Caine

Happy Birthday Terminatrix!

Three weeks later

“You are such a cheater!” I yelled, but continued on my way down the trail.

Macon was following after me, stepping on the heels of my converse whenever I slowed down. I had no idea where Lesley had run off to.

“I’m a Werewolf, what did you expect,” Macon hollered.

He was a few steps behind me, but it was obvious he was running a lot slower for my sake.

“So since you’re a Werewolf, I should expect for you to cheat?” I asked, bringing my run to a halt.

Macon stopped as well, but mainly because I seemed to have confused him. He opened his mouth, closed it, and repeated the process a few times before finally managing to speak.

“That isn’t what I meant,” he said in a serious voice.

“Yes you did. You just admitted that Werewolves are a bunch of cheaters,” I told him, shaking my head at him.

“No! I meant that it’s expected for me to be faster than you because I’m a Werewolf. I wasn’t trying to say Werewolves cheat. We don’t cheat. We’re just faster than humans, that isn’t our-” I brought my hand up to stop his mumbling.

“And you’re the third in command? You’re tripping on your own words,” I said and allowed myself to chuckle at the distressed look that came over his face.

“You are…” Macon said, and he seemed at loss for words.

I laughed again and decided it was enough teasing him. I started heading back home.

“I know, I’m weird,” I finished for him.

He might have wanted to say I was something else, but settling for being weird was a lot better.

“No, you outsmart me,” he said. He shook his head, and a frown tugged on his forehead, like if his own words bothered him.

“Lesley’s waiting for us at the mansion,” Macon told me a while later.

“Yay,” I loosely said, with fake enthusiasm.

“Don’t sound too happy,” Macon told me, giving me a nudge with his elbow.

“Me, too happy?” I asked, pointing at myself. “Nope, I leave those things for Lesley. You already know she’s the life of the party.” My words were dripping with sarcasm, and Macon’s grin showed me he agreed.

I had yet to see Lesley laugh or even crack a smile. Heck, I was stuck with her too. I didn’t stand being around her, but at least my life didn’t stop for the six or seven hours we were forced to spend together.

“Don’t take it too personally. It’s not just that she doesn’t like being your guard. She wasn’t always much of a talker to begin with,” Macon said.

“I don’t really care. Eh, I hardly see her either way,” I shrugged.

It was true. Lesley and Macon had been my guards for the past three weeks. The arrived at eight and usually left around two in the afternoon, when Caine arrived.

In all the time that we were supposed to be together, Lesley always found a reason not to be around. Caine of course didn’t know that and I was happy with keeping it from him.

“How was today?” Caine asked.

He had taken me out for lunch, something that was becoming a habit whenever he had a difficult day with the pack.

“It was good,” I shrugged.

“Good,” he repeated with a lingering smile on his lips.

It seemed like he wanted to say something else; that much was obvious.

“Alright, out with it,” I told him.

“Out with what?” Caine asked, feigning surprise.

“Out with whatever you’re thinking.”

Caine broke into a grin, while he reached for my hand. “It’s the first time your good day isn’t followed with a ‘but’.”

“Well it was a good day,” I said, frowning at him. “You’re making me sound like I spend all day complaining.”

“No, it wasn’t what I meant,” Caine said with hesitation.

“You think I spend all day whining?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at him.

“No, it’s just good that you’re getting used to pack life,” Caine rushed out.

“Oh,” I muttered.

“Dylan and his mate, Leila, will be arriving this coming week. I was worried you might not be ready for that just yet. I’m glad that isn’t the case. Their visit is something to look forward to.”

Caine was excited about the visit, but it was having the opposite effect on me. I had not been looking forward to anyone from Midnight Moon visiting.

During the last three weeks, Caine mentioned more and more the attack he was planning on Knight Pack. The worry for my parents and Theo’s well-being increased with every passing day.

“I still think it’s a bad idea that you want to start picking fights with people. You just came back from a large battle. Don’t you think your Alpha friend might want to rest?” I asked.

This was a conversation we had been having more often than not. It always ended with Caine telling me that this needed to be done in order to make Knight Pack back off.

Of course they would back off. Caine wanted to destroy everyone in the pack.

“They don’t deserve my forgiveness. I know you want to see the good in them, but there isn’t any. This war between us, it’s been going on for years. It seems like Tristan and Derek finally got the courage to take me on and I’m not letting them make the first move,” Caine explained.

He was wrong. I didn’t think they all deserved forgiveness, but some of the people did. My parents, Theo, and a few other members didn’t know everything that went on in the pack.

“I’m just saying that going to war with them seems a bit rash. This piece of advice is coming from a teenager,” I told him with a grin, while pointing at myself.

He grinned back at me and softly ran his hand over my cheek.

“Sometimes I forget how young you are,” he replied.

My mouth dropped open at his words. I honestly had the urge to slap him, if only to give him a surprise since I knew my slap would not hurt him in the least.

“I hate it when you make me sound like a little kid. I’m turning eighteen in two months. Two months. Don’t be forgetting that. By the way, you’re only twenty-five. Stop trying to act like you’re so grown-up,” I said in a snappy tone.

“You were the one who called yourself a teenager,” Caine said, cocking an eyebrow at me.

“That wasn’t what I meant!” I snapped.

“What did you mean, then?”

“Just, whatever,” I said, in the most childish tone.

I had to laugh at myself, because I was doing a poor job at making him take me seriously.

“Maybe not everyone in the pack is bad. Have you ever thought of that?” I asked him after a while.

I was going to do it, finally. I kept going back and forth between telling him about my past and keeping it to myself. At some point, it was bound to come up. If Caine was planning to visit Knight Pack, everyone back home would recognize me.

The pack would probably think they were going crazy, since they all thought I was dead. I wasn’t sure if I was ready to face my parents, even Theo.

“That is true,” Caine said, a thoughtful expression taking over his features.

‘Here’s my chance,’ I thought to myself.

“Would you stop this fight between you two?” I asked, even though I wasn’t really interested in that entirely.

It wasn’t exactly revenge, but I didn’t really care about Tristan or Derek or a number of people in the pack. My main worry was my family, Theo, and the few friends I had.

“That isn’t going to happen. Tristan and Derek won’t give up,” Caine adamantly replied.

“What about some of them, that you were certain were innocent?” I asked, trying to find the best way to ease into my confession.

“There’s no way of finding that out,” he replied.

“But you could try.”

“What is this about?” He asked through gritted teeth.

“I’m just asking questions. Is that so bad?” I asked, putting on my most innocent voice.

“I have a suspicion of where all this is going. I don’t appreciate that you are trying to defend another pack over ours,” Caine said.

“What?” I asked, confused that he’d even assumed that.

I had no love, not even appreciation towards Knight Pack.

“You have been going on with the same thing for weeks now. You don’t want me to attack them. What you seem to forget is that if I don’t attack, they will. Their pack is vicious when it comes to me,” he continued.

“Caine, it wasn’t what I was trying to say. I just-”

“Enough!” He snapped in a sharp voice.

I was left too stunned to speak. The serious look in his eyes was like a warning for me to back off.

We were quiet for the rest of lunch, which I ended up not eating. Neither of us said anything during our drive back to the mansion. As soon as he parked the car, I opened the door and jumped out.

Instead of going inside, I went around the house and made my way to back area. Caine followed after me. I didn’t want him there, but I also didn’t want to talk to him to make him go away.

When I took a seat on the grass, Caine dropped down a few feet away from me. I appreciated that he at least left some space between us.

“A few years back,” Caine started to say.

His low voice caught my attention and I allowed myself to look up. A faraway look had taken over his eyes. I almost broke the silence because I wanted for him to finish what he was saying.

“I don’t know if you have ever heard the story of my pack,” Caine said, and he waited for me to speak.

I shook my head, and kept my eyes on him. He nodded at me, and was silent a few more seconds before continuing.

“I used to have a twin brother,” he told me.

I raised an eyebrow at that. Caine didn’t really joke about anything, so his words must’ve been true. I was finding it hard to picture him with a twin brother or with any family in general. He was always so reserved, lonely even.

Sure he talked to Victor, Macon, and me, but that seemed to be it. He was a great Alpha and leader. I had been a witness of that. But he didn’t really interact with the rest of the pack unless it was necessary.

“Andrew betrayed me. He was trying to take over the pack. After the attack, I found out Tristan and Derek had helped him.”

“Andrew was your brother?” I quietly asked.

“Yes,” he replied.

“He’s dead?” I asked, feeling a strange sensation forming in the pit of my stomach.

Caine took a long while to answer my question. His hand searched for mine, and I didn’t pulled away when he held my hand. His eyes softened for a moment, as he looked at me. Then, the soft look in his eyes abruptly disappeared.

“I killed him,” he replied, in the coldest most detached voice I had ever heard him use.

“Caine,” I heard Victor’s voice.

I was snapped out of my thoughts to find Victor approaching us. Caine stood up from the ground and held out his hand for me.

“Hey,” I waved at him, my voice nothing but a whisper. I was still in shock.

Caine was only staring at Victor, probably waiting for him to say what he needed.

“Can I burrow him for about an hour?” Victor asked me.

I could see the teasing smile on his lips. Not even that made Caine come out of his dark state. I wanted to continue the conversation we were having. I felt like Caine had just dropped a huge bomb on me and Victor wasn’t letting me react to it.

“Where are Macon and Lesley?” Caine asked.

As if on cue, they both rounded the house and made their way towards us.

Once again I found myself in Macon’s company. Lesley had to stick around this time though, because she wasn’t sure when Caine would be done. I assumed she didn’t want to risk getting caught by the Alpha.

“Caine just told me about his brother,” I blurted out as soon as Caine and Victor were out of sight.

Lesley was a few feet away from Macon and me, but she turned to face me after I spoke. She had heard.

“Those were bad days for the pack,” Macon added solemnly.

“They were?”

He nodded in reply, and his forehead creased.

“The days after it happened were practically a nightmare for everyone. I know the Alpha had it worse, but being in his presence wasn’t exactly easy. He thought any little gesture was someone challenging him for his title.”

I noticed that the more Macon talked, the more Lesley frowned at him.

“You two shouldn’t be talking about that,” she said through clenched teeth.

“I have a right to know,” I retorted, narrowing my eyes at her.

“You weren’t here when that happened,” she countered.

I was sure she wanted to say more, but when I raised an eyebrow at her, she just looked away.

“If you don’t want to be here, you don’t have to be. No one’s forcing you,” I told her.

I said it mainly because the deadly look she was giving me really pissed me off. If the girl had the chance, she would get rid of me. Despite that, I knew Caine had assigned her to be my guard.

“You’re right,” she surprised me by saying.

“What are you doing?” Macon asked when Lesley got up from the ground.

“I’m leaving,” she replied, and just walked off.

While Macon was frowning, I was left slightly confused.

“She wasn’t supposed to leave,” Macon said.

He looked between Lesley’s retreating figure and me. It seemed like he wanted to chase after her to bring her back but he didn’t want to leave me alone.

“The Alpha won’t like this.”

“Relax, he’s coming back right now,” I told him.

“Yeah, that’s what I’m worried about.”

I wondered what he meant with his comment, but he didn’t say anything else about it after that.

Macon and I had been in the game room watching TV for about half an hour, when Caine stormed in. His eyes quickly landed on me, before his stare turned to Macon. He was giving him a deadly look. His eyes had that dangerous edge to them, and his body looked strained.

Before I knew what was happening, he was in front of Macon. It only took a second for his fist to collide with Macon’s jaw.

“Oh my God!” I cried when Macon landed over the coffee table. He broke it from the force of the impact.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” I snapped at Caine, kneeling in front of Macon.

Caine grabbed my arm in a deadly grip, pulled me up from the ground, and moved me to the side. I tried to fight him, but my attempts were useless.

As soon as I was out of the way, Caine went back to attacking Macon. He delivered blow after blow, while Macon took each hit with groans of pain. It wasn’t until Victor ran into the room that he was able to pull him away.

Caine didn’t fight him, because he seemed satisfied with the state he had left Macon in.

I gave him a disgusted look and stormed out of the room. I hadn’t been able to do anything to stop him from hitting Macon, and I also didn’t know why he was attacking him in the first place.

“Where are you going?” Caine asked, pulling me back and making me crash against his chest.

“I’m going as far away from you as I possibly can!” My tone had the desired effect, because he tightened his hold on me.

“You want to be around Macon but not around me?” He asked, digging his fingers into my arm.

“Well at least Macon isn’t beating up people and holding me in a death grip.”

Caine loosened his hold, but his glare didn’t let up. I didn’t wait for him to speak before turning away and heading up the stairs.

“Lesley told me you forced her to leave,” Caine said.

“She’s lying.”

I wasn’t sure what was worse, that I didn’t think Lesley would lie like that or that Caine had believed her.

“She said you were talking about me behind my back. You and Macon wanted privacy to do who knows what.” He grabbed my arm and brought me to a stop, half way up the stairs.

“What are you talking about?”

“You are mine,” he stated, before crashing his lips against mine.

The kiss caught me completely off guard. First he’d been throwing punches at Macon and accusing me of things I didn’t do. Then, he was locking lips with me.

The rough way he was holding me, combined with how desperate and hungry his lips moved against mine were making the fight leave my body. I was giving into the kiss, pressing myself closer to him and running my hands through his hair.

Caine’s lips started slowing down to a sensual pace, and his tongue began massaging mine. His anger, at least some of it, seemed to be slipping away, along with how tense his body had been.

I could feel his claws digging into my skin. When I placed my hands over his, he softened his hold and his claws retracted.

“Mine,” he whispered in a husky voice. His lips brushed against mine when he spoke.

“Caine!” Victor called for him.

He took a minute to compose himself, resting his forehead against mine. Even while I was standing a step higher than him, he was still taller than me.

“Go upstairs. This conversation isn’t over,” Caine ordered.

He made his way back down the stairs, in search of Victor. From how tense he was walking, I could tell someone was in for a yelling. I wasn’t sure if it was because Victor had interrupted us or because of Caine’s absurd thoughts about Macon and me.

That lying bitch. It was all I could think as I remembered Lesley leaving earlier. She had been all too willing to go and now I knew why.

Instead of doing what Caine said, I started walking back downstairs. My phone was in the game room but at least I had about four or five dollars. With that, I ran the rest of the way and headed for Caine’s car, which was parked in front of the mansion.

He always had a pair of keys in the glove compartment. I laughed when I thought about how that habit might change from that moment on.

I hadn’t driven a car in a while, but I was excited when I heard the soft purr of the engine starting up. Caine came out of the mansion just as I reversed out.

Caine tried catching up to me, he really did. But when I reached the road that led into town, he had to stay put. He couldn’t exactly chase me while he was in Werewolf form.

I left Caine’s car parked in a shop, a few blocks away from my apartment. I was hoping that would help me loose his trail, although I knew eventually he would go and look for me at the apartment.

I sighed in relief when I saw the closed door. Caine had finally gotten around to fixing my door, only because he knew I was going to stay with him at the mansion.

The handle in the front door turned down, which meant it was open. I was surprised by that. I had been planning to use something to unlock it. I started cursing in my mind whoever had fixed my door. They had fixed it, but they didn’t bother to lock it. Stupid Wolves.

I stood frozen right next to the door after I got it opened. The last person I expected to see was standing there, in all his grace and smirking at me.

“Liam?” I whispered.

“Hey Charlie,” he said, grinning at me widely.

“Liam!” I cried, closing the distance between us.

I jumped in his arms, grateful that he easily caught me.

“You stupid, stupid jerk!” I said, slapping his shoulder after each word, even though I was gripping onto him for dear life.

“Hey, what did I do?” He complained. His voice was full of humor.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?” I asked.

Liam put me back in the ground, but I didn’t move away from him.

I hadn’t seen him in six months. Holding him tightly was all I could do to not break down crying in the middle of the room.

“I called your cellphone about a hundred times and you didn’t pick up.”

“You did?” I asked, feeling my pocket out of instinct.

While making my escape, I hadn’t been able to go back for my phone.

“Did you drop it in the toilet again?” Liam asked, smirking at me.

I playfully glared at him. No amount of teasing would make me mad at him. I was too happy to see him.

“I can’t believe you’re really here.” I wrapped my arms around his neck again and inhaled a deep breath, savoring his scent.

“I know, I know. I’m pretty unbelievable,” he said.

His cocky words only made me laugh.

“You smell different,” Liam told me out of the blue.

I was surprised by his words, and his frown was starting to worry me. I hadn’t thought about my claim, the one in my neck that proved I was Caine’s mate. I was surprised Liam hadn’t felt it sooner, especially because Caine was an Alpha.

“I haven’t seen you in so long and now you’re telling me that I stink?” I asked, going for a playful way to change the subject.

“I wish I could have come back months ago,” he said, his voice turning serious.

I wasn’t trying to make him feel guilty, but it had worked to change the subject.

“I missed you,” I told him, and reached out for his hand. I held it tightly and began dragging him into the living room.

“I missed you too,” he said, pressing me closer to his side.

He planted a kiss on my hair, before pulling us down to the couch.

“Have you heard anything from Shane? I’ve been calling him and I have yet to hear a reply.”

Liam was getting down to business far too quickly. During the past three weeks, I tried to keep thoughts about Shane and Estella away. It never worked. Either in my thoughts or during my sleep, Shane and Estella found a way to creep into my mind.

I knew it was going to be up to me to tell him everything that happened, but I wasn’t ready for it. After the fight I had with Caine, I felt too riled up to explain things patiently.

“Did you talk to Adam?”

“No, that one’s hiding from me too. I just know they made a mess. They probably did something bad and they’re trying to hide it from me,” Liam said, shaking his head in disapproval.

It was one of the few times he was serious, whenever it involved me and the rest of the gang. I could tell he was worried.

“I’ll call Adam right now,” I told Liam.

I rested my head on his shoulder, hoping that would calm him down. I had been missing Liam more than I’d been letting on. Even while he was away, Liam was the closest thing I had to a family. Without him, I really felt like an orphan.

Caine was there for me now, but it was different with him. He was my mate.

“I won’t leave you alone anymore, okay?” Liam told me, maneuvering me so that I was facing him.

He tucked some of my hair behind my ear. I didn’t think anything of it when his hand froze against my skin. A loud growl erupted from his chest and his eyes, which had quickly shifted to black, centered on the area in my neck, where Caine’s claim rested.

“What the fuck is that?” Liam asked. His voice was coated with anger, and I could feel his body starting to shake.

I didn’t get a chance to answer his question or try to come up with an excuse. Just as I opened my mouth to speak, I heard a loud breaking noise somewhere in the apartment.

Seconds later, Caine appeared in front of us, with Victor and four other guys from the pack following close behind.

Liam and I both stood up from the couch, while Caine quickly closed the distance between us.

I honestly couldn’t tell who looked angrier, Liam or Caine.