Third Rank Penn Lake Wolves Book Three by Clare Atling Page B

fucking sent her off, back
to that bastard?’ It was Callie's harsh words that shocked him the most.
    ‘Didn’t you hear me?’ he said. ‘She
was working with Marcus!’
    ‘For her own freedom. You said
she had been a prisoner her whole life and is now running scared. She trusted
you to help her, begged you to help her, and you just handed her back to the
one person she was trying to get away from.’ Callie pulled herself from Logan's
arms and surged toward Brandon. He certainly wasn’t expecting the slap across
his check she delivered.
    ‘Fucking hell, Callie!’ Logan was
pulling her back from Brandon, who simply looked at her, dumbfounded. ‘Didn’t
you hear what he said? She was going to betray us.’ Logan spun her around so
she was looking at him.
    ‘For her own life, Logan. You
seem to forget you weren’t so quick to protect me when Colt took me. You just
stood by and let me be taken, like it was easier for me to be gone than to deal
with your feelings for the fat girl!’ Callie sobbed in his arms now, but Logan’s
expression showed pain.
    ‘Callie, baby, you know that’s
not what happened. I regret every nasty word I ever said to you and will always
be making it up to you. I know I hurt you, but family is family and she
betrayed all our trusts.’ Logan loved Callie so much and Brandon could feel
that love coming off him, but he guessed he still had a long way to go before
Callie believed he truly loved her. They hadn’t started well, but he’d assumed
everything was fine between them now.
    ‘You’re right,’ replied Callie. ‘Family
is family, and she needs our help. Marcus won’t be able to get to her if we
protect her.’ She turned to talk to Brandon again, but he wasn’t sure he wanted
to hear. ‘She’s lived with him her whole life, never knowing when her time was
coming to an end, to suffer the same fate as her mother. She has been here for
weeks and there’s been no sign of Marcus. If she wanted to be free so badly,
she would have just turned you over sooner. Your family has accepted me, even
though I’m of the same blood as that prick, yet still you can’t find it in yourself
to forgive her for wanting to be free. I thought you were a better man than
that, Brandon.’
    ‘Callie’s right,’ said Seth. ‘We
need to find her and see what she wants to do. Trust is a high priority now and
I hope she is telling the truth about all this, but we won’t know until we hear
her side. How long ago did you ask her to leave, Brandon? Hopefully, Alex
hasn’t run the ferry yet. I’ll text him.’ Grabbing his phone off the side, he ran
his fingers quickly over the keys and hit send.
    ‘I came here right away after I
told her to leave,’ said Brandon sadly. ‘Fuck, I told her to go. At the time I
didn’t care if she ended up with him or not. I just wanted her away from my
family. I’ve fucked up, haven’t I?’ He turned back to Callie, who nodded her
head.
    ‘You brothers all seem to fuck things
up with us women. Why can’t you just trust us when we say we love you? Accept
us, warts an’ all?’ Logan's arms wrapped around Callie as he heard her words. He
bent down to kiss her head.
    ‘I love you, Callie,’ he said
softly. Callie closed her eyes and sunk back into him.
    ‘I know you do, baby, and I love
you. Please, we have to help Maggie. You guys came for me when Logan fucked up.
We have to help her now. Please, baby?’ She turned and kissed Logan.
    ‘As if I can say no to you…’ He
kissed her until Seth cleared his throat.
    ‘It’s supposed to be my honeymoon,
you know.’
    ‘Stop pouting, Seth,’ said Sarah.
‘Maggie needs our help. Callie's right, you guys can’t seem to get it right
with your mates. We’re not perfect and we never will be, but if you love us
enough then fight to keep us.’ Sarah had tears rolling down her cheek as Seth
walked to her and swept her in a hug.
    ‘Fucking great,’ said Brandon. ‘Now
I’ve made all the women cry. Just Mamma