Caine

A picture of Paul Wesley, who plays my lovely Liam, on the side:) If you don’t like him, or have someone else in mind- just keep who you imagined. Cheers!

“Are you by any chance the Liam that just attacked Knight Territory?” I asked him, although I knew the answer before he replied.

Liam gave me a cheeky grin and nodded.

“Tristan’s a tool and Derek is probably worse than his father,” Liam shrugged.

“Did you kill people from the pack?”

“We only trespassed, caused a little disturbance, and then got out of there. I’m only running with a few friends. It would’ve been stupid to try and take them on.”

“Then why attack at all?”

“We didn’t attack, just trespassed. And we did it for fun- oh and to piss off Derek,” Liam replied.

I had slumped myself on the ground, and Liam was sitting in front of me, with his knees propped up.

“Where are you going to go?” Liam asked me.

It was worrying me slightly that he knew I was alone. I didn’t know whether to trust him or not. Alpha Derek- only Derek now, had said Liam was dangerous.

“I have no idea,” I told him, as I grabbed the back pack Derek had given me.

“You can come with me,” Liam suggested.

“You want me to tag along?”

The surprise must’ve been obvious in my voice.

“Nine out of ten shots say that you’ll shift when you turn 18. It happened to me too. My grandmother was a human. I didn’t shift when I turned 13 like the rest of the Wolves do.”

He was trying to keep his voice steady but when he said those words- his eyes got a dark look.

“How old are you? You look young,” I told him, realizing that despite his tall and intimidating frame, he actually looked young.

“I’m 21, you?”

“16, but I’ll be 17 in June,” I told him.

Liam cocked an eyebrow, and his expression turned into one of amusement.

“It’s barely January. There’s still six months before your birthday comes along.”

“Hey, June isn’t that far away,” I argued, while crossing my arms on my chest.

“Sure it isn’t,” Liam said, mockingly going along with my words.

“Are you coming or not?” Liam asked, after getting up from the ground.

He was looking down at me, waiting for my answer.

While we talked, I had been thinking about joining him.

It scared me to be out in the woods on my own. Actually, I wouldn’t even be able to be live in the woods because without a Wolf- I didn’t really have any business out in the wild.

Liam would definitely be a great advantage, if his intentions to help me were actually genuine.

If he really wanted to, he could have hurt me. But he hadn’t. Maybe, just maybe, he was saying the truth…

“Do you live out in the woods?” I asked.

“Not all the time,” he replied.

“Is it dangerous?”

“I’ll take care of you.”

“Are you going to hurt me?”

“I’ve been in your position,” he quietly replied, and directed his gaze to the ground.

The look that came over his face made me get up from the dirty floor, and take a step closer to him.

“I’ll come.”

My words sounded more confident than I felt. But I had been talking to Liam for about an hour and this was the first time he looked vulnerable.

Other than his handsome rugged features and his easy going attitude- he just seemed like a cocky Wolf. He had a reason to be, if what Derek said about Liam’s strength was truth.

Despite how little I knew about him, I could bet he was never the type of guy to get vulnerable about anything- until now, when he found someone who was in the same position he had been in.

“You don’t have to come if you don’t want to. But trust me, you don’t want to be out there alone,” he said, as he nodded towards the dark road.

“I don’t have anything, just this,” I told him- holding out the back pack Derek had given me.

I had tucked my cell phone, which no longer had charge, and Theo’s iPod into the back pack.

“Cool, it’s more than any of us are carrying. I’m heading to my house which is in the city,” Liam told me, as he put his hand in the small of my back, and ushered me towards the woods.

“You live in the city?” I asked, completely surprised.

“I have a few places around. It’s where I make my stops whenever I’m not tormenting the poor little pack Wolves,” he said, with a teasing tone.

I laughed, because he was just too much.

“How are we getting there?”

“We’re running,” Liam replied.

“Charlotte, this is my gang,” Liam said, as he motioned to a group, of what I assumed were Rogues.

I wasn’t a Wolf, so there was no way I could tell whether the people Liam had pointed to were humans or shifters.

I assumed they had to be Wolves, because I honestly doubted Liam hung out with humans.

“Charlotte, that’s Chris and his mate Janie, that’s Peter, Adam, Robert and his mate Gladys, and that’s Shane and his mate Estella,” Liam introduced me to the group.

I tried to remember all their names, but they were too many and Liam had said them way too fast.

“Are we splitting up or do you have another gig?” One of the guys that had his arm wrapped around a girl asked.

They were all looking at me curiously, but none of them questioned Liam about me. That was strange, considering I thought they would get suspicious.

All of them looked normal. The guys’ clothes looked slightly disheveled, but that was it. The guys were all good looking in one way or another and the girls were all pretty, yet different.

They really did not look like Rogues, or what I had imagined a Rogue would look like. They all looked relaxed, as they stood around, waiting for Liam to reply.

“Charlotte’s new to the group, so I’m going to train her. We’re going to lay low so that things cool off before making another attack. If we do another hit too soon, Derek and the rest of the packs are going to be expecting it,” Liam replied, looking at each of the Rogues.

“Charlotte’s a human?” One of the single guys asked.

I wasn’t sure why, but I felt myself blush.

Liam nodded, as he wrapped his arm around my shoulder. He was probably a foot taller than me, so it was slightly strange. It looked more like he was hugging me.

“She’ll be shifting in a year and a half, since her birthday is in June,” Liam said, smirking at me.

He was probably making fun of me because I had said I was almost 17, even though I still had half a year to go before my birthday.

“Cool,” the same guy that had asked the question replied.

“We’ll stay in touch. If you need me, call,” Liam said, nodding at them.

And just like that, they were gone and only Liam and me were left.

“That was interesting,” I stated.

“We’re planning a major hit in about a year. Attacking Derek was just practice,” Liam explained, shrugging at me.

“What pack are you attacking?”

“Do you really want to know?”

I nodded at him, and I was sure he could see the curiosity in my face. I probably should’ve been worried that Liam was discussing an attack against a pack so openly.

Right now though, any pack just reminded me of the pack that had thrown me out. There was no pity from me for any of thier kind.

“The hit won’t be against one pack, it will be against two. New Elite and Blue Bloods,” he said.

Six months later…

“You didn’t have to get me this,” I told Liam, although I couldn’t take my eyes off of my new shiny red car.

“I’m only doing it so that you will stop asking me for rides,” Liam replied, grinning at me.

“You’re such a loser,” I told him, but I still threw myself into his arms.

“You’re such a pest,” he replied, messing my light brown hair, which I’d straightened out for our dinner tonight.

“Yes, mess with my hair. It isn’t like I spent hours working on it,” I said, shoving him away from me.

He laughed, and shook his head at me.

“You did not spend hours working on it. You looked like crap and ten minutes later, you came out all dressed up,” he said, cocking an eyebrow.

“See, I’m just that good,” I told him, with a wide grin.

“Cocky little thing,” he said, as he climbed into my new car, on the passenger side.

He was probably only letting me drive because it was my birthday, and my new car.

“What can I say? I learned from the best,” I told him, with a smirk that I actually picked up from him.

As I drove us to Shane and Estella’s house, where the rest of the guys were waiting for us, Liam began looking throught the glove compartment.

“Did you behave while I was gone?” He asked.

“I didn’t get into any trouble,” I replied.

“So you didn’t get caught?” He raised an eyebrow as he asked that.

“Nope, I didn’t.”

“Good girl,” Liam said, like he did every time I did something bad and got away with it.

‘It’s a Rogue thing’ he would always tell me.

We had gotten a routine for the past six months. I had reenrolled in school, with new and improved forged documents that Liam got for me. I kept my first name, but I took on Liam’s last name. The school thought he was my older brother, that our parents had died, and Liam was my guardian.

I liked how things were. There was only one small problem.

Liam was gone a lot.

It was Liam who had insisted I stay in one of his homes while he did the Rogue thing. I couldn’t exactly join him, since I wasn’t a Werewolf. Whenever Liam was around though, he made up for lost time.

We would hang out, he’d teach me stuff- mainly about Wolves and packs-, and he trained me.

Back home, I did most of my training with Theo. He was really patient- he had to be. I ran slower than him, I was weaker than him, and he could easily hurt me.

Liam though, was rougher. By the end of the night- any time we had practice- I was usually showing off bruises in my arms, my waist, or my legs.

In a way, even though training with Liam was more painful, I felt like I learned so much more. He did things differently.

I missed my parents, and I really missed Theo. The nights when Liam was away and he wasn’t there to tease me, I found myself missing home a lot more.

Then Liam would come back, and things would go back to normal.

“Wait, I wanted to tell you something before we went in,” Liam told me, putting his hand over my stomach to stop me from getting out of the car.

“If you tell me you were only joking about the car, I’m going to kick your ass,” I said seriously.

I knew him and how he was. I didn’t put it past him to tease me about the car only to tell me it was for him all along.

Liam laughed at my words, but he shook his head in reply.

“It’s your car. I was serious when I said you were a pest,” he said, smirking at me.

“Ha ha ha,” I told him, as I slapped his chest.

It didn’t have any effect on him.

“Alright, what’s up?” I asked.

I could see movement inside Shane and Estella’s house. Most of the guys probably ran here, because only Estella’s car was parked in the driveway. It was mainly for appearance, because she usually preferred to run everywhere.

“I hadn’t said this before, but happy birthday Charlie,” Liam said, as he pulled me in for a hug.

There wasn’t much room in the car, but I still reached as close to him as I could.

He smelled good and clean. I would’ve gotten after him if he’d gone off to run around the mud and then brought me here.

I appreciated that he’d gone the extra mile and worn some nice dark jeans with a dressy button up shirt.

“Thanks Rogue,” I said, as I messed up his hair.

He only laughed, which made me grunt in annoyance.

“How come you don’t care?” I asked, as I pulled away from him.

“Charlie, my hair is sticking up all over the place half of the time. I’m going to meet up with our friends, who are a bunch of dogs. I don’t think they’ll care if my hair is out of place,” he said, as padded my hair purposely.

“You’re annoying,” I pouted.

“You’re annoying,” he mimicked.

Before I had a chance to slap him, he jumped out of the car and came to my side to open the door.

“Chivalry isn’t dead,” I commented, as he helped me out.

“Chivalry is dead. I’m just cool like that,” Liam said, with his smirk plastered on his face.

“Whatever,” I muttered, rolling my eyes at him.

“I heard that. Stop being grumpy, and lets enjoy your party,” Liam said, enthusiastically.

The big smile on his face and the way his hazel eyes lit up- it made it impossible not to feel excited about tonight.

It was the first birthday I spent away from home. It was also the first birthday, since I had entered my teens, where someone wouldn’t remind me that I was just a human. Liam- he didn’t care about that.

Five months later…

“Where are you?” I asked him.

I was frowning at the muted TV in front of me.

“I won’t be long,” Liam replied through the phone, as he sighed loudly.

“That bad, huh?” I asked him, but I was grinning now.

I had been ready to rip his head off for leaving me for so long. He had been away for two entire months.

Two entire months!

I had spoken to him on the phone almost every night, but I hadn’t seen him.

Shane, Estella, Adam and Robert had been the only ones keeping me company. Although, I knew Adam and Robert were only there because Liam wanted to keep an eye on me.

“I love her,” Liam said, and I faintly heard as he lied down in what I assumed was a bed.

Ever since Liam told me about the girl he met, I had been dying to meet her. It was almost ten months since I had met him and not once had Liam been in a serious relationship.

He would always tell me relationships weren’t for Rogues. Except for me, of course, but I was always the exception to all his rules.

All the girls had a problem, except for me. All the Rogues were nobody’s, except for me. No one could ever be trusted, except for me.

I was happy that he felt that way about me. At the same time, it made me realize just how much New Elite and Blue Bloods Pack had hurt Liam before he became a Rogue- before he was able to shift into a Wolf.

“You’ll see her soon. I shouldn’t be long now. I’m taking her tomorrow,” Liam said.

“Taking her?” I asked with a laugh.

“You make it sound like if you’re going to kidnap her,” I told him, with a teasing tone.

“You’ll see,” Liam vaguely replied.

I laughed again, and rolled my eyes at him, even though he couldn’t see me.

“Right, kidnap her. I don’t care. I just want you to come back.”

This time my voice was serious. I really was missing him, and the house felt lonely. Just before Liam left on that trip to attack those two packs, he had made me move to another one of his houses.

‘For safety,’ he had said.

So far the only bad thing was that he hadn’t returned yet.

“I’ll be back soon, I promise,” Liam said, with the same serious tone I had used.

“Good, now let me go to sleep. I have to be up early tomorrow.”

“Fine, I’ll stop bugging you. Love you Charlie,” Liam said, in a sing song voice.

“Love you too loser, now bye,” I said.

I heard him chuckle just before I disconnected the call.

That was the last time I spoke to Liam.

Four months later…

“This is the place?” I asked Adam, as I looked around at the new apartment he had brought me too.

“I don’t like it,” I stated, turning to frown at him.

Adam was looking at me pleadingly. I was probably making things harder for him by complaining.

“Charlotte, Liam told me to bring you here. He wanted you here months ago. I’ve pushed it back long enough. It isn’t safe for you to keep staying in the other house,” Adam said, in a reprimanding tone.

I sighed loudly, and looked around at the apartment.

It was of good size and Adam told me it had three bedrooms. There were a few problems with it.

It looked too new, which made it not feel like home. And it reeked of depression and loneliness. The worst part was that a pack lived close by, which meant that none of the guys could come and keep me company.

If the pack Wolves smelled a Rogue in their area, the Alpha would want their head.

“I don’t even know why Liam owns an apartment so close to a pack,” I commented, just to have another thing to complain about.

“He only did it so that it was easier to blend in. The Alpha and his minions wouldn’t think a Rogue was living here, and Liam was too smart to get caught. Besides, I think he’s been in this apartment like two or three times,” Adam explained, shrugging.

“But no one has bothered me at the other house. C’mon Adam, I want to go back. And now I can’t even hang out with Estella or any of you,” I continued my whining.

“We need to let the waters cool down for a while Charlotte. With Liam locked up, and with those two Alphas still hating him- things are tough for us. It isn’t exactly helping that the Alpha of Raven pack is scoping out for Rogues. We’re all going into hiding,” Adam explained.

“Why can’t I hide with you guys?”

Adam frowned at me, and gave me a flat look- like if I should know the answer to that question.

“If we get caught and something happens to you- Liam will have our balls,” Adam explained, cringing at his own words.

I went to take a seat on one of the couches, still feeling annoyed with the entire situation.

I had only heard news from Liam. I hadn’t seen or talked to him in four months.

He had gotten caught while trying to take the girl he was after, Cassidy. He’d been a step away from getting killed, and I died a thousand deaths just thinking about that.

Fortunately, they had spared him and he was now being held prisoner in Midnight Moon territory, with Alpha Dylan.

The stupid Alphas just had to send him to the dude who had the biggest pack in the entire country. Adam, along with Chris, Peter, and Robert had actually tried to negotiate with the Alpha to let him go.

They had no such luck. Even if they did let him go, Liam still refused to leave.

The idiot had told the guys that he couldn’t afford to leave because he thought they would follow him and somehow they would get to me. He didn’t want to take any risks when it came to my safety

I loved that he worried, I just hated that it was at his expense. Stupid boy.

“Are you guys going to at least keep in touch? Or are you abandoning me forever, to live a sad lonely life,” I told him, pouting my lower lip.

Adam groaned, and he looked up at the ceiling.

“You are such a manipulator, you know that? You can call us. I doubt the Alphas will make the effort to track our calls. The problem is only if they find us. But anything else should be fine,” Adam told me.

He took a few steps closer to me, until he was standing right next to the couch I was in.

“I’ll miss you while we’re hiding, even though you were always getting me in trouble with Liam,” Adam told me, with a sad smile on his lips.

“I’ll miss you too Adam. Even though I wouldn’t have to miss you if you let me tag along,” I said, just throwing the idea in the air one last time.

“You are too much,” Adam told me, shaking his head.

“Hey, that’s what I always told Liam,” I said, feeling bad that he wasn’t here with us.

“I know. You two are too much,” Adam said, sighing loudly.

“I should probably get going. I don’t want the pack Wolves to catch my scent.”

He put his hand out for me to take.

“Call me when you get together with the gang, just so I know you made it back safe,” I told him.

“Sure will. Take care, yeah? No getting into trouble or getting the dogs angry. Actually, steer clear from the Wolves, the woods, or any desolate place,” Adam firmly ordered.

“Adam, I can’t even tell if a dude is a Wolf or not. How the heck am I going to steer clear from them?” I asked him, crossing my arms and giving him a pointed look.

“But that wouldn’t be a problem if I wouldn’t have to stay in this crappy place,” I added.

Adam simply laughed at how much I kept repeating that I wanted to go with them.

“I’m serious Charlotte. Locus territory isn’t far from here, and Alpha Caine is… He’s trouble. But, Liam is right. With how much disturbance Midnight Moon and Raven pack are causing, this place is probably the safest. At least their battle won’t reach this far.”

“Do you think Midnight Moon will kick Raven Pack’s butt?” I asked, now curious about the latest pack gossip.

It was all any of the Wolves could talk about. They were practically making bets on who they thought would win. Most of the Rogues were having a party with this. Seeing this major battle between pack Wolves- who claimed to be so civilized- it was freaken awesome!

“They’re fighting for a girl. And she’s fucking hot,” Adam replied, with a smirk.

“You are such a guy,” I told him, shaking my head disapprovingly.

“I am a guy, and I’ll be one without balls if I don’t scurry away from here. Liam’s still keeping tabs on us- somehow,” Adam said.

“I’ll call you soon.” He wrapped his arms around me tightly, and inhaled a deep breath of my scent.

“I really will miss you Adam. Tell the rest of the gang that I said ‘hi’,” I told him, when he finally let go.

“I will. Bye Charlotte,” Adam waved.

I didn’t walk him to the door. He knew the way out, and I couldn’t be bothered to go. I knew that seeing him leave- it would only make it harder for me to stay.

I was honestly wondering what the hell Liam was smoking when he thought it was okay to move me to an apartment in the middle of nowhere- with one of the most dangerous packs in the US just around the corner.