Caine

I knew that Macon, Lesley, and Adam were downstairs, but I didn’t dare leave the room. After Caine had left me in bed—stunned, tired, and well-fucked—I didn’t have the energy to face anybody. I filled the tub and soaked in the water for hours. Once the water was no longer warm, I drained it and fill it up again.

Adam had dropped off a tray with food that Caine had ordered for me. He left it in the room while I’d been in the tub. By the time I got out, the food was cold. I still ate it. I was hungry and I figured starving myself wouldn’t stop my problems.

I felt like I couldn’t talk to Adam anymore. I wasn’t sure what he would keep to himself or what he would share with Caine—for the good of the pack. Liam had left that same day. If I called to tell him what Caine had done to me, he would run back to kick his ass. He didn’t need that extra worry.

I also wanted to fix my own problems. Caine was a complete jerk. I felt guilty that I’d enjoyed when we had mated, because he had only done it to show me that he owned me—at least the needs of my body. He knew what to do and how to touch me.

If he had just left without sharing some of the words that he did, I wouldn’t have been as upset. But he just had to tell me the reason why he’d forced himself on me. He wanted to prove a point, and I’d fallen for it. I didn’t really feel used, because I enjoyed every time we mated, but I did feel tricked.

When I got bored, and Caine still hadn’t arrived, I decided to call Leila. I assumed that having a mate like Alpha Dylan would have surely given Leila some heartache.

As it had happened other times that I’d called her, Alpha Dylan answered the phone with an irritable, “What?”

“It’s me-” I was about to say my name, when he rudely interrupted me.

“Me who?”

“Charlotte, I was just about to tell you that. You just had to give me a second to-”

“What do you want?”

“Why are you so rude?” I asked, although I wasn’t really surprised by his rudeness. I’d gotten used to his hostile and cold attitude. Alpha Dylan and I ended up arguing after most of our talks. He seemed to disapprove of me. I sometimes thought that Leila found it funny. She was usually embarrassed but giggling by the time she took the phone from him.

“That’s why you called?” Alpha Dylan asked, and he genuinely sounded amused.

“What? No! I want to talk to Leila,” I told him, grumpily.

“She’s not here,” he replied, blankly.

“She’s not? It’s almost midnight…”

“Yes, I said the same thing to her. You should talk to Leila about arriving home at a decent hour,” he said, sounding annoying.

“Where is she?” I asked, getting comfortable in the couch, while turning on the TV and setting it on mute. I pulled the tray with food over my lap and continued eating.

“Blake is here with his mate. Christy, Leila, Tempo, and some other women from the pack are having… something. I don’t see any point in it and I told Leila. Christy is a very bad influence in her. This whole thing was her idea. Now I have to sleep without my mate for a half of the night,” Alpha Dylan grumbled.

“That sucks,” I told him, and he growled when I laughed at him.

“You wouldn’t be laughing if it was your mate.”

“You can deal with one night, Alpha Dylan,” I told him.

“Don’t call me Alpha. You are Caine’s mate—it sounds strange.” His voice was serious. Having a casual conversation with him and calling him ‘Alpha’ was slightly weird, but not enough that it bothered me. I was used to addressing him with his title.

“I guess…”

“Where’s Caine? It’s late. You usually call Leila at an earlier hour,” Alpha Dylan asked.

“You know, I’ve never met Alpha Blake and his mate,” I said, changing the subject.

“You’re not missing out. Blake is a wimp and his mate is a brat. Like I said, they’re a bad influence.”

I rolled my eyes at his words, and shook my head. “I’m sure you say that about everyone.”

“Few people impress me and I hate wasting my time,” he said. I was going to point out that he didn’t really like me, and he was talking with me on the phone—it seemed like that would be one of those things that he’d consider a waste of time. I opted for keeping my mouth shut. He was being decent with me for once and I didn’t feel like arguing with him… yet.

The channel I had on TV started playing infomercials, so I flipped through the channels. I’d almost finished eating, but I was feeling thirsty. When I got up to look at myself in the mirror, I noticed that my eyes were no longer red and puffy. I had cried after Caine left. I was embarrassed about it. Since Lesley, Macon, and Adam were still downstairs, I didn’t want to bump into anyone and for them to see that I’d been crying.

“You didn’t tell me where Caine was. I called him today but Victor told me he was out. Since Blake arrived, I haven’t had a chance to call him back.”

“He’s in the pack building right now, hiding from me.” As soon as those words left my mouth, I wanted to take them back. Caine and Alpha Dylan were best friends. Anything I said was sure to get back to him. “If you call him right now, I’m sure he’ll pick up.”

I was already walking downstairs. I could hear the TV on somewhere in the first floor. I quickly headed for the kitchen.

“Later,” Alpha Dylan said.

“Alright,” I replied.

Once I had a soda in hand, I dashed upstairs. I heard a door opening and closing, and that made me hurry up to my room. I thought I heard Adam call my name, but I ran away before he got a chance to stop me.

“Are you okay?” Alpha Dylan asked.

I laughed, trying to catch my breath. On my hurry to make it to the room without getting intercepted, I’d tripped. “I’m fine. I was just about to fall but I held on to a table on the way down.” I was still laughing at how I’d managed to keep from face planting on the ground.

“An uncoordinated Werewolf—now that is something you don’t see often,” he said, chuckling.

“Oh, whatever dude,” I told him, rolling my eyes. Only someone as proper and proud of his Wolf heritage would say something like that.

“I just told you to call me by my name and now I’m ‘dude’?”

I burst out laughing. By the time I sat back in front of the TV, I was thirsty and feeling hyper. I drank half the coke in one drink.

“Can I ask you a question?” I asked, once I relaxed against the couch. I pushed the plate of food away, and took another swig of my drink while I waited for him to speak.

“I don’t guarantee I will answer, but you can ask.”

“Such an Alpha thing to say,” I muttered, shaking my head.

“What’s your question? If you’re asking me, you must surely be desperate to know.”

“What’s up with Alphas and that all mighty attitude you guys carry?”

“Is this due to your problems with Caine?” Alpha Dylan asked instead.

“What?”

“Why is he hiding from you?”

“It’s complicated…”

“Don’t overcomplicate things. It is annoying, especially to a third party that’s about to hear all the problems you must be dealing with,” he said, his tone dripping with sarcasm.

“You’re an asshole.”

“Right at this moment, do you think I’m worse than your mate?”

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. He certainly knew how to get someone to shut up. “What does Leila do when you piss her off?”

“She ignores me or runs away,” he replied, sounding unconcerned.

“And you’re okay with that?” I couldn’t hide the shock from my voice.

“Of course I’m not okay with it. She usually has a reason.”

“What do you do when she does that?”

“I chase after her. I drag her back. And I learn my lesson,” he said, almost humorously.

“You don’t learn your lesson too well if having her running away is a common occurrence.”

Alpha Dylan chuckled at my words. “I’m not perfect. Now tell me what happened and stop changing the subject. That is also irritating. I’m not surprised your mate stays away from you.”

His words made me go silent. When I heard him sigh on the other line, I thought he was going to point out something else wrong with me.

“Yes, I can be an asshole. I didn’t mean that last thing I said. If Caine is staying away from you, he is clearly an idiot.”

“Thanks… I think.”

“If Leila was here, she would be proud that we’re finally getting along. Now about Caine, I doubt I can be of much help. He is difficult with everyone. If anybody can get through to him, it should be you. He’s more relaxed when it comes to you.”

“Apparently he’s not relaxed enough. I thought we were getting somewhere in our relationship, but he completely threw me off today.”

“Why is that?” He almost sounded bored asking that question, or like if he’d heard something similar before. I didn’t even know why I was sharing things with him. The better question was why he was taking the time out of his day—or night—to answer me.

“A Wolf approached me today. Caine found out and he blamed me. He was a real douchebag about it.” I couldn’t credit what led to me share that piece of information with him either.

“What Wolf?” Alpha Dylan asked, suspiciously.

“I don’t know who he was. He must’ve been a Rogue—at least that’s what Caine tells me. Instead of worrying about how that Wolf was able to trespass in the first place, Caine went all Alpha on me and blamed me.”

Alpha Dylan didn’t say anything. Just when I thought he’d hung up or was simply ignoring me, he spoke. “You’re right. I’m surprised. I was expecting to hear a sob story.”

“That’s insulting.” Then I remembered who I was talking to.

“I don’t have the tendency of lying.”

“Just keeping secrets?” I asked, because Leila had shared enough stories with me to know that Alphas were great at that, especially her mate.

“I thought you would appreciate my honesty in the matter. I assumed you were going to talk about how unfair Caine is and how you hate him. But you, surprisingly, make a good point. What did he say about the trespasser?”

“Nothing—that’s the problem, he said nothing. We had a small row. I’ve heard nothing but silence from his end. It’s late and he still hasn’t shown his face. Good thing to, because I would punch him if he was here,” I said, feeling excited at the thought of hurting him.

I didn’t think getting that off my chest, even if I was dumping it on Alpha Dylan, would feel good. Once it was out there, and someone else knew why I was so annoyed, I felt slightly better.

“That is stupid,” Alpha Dylan stated bluntly. “Can’t say I would be happy if Leila was with another man, but if I was Caine, I’d be more worried about how someone slipped through. When I get a hold of him, I’ll-”

I suddenly heard noise coming from his side of the line—a door opening, possibly. Once I heard the voice of another man, I realized someone had walked into the room he was in.

“Give me a moment,” he told me.

He started talking to the other person. It turned out to be Alpha Blake—Leila’s best friend, and according to Alpha Dylan, a wimp.

I faintly heard Alpha Blake telling Alpha Dylan that all of the guys were meeting up in someone’s house. He was inviting Alpha Dylan to join them. I burst out laughing, loudly, at Alpha Dylan’s response.

“I’m in the middle of an important business call, Blake. Some of us have things to do,” Alpha Dylan rudely told him.

In that moment, I realized that Alpha Dylan might have just been a rude guy. He didn’t discriminate, and for some reason, that made me feel better. He wasn’t just moody with me.

After a few more failed attempts from Alpha Blake to persuade Alpha Dylan to join them, he finally left.

“I’m an important business call?”

“I refuse to spend any more time with Blake than I forcefully have to,” Alpha Dylan said as way of explanation. I laughed at his reply, and he somehow ended up laughing to.

I wasn’t even sure how it was that I spent a long time talking to him after that. He seemed bored, and apparently, I was better company than Alpha Blake. In that time we talked—it must’ve been an hour or two—Alpha Dylan got irritated and annoyed with me multiple times. He had even called me stupid and reckless. By the time I ended the call, though, I found that I’d had a good time.

Caine still hadn’t arrived and I went to sleep alone.

The next morning, I woke up past midday. Caine had been in the room. He wasn’t there when I woke up, but things had been moved around. The closet door was open, and it had been closed the night before. His fresh scent impregnated the room.

One whiff of the air and I could smell Adam and Lesley downstairs. Macon wasn’t there. Since Adam was sticking around, I assumed that Caine thought it was a good idea to leave me with him.

I didn’t leave the room that day either. I took a shower and slumped myself in the couch, in front of the TV. When I didn’t go down, Adam came up to look for me. He had another tray of food with him.

“You okay, Charlotte?” Adam asked, taking a seat on the other end of the couch.

“I’m just tired. I went to sleep late last night,” I told him, giving him a lazy smile.

“You woke up late. Is it normal for you to be this tired?” He was frowning. “Are you feeling sick?”

“Nope, I just don’t feeling like doing much today. I think I’m just gonna eat and then take a nap. Thanks for the food,” I told him. I turned back the TV and ignored him until he left the room.

My Wolf and I both agreed that we thought Adam was a traitor. He didn’t have to say anything, but I could tell that he agreed with Caine. They both thought I’d done something horrible the day before.

Although I hadn’t told Alpha Dylan about my conversation with Valco, I hadn’t lied about anything. I had gone to eat, and Caine had gotten after me even though Valco had trespassed and no one from the pack had noticed.

I didn’t take a nap. After I ate, I continued to watch TV while I used my laptop. It was boring and lonely for the most part. I wanted to go out, and my Wolf was feeling restless. She wanted to run and let some steam out.

Caine arrived at around seven at night. He had spent all of the day out. When I felt his Wolf approaching the house, I quickly turned off the TV, closed my laptop, and jumped into bed.

I was going to pretend to be asleep, which was easier said than done. The best way for me to keep still and even my breathing, enough for someone to believe that I was asleep, was by mind linking with someone. It was what I did.

Caine must’ve gone upstairs as soon as he walked into the house. I heard the door open, but I’d already felt his presence approaching me way before that.

My eyes were closed and I was lying on my stomach. I couldn’t see him, but I felt his eyes on me. It was an intense experience. A part of me was anxious about seeing him again. It felt like ages since I’d last been with him. But the part that felt like Caine had fooled me was still angry.

On the side, I was mind linking with a Wolf from the pack. I had simply opened my mind and tried to connect with anyone that allowed me in, while being careful to block Caine and any of his groupies.

‘Luna!’ The guy asked me, excitedly. He had been the first person my Wolf contacted when I opened up my mind link. I hadn’t been expecting for anyone to reply.

‘Hello,’ I told him, while trying to not laugh at all of the images he was projecting towards me. ‘Slow down.’

‘We have talked a few times during gatherings. I’m Brandon. Do you remember me?’

I continued making small conversation with Brandon. He was a sixteen year old Wolf. He was part of the group training to join the trackers. I found we had that in common. Unlike Caine, Brandon was willing to share, and he definitely had a lot of information.

I ended up dozing off while I was talking to Brandon. The last thing I remembered was feeling Caine lay down beside me. He’d been moving around the room quietly, thinking I was asleep. It was still early, but he had joined me in bed.

Since I had slept until very late that day and I went to sleep early, I woke up in the middle of the night. I wasn’t tired anymore. I felt well rested. I knew I’d been sleeping too much lately. I could feel the restlessness creeping in again, and it was caused by my Wolf. She wanted out.

Caine was asleep. He was only wearing a pair of black sweats, leaving his chest bare. I was angry that he looked so perfect while sleeping, mainly because I was really mad at him. I gave myself a few minutes to stare at him and enjoy the view, before slowly creeping out of the bed.

I had a bag under the bed with the things I was taking. I was out of the room and then out of the house in just minutes.

Caine has slept through it all. It made me wonder if he’d slept anything the night before. He was always less aware of his surroundings when he wasn’t sleeping well.

Sneaking through the guards at night was trickier than in broad daylight. They were more aware and there were more of them. I still managed to slip through. It helped, and I couldn’t believe my luck, when I stumbled into a Wolf that turned out to be Brandon.

“Should you be out here this late at night, Luna?” he asked.

He was two years younger than me, but hardly seemed like it. He was much taller than me. He wasn’t wearing a shirt, putting on display his muscular chest. He had a friendly face, or maybe I saw him like that because he was smiling and being nice to me.

I assumed Brandon wasn’t classified as one of the Wolves privy to the information of keeping a tight leash on me. He was much too friendly with me even though he’d caught me sneaking around in the middle of the night. If it had been Macon, Adam, or Lesley who had caught me, I would’ve been in loads of trouble.

“I woke up and couldn’t sleep. I’m just jogging around pack territory,” I told him, hoping he wouldn’t make a big deal out of the backpack I was carrying.

“Oh, okay, that’s fine, I guess. You’re running too close to the human town. You might want to stick to those areas,” he said, pointing to the woods where I’d just been. “I like to run on the other side of our territory. There are no humans there and hardly any guards. It’s peaceful.” He was smiling, looking genuinely happy to be helping me. I felt bad for deceiving him.

“I’ll go there. Thanks for telling me. I’ve been here for months and I still don’t know my way around,” I told him.

He started walking with me, back into the woods. “It is no problem, Luna. If you need any help with directions or have any questions about the pack, I can help you. I know these woods and all the surrounding area like the palm of my hand.” His happiness was contagious. “I know you recently got your Wolf. It can be a big adjustment. If you need anything at all, I’m here.”

He was on his way as soon as Elijah, the leader of the trackers, called him up. I wasn’t even aware that Elijah was doing rounds so late at night.

I pretended to go back into the woods. As soon a Brandon was gone, I took off into town. I was still trying to decide whether calling Liam was a good or bad idea. I made it to his apartment in record time. The streets were empty. It was dark out, and the town looked deserted. Some of the food places and the supermarket were open all night, but hardly anyone was out shopping.

It had been a while since I’d been in Liam’s apartment. Most of my things were still there. When I’d gone to live with Caine, I had only taken the essentials. Caine had bought me everything else. He only wanted me to have things that he had bought for me.

I had just arrived at the apartment when someone knocked on the front door. Had it been Caine, he would’ve stormed in, knocking down the front door. I’d seen that plenty of times before. The poor door had been replaced several times due to how Locus Pack Wolves kept knocking it down.

I was nearing the door when I caught his scent—Valco. I didn’t even think about it when I opened the door. Sure enough, he was standing there, relaxed as he’d been the day before.

“I didn’t expect to see you so soon,” he said, walking into the apartment without waiting to be invited.

“Come in if you must,” I sarcastically said, following him into the living room.

He didn’t sit down. Instead, he looked around the room, cocking an eyebrow. He seemed taller than the day before, although we had both been sitting down most of the time. He was wearing a pair of dark jeans, the same boots, but a black shirt this time. His dark hair was just as it’d been the other day, styled messily. His blue eyes were now looking at me, questioningly.

“You didn’t rat me out,” he finally said.

I crossed my arms over my chest, trying to give him an intimidating look. I didn’t think it was working, but at least he wasn’t making fun of me. His eyes were serious.

“I’m not interested in keeping secrets from Caine. The only reason I stayed quiet was because you crossed through our territory unnoticed.”

“I didn’t enter the woods. I was just in town. As far as I know, that isn’t breaking any pack laws,” he said, cracking a smile.

“You know this town belongs to Locus Pack.”

“From a good source, I heard that Tristan is heading over to these areas.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. Before I even got a chance to speak up, he continued talking. “Tristan, the foolish man, thinks that Derek isn’t strong enough to lead the pack. Since Caine has been managing to stop an attack from Knight Pack, Tristan isn’t too happy.”

“Why?”

Valco shrugged nonchalantly. “Tristan wants for Derek to prove that he’s worthy of the Alpha title. The only way he is willing to step down is if Derek attacks Locus Pack and wins. If Derek doesn’t do that, Tristan isn’t going to hand over the position.”

I thought over his words. As simple as he made it sound, he’d basically described a feud that had been going on between Locus and Knight Pack for years now. I still didn’t understand why Tristan was so interested in our pack. I wasn’t even sure if Caine himself knew.

For as long as I could remember, they had been fighting. When I was still part of Knight Pack, I just knew that Tristan had wanted to make the pack bigger by having Locus Wolves join the pack. That had not happened, of course. He was so insistent, and it seemed stupid. He was trying to take on a pack bigger than his, despite the fact that he should have already passed down his Alpha title. It was dumb and irrational. Those were the moments when I didn’t understand some Alphas and their way of thinking.

“How do you know all that?” I asked Valco, suspiciously. I imagined shifters from Knight Pack would have that information, but a Rogue had no business knowing that.

Liam knew a lot of Rogues. For sure he knew all the important ones—the Rogue leaders that kept a group of Wolves like he did. I had met a few who were friendly with Liam. Rogues stuck together when packs were causing war and destruction—ironic since pack Wolves were supposed to be the peaceful ones. I had never heard about a Rogue named Valco before.

But calling Liam was out of the question, especially if asking him about Valco would get me in trouble. He would start wondering where I’d heard that name or why I was curious.

“I told you, I have my sources. I can’t share any names, but I’m not lying to you.”

“How do I know I can trust you?”

“You don’t,” he easily said. “All you have is my word, if that means anything to you.”

“Tristan never travels to Locus Pack. Derek is the one who has been here several times.” Sharing that piece of information with him was risky, but I wanted to hear what he would say. I only got a nod from him.

“Why leave Knight Pack now?”

“Maybe they have a better plan. I hear Caine was in Knight Pack a few days ago and nothing was resolved. I doubt that Tristan would’ve wanted a war in his territory. If there’s going to be a fight, it will be in Locus Pack,” he said, sounding very sure of himself.

“But they haven’t tried anything. Their attempts have been weak,” I said, feeling distrustful of him now.

For all that Derek and Tristan had claimed about Knight Pack, so far, their attacks had been pretty tame. They trespassed, they sent a few men, and Derek had confronted Caine. But they had never done anything that would make us worry about them.

“Have you ever thought that they might be doing that so that Caine will underestimate them? I bet that Caine thinks Derek and Tristan are a weak threat.” I couldn’t hide the shock at hearing his words. Caine thought Derek and Tristan were petty Wolves. Valco was right; Caine wasn’t worried about them at all. He got annoyed with their little attempts to take over our pack, but he never really worried.

Valco left soon after that. He didn’t mind if I shared what he’d told me with Caine and the pack. All he asked in return was that I kept him a secret. He didn’t want Caine to know about him, or that we had met that night. It was a small price to pay, especially if he was telling the truth.

I just couldn’t figure it out. What could Tristan want? He said he wanted our Wolves, but now I doubted that was true. Caine was so secretive. Even if he knew Tristan’s intentions with the pack, I didn’t think he would tell me. There was also the problem of how I would warn them that Tristan himself was coming, without bringing up that Valco had tipped me off.

Around four in the morning, when I was crossing the street to go back into the woods, I found myself surrounded by Pack Wolves. Victor was there, in his human form, and he was glaring at me. If looks could kill, he would’ve been digging my grave.

“Hey,” I told him, cheerfully.

“I can take her from here,” he told the group of guys surrounding me.

Victor had only to dismiss them before they were running away into the woods. He grabbed my arm and tried to drag me towards the woods.

“I can walk,” I told him, trying to pull my arm from his hold. He tightened his grip around my arm. I could feel his hand imprinted on my skin. “You have no right to touch me, especially not like this.”

Victor growled under his breath, but he released me.

“Thank you.”

“Caine is going crazy looking for you. He is angry.”

“Tell me, when is Caine not angry?”

“This isn’t a joke, Charlotte!” Victor snapped.

“I needed some air. I spent the entire day holed up in my room. I came out for a run,” I shrugged.

Victor scoffed, and I could feel his disapproval radiating off in waves. “You smell like the same Wolf from yesterday. When Caine gets a hold of you,” he said, shaking his head at me.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I told him.

I hadn’t noticed that I’d carried Valco’s scent. I had hardly gotten near him. I’d only walked a few minutes with Victor when I felt Caine approaching. He was shifted into his Wolf. He made for an impressive sight, and I hated that I was always left stunned when I saw him. His black Wolf was growling at me.

When he ordered me to climb on his back, I just cocked an eyebrow at him, laughed, and started walking away. Caine growled even louder. Victor was looking nervous.

“Charlotte, just do as he says,” Victor said, in a warning tone.

“Thank you for the suggestion. You can leave now, Victor. You’re dismissed for the night,” I told him, waving him off.

Victor looked from Caine, to me, and back to Caine. It didn’t seem like he trusted leaving me alone with my own mate, who looked really furious and really intimidating in his Wolf form.

“Okay, I’m leaving then,” I said, and again I tried to start walking. Caine snapped his canines at my back, making his presence known.

“Hmm… this is weird. For someone who is good at ignoring his mate, it’s strange how needy you can be when you’re the one getting ignored,” I told him, my tone sarcastic.

‘Climb on, Charlotte,’ Caine growled at me through our mind link.

I ignored him. He kept ordering me to get on his back, and I just tried to pretend like he wasn’t there. Caine made it all but impossible. He kept snapping his teeth at me, and nudging my back. When I pretended to stumble after he nudged me pretty hard, he finally stopped. When he tried to get me on his back but I pretended to fall, he stopped trying to get me on his back. I smiled at that.

It was so easy to trick him. I couldn’t even feel bad for deceiving him. He had earned it by being a douchebag with me.

Caine was trying to get my attention, but I just ignored him all the way to the house.

He shifted as soon as we made it home. I didn’t wait around for him. As soon as I arrived, I ran upstairs, jumped into bed, and attempted to go to sleep.

“So now you’re tired?” Caine asked when he walked into the room.

He got nothing but silence on my side. It was what I had received since the day before. I was only giving him the same treatment.

“Who is that Wolf you were seeing? I can smell him on you. The scent is faint. I know he didn’t touch you, but you were with him.”

I said nothing.

Caine cursed, and then stormed out of the room. I expected him to be so angry that he took off and ignored me, like he’d been doing since he left me in bed… after we mated.

He returned to the room just a minute later, slamming the door to make a point. “Why are you ignoring me?”

I sighed deeply, knowing that if he got to me again, I wouldn’t forgive myself. I wasn’t usually one to start crying, but Caine had made me cry. I wasn’t going to get over that. He was acting as if he hadn’t done anything wrong, and that made me angry. It was unfair. Not only had he mated with me to prove a point, he’d ignored me after he was finished. I felt like he had cheapened the experience of mating with me.

“You’re mad. I can see that. Why are you mad?”

I laughed humorlessly, bitterly. Caine growled at me, and crossed the room to stand right in front of the bed, his arms at his sides. His hands were in fists, like if it was taking a lot out of him just to keep control.

“You have no shame, Caine. No shame at all,” I told him, shaking my head.

I sat up on the bed, and was looking at him through narrowed eyes. If he got closer to me, I was going to walk away. I didn’t trust myself when he was too close. He’d used mating with me to his advantage the day before, and left me stupefied. I wasn’t going to fall for that again.

“Are you angry because you have no self-control? Is that it?”

“Me?” I pointed at myself. “You’re blaming me?” I was growling back at him. He wasn’t the only one who could parade his Wolf around, not anymore.

“Mating with you and then leaving wasn’t very… considerate on my part. I apologize for that,” he said, nodding at me.

“Why the hell are you talking like that?” I snapped. He was acting like if I was a crazy person and he had to be cautious with me.

“I’m trying to find out why you’re mad. If I don’t fix this now, it’s just going to get worse. Just tell me and I will fix it.”

“Right now, I’m wondering if you’re acting innocent or if you’re really that stupid to not know why I’m mad. I can’t believe you’re blaming me!”

“You have the scent of a male Wolf on you. You had that same scent on you yesterday, and it was more defined. You’re mine,” he said, his voice low but deadly. That was just so him.

“Okay, we’ve got that part cleared up. You taking off—what was that about?”

“I had things to do.” Caine sounded defensive. He looked away right after answering, and started pacing the room. He was lying, and I knew it.

“No, you didn’t. Or maybe you did. But any other day, if we had mated, you would’ve stayed with me. But you left. I’m so fucking sure you did it because you wanted me to feel bad,” I growled at him. I could feel my claws coming out. My Wolf wanted to attack Caine. I’d been experiencing that since he had left us in bed.

“Don’t curse,” Caine said, frowning at me. “It’s unbecoming and I don’t like it.”

“You do it all the time,” I retorted.

Caine closed his eyes, and sighed loudly, sounding tired. “I didn’t sleep last night. I already told you I have trouble sleeping without you.”

“You should’ve thought about that before doing what you did,” I said, grabbing my pillow and jumping off the bed. I was going to get out of the room. I couldn’t stand being there. I felt too much like forgiving him, and I didn’t want to do that. He didn’t deserve it, especially because he hadn’t even tried to apologize.

“You’re mine, Charlotte,” Caine said, holding onto my wrist to stop me on my way out.

“Prove it, then. Stop being such a jerk to me. Maybe I will actually see that you care, and you’re not just interested in having pissing matches with any guy that gets near me.”

He let me go. The rest of the night, I slept on the room down the hall. I was miserable. The only thing that made me feel better was that I knew he was feeling the same way.

When I woke up the following day, it was past noon. Again I had slept through the morning. I was surprised when I realized that Caine was in the house. I desperately wanted a shower. Since I had no interest in crossing paths with him just yet, I showered in the room I was in.

I had a robe on as I made my way to the room I shared with Caine. He was sitting on the bed, waiting for me it seemed.

“You don’t have to sit around here all day,” I told him, glancing at him only once before going into the closet.

“Who is he?” Caine asked, stalking after me.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

I dropped the robe and stood nude while I picked out my clothes. If his growl said anything, I was sure my nakedness was having an effect on him. He pushed me against the wall, pressing his chest right against my back. I immediately felt his Wolf calling out to me. There was always a strong connection between us. Just because I was mad at him, it didn’t mean our bond had weakened.

“Sorry, I’m not offering. I have things to do.” It was so hard to just get the words out, but I tried to sound normal. If I had been human, it would’ve been easier to push Caine away. My Wolf easily managed to get turned on by him while still being angry. It was confusing and annoying.

“What things do you have to do?” he asked, turning me around. I had to look up at him, and he was doing nothing to lower himself down. He liked to be the big man when he wanted to get something out of me.

“You don’t tell me about your day, and I won’t tell you about mine. That’s how things are working nowadays between us, right?”

Caine cringed at my words. I took the opportunity to shove his chest, and push him away. I needed to get dressed.

“You don’t think I have a right to be angry at you?” he asked.

He was leaning against the bathroom door while I brushed my teeth.

“Last night marked the second time you met up with that Wolf. You won’t tell me who he is or what you’re doing with him. I shouldn’t be the one apologizing to you.” He was glaring at me, but I kept my eyes on the mirror in front of me.

Caine left downstairs when I didn’t answer him. I had to admit that he had made me feel guilty. I would’ve gotten mad if he’d been meeting with a girl and I didn’t know what they were doing. I felt better after I told myself that if Caine had treated me fairly, I would’ve told him about Valco. But I decided to stay quiet when Caine decided to mate with me and just take off. He’d hurt me.

I couldn’t believe what I was doing—not until Eric answered the phone. To say that Eric, Leila’s guard, was surprised when I asked about Alpha Dylan was an understatement.

At first he assumed that something had happened to Caine. He couldn’t understand what I, considering how Alpha Dylan and I got along, would want with him. When I assured him that Caine was fine, he started asking about the pack. Finally, after a lot of questions, he gave me Alpha Dylan’s cell phone number.

The phone rang two times before Alpha Dylan answered with his usual ‘what’.

“It’s me,” I said.

“Telling people ‘it’s me’ when you call them on the phone is not helpful,” he commented. It sounded like he was joking. “What do you need, Charlotte?”

“I need a favor,” I said, half regretting my decision on asking for his help. I could already imagine Alpha Dylan telling Caine about our talk the other day, and the things I’d told him.

“You need a favor from me. So hell can freeze over,” he said, laughing.

“Shut up, I’m being serious. Can you help me?”

“No, I can’t.”

“You don’t even know what I’m going to ask!” I shouted, before remembering that I had to keep my voice down.

Caine must’ve been around the house. I was already risking him listening in to the conversation. I was hoping that he was too mad at me, or distracted with something else. Either way, it was my only chance. Caine wasn’t going to be leaving me alone any time soon.

“You are calling me. Whatever you are planning, I assume you don’t plan on telling Caine. If that’s the case, then no, I can’t help you.”

“I heard from a reliable source that Tristan and Derek are on their way here. They have big plans.” This got his attention.

“Where did you hear this?”

“I told you, a reliable source,” I said, remembering the words that Valco had told me just the night before.

“They won’t do anything, Charlotte. They’ve been at this game for years,” Alpha Dylan said, but he didn’t sound too sure anymore.

“Not this time. I just want you to warn Caine about it. Tell him that you heard this from some Wolves. He’ll be careful.”

“Are you sure about this information? How did you hear about this before Caine did?”

“I can’t tell you. Just do this, please. I’ll owe you big time.”

I heard him sigh. Someone else was there with him—it sounded like Jace, his Beta. He told me to wait while he talked to Jace about what I’d just told him. Jace came up with the same deductions that Valco had. He thought that maybe all those other times Derek had attacked had been ruses. It would make sense, and it was a plan worthy of an Alpha. After all, Tristan was a tricky man.

Alpha Dylan promised to help and to be discreet. Jace heard me on the phone, but I didn’t worry too much about it. They both promised to keep quiet, and tell Caine that they’d heard about the information elsewhere.

That didn’t mean Alpha Dylan was happy when I told him I had to go. He wanted to know where I’d gotten the information from. Finally, when I thought he wouldn’t leave me alone unless I gave him a name, I told him that Liam had told me.

Later in the day, Caine stormed into the room and told me he had to leave to the pack building.

“Lesley will stay with you,” he said, walking towards me.

“Okay, not like I can do anything about it either way,” I shrugged.

“Don’t be difficult today.”

“You think I’m difficult on purpose?” I laughed. Caine closed off the distance between us, and tried to wrap his arms around my waist.

“I talked to Dylan. He thinks I should be more cautious. I am putting the pack on lockdown again, and I’m sending the trackers to scan the area.”

“Is something wrong?” I asked, but I already knew the answer to that.

“I don’t know yet. Just stay here. I don’t want any trouble, Charlotte, not today. No meeting Rogues in town,” he said with an edge to his voice. His eyes were turning black.

“I’ll stay here. But I’m not doing this for you. I don’t want to distract anyone in the pack.”

Caine gazed at me, his eyes softening. “I don’t want you to be mad at me anymore.”

“We can talk about that later, Caine. Take care of this for now.”

For the sake of not arguing, I allowed him to kiss me before he left. It was a small kiss, more of a peck on my lips. Caine pressed his lips one last time against my cheek, before pulling away. “I will be back in a few hours.”

“Okay,” I nodded.

Just before leaving, he turned back to me. “I love you, Charlotte… I’m sorry.”

That was typical of Caine—making important confessions and statements just before leaving. I’d never met anyone better than Caine at making an exit. I had to take a seat on the bed, because his words had really hit me hard. He had sounded apologetic and I felt myself slowly giving in.

I left downstairs with Lesley to distract myself. Caine left Lesley as my only guard to get on my good side. But he’d still done it his way—by leaving a girl. He had already been leaving me alone with Adam, but I didn’t see him letting that happen anymore.

Lesley was back to her sour mood. She really hated babysitting.

“Thanks to that stunt you pulled, I’m stuck with you,” she told me as soon as I walked into the living room where she was at.

“You’re welcome,” I said, and laughed when she threw a pillow at me. She wasn’t amused.

“Did the Alpha tell you what was happening?”

“Yup, he did. There’s a threat, and we’re on lockdown. I need to be a good little girl,” I told her, grinning.

“Don’t give me a hard time, Charlotte. I don’t have the patience for it today. Last night when you disappeared, Victor woke up every tracker and fighter in the pack to go and look for you. You’re really driving the Alpha crazy these days.”

“Yeah, well, he’s not being so cool with me lately.”

“If you would just tell him who the Rogue was, we’d all be able to sleep a full night. Worst part is he takes it out on us. Cut us some slack, and fix your problems with him,” Lesley said, sounding exhausted.

Since all I got from Lesley were lectures, I ended up going back upstairs. She had a point, but I wasn’t ready to agree with her.

Just when I thought I was in for another boring day, Lesley walked into the room without knocking. I’d only been upstairs with the TV on for about twenty minutes.

“The Alpha wants you in the pack building,” Lesley said.

“He does?”

Lesley sighed, and walked over to me with a pleading look. “Let me drop you off there. He ordered me to join the rest of the fighters as soon as I get you to the pack building. If you want to cause trouble, wait it out until you’re with him.”

Adam had once asked me the same thing. They made me feel like a problem child, about to pull a stunt at any second.

I changed into some skinny jeans, my converse, and a loose t-shirt. Lesley waited in the room while I got ready. She didn’t want to lose sight of me, it seemed.

“I’m not going to try anything, calm down. Caine and I talked things out.”

Caine was waiting for me in front of the pack building. He had been talking quietly with Victor, although any Wolf around the area would’ve been able to hear what he was saying. They were talking about nothing of consequence.

“What’s up?” I asked, approaching him.

Lesley took off as soon as Caine nodded at her. Victor walked into the pack building ahead of us. Caine waited until we were in a conference room to speak.

“Dylan called to warn me that Tristan is on his way. I talked to Derek. He denied it, but he asked about you during the call. I didn’t like his tone. I still don’t like his interest in you.”

“He kicked me out of his pack, Caine. He has no interest in me.”

“Maybe he does it to mess with me,” Caine suggested. “It’s best if you stay here, around our pack Wolves until I know more about the situation.”

“That’s it?” I asked, surprised that he wasn’t giving me worst news. Tristan being on his way was bad, but I had expected something worse.

“You don’t think this is bad enough?” Caine asked. He took a deep breath, and closed his eyes. “We have to talk about the other night. I don’t like the idea of you keeping secrets from me. If another man even dared to touch you…” He started breathing heavily.

I placed my hand over his, hoping he would calm down. “You don’t have to treat me bad when you’re mad at me.”

“I like having control,” he said, shaking his head.

“I know,” I said, smiling. I just couldn’t help it. They all called me childish, but Caine looked like someone had stolen his favorite toy. “Trust me, I know. I don’t want to mess with your control freakery. Have you found out how someone slipped through the pack unnoticed? That should be a priority.”

“You’ve seen him twice. Why don’t you tell me how your Rogue friend has been able to trespass?” Caine asked, his tone sounding closely like an order.

“I’m not trying to upset you. I’ll stay here. You can go about your business.”

He wanted an answer from me. I wasn’t ready to talk about Valco. I had so little information about him myself.

After trading a few more words—which ended up being mainly warnings for me—Caine was on his way. He wanted to make sure for himself that no Knight Pack Wolf was around. He left me with a lot more babysitters.

When I left the room and walked downstairs to see Theo, I had them tagging along. I rolled my eyes at how close they followed after me. It wasn’t like I could disappear if I walked more than ten steps ahead of them.

Theo, who had been moved to the other side of the hall, stood up when I walked in. He was the only Wolf on that end of the lower level, which was where the cells in our pack building were located. The area where Theo was in was lit brighter than any other part of the basement. His cell also had more things.

I still couldn’t convince Caine to release him, not that Theo would’ve left either way. I was comforted by knowing that Theo was more or less comfortable in his cell.

“I hadn’t seen you in a while, Char,” Theo said, walking over to stand in front of me.

I’d forced the guys who were following me to give us some space. They were standing just outside of the hall. There was no way they would leave me alone while I was down there. I briefly wondered if they had already told Caine that I was visiting Theo.

“Things are going on,” I shrugged. “How are you doing?”

“I’m good.” Theo gave me a crooked smile—his way of downplaying how he really felt.

It was quiet between us for a little while. I was inspecting him, making sure he was okay. Even though I still considered Theo a close friend, things had changed. We were drifting apart, and I could feel it. I didn’t fully trust him, not as I used to when I was part of Knight Pack.

I felt guilty for that. My loyalties had definitely changed. But it was hard to forget that while almost everyone in Knight Pack had shunned me, Theo had always stood by my side.

With Knight Pack becoming a bigger worry in my mind after my talk with Valco, I started considering the idea of releasing Theo.

I wanted to know if given the option, he would stay with me and join Locus Pack. In the past, Theo had been nothing but loyal. We had been really close. I could still see the connection between us, that spark that made us get along in the first place.

But we were both in different places now. He was locked up by my mate, and I now had more power. He had been with me when I was weak, I should’ve been there when he was in the same vulnerable position.

The guilt that I felt crashing down in waves was immense. I never should have allowed Theo to stay locked up. I should’ve insisted more on having him released.

“You seem distracted,” Theo said, and that snapped me out of my thoughts. “What’s eating at you?”

I swallowed loudly, and shook my head. “Have you talked to Derek or Tristan?”

Theo looked away from me and took a few steps back. “Yeah, they check in.”

“I’m guessing you know,” I told him, hoping he had any more insights that might be helpful.

“I know, and I’m sorry, Char. I wish I could be of more help. I’m not even sure what they’re planning. They keep a lot under wraps these days. The other Wolves that are locked up on the other side are wondering if they even care that we’re still here.”

“They care,” I told him. “They’ve asked Caine to release you guys but he doesn’t want to.”

“Well they could try harder. We’ve been here for a long time now, and nobody seems to give a crap.”

I didn’t know what to say. Making Theo feel better would imply defending Tristan and Derek, and I was not willing to do that. But I couldn’t stand to see the disappointment in his eyes.

“Don’t feel bad for me,” Theo said, walking back to me. I’d been standing really close to the cell. Theo easily took my hands in his. “I know this must be harder for you.”

“It’s okay,” I said, confused with the amount of emotion he was showing. “I’m nervous about it, but I’m sure Caine is already planning something.”

“About your parents?” he asked.

“Umm… no? What about my parents?”

“I thought you said you knew?” Theo asked, and the hold he had on my hand tightened. “You do know that you’re parents are coming, right?” When Theo noticed my silence, he continued talking. His tone was lower, but gentle. “Alpha Tristan thinks that with the right persuasion, he can convince your mate of certain arrangements.”