. Just don’t laugh.” “I can’t promise that. You laughed when you saw me standing in the buff. Now that doesn’t do much for the male ego, does it?” I replied, not letting it drop. I wanted my answer more than ever. Ruby gasped in amusement. “I wasn’t laughing at ... whatever.” She rolled her eyes. “Alright, I’ll tell you. Ever since I met you, that night in the elevator in Washington, I thought about you a lot.” A blush crept across her flawless creamy skin. It reached her ears, turning them crimson. I ran a hand down my face in mock horror. “Ooh, no, no, you had a little girl crush on me? Babe, now I feel weird.” She stoo
Ruby Caleb was standing with idle grace, holding the car door open like a true gentleman. He was dressed to the nines in a sexy, black Armani suit that complemented his masculine physique. Combine all of that with a sultry look, he looked glorious. I could scarcely breathe. It got me thinking, ‘How on earth could a man like him possibly be real’? He was too perfect, too good to be true. I wasn’t sure why I was looking for fault all the time or why I couldn’t just thank my lucky stars that I had a perfect boyfriend. Maybe it was because I didn’t feel as if I measured up to him. I thought, if I could find even the smallest fault, just one, Caleb would seem like a real human being and not like some God-like figure that I’d placed on a golden pedestal. “You’re gonna be a little overdressed for a diner, just so you know,” I teased
Ruby The cold, wet sensation from the ultrasound gel made me tense for a moment, watching the small screen with eagle eyes. As the black and white image appeared before us, it was clear to see that there was not one, but two babies nestled together, side by side. Caleb scrubbed a hand over his shocked face, edging closer to the screen. "Well, I'll be damned," the doctor breathed out with surprise. "There is no doubt about it, you're having twins. Do you want to know the sex?" she asked, invoking mixed feelings within me. Part of me wanted to keep it a surprise but the terrified part of me needed to know for sure. Caleb gave me a look which suggested that he was fine either way. God love him, his eyes were glossing over with proud tears of joy
Ruby "I still remember the first night that we laid like this while watching over Alex. It was the same when Raine was born," Caleb reminisced. Something somewhere caused the room around me to distort, like ripples spreading wide across a calm lake. "Ruby," Caleb's youthful voice called out to me from somewhere beyond a dream. "Babe, you better wake up or else we're going to be late for the obstetrician appointment," I heard him say. Temporary confusion fogged my brain until I realized that I had been dreaming again. Part of me felt the loss of what I hoped our future could be as it slipped away, and the other part of me was relieved that I woke up at that point before the beautiful vision altered into something that could only be de
Ruby As the years rolled by, Caleb and I looked back on our lives with no regrets. When that time eventually comes when we have to leave this world behind, we would be taking a lifetime full of beautiful memories with us. My heart was full, my life was fulfilled. There was nothing that I would change or do differently. Everything was as it should be. With each lumbered step, my slippers brushed over the soft-pile carpet of the stair landing until I stopped to pause outside the old nursery that once belonged to my children. I thought that we had been bestowed a gift from the heavens the day I found out that we were having twins, but little did I know how much more my heart could contain the moment I discovered that I was to become a grandmother. The Goddess had blessed our family many times, and now my son, Alex, was the proud
Caleb Ruby turned on the steps of the town hall, facing away from the jubilant crowd. Snowflakes clung to the tips of her lashes, melting as they kissed her rosy cheeks. She tossed the bouquet of white and blue flowers behind her, and as she did so, the women rushed forward, shrieking deliriously, all snatching at the spinning object as it burst apart like a fragrant petal bomb. It was Grandma Lizzie who unwittingly made the save. She walked straight past the jostling females and caught the flowers against her chest. Her face blanched as she realized what had happened and tossed the bouquet away as if it was a hot potato. “Once was more than enough for me,” she joked. “Although, I wouldn’t mind a good old roll in the hay with one of those wolf boys. They've got abs that I could scrub my laundry on and then some.” She winked a
Ruby The emotion blazed in Caleb's eyes as I walked down the aisle; his mouth hung agape and his brows started to bunch in the middle, giving me the reaction that any bride longed to see. Caleb swallowed hard, causing his Adam’s apple to bob nervously in his throat. There was no sign of humor on Aaron’s face as he observed his friend's special moment. Instead, his expression was one of relieved happiness. Now that his best friend since childhood had found his soulmate, he adopted an air of accomplishment as if all was now right in the world. As the strong notes of the traditional wedding march came to an end, I released Dad’s arm and came to stand beside the love of my life. Caleb mouthed the word “Wow” as he lifted my chin with his fingers, and breathed, “You look breath-taking, love.”
Ruby “Are you okay, kiddo?” Dad asked, his expression softening as he clasped hold of my trembling hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. I swallowed away the dryness before answering, “I just want everything to be perfect, that’s all.” “And it will be,” Dad was quick to reassure me. “I know how much this means to you; Caleb knows it too. He’s probably memorized his wedding vows off by heart. I bet he was up all night Googling templates from the internet,” Dad remarked in an attempt to make me laugh. His best efforts worked like a charm. I gazed through the tinted windows and out onto the wintry streets. Ice glittered the scraped roads and sidewalks, and some of the maintenance guys were shoveling grit salt on the main walkways throughout town.
Ruby I turned from side to side, admiring how the full-length wedding gown swayed with my movements. The white sweetheart bodice helped to boost my humble assets, glittering as the Swarovski crystals captured the light. The long, silky skirt gracefully swished around my legs, sending a wisp of cool air around my thighs. Dad made my day when he produced a pair of custom-made Sketchers in Bride White. He paid a seamstress from Montana to sew lace into the leather and add sparkles around the soles. It meant I would be comfortable all day long, especially as my ankle still ached from standing for long periods. “Are you ready, sweetheart?” Dad asked, through the closed door. He had resisted the urge to look at me in my wedding dress, pacing the hall outside mine and Caleb’s room like a caged animal.
Caleb "Yeah, plenty of thing’s spring to mind, but there is one that is owed a confession," Dylan said as he grinned at Aiden, then edged his chair away to maintain a safer distance. "I was sixteen, and Aiden was eighteen," Dylan began to confess, much to Aiden's interest. Upon hearing his name, he folded his bare muscular arms across his chest. "He borrowed my bike without my permission and ended up buckling the front wheel. He never said anything to me, and put it back in the garage in the hope that I wouldn’t find out what he’d done. I found it the following day and smelled his scent all over it, so I knew that he had used it. I was passive-aggressive, and in an act of vengeance, I sabotaged a burrito that he’d been saving in the fridge by filling it with laxatives. I watched as he devoured it for lunch, and asked if I could hang out with him and Vanessa that day. He was rather reluctant because he wanted to fool around with her while her dorm was
Caleb Aaron tipped the empty Tequila bottle upside down to prove a point. “No way! We’ve gone through the second bottle already?” He turned to my father with an accusatory tone. “It was opened twenty minutes ago.” Aaron’s face was partially hidden beneath his Batman mask, but the whites of his bulging eyes were visible among the black face paint. He had been doing rather well, talking in a gruff tone to imitate the caped crusader's voice, but the sheer shock at how fast my father could sink his liquor caused his pitch to raise a few octaves. Dad gave a casual shrug of his green padded shoulders as he raised the shot glass to his lips and downed the contents in one large gulp. Even I had to admit that was pretty good going, considering he was wearing a pair of oversized hulk hands