Caine

Seeing Caine and Liam’s Wolves trying to kill each other was painful.

Victor had run into the room. When his eyes landed on me, I could tell he was pissed off as well. He was glaring at me.

I didn’t know what to do. Caine and Liam were really hurting each other. When I tried to intervene, Victor held me back and he growled against my ear.

“Don’t touch me!” I snapped at him.

He didn’t release me but he did loosen his hold on me.

“Stop!” I yelled.

I tried to explain things to Caine but he ignored me. He was lost and his Wolf had too much control. When Macon walked into the room, he got Victor’s attention. It was all the distraction I needed to try to break the two Wolves apart.

Liam tried shoving me away, but I didn’t budge. I clung to him and it only made Caine growl in anger. They stopped though, which had been my intention.

Victor tried to get me back, but I pressed myself against Liam and didn’t let him go.

Caine shifted into his human form and Liam followed him soon after.

“Get away from him,” Caine growled, reaching out for me.

I didn’t let him hold me.

His eyes somehow managed to turn darker. His claws were still out and so were his canines. He was about to lose it again.

“You need to listen to me. What is wrong with you?”

“You slept with him!” Caine accused.

I had to step away from Liam when Caine threw those words at me. I remembered that behind me, Liam was actually naked. Although Caine didn’t think so, Liam was like a brother to me, nothing else. Just thinking about Liam in any other way made my stomach turn.

“I can explain if you are willing to listen,” I told him.

It made me sad that Caine didn’t trust me.

“Charlie, you’re still letting him walk all over you after what he just did to me!” Liam scolded.

When I turned to face him I realized he was frowning at me.

“You betrayed me,” Caine growled, completely ignoring my words or what Liam had just said.

Liam took a moment to grab a pair of shorts that were lying around on the floor. I sighed in relieve when he slipped them on.

“If that’s what you think and you won’t let me explain, then maybe Liam and I should just go,” I said, and I took a hold of Liam’s hand.

“You’re not going anywhere with him!” Caine growled possessively, and he tried to grab me.

Before Caine got a chance to snatch me away, Liam swiftly pulled me behind him.

“Charlie might not be my blood, but she is more important to me than anyone from my real family. And I don’t like you,” Liam stated.

Caine glared at him for a long while, before his eyes moved over to me.

“Come here,” he ordered through gritted teeth.

Victor and Macon looked like they were ready to intervene. They looked like they wanted to attack Liam. I hated that Caine was putting us in that situation.

Both Caine and Liam were bleeding and they had bites and wounds on several parts of their bodies. They were already healing, but that wasn’t the point. Having Caine, Victor, and Macon against Liam was not a fair fight. I didn’t want anybody to fight, especially not for something so stupid.

“Make Victor and Macon leave and then we can talk. If you don’t, I’m walking away from here.”

“You aren’t going anywhere,” Caine threatened.

I noticed that his eyes were focused on the hold Liam had on my hand.

“Leave,” I said, turning to look at Victor and Macon. “For all intents and purposes, I am still your Luna, at least for now.”

Caine was at my side as soon as I said those words.

“You’re mine!”

“Make them leave,” I replied.

His dark eyes were staring intently into mine. The way he was looking down at me— I almost felt like cowering back. He exuded so much power. He was tall and strong, standing in front of me, challenging me. He really was a dominant Alpha.

“Leave us!” Caine ordered.

It was obvious who his command had been directed to. Victor did not look happy to be going, but he had to do as Caine ordered.

The power of the Alpha. Now if only they had more respect towards their Luna, I thought to myself.

“I want to leave,” Liam said, and he tried moving us away from Caine.

Caine grabbed my arm and pulled me back. It felt like they were playing tug-a-war with me and I was their stupid rope.

“Enough!” I yelled, and I was glad my words did their intended purpose.

Both Caine and Liam went still.

“You lied to me,” Caine accused.

“I lied but it’s not as bad as you think.”

“You spent all night in bed with him!”

“Sleeping and you should know that,” I said, giving him a flat look.

Caine narrowed his eyes at me, but didn’t say anything else. He knew I was right. He was a Wolf and had enhanced hearing. I was betting he had been listening in all night to check on me.

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

Liam growled at my words and shook his head.

“Caine is a psychopath. I’m not leaving you here with him.”

Caine tried to attack Liam when he said that, but I quickly stood in between the two of them. They were both squishing me. Caine and Liam were too busy staring each other off to notice they were suffocating me. Since they were both a deal taller, I felt even smaller being stuck in between the two.

“Stop!” I snapped, and I pushed on Caine’s chest to get him to back off.

He reluctantly took a step back, but he grabbed both of my wrists and brought me with him. Liam didn’t take his actions to kindly. He grabbed my shoulders and tried to get me back to his side. Once again I found myself getting pulled by both of them.

“Human here,” I commented, because neither of them noticed that the strength they were using on me was too much.

“Explain then,” Caine ordered.

“You don’t have to explain anything to him,” Liam countered.

“Then she’s guilty.”

“If that’s what you think, then maybe we should leave. Come on, Charlie,” Liam said, holding out his hand for me.

“You aren’t going anywhere with my mate,” Caine said, in a low dangerous voice.

It looked like he was ready to go another round with Liam.

“Let me talk to him, Liam,” I told him.

“Not so that he can convince you of God knows what. We weren’t doing anything bad. Don’t let him guilt you into anything,” Liam said, but he didn’t make a move to leave.

Caine’s eyes slowly started shifting back to their grayish green color, and I noticed his claws were gone.

“We will talk.”

Caine took ahold of my hand and pulled me to him. When Liam tried to get me away, I held up my hand.

“Don’t let him do this to you, Charlie.” Liam’s voice softened when he talked to me.

“I’m just going to explain everything. If he doesn’t understand it then we’ll go.”

Caine growled at my words, and he tightened his hold on my hand.

“Well in that case,” Liam said.

He turned to smirk at Caine, but I could tell he was still very much alert.

“Don’t forget I did sleep with Charlie all night long,” Liam taunted.

Caine went to attack Liam and I just had a second to stand in front of him, and place my hands on his chest to keep him back. Liam laughed but he did leave the room.

Caine was breathing loudly. He was trying to keep his Wolf away. Liam’s comment had really worked him up.

“I know you didn’t do anything with him,” Caine finally said after a few minutes.

“Well that’s reassuring,” I muttered sarcastically.

“You were still with him and he was hardly wearing any clothes,” he accused.

“Liam is like my brother, Caine. You need to understand that.”

“But he’s not your brother. He is a man and he was with you alone, in a bed.”

I groaned when he said those words. What he was insinuating really bothered me. I was trying to understand his point of view, I really was.

I had gotten so used to Liam and having him taking care of me. All of my documents had Liam as my brother and guardian. I had taken Liam’s last name. To me, he was like my brother, whether we were related by blood or not. Caine just didn’t see it like that.

“I hope you get those ideas out of your head, and get your mind out of the gutter,” I said, shaking my head.

“Don’t try to distract me.”

“Then don’t be gross. Liam is like my brother. I don’t want to hear you saying otherwise or making insinuations about Liam and me in any other way. Seriously, that’s disgusting,” I told him, annoyed that I even had to clear it up.

My face felt warm. I felt embarrassed about my words. If Adam had heard me saying that, he’d probably make fun of me.

When I looked up, I found Caine staring at me attentively. I wanted to ask him what he was thinking but I didn’t dare.

He had returned to his usual quiet self.

I sighed when I got tired of all his staring.

“My mom is a Werewolf and my dad is a human. When I turned thirteen, I didn’t shift like the rest of the pups did. I was the only one from my pack that didn’t shift.”

I didn’t feel ready to share what had happened with him but it seemed like it was the only way to get him to see my side of things. Getting kicked out of the pack and having to leave my family and home was something that still haunted me.

“I was basically the outcast of the pack. It happens, you know, when you’re just the weak human who never shifted. One day, Liam attacked Knight Pack. He was just there to bother Derek and Tristan. But they knew Liam’s story. He didn’t shift until he was eighteen either.”

“That’s how you met Liam?”

“Derek kicked me out of the pack and abandoned me far away from home, claiming that I would turn out just like Liam and attack them. Liam found me, took me in, and he has been taking care of me ever since. I owe him everything I have.”

I turned away from Caine after I finished talking. I was trying to hide the tears that were blurring my eyes. Caine stood behind me, and pressed me against his chest. He slid his hands around my waist and rested them over my stomach.

“Derek is a worthless Alpha and even less of a man for doing that to you,” Caine whispered huskily.

He placed a small kiss on the area just below my ear and brought me closer to his chest, resting his head on my shoulder.

“He made me hate packs for a long time,” I admitted in a shaky voice.

“Why did Liam help you?”

“He went through the same thing. He didn’t shift, his pack hated him, and they treated him really badly. He didn’t have anybody the first time he shifted. Liam was alone, and he had to learn how to survive. I had him, I’ve always had him.”

Tears were sliding down my cheek, and I quickly cleared them away. I didn’t stop Caine when he turned me around to face him. His hand cupped my chin and he made me look up at him.

“You should’ve told me this.”

I nodded in agreement. “I should’ve.”

“But he’s still not your brother.”

I lightly tapped my forehead against his chest, and groaned at that.

“I’m not kidding when I told you to stop seeing Liam as anything else but my brother.”

“He’s a Rogue.”

“Technically,” I said, stretching out the word. “He became part of Midnight Moon.”

“Dylan wants to kill him. That means he doesn’t consider Liam part of Midnight Moon anymore.”

“Well then he is part of our pack. That is, if you want me to stay,” I shrugged.

Caine wrapped his arms around me tightly and picked me up from the ground so that I was directly looking at him.

“You’re mine,” he growled.

“Then Liam is as much part of the pack as I am.”

“I don’t like Liam.”

“You don’t have to like him, but you do have to get along with him.”

Caine leaned into me. He was going to kiss me. Before our lips met, I pulled away from him.

“No,” I said.

I regretted pulling away right after I did it, but I knew we shouldn’t be kissing after what had just happened between Liam and him.

Caine growled and put his hand behind my head, forcing me to stay in place.

“Don’t even think about it,” I told him.

My hands had been on his chest, but I pressed one of them in front of his lips.

“You don’t get to accuse me of cheating on you and then assume it will all be fine and dandy.”

He cocked an eyebrow at me, but I could see the frown forming on his face.

“Put me down,” I said.

I squirmed in his arms, trying to get him to release me. Caine only tightened his arms around my waist and leaned in to kiss me.

I turned my head away from him again, which made him growl louder at me.

He did end up putting me down after a minute of just glaring at me.

“Now I need to go and calm Liam down,” I sighed, knowing it was probably going to be harder to deal with him.

I didn’t pull away from Caine when he interlaced our hands, but I did stop him from pressing me against his chest. Being near him drove me crazy. It was hard to tell him ‘no’ when we were so close, and I knew Caine was well aware of that.

No matter what I did, I couldn’t force Macon to leave the room while I spoke to Liam. It got to the point where Liam threatened him to go, and I had to intervene so that the two of them wouldn’t end up fighting.

Caine didn’t ask to be present while I spoke to Liam, but he didn’t want me alone ‘with another male’, as he put it.

Macon was quietly standing next to the door, while Liam glared at him.

“There’s no need for us to come to an agreement. We’re leaving,” Liam stated.

“I don’t want to go, Liam.”

I walked closer to him and tried to get his attention. He was too busy shooting daggers at Macon. I felt like Liam was going to attack Macon at any moment.

“He doesn’t trust you,” Liam growled out.

“I lied to him. He’s just a little upset right now.”

“Don’t even go there right now, Charlie. If you start defending him I swear I’ll,” he said, his hands balling into fists while he started cursing out everyone in Locus Pack.

“He is my mate.”

“Then maybe he should stop acting like an asshole.”

I turned away from him and shook my head. I did consider leaving with Liam for a couple of days. It would give him time to cool off and I knew Caine was going to be busy with the arrival of Alpha Dylan. I had been thinking that having Liam away when the Alpha arrived was probably best.

The problem was going to be convincing Caine that it was a good idea.

Liam ended up storming off. He was worked up and he said he needed to go for a run.

“Where are you going?” Macon asked me.

I had been about to open the front door, when he grabbed my hand to stop me.

I looked down at his hand on me, and frowned at him. He quickly let me, and apologized.

“The Alpha wouldn’t approve of this.”

“I want to see Theo and I’m going,” I shrugged and continued on my way.

We had been walking towards the pack building when Macon suddenly growled.

“Is something wrong?” I asked him.

We had other Wolves following after us, no doubt Caine’s doing. With Derek near and after what happened the day before, I knew I was going to have a shadow at all times.

“Lesley should be here. She’s blocking me from her mind. The Alpha isn’t going to like this.”

His words only made me frown.

“Why? Because there’s not a girl present?” I snapped, and walked ahead of him.

Liam had a good point about Caine’s behavior.

Theo was more than surprised when I arrived in front of his cell. I had five Wolves surrounding me. From the way Macon was behaving, I assumed he hadn’t told Caine where I was or that I had left the mansion.

According to Macon, Caine and Victor had both left to deal with Derek. Derek was around and it was unsettling Caine. He wanted to have the upper hand. He had been planning the fight to happen at Knight Territory, not anywhere near our home. Caine thought more casualties on our side would be avoided if the battle too place far away.

“Char,” Theo said, quickly getting up from the bench he was in.

When his hand took a hold of mine, I had every single one of the Wolves from Locus Pack growling at him.

“I’m fine, he’s not doing anything,” I stated, firmly.

While they did back down, they were still shooting daggers at Theo.

“How are you doing? I mean, they haven’t done anything to you, have they?” I asked.

Theo shook his head, and a sullen look took over his eyes.

“How are you alive?”

“Derek lied.”

Theo closed his eyes, and I felt his hold on my hand tighten. I could feel him shaking in anger.

“Now you’re the Alpha’s Luna,” Theo asked, but his voice had lost all emotion.

I nodded at him, not really knowing what else to say. I wanted to tell him so many things. I wanted to ask about my mom and my dad. But for some reason, I couldn’t.

“Caine isn’t going to hurt you,” I assured him.

“I don’t care about that,” Theo shrugged.

He let go of my hand and took a few steps deeper into his cell.

“Derek is still around. He is here to get all of you back.”

“I honestly doubt that’s why he’s here,” Theo said, his voice sounding bitter. “He’s scouting.”

“Why do you say that?” Macon asked him.

“Everyone knows that the reason they’re fighting is because Alpha Derek and Alpha Tristan want some the Wolves from this pack. He’s scouting, it’s why he’s really here.”

“Theo!” A voice snapped.

It had been a girl. She was in the cell next to Theo’s. I hadn’t even realized girls from Knight Pack had been captured.

“It’s true. I’m not going to sit around calmly while Alpha Derek is out there pretending to care that we’re in this shithole,” Theo snapped back.

“First you’re talking to the enemy and now you’re spilling your guts. Snitch,” the girl said, disapprovingly.

“No one asked your opinion,” Theo told her.

“She’s right though. You’re betraying your pack for her,” another guy from Knight Pack added.

“You don’t have to tell me anything, Theo. I’m not here to get information out of you. I just wanted to see that you’re okay,” I told him.

I frowned when I turned to face the girl. She was glaring at me. She must’ve been part of the group that came with Theo. Knight Pack members were the only ones who were locked in that hall.

I gazed at her for a long while. Other than her brown hair, which was up in a tight bun, she really didn’t look like she belonged there. While she was tall, she looked like someone fragile who wanted to look tough. Her light brown eyes were staring at me with anger, even though I hadn’t done anything to her.

“If you were really his friend, you’d find a way to get him out of here,” the girl said, giving me a fake smile.

“Shut up, Tempo,” Theo snapped.

“Don’t get mad at me. I’m just telling it how it is. She says she’s worried, but I still see you locked up in this shithole, like you just called it.”

“Who are you?” I asked her, walking away from Theo’s cell and standing in front of hers.

“Tempo,” she replied, snappily.

“That’s your name?” I asked, cocking my head to the side.

While Theo said ‘no’, the girl said ‘yes’.

“Tempo it is,” I said, because I didn’t think she was going to be changing her mind.

“What can I do for you, Luna?” Tempo sneered.

“I don’t remember you from the pack,” I said, turning back to face Theo.

“Tempo didn’t train with the girls,” Theo shrugged.

“You didn’t exactly socialize with the pack. Weren’t you and Theo glued to each other’s side all day?” Tempo asked, sarcastically.

“He was my best friend,” I replied, frowning at the way she spoke.

“Was?” Theo asked, shaking his head.

“Theo…”

“You’re right, Char. We haven’t seen each other in a long time.” Even though he was saying those words, he still looked mad.

“I didn’t mean anything by it.”

“I don’t want you to get me out. I’ll take my punishment. But you should get Tempo out.” Theo nodded towards the cell where Tempo was in.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Tempo said, sounding outraged that Theo had even proposed that.

“Don’t be stupid,” Theo snapped at her. “You’re the only girl here, Tempo. Do you think Alpha Caine is going to care that you’re a girl?”

“Caine wouldn’t hurt her. And he isn’t going to hurt you either!”

I didn’t like the way Theo implied that Caine was a bad guy. He didn’t even know him. If anything, the bad one was Derek.

“I’m not going anywhere with her. I’m not leaving here,” Tempo said, glaring at me.

“Good, because you’re not going anywhere,” Macon added.

Theo growled at Macon’s words and I noticed his hazel eyes flashed darker.

“You’re not in charge here,” Theo told Macon. Then he turned to me. “If you really care, you’d at least let Tempo go. You can have someone escort her all the way to Knight Pack if you’d like.”

“She can attack, but she can’t face the consequences that come with getting caught?” Macon asked him.

“She’s a girl!” Theo snapped.

“I’m right here!” Tempo snapped just as loud.

“I’ll talk to Caine about this,” I told Theo, holding out my hand for him to take.

I needed to get out of there.

“I’m not asking you for any favors,” Tempo said.

“Shut up, Tempo. I’m still in charge of you and everybody else here,” Theo growled.

“I don’t want to owe her any favors,” Tempo begrudgingly muttered.

It seemed like the only reason she said that was because she wanted to have the last word. Theo shook his head at her, and gave her a disapproving look.

“I’m going to sleep,” I quietly told Macon as soon as we arrived at the mansion.

“It’s early,” Macon told me, looking down at his watch.

“I feel like I just aged ten years while being in that prison,” I mumbled.

“You shouldn’t have gone.”

“I had to check on Theo,” I shrugged.

“The Alpha isn’t going to like that you were there. He doesn’t know yet.”

I nodded at him, and started walking up the stairs.

I didn’t think Caine was going to be mad. He knew how to pick his fights with me and right now it seemed like Liam was his biggest problem.

I ended up dozing off once I lied down in bed.

I woke up to the sound of someone quietly closing the door. I groggily sat up and found Liam making his way towards me. It was already dark outside. I had unintentionally slept all through the day.

“Liam?”

“Hey,” he said, giving me a small wave.

He was looking pale and he had a troubled look in his eyes.

“What’s wrong?”

Liam swallowed audibly and slumped himself on the bed. I crawled to his side and sat next to him.

“Talk to me,” I pleaded

Liam sighed, and lied back on the bed. He looked tired and worried, which was strange from him.

“I was with Lesley,” Liam told me.

I frowned at that, and settled myself so that I was facing him.

“Macon was mad that Lesley took off. She was supposed to be here. Why were you with her?”

“I was… with her,” Liam repeated.

“I know, you already said that. Were you guys together since you took off? You’ve been gone all day.”

Liam shook his head, and he fuzzed up my hair. I slapped his hand away and glared when he smiled at me.

“I’m glad you’re this innocent,” Liam told me.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“C’mon, the She-Wolf is sexy,” Liam said, smirking at me.

“Weren’t you calling her a pup the other day?” I asked, as I crossed my arms over my chest.

Liam chuckled, and he grabbed my hand.

“I guess she’s grown up.”

“When you say you were with her, you mean you were hanging out with her, right?”

“I mean I slept with her,” Liam flatly stated.

I pulled my hand away from his and jumped off the bed. That was not what I expected to hear. Liam and Lesley…

“Why would you do that?”

“I like her,” he shrugged.

“You like her?”

“Don’t look at me like that.”

“I don’t like Lesley, and I sure as hell don’t like her for you!”

I knew I should’ve kept Liam close, especially when I saw him and Lesley flirting. I was realizing my mistake too late. Since he had been making fun of her, I assumed it was all playful joking. I didn’t think he would run off with her the first chance he got.

“I don’t like Caine and you don’t see my complaining.”

My mouth dropped opened at that, and it only made Liam grin at me.

“You always complain about him!”

“Charlie, we won’t get into that right now. Lesley told me some things,” Liam said, suddenly turning serious.

He took on that expression he had when he first arrived in the room.

“I shouldn’t have slept with her. I’m not just saying that to make you feel better. It was a mistake.”

I frowned at that, but waited for him to continue.

“I was pissed off after what happened with you and Caine. Lesley saw me and followed me to the apartment. Honestly, it just happened.”

“It just happened,” I repeated, not really buying his words.

“Lesley acts tough, but she’s far from it. At least she was like that while we were together.”

“I don’t think I want to hear this,” I told him, feeling my stomach turn just at the thought.

I didn’t need a mental picture of Lesley and Liam together.

“I’m going to go-”

“She was a virgin,” Liam said, and cringed at his own words.

My words were brought to a halt when Liam said that. I wasn’t expecting details and I certainly didn’t know how to act with what he’d just thrown out.

“I don’t need to know this, Liam,” I said.

I was going to leave the room, but Liam looked like something was bothering him. I couldn’t bring myself to take the final steps to the door.

“I should’ve known when she started getting nervous, but I didn’t read too much into it. I was worked up, my Wolf was at bay, and Lesley was there to take care of me.”

“So it happened, it isn’t such a big deal,” I mumbled, not knowing what else to say to help him.

I had seen Liam flirting with girls. Liam was good looking, he was charming, and girls liked that. But he didn’t really share with me details and I was not looking forward to changing that, especially if he was going to talk about Lesley and him.

“Girls, they get… clingy when it happens for the first time. I don’t do virgins because I’m not looking for commitment. Now I feel like an asshole for doing this to Lesley. She should’ve just waited for her mate,” Liam growled, as he got up from the bed.

He was pacing the room. The cool and collected Liam I knew was nowhere in sight.

“It was her decision, Liam. I think you’re looking too much into it. Just let it go,” I said, wishing that he listened to me, because I really did not want to hear anything else about Lesley and him.

“She told me what she did to you, when your precious Alpha found you for the first time,” Liam said, abruptly changing the subject.

I was glad for the subject change, but I hated that he was going to bring that night up.

“Why didn’t you tell me they beat you and then locked you up? After that, you still defend him so much?”

“He didn’t know it was me,” I defended.

“You’re a human, Charlie. They shouldn’t have been doing that shit to any humans. Lesley and all the idiots who were with her that day should’ve been killed for what they did.”

“Well aren’t you happy Lesley’s not dead,” I snapped, although it felt like a low blow.

Liam took a step back after I said that. He was frowning at me.

“Do you know what Caine did to them as punishment?” Liam asked, in a challenging tone.

“He lowered their ranks in the pack,” I replied, because that’s what Macon had told me.

“Yes, he did that. He also did something else.”

“He made Lesley my babysitter.”

“You should ask him what he did. It was probably better if he’d killed them all,” Liam said, before he stalked out of the room.

“You took long,” I told Caine when he walked into the room.

I was sitting down, with my legs propped up and resting my back on the headboard of the bed. I had been wide awake ever since Liam had left the room. I couldn’t stop thinking about everything he said.

“You’re not happy.”

I didn’t reply anything. I just looked at him. He was wearing a pair of jeans, and he was in the middle of pulling off his shirt. His hair was disheveled. I noticed it was getting longer, but I liked how it looked.

“Am I forgiven?” Caine asked, and he made his way to the bed.

He climbed up, and laid down over me, resting his body in between my legs.

“Should you be?”

Caine gave me a teasing smile, and he nuzzled his head against my chest. I chuckled and lazily wrapped my arms around his neck. I ran my hands through his hair, and let out a sigh. Caine definitely knew what being close to him did to me.

“Yes, you should forgive me,” he replied.

“Then you should behave.”

Caine chuckled, and playfully bit the skin on my bare shoulders.

“I still don’t like Liam.”

“Don’t worry, he doesn’t like you either.”

“He should leave then,” Caine suggested.

I dropped my hands from around him when he said those words.

“If Liam goes, then I go to.”

Caine wrapped his arms around me, and swiftly picked me up. He sat down on the bed and brought me over to his lap.

“Nice moves,” I told him, while placing my hands over his chest.

“Don’t threaten me,” he growled huskily.

“I’m not threatening you. I’m being serious. I don’t care if you get along with Liam or not. I would rather you did, but I’ll understand if you don’t. But I am not going to stand either you or him trying to get me against one another. You’re my mate and he’s my brother. Those are two very different kinds of love.”

I tried to get up from his lap, but Caine tightened his hold around my waist and kept me in place.

“Fine,” he sharply said.

I placed my hands on either side of his face and made him look up at me. His jaw was clenched and he looked mad, but at least he let me hold him.

“If Liam is going to stay, then he needs to-” Before he finished what he was saying, I pressed my lips against his.

Caine froze for a moment, but I continued to move my lips against his. Slowly, he responded to my kiss. Seconds later, he’d taken control. He was digging his fingers into my waist, and pressing me impossibly closer to him. He slowly laid me down on the bed, moving himself over my body.

I giggled when his hand grazed my stomach. He knew I was ticklish. Caine smiled against my lips, before continuing our kiss.

We broke apart when someone knocked loudly on the door.

“It’s Liam,” Caine said, but he didn’t pull away from me.

I shoved Caine’s chest, and even then he seemed reluctant to move.

“Caine,” I whined, and I pushed him again.

“It’s late,” he told me.

“Charlie!” Liam called me on the other side of the door.

“Come in!” I yelled, just as I pushed Caine to get off of me.

Liam walked in and looked between Caine and me suspiciously.

“Make it quick,” Caine told him.

“I don’t follow orders, especially not from you,” Liam retorted, glaring at Caine.

I got off from the bed and walked towards Liam.

“Did you need anything?”

Caine got up as well and he came to stand at my side. He smoothly wrapped his arm around my waist and pressed me to his side.

“Don’t get cozy with him while I’m here,” Liam snapped, scowling at the hold Caine had on me.

“What’s up?” I asked Liam.

I placed my hand over Caine, trying to get him to loosen his hold on me. He was getting upset over Liam being there and that made his grip on me a whole lot tighter.

“I was waiting for Caine to get back,” Liam said, a smirk coming onto his lips.

“No more fighting, Liam. I mean it.”

“No fighting,” he said, raising his hands defensively.

“What do you want, Liam?” Caine asked, harshly.

“I want to talk to you.”

“Go ahead,” Caine told him, his posture stiffening beside me.

“Alone,” Liam stated.

“About what?” I asked him.

Liam had a smug look on his face.

“That’s for me to know and you to wonder about,” Liam said, grinning at me.

“Alright, lets go downstairs,” Caine said, stepping away from me and walking towards the door.

“What? No,” I cried.

“This doesn’t concern you, Charlie,” Liam told me.

“You two were killing each other this morning. You’re not locking yourselves up in a room without supervision!”

“We’re not little kids,” Liam sighed.

“Then don’t act like them,” I retorted.

“Point taken, we won’t. Caine,” Liam said, outstretching his arm to the door.

“What is this about?”

I was feeling left out, and that really bothered me. But most importantly, I didn’t think it was a good idea to have Liam and Caine in the same room, alone

“Don’t worry about it,” Liam said, just before walking out of the room.

I tried to go after him, but Caine stepped in front of me.

“Caine,” I said, anxiously looking between him and the door where Liam had just walked out of.

“I won’t be long,” Caine told me.

He kissed my cheek, letting his lips linger against my skin, and followed after Liam.

I did not have a good feeling about that supposed talk between Caine and Liam.