Caine

“Let me explain.”

Liam didn’t say anything to my words. He was standing up, looking slowly between Caine and me.

“Let you explain what exactly?” He asked, his eyes zeroing in on me.

“They trespassed,” Caine interjected.

“You’re not helping, Caine,” I scolded him.

“Where is Shane?” Liam asked. The shake in his body was growing and I could feel his Wolf at bay.

“Let me talk to him alone,” I told Caine.

“I’m not leaving you alone if he’s like this,” Caine told me. To Liam, he said, “You need to calm down.”

Liam ignored Caine completely. His dark eyes were on me, and it seemed like it was taking a lot in him to control his Wolf.

“Charlotte?” Liam prompted.

“Shane and Estella are dead,” I quietly answered.

I expected Liam to lash out at me in some way.

The silence in the room dragged on. I hadn’t removed my eyes from Liam, but I could tell Caine was ready for anything.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Liam asked.

His voice wavered. For the first time, I noticed that other than how dark his eyes had gotten, there was also a glassy look in them.

“I knew you would be angry. They’re dead because of me,” I replied.

I couldn’t hold his gaze. Having Liam in front of me brought all the memories from the day of the attack. Seeing Estella lying on the ground, her battered body, unmoving and bloodied. Shane had not stood a chance against Caine’s pack. They were more and they were stronger.

I had been trying hard to suppress the memories of that day, but with Liam present, it was something I had to face.

“Angry?” Liam asked. “You thought I would be angry?” He closed the distance between us, and grabbed my shoulders roughly.

“I have known Shane and Estella since the first time I shifted, and you thought I would be angry?” Liam asked. His voice was a mixture of growls and emotion.

“Let her go,” Caine ordered Liam.

“No, it’s okay,” I told him, hoping he wouldn’t try to intervene.

Whatever Liam wanted to do, I deserved it.

“It’s not okay,” Caine said, making his way towards us.

“I’m not going to say it again, let her go.”

He placed his hand on Liam’s shoulder. As soon as Caine’s hand touched Liam, he growled. He released me and turned to face Caine, who was now looking more guarded than before.

“Was it you?” Liam asked Caine.

“It wasn’t like that,” I said, wanting for Liam to turn back to me. I didn’t want him to fight with Caine. I knew Liam would go a lot easier on me, than on Caine.

“Did you kill them?” Liam asked again.

His shoulders felt so tense and stiff when I touched them. He didn’t shrug my hand off when I touched him, but he didn’t look at me. His eyes were focused on Caine.

“Adam and the rest of the Rogues with him trespassed. I gave the order,” Caine replied, with a short nod.

“Fuck!” Liam growled.

He was shaking his head, and then his entire body began shaking.

“One order, Charlotte. I gave you one fucking order. Go to the apartment, stay there, stay out of trouble, and stay safe!” Liam yelled at me.

My eyes got watery at his words. He was right. I only had one thing to do and I hadn’t been able to do that. It hurt that he’d used my full name, which he did so rarely.

“I’m sorry,” I apologized.

“Charlotte had no control over this. I gave the order,” Caine added, and he was looking at me with worry.

I wasn’t sure if it was the tears spilling from my eyes, or how hopeless I probably looked.

“You fucking piece of shit!” Liam spat at Caine.

And it all started again.

Liam couldn’t stop his shift. His Wolf took over, and he attacked. Caine was prepared though, he was expecting it.

When Caine shifted, he didn’t fight Liam. Liam kept attacking him, but Caine just shoved him away with more force.

I was standing to the side, right next to one of the walls. Despite how big Caine’s room was, they both took up a lot of space once they shifted.

They kept going at it for about ten minutes, which seemed to last an eternity. Liam attacked, and Caine blocked him.

Liam got in a few bites, but whenever he got a grip on Caine, Caine was quick to step out of the way, and start blocking him once again.

“Liam, stop,” I pleaded, for the first time.

I hadn’t managed to say anything before that. My voice was chocked up and I was too scared of what would happen.

When I spoke, Liam listened. He stopped, but I almost wished he hadn’t.

Caine stood in his Wolf form, studying Liam Wolf. Liam’s eyes were on me, and he was breathing heavily. It seemed like he was trying to shift back, or trying to get some sort control over himself.

When he shifted back, so did Caine. I didn’t even care that they were both standing in front of me naked. I was just happy that Liam wasn’t attacking Caine anymore. I had to admit, I was more than happy that Caine hadn’t fought back. He’d kept control, and that meant so much to me.

“When did it happen?” Liam’s voice sounded breathy.

“About a month ago,” I replied in a sob.

Liam closed his eyes and shook his head at me. He let out a humorless laugh, and walked closer to the bed.

“You’ve been talking to me all this time, pretending like nothing was wrong,” Liam said, in between dark chuckles.

“I wanted to-” I started to say.

“No, don’t do that,” Liam said.

He turned his back on me, and began walking out.

“I was just trying-”

“To explain, I know. I don’t want to hear anything,” Liam said, before stepping out of the room and shutting the door after him.

I tried to follow him, but Caine walked towards me and held me back.

“You can’t go after him, not like this. He’s angry and his Wolf is unstable. You’ll be vulnerable to him,” Caine told me.

“I have to talk to him.”

“You will, but not yet.”

“Liam wouldn’t hurt me,” I said, trying to sidestep him.

“He wouldn’t do it intentionally, but his Wolf has too much control right now. I’m not putting you at risk,” Caine said.

Just as he finished speaking, long and loud howls echoed outside the house. They sounded so powerful, yet so full of pain.

I ran towards the balcony and saw Liam’s Wolf howling at the sky. He stood still for a second, before taking off into the woods.

“He’s gone,” I mumbled, feeling the tears silently spilling down my cheeks.

“He needs time, Charlotte. He’ll be back,” Caine said, taking my hand in his.

“Liam’s different. I think he’s really gone,” I said.

I didn’t know what to expect. I was scared that he would leave me.

Caine let go of my hand. When I turned to him, he was walking towards the closet. It took him less than a minute to slip into a pair of basketball shorts and a dark gray t-shirt.

“I’ve warned all the Wolves in the pack to steer clear from him. Victor’s following him, just to make sure he doesn’t hurt anyone.”

I nodded, and slumped myself in the ground. My back was resting against the wall, next to the balcony.

“Charlotte,” Caine called me.

He kneeled in front of me, and cupped one of my cheeks in his hand.

“I really screwed up.”

“I thought he already knew. I wouldn’t have said anything otherwise,” Caine told me, apologetically.

“It’s alright. I should’ve told him. Liam deserved to know as soon as it happened.”

“Why didn’t you tell him?”

“I just wanted more time. But the longer I kept it hidden, the harder it was to tell him. I thought I had more time. Liam wasn’t due here for another week.”

“Yes, I spoke with Dylan. He’s furious.”

“Did you tell him Liam is here?” I asked.

I had heard about Dylan, the Alpha from Midnight Moon pack. He and Caine, along with a few other packs, had just gotten out of a war.

I didn’t know what kind of Alpha he was, but I knew he was strong and dangerous. He had the biggest pack in the US and I was sure that didn’t come from being kind and forgiving.

“I didn’t tell him, but I will have to do it at some point. Dylan is like my brother. Liam, he’s in some serious trouble with another pack.”

“Yes, I know.”

I got a bitter taste in my mouth every time I remembered some of the horrible things some shifters rumored about Liam

“Did you know that Dylan had Liam as a prisoner for months? He let him go because Liam got on the Luna’s good side. Dylan feels betrayed. He wants to kill Liam on sight.”

I groaned and shook my head. My knees were propped up, and I rested my forehead on them, needing to close my eyes a few moments.

“Liam didn’t do anything,” I muttered.

“That isn’t what Dylan is saying,” Caine added.

He was speaking lowly, carefully. I felt like he was scared I would freak out if he said something I didn’t like.

“Look, Liam fell in love with a girl, Cassidy. She happened to be the mate of an Alpha, Alpha Layton. Do you know him? He’s the Alpha of Blue Bloods.” I looked up and found him gazing at me curiously.

I wasn’t sure why I was spilling my guts to him, but I didn’t like all the accusations thrown in Liam’s way.

“I know him. He’s a young Alpha. He received the title a few months ago,” Caine said.

I nodded, and started getting up from the ground.

“Yeah well, Liam might have taken Cassidy against her will. But he wasn’t going to hurt her. He was just going to talk to her, and ask her if she wanted to come with us.”

“He kidnapped her?” Caine flatly asked.

I expected him to be angry, but he looked more amused than anything.

“I wouldn’t call it kidnapping…” I slowly said.

“He took her against her will. I think that is kidnapping, even in the human world,” Caine said, cocking an eyebrow.

“He wasn’t going to hurt her.”

“But he took her.”

“I guess he did.”

“That is kidnapping,” Caine stated, crossing his arms over his chest.

I narrowed my eyes at him, disapproving of the smug look he had on his face.

“So what if it was? Liam was condemned for it already. Layton found Cassidy. But since Cassidy cared for Liam, he begged Layton not to kill him.”

“Layton forgave Liam?” Caine asked incredulously.

“No, not exactly. Layton shipped Liam off to Dylan. Don’t you think that Dylan had a right to let him go? Liam didn’t even do anything to Dylan or his pack. He didn’t even do anything to Cassidy!”

My voice had risen, and Caine still only looked amused by my outburst.

“I would’ve killed him,” Caine shrugged.

I glared at him, not liking the suggestion he was making.

“What is that supposed to mean?” I asked in a snappy tone.

“If anyone took you away from me, or kidnapped you, or whatever it is that you want to call it, I would kill them. I wouldn’t spare their life.”

“Well then I’m glad it wasn’t you,” I snapped, and walked out of the room.

Caine followed after me, but he didn’t get in my way or try to stop me.

“Who are you calling?”

“I want to know where Adam is,” I replied.

It hadn’t occurred to me that if Liam left, his next stop could’ve been finding Adam. Once that thought came to mind, my worry was no longer on whether Liam would forgive me or not.

I was scared for Adam and what Liam would do to him. Only an hour had gone by, but it was more than enough time for Liam to do some damage.

“He doesn’t pick up,” I told Caine, worriedly.

“I’ll be right back,” Caine said to me.

He pressed his lips against my forehead for a second, before stepping out of the room.

I was sitting in Caine’s large chair, in his office. I could hear him talking outside. He was on the phone, but I didn’t know with whom.

When he came back, his graying green eyes landed on me.

“Your brother is in your apartment.”

There was a serious expression on his face, and his forehead was creased.

“You found him?” I asked.

Caine responded with a nod.

“I had some men following him, and Victor is outside of your apartment right now.”

“I need to go to him. He needs me right now,” I told him.

“No,” Caine said, shaking his head at me. “He needs time alone. I already told you, Charlotte. His Wolf is too close to the surface. You’re human, whether you are going to shift in a few months or not. Right now he can harm you and you will not heal.”

I ran my hand through my hair in desperation.

“I shouldn’t have kept this from him,” I said.

Caine was at my side soon enough. He easily scooped me up from the chair and took a seat in it. I ended up sideways on his lap, with one of his arms around me and the other on my thighs.

“Don’t do this to yourself,” Caine told me.

I nestled my head in his neck, and snuggled closer to his chest. Having him there with me, holding me, it helped. Even though I didn’t deserve it, he was comforting me.

“I made the call. I ordered my men to attack them. This wasn’t your fault,” Caine said.

He was softly running his hands through my hair, and he kept kissing the top of my head. I was crying silently, but every so often, a sob would leave my body. Whenever it did, Caine would only hold onto me tighter.

“We don’t have to go today. I have a group of men watching over your apartment. If your brother leaves, they will follow him.”

It was almost midnight when I finally convinced Caine to let me go see Liam. Even then, he kept trying to make excuses for us not to go.

“I need to explain things to him.”

“You can explain tomorrow.”

“You don’t know Liam,” I said, adding a small shaky chuckle.

“I don’t, but I do know how Wolves work. He was in prison for months, and then he became part of Midnight Moon for a few weeks, but his Wolf is still a Rogue.”

“He’s been a Rogue ever since he shifted,” I admitted.

Not even spending an entire year with a pack would make Liam change his ways, a few weeks would definitely not make a difference.

“What about you?” Caine asked.

I hadn’t been expecting his question, but it was obvious Caine would grow curious at one point or another.

“I’m just a human.”

“But you will shift, won’t you?”

“I don’t know yet, but Liam thinks so. He shifted when he turned eighteen.”

I was careful with my words. I didn’t want to lie to Caine, not after what happened with Liam. But I wasn’t ready to talk about Derek kicking me out of the pack. It was still a sore subject for me.

“Were you and Liam part of a pack?”

“Yes,” I replied.

“Which one?”

“It’s not important, not anymore at least.”

“What happened with your former pack? Every time I bring up the subject, you find a way to deviate the question.”

“There’s no point in getting into it. Are we going to see Liam or not?”

Caine gazed at me for a long while, before nodding his head.

“If I think he’s not in good shape to talk to you, I’m getting you out of there,” he warned me.

I didn’t argue with him about it. I wasn’t sure if Liam would want to see me either way.

The entire drive to the apartment was silent. Caine looked thoughtful most of the way. I was dealing with my own thoughts, most which were full of guilt.

“You should wait for me out here,” I told Caine.

We were in the lobby of the apartments. Victor, Macon, and Lesley, along with two other guys, were there as well.

“I’m not leaving you alone.”

“I don’t want you fighting with Liam. I think two times was already enough.”

“He can hurt you.”

“I deserve it,” I said.

The words had just left my lips, when Caine was in front of me, looking at me dangerously.

“Don’t ever say something like that,” he said. His words sounded like a threat. “It wasn’t your fault. He’s only mad that you kept if from him. I take blame for anything else.”

I didn’t say anything. I couldn’t even look into his eyes.

“Is that clear?” Caine asked, putting his hand under my chin to make me look up.

“I don’t want you two to be fighting,” I repeated.

“If it helps to get it out of his system, then maybe it’s better if he attacks me.”

I frowned at his words, still not understanding why he was so calm with it all.

“When we were at the mansion, and Liam attacked you, why didn’t you fight back?”

My words caught the attention of everyone else there. Victor especially, seemed interested in the direction our conversation had taken.

“He’s your brother. I don’t need him to give you another reason to be mad at me. Besides, I was in control of my Wolf and he wasn’t.”

“Liam is dangerous. I’ve seen him fight, and I’ve seen him kill. He’s one of the strongest Wolves I’ve seen,” I told him.

“I know. I got to test his strength firsthand. Do I even want to know how a Rogue got to be so strong?” Caine asked.

“You fought him a second time?” Victor interrupted, sounding completely surprised.

Caine gave him a short nod, but his eyes were focused on me.

“Alpha blood,” I replied, once again keeping my answer short.

Caine was taken aback by my words for a few seconds. Even Lesley, who was pretending to be bored with the situation, was now paying attention to me.

“You have Alpha blood?” He asked me.

“I don’t, Liam does. His grandfather was an Alpha. Liam’s uncle was the eldest son, so he took the Alpha position in the pack. Now Liam’s cousin, Zeverus, is the Alpha of New Elite Pack. You might’ve heard of them.

“I know the pack,” Caine said, thoughtfully.

“Your uncle is an Alpha?” Victor asked me.

I sighed, rather loudly, since it got all of their attention.

“Liam and I, it’s complicated,” I tried to explain, while keeping it short.

“How so?” Caine asked. This time, his voice sounded suspicious.

“I’m not saying anything in front of them,” I said, nodding towards the crowd that was standing to the side.

Caine cocked an eyebrow, and he turned to look at the group. Lesley had been giving me the stink eye, but she completely changed her expression when she noticed that Caine was looking.

“Alright then, we will discuss this later.”

Despite how much I insisted on going to the apartment alone, Caine had been reluctant. He not only tagged along, but Victor and Macon were going to wait right outside the hall.

I didn’t want them so close to the apartment. I knew Werewolves, and I knew all of their extra senses. Having Victor and Macon so close meant they could hear what we talked about inside and that unsettled me.

I trusted them both, but there were some things I didn’t even want to share with Caine, let alone Victor and Macon.

There was no need to knock on the door, because Caine had broken it earlier in the day. It was still broken, but Liam had found a way to make it block the entrance.

I was sure he knew we were there, and I was taking as a good sign the fact that he hadn’t tried to run away. He was letting me go to him.

Caine nodded in the direction where Liam was. He walked a few steps behind me, but made sure to keep a close distance between us.

We ended up in front of my room. I felt like crying right then and there when I realized that out of all the places in the apartment, Liam had gone to my room.

When I opened the door, I found Liam standing right next to the window, looking out.

“Somehow I expected you to get rid of the company,” Liam said, his back still to me.

“He wouldn’t bug off,” I replied, and it made Caine growl.

“You’re my mate,” Caine said.

“I know, I know,” I told him, rolling my eyes.

“Either you’re getting a lot less sneaky, or you really do like him,” Liam said, finally turning to face me.

It had just been a few hours since I had last seen him, but he wasn’t looking too well. His eyes were rimmed in red, they were still glassy, and there was a bluish purple color around them.

“Probably a little of both,” I said, giving him a small smile.

He didn’t smile back. His features softened, but it was because he looked so vulnerable, exposing emotions he usually kept hidden.

“You should’ve told me,” he said, shaking his head. “I wasn’t going to do anything to you. You know better than that. I would never hurt you.”

“I wasn’t scared for me. I was scared you would get against Adam. You had left me with him and then this happened,” I told him, motioning between Caine and me.

“I’m not happy about him either,” Liam said, nodding in Caine’s direction.

“She’s my mate.”

Liam nodded at Caine.

“I’ve had a mate. I know how that goes. When I had my mate, I was so fucking careless. I did a lot of shit, most of which I’m not too proud of. I lost her because of it.”

I swallowed at Liam’s words. I partly couldn’t believe he was talking about that, but mainly, I couldn’t believe he was sharing it with Caine.

“Charlotte is my main priority.”

“More than your pack?” Liam challenged.

My heart dropped when Liam asked that question. I knew how serious Caine took his position as Alpha and how important his pack was to him. It was unfair for Liam to ask him that question.

“More than my pack,” he replied. I was shocked when I heard him say that. It was probably wrong of me, but his answer made me happy. “Charlotte is the most important thing in my life. I would never let anything happen to her,” Caine replied, seriously.

He came to stand by my side, and tightly wrapped his arm around my waist.

Liam seemed to be examining us. It looked like he was searching for something, but I couldn’t tell what. His hazel eyes focused on me for a second, before they landed on Caine.

The entire scene felt like Caine was asking Liam for permission to be with me.

“She’s your mate, of course you care. It would be impossible not to, but I know what you’ve been up to these days.”

Caine frowned at Liam’s words. I slightly cocked my head to the side, wondering where Liam was going with that comment.

“What exactly are you referring to?” Caine asked.

“You and Knight Pack have had a thing going on for years. You didn’t get along with Tristan and now the fight has also followed along with Derek,” Liam said.

“Both Tristan and Derek are bad leaders. A pack cannot have two male Alphas,” Caine stated.

Since I was pressed to Caine’s side, I felt when his body tensed up. His fingers were slightly digging into my waist.

“They’re both worthless bastards, but that doesn’t excuse what you’re about to do.”

“If I don’t attack first, they will give me a surprise attack. I’ll be left exposed. It isn’t wise,” Caine explained.

I didn’t know what exactly was going on, but something told me what they were saying was really important. Even Liam was more into the conversation that he usually was. He seemed very interested.

“I agree, but not at Charlie’s expense.”

“What about me?” I asked.

“I am going to fight so that no harm ever comes to her,” Caine told Liam.

His voice was starting to get a hard tone to it.

“No, you are going to fight because both Tristan and Derek have done things to your pack in the past. And if you are going to start a war, guess who is going to become a person of interest?” Liam said, and his eyes settled on me.

“I’ve seen it before. A few years back, when you and Dylan brought Highland Pack down, you two killed the Luna first.”

My mouth dropped open at Liam’s words.

I pulled away from Caine, and stared at him with shock.

“It had to be done,” Caine said to me.

I exhaled shakily, but couldn’t bring myself to say anything.

“How do you know all these things?” Caine asked Liam.

Caine tried to get me back in his arms, but I kept pulling away.

“Don’t,” I said, putting my hand up to stop him from getting any closer.

“I’ve been around,” Liam shrugged.

We all stayed quiet for a while after that. Liam was staring off in the distance. I focused my eyes on him, mainly because I didn’t want to look at Caine. I could feel his stare on me. He was trying to get me to look at him.

“If you and Dylan are going to fight against Knight Pack, be my guest. I could really careless what happens to any of them,” Liam told Caine.

“Liam!” I snapped.

I narrowed my eyes at him, and he quickly caught on to why his comment upset me. He knew that my parents and Theo were still there. He knew how much I still suffered because I wasn’t with them.

“Then what is the problem?” Caine asked.

“If you’re going into battle, I’m taking Charlie with me.”

“I’m not letting you take her away from me,” Caine growled.

“And I’m not letting her get involved in pack feuds. Fight all you want, but you keep that shit away from Charlie,” Liam growled back.

Caine and Liam were both looking at each other defiantly, and of course, neither of them was backing down.

“You two do know that I’m here, right?” I asked, waving both of my hands to get their attention.

“I am not stopping the attack I have planned against Knight Pack. Tristan and Derek deserve it,” Caine spoke through gritted teeth.

Liam broke off his stare from Caine to turn to me.

“I better than anyone else know that they deserve it. After what Derek did to Charlie. But you have to be-” That was as far as Liam got to say before Caine interrupted him.

“What are you talking about?” Caine asked Liam. “What did he do to you?” He directed that question to me.

When he closed the distance between us, he didn’t care that I tried to stop him. Caine grabbed ahold of my arm and made me face him.

“You haven’t told him?” Liam asked.

Caine’s hold on my arm tightened, and I noticed as his eyes subtly shifted from their grayish green color to black.

“What did Derek do to you?” Caine asked, emphasizing and stopping with each word he spoke.

The harsh look in his eyes scared me.