Caine
Chapter 23

The Rated R Version of this chapter is in my profile. Look under my Works, at the story titled Private Chapters.

Charlotte’s POV

“Are you trying to kill me?”

“Is that what I’m doing?”

Instead of replying, Caine’s eyes roamed over my body. “It looks like it,” he said, making his way over to me.

“Well I’m not the one insisting on waiting,” I told him, teasingly.

His eyes had grown dark, and his canines were out. I loved when his Werewolf side came out, even if it was just a mild appearance. Caine lost control, if only for a couple of minutes whenever it happened. That was enough for me to distract him.

“I’m simply asking if you like it. I can see that you do,” I commented.

The pack was going to have a get together nearby a lake on the north side of our territory. There was going to be plenty of food, some games for the younger pups, and people getting in the water. For the occasion, Macon had accompanied me to the mall. He didn’t know what I went to buy, but I was sure he could imagine it.

I purchased a one piece bathing suit, which on my backside, dipped down to my lower back. I had no intention of only wearing that to the get together, but I did try it on for Caine’s amusement.

He had seen me in less, that being completely nude, but he still reacted whenever I was wearing very little clothes. I liked that.

“For my eyes only,” Caine said, softly pushing me down over the bed.

“Are we going to play this game again?”

Caine laid down over me, his knee pushing my legs apart, and making our position feel more intimate. While I was exposed to him in my blue bathing suit, he was still wearing all of his clothes.

“What game?” Caine asked in a husky voice, his head nestled in my neck, while his hand was running over the side of waist.

“This game,” I meekly replied, feeling the effects of having him pressed to me. “Where you make me think something is going to happen, and then nothing does.”

He chuckled at my words, the sound vibrating through his chest and down to my body. It only made the situation worse for me. His knee was rubbing on a certain part of me that was making it hard to concentrate on anything.

“Soon…” Caine whispered against my neck.

I groaned inwardly at his words. They sounded more like torture than a promise. I still couldn’t understand how Caine was quick to kill other Wolves, but he wanted to do the right thing with me and not ‘take advantage’ of me, as he always called it.

One month later…

“Waking up?” Caine asked, taking a seat beside me on the bed.

I groaned when his hand slid over my stomach and around my waist. “It’s early,” I whined.

Caine chuckled, and leaned down over me to kiss my cheek. “It’s eight thirty.”

“Like I said, it’s early.” I shoved his hand away, and brought the blanket over my head to block out the sunlight seeping into the room. I had no doubt that Caine had pulled back the curtains on purpose.

“I need to get going,” Caine said, shaking my shoulders to get me to wake up.

“Go,” I said, waving my arm in the air, shooing him way.

“Are you sure you don’t want anything for tomorrow?” He asked.

Instead of waiting for me to turn back to him, Caine grabbed me by the waist and made me sit up on the bed. I grumbled as I got comfortable, all the while he was looking at me curiously.

“I want a birthday present, if that’s what you mean,” I replied, crossing my arms over my chest grumpily.

“I have your birthday present already,” he said, giving me a small smile, barely noticeable on his lips.

“And I want you all day here, with me,” I reminded him, because that had been a request I’d made weeks ago.

“I’m taking the entire day off. Victor and Macon will take over for the day.”

“Yeah, I bet Victor will like that,” I muttered.

“It’s not too late to have a celebration in your honor. It is a big day for you,” Caine said, very diplomatically.

I rolled my eyes at his suggestion. “I don’t want to be hosting other people. It’s my day, and I want to spend it with you. You want to make me happy, then that’s all you have to do.”

Caine gave me an intense look for a couple of seconds, and I held his stare. When he seemed satisfied with my words, and the fact that there was no way I was changing my mind, he sighed and nodded.

“But if you decide to have a small party, you simply have to tell me,” he said, leaning in to kiss me.

Caine left soon after that. There had been no point whatsoever in waking me up. I had made my mind. I was still nervous about shifting for the first time. Liam and I had been constantly on the phone, ever since he took off with Leila and Alpha Dylan back to Midnight Moon.

Liam did all he could to placate my nerves, and tell me that everything was going to be fine. Despite all of his reassurances, I was still nervous.

I was scared of shifting for the first time, and how much it would hurt. Both Caine and Liam told me that regular Wolves took a few days, but at times, a week or two to complete the shifting process. The first time one shifted, it took a toll on the body. There was also the deal of training your mind to shift from Wolf to human and back to Wolf whenever you felt like it.

Caine told me the first time he shifted— it only took him a day to get a handle on things. ‘That only happens with Alphas and sometimes with Betas and third in commands,’ he had said. To narrow it down, Wolves with title had it easier when it came to the first time shifting.

That was not fair.

Everything was making me nervous and jittery. As scared as I was of the pain, the change, and the process— what scared me the most was the idea of never getting a Wolf.

After my morning routine of getting ready for the day, I walked downstairs.

Adam was already up, waiting for me in the kitchen. I was surprise he’d gotten up early, but I assumed Caine had called him. He probably thought I wouldn’t go back to sleep either. Caine had been somewhat paranoid that I would get crazy ideas because of my Wolf possibly coming in.

“You look sleepy,” I commented, lazily running my hands through his hair, which was starting to get long. “And you need a haircut,” I told him after he slapped my hand away.

“Your mate woke me up,” Adam huffed.

He rested his cheek against the cold, marble counter and sighed.

“He’s paranoid.”

“If you wouldn’t threaten him about leaving every time he does something you don’t like, then I wouldn’t have to be up at this early hour,” Adam complained.

“Oh, shut up. It’s past nine in the morning,” I said, shaking my head at him.

I was too lazy to make a proper meal, so I simply put some hot pockets in the microwave and took out two cokes, one for me and one for Adam.

“I’ve been playing a game,” Adam said, while I got up to check on the fridge for anything else that looked easy to make… or that I could shove in the microwave.

“What game?” I asked, distractedly.

“I’m trying to guess who you treat more like your bitch, Liam or Caine,” he said, and he broke out laughing. Adam was quick to duck when I threw the empty box of hot pockets in his direction.

“If Caine or Liam heard you saying that… let’s just say you wouldn’t be walking for a few days,” I said, narrowing my eyes at him.

Adam gave me a goofy smile, and came over to kiss my cheek. “Chill, I’m just joking. It’s pretty obvious you’ve got the Alpha whipped.”

In seconds, he’d gone towards the microwave, stolen one of my hot pockets, and ran out of the room.

“I’ll get you back for that!” I yelled. I felt too sluggish to chase after him.

Adam had arrived at Locus territory the same day that Liam left. Caine was not happy. Little by little, Caine had warmed up to Liam, but it was more or less a deal of tolerance between them two. When Caine saw Adam arriving at our territory, he had gone Alpha on him and tried to kick him out.

In the end, I convinced Caine to let him stay. That day, Liam shook his head and said, ‘like if the Alpha has a choice. Adam stays or you’re coming with me, Charlie’. Those words created a strain between Liam and Caine just before his departure.

With all the problems that had befallen Midnight Moon the last few weeks, Liam had his hands full. Even though I felt bad for Leila and Alpha Dylan, I had noticed a change in Liam. I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

I was surprised when Macon showed up at ten and Lesley an hour later. They were usually at the mansion by the time Caine left to the pack building, at least Macon was.

“Are we going to be here the entire day?” Adam asked.

“We can’t go out today. Caine’s taking the day off tomorrow, and Derek is still roaming the territory. You know that,” I reminded him.

“We still get to go out,” Adam complained.

“But not today,” I told him.

“You’ll have the day off tomorrow, pup,” Macon said, in his usual serious voice.

“I’m not a pup!” Adam told him defensively.

“Caine won’t be gone for long today,” I told him. “You’ll be locked in here with me for a few hours and then you’re free to do as you please.”

“I’ll take you for a run, Charlotte. Your Wolf might kick in tonight. This should help speed her up,” Adam told me, excitedly.

While Adam and I talked about anything that came to mind, with Macon adding comments now and then, Lesley simply sat on the floor by the door, staring off at the distance.

It was like a routine of hers now. She hardly ever spoke. She simply stared off, seeming lost in thought all the time. I tried talking to her ever since the break up between Liam and her, but she cut me off with polite, cold answers every single time.

Lesley and Liam broke up when he left to Midnight Moon. They were already not talking before he took off, but she finally came up to him the day before he left. They fixed things, but they didn’t get back together.

Liam and I talked on the phone a few times every day. He was worried about me, and whenever we talked, I had to give him a run through of everything I did with my time.

Before Eric’s party a few weeks ago, Liam told me that he and Lesley were still talking on the phone… and flirting, and possibly getting together when he came back to Locus Pack.

Going over to Midnight Moon for Eric’s birthday had changed everything, for everyone.

Alpha Dylan’s situation was different, and it was all due to Liam. It was after that that Liam finally decided to let Lesley go.

Liam’s birthday, which was a week after Eric’s party, was overshadowed by everything that was going on over on his side.

The decision had hit Lesley really hard, because Liam was even avoiding her calls. The last time she’d seen him was when we went to Midnight Moon for Eric’s birthday party.

It had been a complete disaster for everyone, and not even Lesley and Liam were saved from it.

The unexpected visitors, the fights that broke out, and the Wolves that died had been a start. In the end, Caine and Alpha Dylan patched things up, mainly because they were forced to do so considering the situation.

But none of it had been easy on Liam, who not only had Lesley to deal with, but he was the main focus of the chaos that had taken over Midnight Moon lately.

The day after Eric’s party, when we were coming back home, Liam broke off all ties with Lesley. Plenty of people were after him as it was. He didn’t want anyone to target her because they had had a thing.

The only reason he wasn’t chasing me was because he thought I was safer away from Midnight Moon, which currently had the spotlight of two packs that were furious with Alpha Dylan. Liam wanted me away from them… and away from him.

Liam called me for the second time that day around three in the afternoon. Caine was in the shower, and the guys all had taken off to do their thing. I was lounging on the couch in our room, mindlessly scrolling through the guide in the TV, looking for something to watch.

“You took long to pick up,” Liam told me right after I answered.

“Yes, I’m doing well. How about you?” I asked, sarcastically.

“Don’t be a smart ass, Charlie,” Liam said, but he graced me with a small laugh.

It was hard to get one of those out of him these days. Lately, he was nothing but serious.

“What are you up to?” I asked him, getting comfortable after picking a movie I’d seen a few times before.

“I take it since you answered the phone, you haven’t shifted yet.”

“Nope, no furry paws,” I replied.

“Are you feeling okay?”

“Not really. I’m sleepy, but that’s only because I woke up early today.”

“Do you feel weird? Anything different that might stand out? We shift differently, Charlie. We’re not like the other pups that shift at thirteen.”

“I know, I know,” I mumbled. Liam had been warning me about that for the last month. He had done everything he could to prepare me for ‘the big day’.

“It can happen today, or tonight, or tomorrow, or a week from now. I shifted over a week before my birthday.”

“I know,” I said, because I’d heard the story plenty of times before. “I’m being careful. Caine has been with me, and I’ve had Adam by my side. I haven’t been alone.”

“Good, good,” he sighed. “I gotta go, but I’ll call you later in the night.”

And that was what our call consisted of. Which was what most of our calls were like now. Empty, depressing, numbing, strained, troubling.

I went over to lie down on the bed after my call with Liam. Unintentionally, I ended up falling asleep.

I woke up to a dark, cold room all by myself. It took me a moment to process that I must’ve been out for hours. I simply sat, staring at the ceiling until Caine walked into the room and snapped me out of it.

“I need to go out. Do you mind if I drop you off at Lesley’s place for about an hour?”

“Right now? What time is it?” I asked, groggily leaning closer to the night stand to check the time. “It’s ten.”

“Victor called me,” Caine said.

He looked… strange, nervous perhaps.

“Is something wrong?”

“Everything’s fine. He wants to show me something,” he said, but I felt like he was lying to me.

He wasn’t looking directly at me, and it seemed like he felt guilty about something, but I couldn’t guess what it was.

“I’ll come with you.”

“No!”

His quick reply only made me more suspicious. “Where’s Adam? I’ll stay here with him then.”

“Adam took the night off. He went out, and he’s going to stay in Liam’s apartment for the night.”

Everything about Caine’s behavior and his request to take me to Lesley’s place was strange. I didn’t know what to say, but he wasn’t letting me decide anything but going along with what he was saying.

“One hour,” Caine said, before kissing my forehead and opening the door to Lesley’s house.

Lesley lived alone, in a cabin that was on the north side of the pack land. It was nice, and more or less what I expected her place to look like.

I wasn’t sure whether Caine was warning her about my arrival, but she hadn’t been there to welcome me in. Caine had simply decided I was going to stay there while he was busy with who knows what, and that was how it was going to be.

I slowly and cautiously made my way towards a couch in the living room, which was right next to the door.

Lesley appeared a few minutes later from down a hall, where I imagined her room was.

“Hey,” I waved, uncomfortably.

“Do you want anything?” Lesley asked.

Unlike other times, where she kept her distance, Lesley took a seat and turned on the TV. I had only seen her actually watching it a handful of times, and it had always been in the company of Liam.

“I’m fine,” I said, trying to get comfortable on the couch.

Either way, she stood up and walked out of the room. I stared after her as she made her way towards the kitchen area. She came back with some drinks and a bowl filled with munchies.

“Liam likes these,” Lesley shrugged when she saw me starting at her. “I assume you like them too.”

“I do,” I told her, reaching out to take a handful and picking up a glass of lemonade.

We were sitting across from each other, on different couches. Even though the TV was on, I felt like I needed to fill the silence between us with something. But I didn’t know what to say.

“How’s he doing? I haven’t talked to him in a while,” Lesley said.

The TV, which was on at a reasonable volume, was dimmed in the background after Lesley asked me that question.

“He’s fine. There’s a lot of work right now at Midnight Moon,” I told her.

She nodded, and took a drink from her glass. “I know. I can imagine.”

That was all she said about it. It was the first time Lesley brought Liam up. Even though she seemed to understand that Liam didn’t have the time to concentrate on anything else but the problems he was already facing, Lesley seemed stressed out, worried even.

“Do you know if anything is happening? It’s too late for Victor to be calling Caine up, and he was acting weird before he dropped me off.”

I was thrown off by several things, starting with Caine’s behavior. I didn’t understand why he hadn’t made Adam come back from wherever he was at so that he could watch over me.

Caine had never sent me away from the house whenever he had to go out somewhere. He always made Lesley or Macon, and lately Adam as well— go back to our house.

“Everything’s fine. This is about something else,” Lesley assured me. I was left stunned when she cracked a smile.

It wasn’t like I thought Lesley spent all her time being depressed about Liam. But it honestly seemed like she was struggling with what had happened between them two. If it weren’t for the type of person that I knew she was, who was used to putting the pack before anything else, I would’ve thought she just wanted to run after him… even if it meant leaving the pack.

As promised, Caine was back to pick me up from Lesley’s house an hour later.

I knew something was up as soon as my eyes landed on him. He had showered, his hair was combed nicely, there was a mischievous look in his eyes, and he a rose in his hand.

I looked down at the rose, before turning to face him.

“It’s for you,” he said, extending his hand to me.

Instead of walking towards me, he waited for me to go to him. “You do remember my birthday isn’t until tomorrow,” I commented, striding over to his side.

He didn’t walk into Lesley’s place, deciding to wait by the door so that we could take off. He’d brought his car with him, unlike before, when he’d ran all the way from the house.

“It’s almost midnight,” Caine said— the smile on his face turning into a smirk.

“I was born at four in the morning; so technically, there’s still five hours for my birthday.”

I grinned when Caine frowned down at me. “I thought you hated technicalities,” he said, in a questioning tone.

“Only when they’re used against me,” I shrugged.

Caine shook his head at me, and chuckled at that.

The drive home was quiet. I didn’t try to strike up a conversation, and Caine seemed content to be in silence. I couldn’t help but wonder what was really going on.

He was wearing a black polo shirt and dark jeans. It wasn’t exactly formal attire. But I was basically in drags, since I’d woken up from my nap and gotten shipped to Lesley’s house.

“Is something going on?” I finally asked as Caine was parking the car.

“You’ll see,” he said, the serious look on his face dissolving to show a playful smile.

His face had softened up, like if all the worry about anything else— Wolves, Rogues, Tristan, Derek, enemies, packs— was gone.

Nothing was different outside the house, but when I walked into the mansion, I noticed why he’d kicked me out.

One thing was certain— I had never pegged Caine as a romantic.

It wasn’t that he didn’t love me, because he did, very much. It wasn’t that he was mean, given he was strict, but usually not with me. It also wasn’t that he didn’t want to mate with me until I turned eighteen, because that was actually a good thing on his part.

Caine simply didn’t strike me as someone who prepared fancy dinners, filled rooms with beautiful roses, or lit candles all over the place to give it a dim, passionate feel— but that’s exactly what he did.

“This is for my birthday?” I asked, with a stupid grin on my face.

Caine had been walking behind me, one of his arms firmly wrapped around my waist, with his hand resting on my stomach.

“I thought you might like it,” he whispered against my neck, placing a gentle kiss against my skin.

The way he spoke, in that low, sexy voice… I knew it wasn’t just going to be about dinner. If possible, that made me grin even wider.

Strangely enough, the dinner had been prepared by Victor and Macon’s mom. They were close to Caine, even though I had only seen both ladies once or twice in all the time I had spent there. In my defense, ever since Caine found me, our life had been chaotic.

Caine was chivalrous throughout the entire dinner to the point where I thought what I had assumed might happen later… wouldn’t really happen.

“The roses are for you. You told me the other day that you liked them,” Caine commented after we both finished eating.

“I do,” I shrugged. “I guess I’m traditional when it comes to red roses.”

“I got you a present. I wasn’t sure whether to give it to you now or wait until tomorrow morning.”

I was slightly disappointed that he hadn’t given me the present on his own, whenever he chose to.

“You can give it to me now.”

We ended up upstairs. Caine went into the other room to get my present, and I lounged myself over the bed.

Since it was almost midnight, I figured we were going to go to sleep soon. While I waited for him to come back, I changed into one of his shirts, and got comfortable.

Caine walked into the room five minutes later carrying a large, squared, wrapped up box.

When he saw me on the bed, he stopped walking and just stared at me.

“Is that for me?” I asked nodding at the present, which was clearly for me.

“It is,” Caine nodded.

He didn’t bring the present over to me. He placed it on the couch, and then slowly, almost cautiously, made his way over to the bed.

“I,” he sighed, and then let out a husky chuckle.

“You okay?”

He took a seat on the edge of the bed, slightly hovering over me. One of his hands was over my hip, while the other was in a tight fist, placed over his lap.

Caine’s eyes drifted over to the nightstand. He was looking at the digital clock, which read that there was one minute till midnight.

His forehead was lightly pressed against mine, his warm breath was fanning over my face, and his hand had slipped down to my exposed thigh.

“Happy birthday,” he whispered.

I smiled when I turned to see the time change.

“Thanks. I don’t feel different,” I commented, placing my hands on either side of his neck.

I didn’t feel different, but everything had changed, at least for Caine.

One moment he was staring deeply into my eyes, his breathing picking up. The next, he was pushing me down onto the bed, and laying down over me.

“Easy,” I told him playfully, but the nerves were starting to make an appearance.

“Sorry,” Caine mumbled, and he eased off me and rolled to the side. “I got carried away.

I giggled at him because he was looking away from me. “Hey,” I said, making him turn back to face me.

I wiggled myself against his side, so that I was half lying down over his chest. Caine’s arm was wrapped behind my back, his hand hovering dangerously close to my bottom. I took hold of his other hand, and kissed his knuckles.

He’d been making a fist. Instead of looking like we were possibly going to be intimate, he was acting like if he was about fight somebody.

“I’m nervous,” I sighed, and nuzzled my head against his neck.

“We don’t have to-” He started to say.

I gently placed my index and middle finger over his lips, and softly whispered, “Shh…”

We hadn’t done anything, and I could already feel him trying to back away from me. “Calm down,” I said, giving in to a small chuckle.

When I ran my hand over her his chest, I could feel his heart beating erratically under my hand.

“Just let go,” I told him, caressing his cheek.

It was almost ironic that he was making me feel like I was taking advantage of him. At least when I continued to gently run my hands over the side of his face, and down to his neck, slowly sliding it down to his chest— I finally felt him relaxing under my touch.

“I’m ready…” I murmured against his neck.

“You’re hot,” Caine told me the next morning, quickly sitting up from the bed and running his hands over my forehead and cheeks.

I was barely waking up, and trying to process why Caine was touching me and looking at me weirdly. He didn’t bother to elaborate, which I forgave him for because I was in a forgiving mood.

I was also happy because Liam had woken me up in the middle of the night to wish me happy birthday. Unlike Caine, Liam had waited until four fifteen in the morning, which was the exact time I was born. It was a short conversation because we were both sleepy.

Caine hadn’t even woken up for the call, and I’d been surprised by that. He had stirred when the phone vibrated on the stand next to me. But after that, he hadn’t realized that I’d left the bed for a couple of minutes to talk to Liam in the other room.

I wasn’t even sure how I had felt the phone, since Caine had really tired me out just hours before that.

“Is that supposed to be a compliment after last night?” My sarcasm didn’t sound too sarcastic because I was still partly out of it, and Caine’s face showed it, since he simply stared at me with a worried look.

“You’re running a fever. Are you feeling okay?”

“I’m fine. I just woke up, and I was wrapped up in blankets.”

“That shouldn’t matter,” he said, looking at me with narrowed eyes. He didn’t seem mad at me, but he looked concerned.

“You were splayed over my body, Caine. Besides, every morning I wake up, my body feels warm. That doesn’t happen to you?”

He didn’t reply anything, but I could tell he wasn’t going to let it go. “Shouldn’t you be wishing me happy birthday?”

My question brought a smile to his face, and he wrapped his arms around me tightly, forcing me to be squished against his hard, muscular chest.

I wasn’t complaining.

“You really feel warm,” Caine said against my hair.

He nuzzled his nose against my skin, making me chuckle, while his hands trailed over my back.

“Stop ruining my birthday morning. I think I should open my presents now, since I didn’t get to do that last night…” I said, my face going red at the thought of what had happened.

Caine and I had finally mated. The thought ran through my mind several times, and it still surprised and excited me.

I waited for him on the bed, while Caine brought the box over to me. I was wondering what he got me, which was big enough that he had to wrap in the large squared box.

Caine sat on the edge of the bed, and set the box on the floor, beside him. He made me scoot to the middle of the bed, so that I wouldn’t peak inside.

“What’s the fun of this if you’re going to be the one unwrapping it?” I complained.

“I’m going to put it on the bed. I just wanted to tell you that there’s a couple of presents inside, not just one.”

“That’s why you got the big box?”

He nodded, before lifting up the box— covered in white wrapping paper, with a nice royal blue ribbon going around it.

I could tell that he had put a lot effort into it. It looked cool, and it was nicely wrapped. Had I not been too focused on Caine the night before, and what was happening between us, I might have paid more attention to his actual gift.

There were a lot of little white and blue balloons inside the box, along with shimmery confetti. I laughed when I saw that, and started grabbing the balloons and throwing them everywhere. Some landed on Caine… and Caine’s head, before they fell on his lap or over the bed. Other balloons landed on the bed, surrounding me, and some just fell to the floor.

I was playfully throwing them around. Caine didn’t seem to mind, since he kept smiling when I threw one at him. He even laughed when I accidently popped two because I sat down over them.

Two presents were on the top. Caine told me to open the small, black, rectangular case first. I didn’t really have to open it to know it was jewelry.

It was a beautiful diamond bracelet.

When I looked up at him, I could tell he was waiting to see my reaction. I smiled, and told him I liked it. And I did, because it was a really nice bracelet, and it was obvious it had been expensive. But it wasn’t really my style, and I briefly wondered why he’d given it to me.

The next thing was a present that was wrapped up messily.

I quickly removed the wrapping paper and found a soft, plush, light brown, cute teddy bear, which had a necklace around its neck.

Caine told me the necklace was another present. It was a silver, heart locket. I was already thinking of putting a picture of Caine on one side, and a picture of Liam in the other. The thought made me smile, because I knew it would annoy both of them.

The teddy bear was cute, but another surprise that I didn’t think Caine would gift me.

“A teddy bear,” I said, looking up at him and giggling.

“I wasn’t sure if you were expecting one. I’ve never… had anyone before. I thought you might like it,” Caine awkwardly said.

I laughed at him, and threw myself in his arms. Caine easily caught me, and tightened his arms around my waist, holding me close to him, with the teddy bear being squished between us.

The laptop was the last thing on the bottom. It wasn’t wrapped in paper. There was just a bow neatly tied around it. Caine told me it was because I was always burrowing his. He thought I might like one of my own.

“I don’t search through your history,” I told him, setting the laptop aside.

Caine frowned at my words, and shook his head at me. “I didn’t think you did.”

“Oh, I was just letting you know, in case you thought I did, and that I might find naughty things on it.”

My reaction made him blush. He tried distracting me from any more taunts by reaching into the large present box and pulling out a purple, sealed envelope.

When I tried to open it, Caine quickly pulled it out of my hand.

“Don’t open it yet,” he told me.

I smiled at the envelope in his hand. Caine slowly gave it back, giving me a stern look. I didn’t miss the light blush that was once again covering his cheeks.

“A letter?”

“It’s only a few lines. I wrote it the other day,” Caine admitted, shyly.

“A poem?”

“No,” he said, shaking his head. “It’s only a few lines. I thought you might like it. They’re about you, and us. It’s another present too— a different kind, but that one will be your decision. It’s… a… read it when I’m gone.”

I looked at him, not being able to keep the huge grin from my face. I started feeling around the envelope, wondering if in reality he wrote me a long letter, when I feel something hard.

“What’s in here?”

“I also got you a debit card. You don’t have to use Liam’s money,” he said, the pink color on his cheeks slowly fading away.

“He won’t like that I use yours,” I told him.

I really wanted to open up the envelope, but he wasn’t going to appreciate that. Caine had promised to spend the day with me, so that meant I was going to wait even longer to get a chance to read the letter.

“You’re mine. You’re my mate, Charlotte. You belong with me, and you’re my responsibility now. I can take care of you, and I can provide for you,” he said, using an authoritative voice.

I set the envelope down, over the laptop box that still had a purple ribbon around it.

I smiled inwardly after what had been bothering me about Caine’s presents finally clicked in. He had given me several presents, all which were the typical thing a guy gave a girl for an anniversary or a birthday… except Caine handed all of them to me at once.

After I realized that, I noticed that he really had no clue how to do the relationship thing.

He was my first… everything too, but I had seen enough of relationships from Liam, and Shane and Estella, Adam, and the rest of the guys to know more or less how things worked.

Caine, he was like a lost puppy when it came to that. I felt like if I asked him for anything, he would give it to me, and then feel bad that he hadn’t thought about it before. The teddy bear had been a perfect example, since he didn’t know if I was expecting one… and I wasn’t, but it was cute that he’d thought of it.

“You’re right. And thank you. But I still have to use Liam’s money once in a while. If he doesn’t think I depend on him at least for the basic things, like money, he’s going to get offended.”

“But I can-”

“I know you can. Liam can provide for me to. He’s been doing so for a long time now. Even after I arrived here and he likes it that way.”

“You don’t have to do what he says all the time.”

Caine wasn’t saying it, but I couldn’t tell he wasn’t happy that I was disagreeing with him on this.

“I don’t have to do what you say either. I can think for my own. I’m not doing this because Liam will get mad. He will get mad… if he finds out. I’m doing this because I don’t want Liam to think that I’m trying to cut him out of my life. Liam has had enough of that from other people who’ve let him down. He likes that I depend on him for certain things. And I like that too.”

My words were the end of the argument. I wasn’t sure whether Caine backed off because I’d convinced him too, or because it was my birthday, or because he simply didn’t want to argue. Whatever it was, I was glad it didn’t turn into a huge fight between us.

My morning felt different.

Adam wasn’t there. Liam wasn’t there. Macon and Lesley weren’t there. It was just Caine and me. I was very much happy about that. We had the house to ourselves, even though we didn’t do anything too creative.

I made breakfast while Caine tried to help me to cook. That didn’t work out. In the end, I made him cut up some fruit to go along with the breakfast. I was hungry and I felt like lazing around, at least for the first half of the day, while snacking and watching TV.

“Your lips are chapped,” Caine suddenly told me.

I’d been too busy staring at the screen to notice Caine had been looking at me. “Maybe I’m thirsty,” I told him, taking a long drink from the coke in my hand.

“Your lips never get chapped.”

“They do once in a while. It happens to everyone. Why are you being so… weird?”

“You still feel warm, Charlotte. We should go see the pack doctor.”

“I’m fine,” I repeated, for the hundredth time.

“We will go to the pack doctor.”

“Why are you being so insistent? I already told you that I’m fine,” I told him, starting to get annoyed with him.

“Your Wolf will not come unless you’re healthy. I’ve seen this happen before. Pups at thirteen with broken bones, or that have had some kind of injury don’t shift until they are healthy.”

“I still don’t know if I will shift.”

I was feeling kind of bummed. The night before had been amazing. Caine had made it amazing, just like he promised. But I had expected for my Wolf, if I even had one, to already peak her lazy little head into the world.

“You don’t have to worry about that,” Caine said, gently running his hands through my hair, before cupping my cheek.

As soon as I brought up my negativity about never shifting, Caine changed the subject.

Caine’s POV

I had promised Charlotte I wouldn’t leave.

Derek was around, roaming our territory. I was used to it. He never made any attempts to trespass. At least he was smart with that. He knew I had the advantage.

The only reason I had kept from getting rid of him was Dylan’s insistence on waiting. Charlotte’s friend Theo told me that in the past weeks, Derek had gone to Knight Pack a couple of times.

The first time Theo shared information with me, the other prisoners, who were also his pack members, tried to escape their cells to attack him.

Since then, I had moved Theo to a cell in the opposite hall. He was the only one there. Theo didn’t complain. Whenever I sized him up, he backed off. He was polite, but distant. He helped me, but I didn’t understand his intentions.

I did not want his help if he was offering it in order to get on Charlotte’s good graces.

Since I had kept the prisoners alive— Charlotte had begged me not to kill them— Victor made sure to take them out for a run every few days. It was a long process, considering we could only take two or three Wolves at a time.

I was aware it had to be done. Wolves grew vicious if they didn’t shift every once in a while, especially if they were used to running, fighting, or being out in the open for long periods of time.

So when Victor called me to tell me that I needed to go to the pack building, I was beyond furious.

Charlotte had been acting like everything was fine with her. Yet she had been distracted all morning, irritable at times. She wasn’t usually like that. But she was worried that she wouldn’t shift.

It was troubling for me too, but not for the same reasons. Charlotte wanted to be a Wolf. She wanted to shift. I tried to give her enough things to distract her from it, but she still kept thinking about her Wolf.

I was worried that she wouldn’t shift, and what Charlotte would do if it didn’t happen.

Macon and Lesley arrived at the mansion to watch over Charlotte ten minutes after I ordered them to show up. If they were surprised to hear me, they didn’t show it. Lesley, who I was considering reinstating in her previous position after the fallout between her and Liam, only nodded when she arrived. Macon had been with Victor at the pack building, so he was well aware of why I had called him.

We exchanged a few words, and then I was off.

I kissed Charlotte while I was saying goodbye. She didn’t question me about leaving, despite my promise to stay with her all day.

She was pretending like everything was okay. I wanted to tell her that if she didn’t get her Wolf, it wouldn’t matter. She didn’t need to shift. It was okay if she didn’t. It wouldn’t change things between us. But that wasn’t what she wanted to hear.

The one thing that she really wanted, I couldn’t get for her.

I was almost at the pack building when I decided that I was going to call Liam. He would know what to do. As much as I hated to admit it, the Wolf knew Charlotte really well. She trusted him. She was unwilling to talk too much to me about her possibly not shifting, but she would tell Liam how she really felt, I had no doubt in that.

Charlotte had given me the best night of my life. I grinned when I thought about the night before. The excruciating wait had been more than worth it.

I set my thoughts about Charlotte aside, and concentrated on what I saw when I arrived at the pack building.

Victor, encouraged by Brett— one of our fighters— allowed ten Knight Pack prisoners out so that they could shift.

Victor more or less had control of the situation, but the other prisoners were shifting in their cells and trying to escape.

After I met Charlotte and broke into her cell, I realized just how weak the restraints were. I made changes and added reinforcements.

The Wolves were not going anywhere, but that didn’t stop them from trying.

It took me a while to get a handle of the situation. After that was done, both Victor and Brett were staring at me sheepishly.

I should have punished them. Brett had given Victor reckless advice, in order to save some time while they took out the prisoners to shift. But Victor, my Beta, had listened. He was in charge. It was his fault.

But I was in a great mood. Despite the interruption, and having Charlotte worrying at home, it had been a good day. It had been a very good day.

I handed orders to Victor in one of the conference rooms. He kept his head down the entire time. I would have usually appreciated it, but not when all I wanted to do was get out of there and go back to Charlotte.

“Look at me,” I ordered.

“Alpha,” he said, using my title because he no doubt felt guilty.

“I need to go. Do you have things under control here?”

“No one is going out for the rest of the day,” he assured me. “I’ll keep them down there for the next five days to punish them for-”

I held up my hand to quiet him down because I felt Macon in my mind.

‘It’s happening,’ he said. Even in my mind his voice sounded desperate. He didn’t have to tell me what it was. I already knew.

“Caine? Is something wrong?” Victor asked, following after me when I started running out of the pack building.

‘Charlotte is going to shift,’ Macon confirmed.

“Charlotte is getting her Wolf,” I hurriedly told Victor, who had a shocked expression on his face.

I threw myself in the air and landed gracefully on the ground, shifting into my black Wolf. I was running as fast I could back home.

I was running back to her.

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