Stronger as One (#1, Completed)

23. Mine

RILEY

Before I could go in and find whoever had dared to enter my house, Callum walked up to the door with his bag. Rafe and Aiden were still by the car, discussing something.

"Everything fine, Riley?" He said as he finally reached me.

"There's someone inside. The door was open." I whispered, trying to keep quiet in order not to spook the intruder.

I didn't even have a chance to blink after I said that when I saw Callum drop his bag and enter the house. What was it with men and thinking that I needed them to protect me- I was perfectly fine taking care of this myself! Next thing I know though, I heard a loud female scream and the unmistakable noise of glass shattering.

I ran inside as quickly as I could but I did not expect to see the sight in front of me. In the middle of my living room, I saw pieces of what could only be my favourite crystal vase and next to them stood Callum, with a petite redhead in his arms. Oh god, what happened to Scarlett?

I rushed over to them and was relieved to see that she had a pulse.

"Jesus, Callum, what did you do to her?" I asked him, as I swept a strand of hair off her face.

"I didn't do anything. She came at me with a vase."

"So you decided to scare her to death?" I was scolding him now but mainly because I was worried about Scar. Yet, I noticed how tightly he was holding her in his arms. Callum was a very protective and caring guy, a typical bear feature and even more true for the bear Alpha, but for a second I wondered if there was something else to how he was keeping her so close to his chest.

I couldn't really think about it too much, however, as Rafe and Aiden also rushed inside.

"What happened? We heard a scream." Aiden asked while Rafe looked unimpressed as usual.

"Oh, nothing, just my nutty best friend deciding to have a face-off with a bear." I shrugged as I went to get Scar a glass of water. "Callum, can you please put her on the sofa and check that her pulse is getting back to normal?"

I opened the faucet and filled up a glass.

"Holy fuck! Am I heaven?" I heard Scar's excited voice say. Yeah, she was definitely fine. "Have I been such a good girl that you are now my reward or are you just my guardian angel?"

I entered the living room just in time to see my friend running her hands up Callum's muscly arms until she reached his biceps right where the sleeves of his shirt were rolled up. She was really enjoying this, biting her lower lip and fluttering her eyelids at him. Callum smiled warmly at her before he helped her sit up. I must admit that I thought I might feel weird about what I was seeing, given Callum and mine's recent encounters, but I really didn't. It was as if what I had towards him, which admittedly was mainly lust, had just evaporated. Sure, he was still ridiculously hot but I just didn't feel the same attraction anymore. We still had a connection, that I knew, but it was a connection between two people who understood each other and had each other's support.

"I didn't mean to scare you, Miss....?" Callum spoke up softly.

"Scarlett. Scarlett Miller."

"Callum Andrews. Pleasure to meet you, Scarlett." While the two of them were exchanging pleasantries, I heard Aiden chuckle which made Scarlett turn around and finally see me.

"Ahhhhhh. You are here!" She ran and jumped to hug me. "I had missed you, Riley! Although I see that you come with gifts so I might forgive you after all."

"I missed you too, Scar, but what are you doing inside the house?"

"You asked me to look after it, remember? I come every week to check that everything is okay. And either way, I should be asking you the same thing. Shouldn't you be in Scotland? How could you possibly come back and not let me know?! And who are your friends?"