Caine
Chapter 10

“My protection?” I asked, indignantly.

“Charlotte…” Caine said my name like if he was trying to be patient with me. That grated on my nerves even more.

He was walking behind me, trying to grab a hold of my hand.

“I can’t believe you just said that!” I snapped.

“It’s the truth. I have to know you are safe.”

“Fine, I get that,” I said in a strained voice. “But did you seriously have to put that, that, girl to ‘protect’ me?” I didn’t need protection, but I figured it was better to tackle a problem at a time.

“Lesley is the best female fighter in the pack, I told you that.”

I stopped my rushed walk and turned around to face him. We were just about to reach the stairs, and I grabbed the railing for support. I was almost shaking with anger.

“You are seriously not scared that she might try something? I’m not one to back down in a fight, but you all have a huge advantage over me.” It hurt to say those words, but it was true.

I was physically weaker than them. If Lesley tried something, she would succeed because there was only so much I could do to fight her off.

“She won’t try anything, I promise,” Caine said, trying to reach out for me.

He managed to snake his arm around my waist. I couldn’t handle that. Being too close to him always clouded my judgment.

“How do I know that? You trust her but I don’t. Just leave me with Macon. I don’t need two babysitters,” I told him.

The words had just left my lips when I felt Caine’s claws grazing over my waist and a loud growl rumbled through his chest.

“I am not leaving you alone with a male,” Caine growled at me.

He pressed me impossibly close to his chest and nestled his head in my neck.

“Oh come on, Macon’s your third in command. He won’t try anything. It isn’t like Macon is going to kill me or something.”

I ran my hands smoothly over his chest, trying to get him to calm down. He hadn’t loosened his tight hold on me, so I knew he was still worked up.

“He’s a male.”

I laughed when I caught on to what he was implying.

“I’m not going to hook up with Macon,” I told him.

It hadn’t been my smartest comment.

“You’re mine,” he said through gritted teeth.

“I don’t want Lesley. If you put her to babysit me, trust me, you don’t want to see what I’ll do,” I said in an overly sweet voice.

Caine pulled away to stare at me. His eyes had already shifted to a darker color. One would’ve thought someone had killed his puppy with how he was looking at me.

“I can’t leave you alone with another guy. It’s not going to happen. Macon doesn’t have a mate,” Caine said.

I rolled my eyes at him.

“Jeez, thanks for the trust,” I muttered.

“I trust you,” he said, but his voice sounded unsure.

“Do you?”

“I do, but I don’t trust everyone else, especially any guy alone with you.”

“Then put a girl, another girl, any other girl that isn’t Lesley,” I suggested.

Caine shook his head at me, and pulled away. I was surprised when he created distance between us.

“Why not?”

“I need to have the best in my pack protecting you. Lesley is the best girl, and you will have a girl present any time I’m not around.”

“You really are unbelievable,” I told him.

“I want your safety. If that makes me unbelievable, then so be it.” His voice had risen, and he no longer looked happy to be discussing my babysitters with me.

“If you wanted my safety, then you wouldn’t be putting Lesley. If my safety was all that mattered, you wouldn’t care about having a girl present or not.”

“I can’t do that, my Wolf won’t like it and neither would I,” Caine said.

His eyes were returning to their grayish green color, and he ran a hand through his already disheveled hair.

“I don’t like Lesley. She tried to kill me and she hurt me. I don’t care how strong she is, I’m not going anywhere near her. You told me she would stay away; you said it when I agreed to come with you.”

Caine took a seat on the third step of the stairs. He didn’t speak, but he seemed to be deep in thought.

“Can I come with you?”

Caine snapped his head in my direction. He looked at me curiously, but a smile was tugging at the corners of his lips.

“You want to come with me?” He asked.

“Yeah, I mean, I don’t want to be stuck in your house all day. I’ve had that before and it isn’t fun,” I told him.

It usually happened when Liam was gone for a week or two at a time. I had to stay at home most of the time. Liam said it would keep me out of trouble and he wanted me safe, tucked away in the house.

“I want to have you with me all the time,” Caine said, outstretching his arms for me to go to him.

I closed the distance between us, but sat on the second step, looking up at him. He grinned, but didn’t complain when I didn’t go into his arms.

“So then take me with you.”

“Sometimes we have trespassers, and it’s been happening more often lately. I can’t have you with me if I’m out doing rounds. I can’t risk having you get hurt. You’ll be safer here, or with your guards.”

I frowned at his words.

“What if I stay here in your house but I don’t have guards? I’ll be here, so there’s no need to have someone watching over me.”

Caine sighed loudly, and he shook his head at me in reply.

“You’re my mate. Do you know how dangerous that is for you now? I have enemies and they aren’t all Rogues.”

“Are you talking about Knight Pack?” It stung to say those words. I hated thinking about my former pack. It usually brought along memories of my parents and of Theo. I missed them so much.

“What do you know about Knight Pack?” Caine’s voice hardened and his forehead creased into a frown.

“Don’t you and that pack have this thing going?” I asked.

The last day I had spoken with Theo, Alpha Tristan and Derek were trying to steal some of Locus’ pack members.

“How do you know that?” Caine got up from the stairs, and he grabbed my arm to bring me along with him.

“I just heard that around the rumor mill,” I said, hoping he wouldn’t detect the lie in my voice.

“You didn’t tell me how you ended up with the Rogues,” Caine said, his voice turning suspicious.

“I didn’t?” I asked, pretending to be surprised.

“No, you didn’t. Last time I brought it up, you changed the subject,” he flatly stated.

“It’s a long story,” I shrugged.

“I have plenty of time,” he told me, crossing his arms over his chest and managing to look as intimidating as ever.

“I don’t like to talk about that part of my life.”

I wasn’t exactly lying when I said that. It was true; I hated the reason that had dragged me to Liam. I loved Liam. He treated me like if I was really his sister. That didn’t mean I didn’t carry hatred against my former pack.

“When we were with the Rogue, he mentioned a guy, Liam. Who is that?”

“You don’t know him, he isn’t around,” I replied defensively.

Caine cocked an eyebrow, looking like he expected for me to say something else.

“Why was the Rogue scared of this guy, Liam?”

“Stop calling him ‘Rogue’, his name is Adam,” I said in a snappy tone.

“Alright, why was Adam scared of Liam?”

“Liam is my guardian,” I slowly replied.

“Guardian?” Caine repeated.

“He’s been taking care of me for a while now.”

“You were alone when we met and you aren’t even eighteen yet. Your guardian has obviously been doing a poor job,” Caine said.

I narrowed my eyes at him. I didn’t know if he was saying that to make fun of me, but it was how it felt.

“We are going through a tough time right now, Caine. But I will be out of your territory as soon as Liam comes and picks me up,” I retorted, and began climbing up the stairs angrily.

“You aren’t going anywhere,” Caine said, yanking my arm back and stopping me half-way up the stairs.

“You don’t own me!” I snapped.

He seemed stunned by my words and it was enough to make him release my arm. I took the opportunity to finish making my way up the stairs.

I was so angry with him. I kept pacing the room. It was already late, but I couldn’t get myself to climb in bed. I briefly wondered what Caine was doing.

I was surprised when there was a knock on my door about ten minutes later. Caine didn’t wait for me to open the door, he just walked in.

“Knocking is useless if you don’t ask first,” I told him.

“I was hoping you would get used to being here in the house, with me,” he said, dismissing my comment.

“I was wrong. It made me realize that giving you guards is a great idea. Lesley will stay. If she tries anything, which she won’t, Macon will be here. Same goes for Macon.”

He didn’t give me a chance to say anything before swiftly exiting my room.

Bastard!

“I called you earlier and you didn’t answer,” Liam told me when he answered my call.

“Did you talk to Adam?” I asked.

“I did. I’ve been calling Shane and he’s ignoring my calls,” Liam said. I could hear the disapproval in his voice.

I really wanted to tell him everything just then, but I couldn’t, not yet. Liam right now had to focus on staying out of trouble.

“Adam told me he was around your area. You two talked?” He asked.

“Yeah, he came to visit and to check on me,” I replied.

“What have you been up to today?”

“It’s been a boring day.” The lies were going to catch up to me at some point.

“I doubt that. You better be behaving or I’ll find out about it,” he said in a teasing tone.

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

“How have you been? How’s pack life?” My questions gave me an easy way out.

Liam began ranting about pack life, how much it sucked, and how he was ready to get things back to normal.

“I have news,” Liam told me once he filled me in on Midnight Moon’s latest gossip.

“What is it?”

“Today in the morning, the Locus Pack Alpha called here. I don’t know if I ever told you but Dylan and the Locus Pack Alpha are best friends or something like that. Turns out, Alpha Caine got himself a little mate,” Liam said, his voice full of humor.

I sucked in a breath, waiting for him to continue. I freaked out for a moment, wondering if he knew it was me. I didn’t think Liam would go through an entire call, only to wait until the end to tell me he knew I had found a mate.

“Okay…” I whispered, not being able to mutter any other coherent word.

“Leila, the Midnight Moon Luna, told me that we’re going over to that area in about two or three weeks,” Liam excitedly told me.

“You are?” I mumbled.

“Yup, we are. The apartment isn’t that far from Locus territory. The pack will go and visit with the Alpha and his new mate, I’ll pick you up, and then I’ll ask Dylan or Leila permission for you to join Midnight Moon. You’ll be getting your Wolf in less than three months. We need to be ready for that and you can’t be alone.”

His voice turned serious, and I was sure it was at the mention of me getting my Wolf. He had been alone the first time he shifted. I couldn’t stop crying the day Liam told me the story of the first time he shifted into his Wolf.

I wanted to tell him then about Caine. Liam didn’t deserve to have me lying to him, especially if he was coming over soon. The thing was, now I also had to tell him about Shane and Estella as well. The things I had kept from Liam seemed to be piling on, and it was just making me feel worse.

“Okay,” I said, even though it definitely was not okay.

I had just ended the call with Liam when Caine stepped into the room.

“Who was that?” He asked, nodding at my phone.

Of course he would be overhearing my conversation.

“No one you know.”

“Was it Adam?”

“Why are you here?”

When he looked down at the ground, I took in his appearance. He had changed into a pair of dark gray basketball shorts and a white smug t-shirt. He looked appealing, too much for my own good.

“Can you just give Lesley a chance? If you don’t like having her around, I’ll switch her for another girl,” Caine asked in what sounded like a pleading tone.

I raised an eyebrow. Out of all the things I thought he would say, that was what I least expected.

“I thought you said she was coming either way.”

“Tomorrow’s my first day away from home after I found you. I don’t want to leave with you mad at me. It doesn’t feel right,” he said, sounding uncomfortable.

I chuckled at his behavior. He was trying to not look soft, but his words were only making me want to point out how cute he looked. I wasn’t mad at him anymore, not after talking with Liam. But if I had been, the look he was giving me in that moment would have made me forgive him.

“If I try to go out somewhere, are you going to make a big deal about it?”

“Where do you want to go?” He asked. The suspicious tone returned to his voice.

“I told you I don’t want to be holed up in this house all day. I don’t know, maybe I want to go to my apartment or something.”

“Your door isn’t fixed yet,” Caine quickly added.

It seemed like my poor broken door would never get fixed.

“Just fix the damn door. I’m not going back to my apartment to stay anyways,” I told him, rolling my eyes.

“You’re not mad anymore?”

“I don’t know. I don’t want to be around Lesley,” I said, scrunching up my nose at the thought of spending my day with her.

“I won’t be gone for long, and Macon will be here to keep you company as well,” Caine said, encouragingly.

He closed the distance between us, and took a seat on my bed.

“Were you talking to that Liam guy?” Caine asked.

I nodded at him, but reserved any other comments to myself. I noticed Caine tensed in front of me.

“Liam is like my brother,” I told him, so that he would get any bad ideas out of his head.

“Where is he?”

“He’s caught up in something, but he’ll be done with that very soon,” I replied.

Caine swiftly grabbed me by the waist and shuffled me so that I ended up sitting on his lap. I yelped at the sudden movements, but made no move to pull away.

“You’re my mate.” This time when he spoke, his voice wasn’t forceful. He said the words in a soft seductive voice, while he was nuzzling his nose slowly over the skin in my neck.

“I know,” I whispered, feeling the reactions my body was having over his touch.

How could he be so intoxicating?

“I’m not letting you go,” he said, placing small feathery kisses over my neck and on my shoulders.

I closed my eyes and enjoyed the heat of our bodies pressed so close to each other. I should have pushed him away, but I didn’t have it in me. It felt so good to be in his lap. Instead of pulling away from him, I found myself getting more comfortable in his arms.

My heart began pounding faster when Caine started trailing kisses slowly over my jaw. His lips wasted no time in crashing against mine and I couldn’t help but hungrily respond to his kiss. It felt good to not think about being away from him and just fully give in.

His hands dug deeper in my waist, pressing me closer to him even though we were already against each other. I interlaced my fingers in his hair and tugged on it when Caine lightly bit my lower lip. The kiss was intense, as was everything when it came to Caine, but I enjoyed every second of it.

We were both breathless when he pulled away. I found myself trying to reach closer to him, to bring his lips down on mine for a second time.

“If we don’t stop now, I’m not sure I’ll be able to stop later.” Caine’s usual steady voice now sounded husky and uncontrolled.

I nodded, even though I felt a small twinge of disappointment because we had to stop kissing.

“I’ll let you sleep.”

Caine easily maneuvered me from his lap and placed me back on the bed like if I weighed nothing.

“You don’t have to leave,” I found myself blurting out.

It hadn’t been what I intended to say, but the words left my mouth before I could stop them.

Caine chuckled at my words, and he caressed my cheek softly, looking like he was going to lean in for another kiss. I found myself frowning when he pulled his hand away.

“I don’t have that much self-control,” he said.

He placed a lingering kiss on my cheek, before making his way out of the room. I knew that if I got up in that moment, my legs would be shaky; I would probably have to wobble my way out of the room. But Caine walked out with so much confidence, it so him.

I couldn’t sleep that night. I kept thinking about everything, Caine, Liam, Adam, even Shane and Estella clouded my thoughts. It was the thoughts of Shane and Estella that bothered me the most, because they came along with guilt and sadness.

It wasn’t until almost seven in the morning that sleep finally came to me. Either that or my body had grown exhausted and was shutting down on its own.

“Charlotte.”

Caine. My body reacted to his voice and I found myself waking up as soon as I felt his hand touch my shoulder.

“Are you okay?” He asked.

Caine was looking at me with a worried expression. He pressed his hand on my forehead, and then slid it down to my neck. He softly ran his fingers over the bite mark on my neck, which showed his claim on me.

“I’m okay,” I replied, my voice sounding croaky.

I cleared my throat and rubbed the sleep from my eyes. Surprisingly, I didn’t feel as tired as I thought I would be.

“Are you sure?” Caine pressed.

“I’m still sleepy I think, but I’m good. What’s up?” I asked.

He had a glass of iced cold water in his hands, which quickly got my attention.

“It’s for you,” he told me, handing me the glass.

“Macon and Lesley were here,” he said as I drank the water in large gulps.

“They were?”

“I arrived a few minutes ago. Macon said you didn’t let them in.” Caine looked amused, but I could tell in his voice he wanted an explanation.

“I didn’t hear them. At what time did they get here?” I asked, as I looked around the bed for my cellphone, which wasn’t in the nightstand.

“They got here a little after seven thirty. I met with them on road. I left because I thought you would be awake by then.”

“I got zero sleep last night,” I admitted sheepishly.

“Why?” Caine asked.

“Just thinking,” I replied, trying to avoid his gaze.

“About your friends?”

I nodded, but didn’t dare look up at him. Caine didn’t like Rogues; he had made that clear plenty of times.

“It was just a rough night, it’ll get better,” I said, hoping that my words were true.

“Now I know why you’re so calm,” he told me, with a smile playing on his lips.

I gave in to a grin of my own, before sinking back into bed.

“I took a break so that we could have lunch. Do you want to dine in or should we go somewhere?”

“Lunch? I just woke up, I’m having breakfast,” I said, shaking my head at him.

“Charlotte, it’s almost two in the afternoon,” he told me, but his smile morphed into a grin.

My eyes widened at his words and I started moving the sheets and comforter around, looking for my phone. Caine was right; it was five minutes till two.

“Whoa, I didn’t know it was so late. No wonder I’m not tired,” I told him, stretching up my arms, and trying to loosen up my body. Caine’s gaze lowered when I did, and I found myself blushing.

I picked up the comforter higher in my chest, even though I was wearing a tank top, which covered all the important areas.

“Wait, so where did Macon and Lesley go?” I asked, in attempt to distract the situation.

“They waited outside for you to wake up. Macon called a few times to the house phone, but you didn’t answer. I’m not sure why they didn’t come get me though,” Caine replied.

I couldn’t help but laugh at his reply. I felt bad that Macon had been outside the house waiting for me all day, but I didn’t really mind that I had made Lesley wait.

“Sorry about that,” I said, although I felt like Caine knew my apology wasn’t all that genuine.

“It’s fine, you can sleep as late as you’d like. I’ll let them in tomorrow before leaving to work,” Caine said, leaning in to me.

It took me off guard when he brushed his lips against mine, but I responded nonetheless. I had been craving for the same thing since last night when he had pulled away from me.

“Macon and Lesley will be back in about an hour,” Caine told me.

We had settled in the dining room, and were eating lunch, with breakfast food. I wanted scrambled eggs and bacon. When I told Caine, he just smiled at me, shook his head and said it was fine.

“Thanks for the heads-up.”

“We haven’t had a chance to get into the political things of the pack, but we should do that soon,” he said.

His words got my attention, and I found myself looking up at him with interested eyes.

“What political things?”

“Our pack has had an alliance with Midnight Moon for a few years now. I do have to introduce you to the other packs, and I was thinking about doing that a few weeks from now.”

“Oh,” I mumbled, not knowing what else to say.

“You don’t have to feel pressured about anything. Midnight Moon Pack is like family. Dylan is like a brother to me, and I’ve met his mate. I think you two will get along,” Caine told me.

He placed his hand over mine, and began running his thumb in circles over my skin.

“I guess, I don’t know about that,” I replied honestly.

“How much do you know about Knight Pack?” Caine asked me after a few minutes of silence.

“Uh,” I muttered.

“You’ve mentioned that you heard about the rivalry between their pack and ours,” he continued.

“I have.” I tried to keep my voice steady, but there was an undeniable tremble in my words. Caine asking about those things was dangerous territory for me.

“The Alpha from that pack, well one of them, they made the unwise decision of having two Alphas. It is bringing them down if you ask me,” he explained, getting sidetracked.

“What about their Alpha?”

“The old man probably has something under his sleeve. Tristan and Derek, his son, have been after our pack for years now,” Caine said, laughing humorlessly.

“Really?”

“We’re stronger and bigger in number, but they have gotten the idea that they can bring me down.” He shook his head disapprovingly.

“You think they will attack you?” I asked him.

Theo was part of Knight Pack’s fighters. If they attacked, there was a big chance Theo would be with them. I didn’t want to see him get hurt.

“They want to set up a meeting. They’ve invited us to their territory. Normally, I would decline the offer, but I have accepted this time.

“What?” I gasped.

“You don’t have to worry, we’ll be safe,” Caine said, brushing aside a loose strand of hair that had fallen over my face.

“They know I found my mate, apparently rumors do spread fast. If I go without you, they might find it rude.”

“They’re not nice people,” I said not sure if Caine caught on to the bitterness in my voice.

“I’m aware. Things between our packs are too damaged to make amends. A meeting won’t fix anything, and I really doubt that’s what Tristan or Derek are after,” Caine replied, his voice full of distaste.

“Then why are you going over there? Just ignore their stupid invitation.” My voice sounded more hostile than it should have, considering I was trying to hide from Caine that I ever belonged to Knight Pack.

“The visit is purely so that I can size up their territory. I haven’t been there in a while.”

“Size up what, why?” I asked. I didn’t understand why Caine didn’t just ignore them. If he hated them so much, there was no use in even seeking them out. I knew I wanted to stay as far away as possible from Derek after what he did to me.

“I plan on bringing down his pack, one member at a time,” Caine calmly replied.

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