Callum POV
James slams his fist against the training dummy so hard the entire frame shakes.
"Why are you here again?" he asks without turning around. His voice is sharp. Angry in a way I haven't heard directed at me before.
I'm standing at the edge of the training grounds trying to think of a good reason. The truth is I don't have one. I've been making excuses to be here every single day for the past week. I'm checking on James. I'm doing security patrols. I'm helping with training. All of it is bullshit and we both know it.
"Just making sure everything is secure," I say.
James finally turns to look at me. His eyes are narrowed and there's something in his expression that looks like suspicion mixed with anger.
"You were here yesterday. And the day before that. And the day before that." He walks closer to me. "What's really going on?"
I should tell him the truth. I should say something that makes sense. Instead I feel my jaw clench and I don't answer.
James's face goes red. "Is it about Sophia?"
The moment he says her name, something inside me goes very still. Too still. Like I'm holding my breath and forgot to let it out.
"No," I say. Too quick. Too defensive.
"Callum," James says and there's a warning in his voice now. "Don't do this."
I don't do what? Don't be obsessed with his mate? Don't spend every waking hour thinking about her? Don't track her movements around the pack? Don't listen for her voice in any room?
"I'm not doing anything," I say.
It's a lie and we both know it.
The problem is that nothing makes sense anymore.
I used to be able to walk into a room and see Sophia and not really register her presence. She was James's mate. She was background noise. She was someone I acknowledged and then forgot about.
Now I can't do that.
Now the moment she enters a space, my entire body knows it. My wolf goes on alert. My senses sharpen. I become hyperaware of exactly where she is and how far away she is and whether she's breathing.
It's insane. It's obsessive. It's the kind of behavior that should terrify me.
It does terrify me. But not enough to stop.
I tell myself it's just physical attraction. That she's beautiful and I noticed and now I'm thinking about her more than I should. It's a normal thing. It happens. I'll get over it.
Except I know I'm lying to myself.
This isn't normal attraction. This is something darker. Something possessive. Something that feels less like desire and more like ownership. Like some part of me has decided that she belongs to me and now everything in me is fighting to make that true.
My wolf doesn't care that she's bonded to James. My wolf doesn't care that she's my best friend's mate. My wolf only knows that there's something about her that calls to something in me and I can't make it stop answering.
I find myself inventing reasons to be near her.
I stop by James's house constantly. Sometimes he's there and I make excuses. Sometimes he's not and I stay longer than I should, hoping maybe she'll appear. I tell myself I'm checking on my friend. I tell myself it's just coincidence that I'm there so often.
I attend every social event the pack has. I position myself where I can watch her without being obvious. I track every movement she makes. I listen to every word that comes out of her mouth like it matters more than anything else happening in my life.
When she speaks in a group, I find myself quiet just so I can hear her voice clearly.
When she moves, I track every gesture like I'm trying to memorize her.
I'm aware of her location in any room before I'm aware of anything else.
And I hate myself for it.
I leave training and drive to the furthest edge of pack territory. I need distance. I need to clear my head. I need to stop being this obsessive stalker version of myself and remember who I'm supposed to be.
The drive doesn't help.
Her image is burned into my mind like a permanent scar. I can see the exact way she tilted her head when she looked at me at training. I can feel the electricity of our skin touching when we collided. I can hear her voice saying "maybe I'm tired of being careful" on repeat like a song I can't get out of my head.
I pull over on the side of the road and grip the steering wheel until my hands hurt.
This is wrong.
This is betraying James in the worst possible way. He trusts me. He's been my brother since we were kids. And what am I doing? I'm obsessing over his mate. I'm tracking her movements. I'm looking for excuses to be near her. I'm lying to his face about why I'm constantly appearing in his life.
I'm a traitor.
But knowing that doesn't make me stop.
I drive back to my private estate because I can't face going home. The estate is further from pack housing. Further from her. I tell myself that being here will help me think clearly. Being here will let me remember what matters. Being here will give me space to remember that I'm better than this.
I'm sitting in my study with a drink I'm not touching when I hear the knock on the door.
Not a tentative knock. Not a polite knock. A confident knock that says whoever is on the other side knows they belong here.
My entire body goes rigid.
I don't need to open the door to know who it is. My wolf already knows. My senses are already screaming at me that she's here. That she's on my property. That she's minutes away from being in the same space as me.
I stand up slowly and open the door.
Sophia is standing there in a dark blue dress with her hair down. She looks composed and calm and like she didn't just break every rule by showing up at my private estate unannounced.
"I need your advice about something confidential," she says without preamble. Her eyes hold mine like she's challenging me to look away.
I can't look away.
"This isn't a good idea," I say.
She steps closer. "Why? Because of James?"
The way she says his name sounds like a question she already knows the answer to.
"You should go," I tell her.
She doesn't move. Instead she looks directly at me with those eyes that see too much and know too much.
"Are you going to make me leave, Callum?" she asks softly.
And in that moment, I realize I'm not. I'm not going to make her leave. I'm going to let her inside. I'm going to listen to whatever she has to say. I'm going to give her whatever she wants because saying no to her feels impossible.
I'm completely lost.
And she knows it.