The Soulmate Battle (The Soulmate Call Book 2), page 1
THE SOULMATE BATTLE
Tiffany Ann
Illustrated by Meg Gremillion
Publisher Tiffany Ann
www.tiffanyannbooks.com
ISBN:
Copyright © 2021 Tiffany Ann/Author
Copyright © 2021 Meg Gremillion/Illustrator
All rights reserved
Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Epilogue
Dedication
This book is dedicated to the six teenagers that life has blessed me with. Everyday watching you grow into your own lives has been the best days of my life.
To my daughter, Brianne.
You were the first person I ever told that I had begun writing my books.
I am not exactly sure what you said to convince me to share them with the world, but your passion sparked the boldness inside of me to take a risk.
Your uncompromising spirit inspires me every day.
I hope you always follow your dreams and never let fear hold you back.
To my son, Ethan.
Your smile lights up every room your presence graces.
You quite possibly may always be my favorite hugger.
Thank you for sharing your first hunting experience with me for the book.
To my son, Wyatt.
My restoration child.
They placed you in my arms, and it was like your existence said to me,
‘I got you mama; I love you.’
Without loss, the joy of having you for a son would not have been possible.
To my daughter, Callen Joy.
My youngest child, you completed our family.
Let no one tell you-you are anything other than beautiful, inside and out.
To my bonus daughter, Brianna.
Your journey into adulthood is just beginning.
You taught me the power of loving someone unconditionally who wasn’t my own.
Never let the brokenness of others define you.
To my bonus daughter, Makayla.
Whenever you doubt you are loved, remember me.
Wherever life takes you, never forget that I love you.
Special Thanks
To my husband, my soulmate, thank you for letting me pick your brain for this book. Thank you for allowing me to borrow a couple of your childhood stories. I love you more than anyone in this world. My life with you is filled with so much happiness.
To my childhood friend, who walked back into my life over fifteen years ago. Your friendship means more to me than you know. Thank you, Tammy, for allowing me to bounce the medical parts of this book off of you. It wouldn’t have been the same without your ideas and recommendations.
Riley Pyle from Facebook messenger, I have to say thank you to the first person to review my book that I have not had the privilege of knowing. I hope you read this second book and enjoy it even more than the first one.
To my friend Danielle, you are the most recent gift from God in my life. I am blessed to know you. Thank you for your support with my first book. Your passion in life is contagious. I look forward to many years of friendship.
To both of my sisters, whose love and friendship are unwavering. Life is better because I have the both of you in it.
To my cousin Meg, once again you put my vision into a beautiful work of art. I love you and can’t say enough how much your support has meant to me.
Finally, I want to thank everyone who read
“The Soulmate Call” and has come back for more.
Introduction
When I opened up my computer to put The Soulmate Call into print, it began as a one and done journey that organically evolved into so much more. By the end of book one, it had morphed into three more stories, and by the end of volume two it had developed into nine stories. I do not know where it will end or how long this journey will continue.
In volume one, I introduced you to Rey and Lisabeth, two strong, independent, confident individuals. I shared their story in the journal’s form that each Turner writes for future generations.
As the story of Caleb and Pasiphae developed, I knew I could not do all that I wanted to do with the characters and the future characters that are introduced, if the story was only told in first person format.
The Soulmate Battle took me out of my comfort zone and forced me to write from a fresh perspective. It is still broken down from the eyes of Caleb and Pasiphae separately from chapter to chapter, only now the perspective of everyone else in their lives has entered the story.
With Caleb and Pasiphae, you will meet two very different characters who are insecure and unsure of their worth in this world. Together they will discover their strength, their worth, and their value.
Prologue ~ Caleb
Caleb Turner had just said goodbye to his younger brother Rey and his new wife Lisabeth, whom he had just met for the first time. They were true soulmates. The Turner family many generations ago had secretly discovered what his ancestors termed as ‘the soulmate call.’
Caleb’s family learned how to develop one’s soul or one’s mind, will, and emotions in order to sense or find their true soulmate. He had been trained and taught how to listen to his soul and how to call out to his soulmate when he found her. If he found her, he would speak to her soul with his soul.
Caleb spent most of his life not believing in soulmates. He could not believe that there was only one person created for you and that something destined you to find them. He was skeptical, and only having the word of his family was not enough to convince him she existed.
After meeting his brother’s true soulmate, he questioned his beliefs and even considered the possibility that he was wrong. The obvious connection between his brother and his new sister-in-law was undeniable.
“Is there really one person out there that was created just for me? And if that is true, will I ever find her? Could I ever be worthy of someone? Do I have it in me to love, honor, and cherish just one person?” These were the thoughts that plagued Caleb after spending a few days with his brother and new sister-in-law. He knew that what they had was real; it was undeniable to anyone who spent even a few minutes in their presence. They showed him that true soulmates exist, and that ‘the soulmate call’ was genuine and possible. For the first time in his life, Caleb dreamed she was out there somewhere waiting for him to find her.
With his newfound hope and the possibility of what could be, it inspired Caleb to move forward in life with a new commitment towards becoming a man that any woman would be proud to call hers.
In his twenty-three years, he had lived a life of debauchery and unfaithfulness. He treated women as prizes and not as precious or valuable. Caleb listened to his father tell his brother, “You have shown more respect for your soulmate than anyone in this family ever has that I have heard of.” Those words stung Caleb to his core. He too wanted his father to speak proudly of him in that same way.
He vowed to keep a distance between himself and all women he did not feel a pull towards as he watched his brother go back to Louisiana with his soulmate. He wanted what his brother and his parents had. He considered the possibility that maybe a part of him had always wanted to find her, but fear kept him from allowing himself to believe that anything was possible.
Self-esteem was not a quality Caleb would contribute to himself. Once asked by one of his dates, if he would ever cut his hair, his reply was, “Why would I want to do that, when my hair hides my ugly face.”
PART 1
Chapter 1 ~ Caleb
Caleb and his parents were on their way to Louisiana to stay with his Grams for a few days. Rey was turning twenty, and it was finally time to propose to Lisabeth in front of the families. Rey and Lisabeth were secretly married for reasons of their own, and they were going to officially get engaged at the party. It was just for show, since her family did not know someone already married them, and the plan was that they never find out.
His mom and dad convinced him to ride in with them for the twelve-hour drive. He really wanted to drive himself in his Jeep for this trip. He had this nagging feeling in the back of his mind that he was not coming back home to Texas anytime soon. He shrugged the feeling off burying it down deep where he kept the rest of his many regrets and agreed to ride with his parents. It was easier to ignore his gut than to argue with his parents.
They made good time in getting to Slidell, LA, where his Grams’ home sat on Lake Pontchartrain, which was just outside of New Orleans. Caleb and Rey were born in Slidell, but shortly after Rey was born, his dad’s company transferred his dad to Senora, TX, where they grew up.
Caleb was a purebred cowboy who loved Texas. Texas ran through his blood. The dirt, the air, the wind moved through his veins. Not once, for any reason, had he ever entertained the idea of moving back to Louisiana like Rey had done. He thought Rey was a whipped sissy for moving to Louisiana because of a girl.
Caleb had his many memorable memories of summers spent fishing off the pier with his brother and Grandpa before he passed. Caleb enjoyed fishing, but he much preferred the feel of a bow in his hands than a fishing pole. The only reason he even enjoyed fishing was because of his grandpa.
His Grandpa understood him like no one else in his life ever did, except for Rey. He and his grandpa spent nearly every summer morning and evening fishing off his pier. He shared secrets with him he never even shared with his brother, who was his best friend. After his grandpa died, it was too painful to spend summers in Louisiana anymore.
Pulling into his Gram’s driveway, he thought about how lucky she’d been. Her house still stood strong, unlike many of the homes along Lake Pontchartrain that had been lost to one of the many hurricanes that passed through Southeast Louisiana. Hurricane Andrew was the only one that had caused any damage. It ripped off the roof and caused water damage, but there her house remained like a pillar among the other homes on the Lake.
The builders built her house up on cement pilings to avoid flooding. Underneath the house was just an open space for parking cars. The main house really being the second story of the house. Caleb had always been curious how his grandmother still climbed all those stairs at her age. Maybe he should talk to Rey about the two of them putting in an elevator for her.
His Grams greeted Caleb with a giant hug, followed by her scolding him. “It has been way too long since your last visit to see your old Grams. Never you mind, you are here now.” She was right, Caleb had not spent over three or four days at a time with her since he lost his grandpa.
Rey had moved out, so Caleb put his bags in his brother’s old room before crashing for an hour. Caleb’s Mom decided that the Turner’s must do all the cooking for tomorrow’s party. They were meeting Lisabeth’s family for the first time, and it was important to his mom to be the perfect hostess.
Uncle Kyle and Aunt Mary drove in from Florida and had arrived by the time he woke up. Uncle Kyle was Caleb’s dad’s older brother. Rey had gotten pretty close to him over the last few months and invited him for the proposal. Now that Aunt Mary was there, Caleb hoped he could get out of helping with tomorrow’s meal. “Mom, I am not sure if there is enough room in this kitchen for us guys to help. We would just get in the way, don’t you think?”
She laughed at Caleb’s not too subtle hint before saying, “Go on boys, grab your fishing poles and get out of our way.” For dramatic effect, she even shooed them out of the kitchen with her hands.
Relieved to have gotten out of cooking duty, Caleb, his dad, and uncle headed out to the pier to try their luck at catching some fish.
The Turner men stayed out of the kitchen and on the fishing pier until dark, even though the fish weren’t biting. Not one of them was in any hurry to get stuck helping cook. Caleb knew how to cook; he just did not enjoy cooking. The last time he cooked anything was the last fish that he and his grandpa had caught together out of the lake he was fishing in now.
The hungry men did not come back into the house until called for dinner. Dinner was sandwiches since the cooking they were doing was for tomorrow. The men were ravenous and would have eaten anything, so the ladies didn’t hear any complaining from the men that they did not have a hot meal.
Everyone was overly excited about the proposal tomorrow and the wedding plans that would come shortly after. Especially the ladies. Caleb was happy for his brother, but the nagging ache in his soul had continued to grow since last he saw Rey, making it hard for him to be as excited as the rest of the family. Seeing that it had only been a couple of months from the time that Caleb had vowed to stay away from girls whom he did not feel drawn to in his soul, he should not be experiencing such restlessness over having not found her yet.
Caleb had his circle of friends, and he was absolutely certain that his soulmate was not in that circle. Most of the girls he hung out with weren’t exactly wife material.
He had given up the bar scene when he concluded he did not want to meet his soulmate in a bar. He did not want his love story to be told with the words ‘we realized we were soulmates after a drunken night at the bar.’
His family was not very religious; therefore, he had spent little time in church. He had considered looking in churches for his soulmate; he just hadn’t brought himself to enter one yet. He was struggling with the idea that anyone would find him worthy, so how would a church girl see him as anything but worthless.
The thought of when, where, and how he would meet her ate away at his thoughts. “Will today be the day I meet her?” Was like a song stuck in his head on repeat, and nothing he did could get it out of his mind. For a moment he even wondered about Lisabeth’s two sisters, then he remembered that neither of them was of age yet.
Not too long after everyone had finished their dinner, Caleb excused himself to head off to his room for the night. Wallowing in his own thoughts was more desirable to him than sharing in the excitement of tomorrow. Caleb fell asleep after hours of feeling sorry for himself, dreaming about the day that his soulmate would walk into his life.
Chapter 2 ~ Pasiphae
Pasiphae moved in with her best friend Lisabeth and her husband Rey a few months ago. Her mom had given her the ‘my house, my rules speech,’ so she left. Her mom did not approve of her relationship and activities with her boyfriend, James. That was nothing new. Her parents liked none of her boyfriends. It was not like she felt like James was ‘the one.’ She just did not want to be told what to do anymore. She was in fact an adult and should be able to make her own decisions, good or bad.
Unlike Lisabeth, who had found her true love, Pasiphae was not the wisest in picking guys. She also had a hard time saying no when the idiots she picked pressured her into doing things she was not ready for. James was one of those, ‘but we love each other,’ kind of guys. Pasiphae was one of those girls who believed that life was only worth living if you were in a relationship, even if it was an unhealthy one.
She desperately longed for the fairy tale love like her best friend Lisabeth had found. She imagined that only happened to one in a million people, so what were her chances? She would never tell Lisabeth, but she was green with envy that it was Lisabeth who had the perfect love story and not her.
Today, she was going with Lisabeth and Rey to his family’s home to celebrate his birthday. Pasiphae being one of two people who attended Lisabeth’s wedding to Rey. No one else knew that she had eloped. Today Rey was going to propose with his family and her family around. As the best friend, roommate, and maid of honor, they invited her to take part in this pivotal day.
Neither Lisabeth’s family nor Pasiphae had met Rey’s family. Pasiphae had met his Grams because she was the other guest at the secret wedding.
She thought about asking James to come, but something inside of her would not allow her to get the words out. James would have probably said no, anyway. He did nothing she asked him to do. James being the very definition of a taker and not a giver.
Upon arriving at Rey’s Grams’ house, Pasiphae volunteered to carry the birthday cake that Lisabeth had made up the stairs, which she immediately regretted for fear of dropping the cake. As soon as they reached the front door, she quickly handed the cake off to her friend, relieved that it had made it safely to the top of the stairs.
