Caine

Charlotte’s POV

Caine’s intense look grew darker by the second. He was waiting for me to explain but I didn’t know if I was ready to tell him yet.

“What did Derek do to you?” Caine repeated, his hold on my hand tightening.

“He kicked me out of the pack,” I mumbled, rather incoherently.

It didn’t matter though, Caine heard me.

Uncontrollable growls were rumbling through his chest, and I felt the vibrations on my body from where we were pressed against each other.

“Why?” He asked.

His voice was so strong and demanding, even though he had just said one word.

“It was because of me,” Liam spoke up.

Caine’s eyes left mine and they focused on Liam instead.

“What did you do?”

“I shifted. And then, I attacked Derek’s pack. He claimed that since I had shifted and held a grudge, Charlie might be the same once she got her Wolf,” Liam explained.

His words were true, but I could see how Caine could easily misinterpret them. That was the reason Derek had kicked me out of the pack, but Liam and I hadn’t come from the same place, which was what Caine would probably assume.

Caine closed his eyes, and he shook his head slowly. The growls erupting from his chest sounded louder, and I could see his claws extracting from his hands.

“He is dead,” Caine said, in a smooth voice.

I would have almost believed that Caine had calmed down, if he hadn’t shifted into his large black Wolf only two seconds later.

He stood in front of Liam and me, growling fiercely at nothing. I was sure that if Derek had been there, Caine would have ripped him to shreds.

Liam came to my side just after Caine shifted. He was looking at Caine worriedly, and he placed his hand over my stomach and softly pushed me behind him.

I didn’t know what to expect, but I knew that Caine’s anger wasn’t directed at me. It was probably bad that Caine had gotten so mad that he couldn’t keep his Wolf from shifting. At the same time, it made me feel good inside.

What Derek had done to me had made Caine angry. I was very aware that Caine cared for me. It was like that with mates. Even though I wasn’t a Wolf, I could feel the bond between us, strong, powerful.

But little things Caine did, like getting mad about something that had hurt me for so long- that was still hurting me to date, it meant so much to me.

“Does he get like that very often?” Liam asked me once Caine was gone.

He’d broken part of the wall and completely torn the door and the door frame apart. Caine hadn’t been able to shift back to his human form, so he’d left the room.

We couldn’t communicate through a mind link, like he was able to do with his pack members, but I didn’t need to read his mind to know that he needed some time to cool off.

A minute later after Caine left the room, Victor walked in to tell me Caine had gone for a run.

“He gets mad but he rarely loses control,” I replied.

“This is the second time he’s lost control since I arrived,” Liam stated.

“The first time wasn’t entirely his fault,” I told Liam.

“He better pay for my damn door. And I hope the neighbors don’t freak out if they happen to pass by while an oversized Wolf is terrorizing the building,” Liam said, shaking his head disapprovingly.

“It hasn’t been a good week.”

“When is it ever? Pack Wolves don’t really have good weeks. They have decent days, but that’s it.”

“You just say that because you hate pack life,” I muttered, which earned me a frown from Liam.

“If they made it more interesting, maybe I wouldn’t complain so much.”

I smiled at him, but decided there was no need to argue with him about pack life. Liam would never approve of it, it just wasn’t his style.

“I need to get home,” I told him instead.

“Home?” Liam questioned.

“Caine is probably going to expect me to be there once he shifts back.”

I headed for the door, which was now just a large opening in the wall.

“You do realize that you are at home, don’t you?”

Liam was cocking an eyebrow. He spoke casually, but his hazel eyes had grown dark. He wasn’t happy.

“I’ve been living with Caine, you know that.”

“I told you I didn’t approve.”

“Liam…” I said, outstretching his name, which I usually did whenever I was asking for something.

This time though, I was simply asking him to approve of what Caine and I were trying to create. On our own, Caine and I were struggling. I really needed to know that I could count on Liam.

“Charlie…” Liam repeated, using the same tone I had used before.

“He needs me.”

“I need you.”

“Nice way of showing it,” I sarcastically replied.

I had Liam in front of me, holding my shoulders just a second after I said that.

“That isn’t fair. If I could have come to you, I would’ve been here in an instant. I didn’t have a choice. If I escaped Midnight Moon’s prison, I might have trailed them back to you. I couldn’t afford that.”

He was right, I knew that. I just needed to blame someone for all the months I had spent without him.

“Come home with me. You said you wouldn’t leave me.”

I added the last part because I knew it would get to him. He promised me he wouldn’t leave anymore.

“I won’t leave, but I don’t want you with the Alpha.”

“Liam…”

“Charlie… I’m not changing my mind,” he said, his voice sounding definite.

“You ran away from Midnight Moon. Caine talked to Alpha Dylan about this. Alpha Dylan wants to find you. It would really help if Caine told him that you’re here. Maybe Caine can convince Alpha Dylan to get off your case,” I offered.

“I don’t need anyone’s help,” Liam snappily said.

“I know you don’t. But it wouldn’t hurt to have Caine on your side,” I shrugged, trying to play it as casual as I could.

Liam narrowed his eyes at me, and started pacing the room.

“Would your precious Alpha expect anything from me?” Liam asked.

“My precious Alpha? Seriously? Why do you keep calling him that?” I asked, shaking my head. I couldn’t contain a chuckle from escaping my lips.

“He’s your mate, isn’t he?”

The way Liam spoke, it made me laugh harder. The tone he used, it was like he was hoping I would tell him Caine wasn’t really my mate.

“Yes, he is really my mate. But we aren’t in that stage though.”

The second part of my statement sounded awkward, even to me.

“What stage?” Liam asked, practically in a growl.

“In the stage where we use pet names,” I said, feeling my face blushing.

“That’s good. I don’t approve of any of it. But if it’s still going to happen, taking it slow- very very slow, is probably the best,” Liam said, before wrapping his arm around my shoulders.

I nodded, and smiled when Liam sighed in relief because I agreed.

“Come on, lets go catch up with your Alpha,” he said, fuzzing up my hair.

While Liam tried to reach Adam, I waited for him out in the backyard. I still didn’t know what Liam would tell Adam, but he had calmed down.

Macon and Lesley were there with me, but neither of them was speaking. Macon stood close by, just staring off at the distance. I wanted to know what was running through his mind, but I didn’t think he would want to talk to me.

After Caine beat him up and got him in trouble, I didn’t want to make things worse. As always, Lesley was looking unhappy. She had a serious face, and was ignoring me for the most part.

We were like that for about ten minutes, before Liam came back.

“He answered my call,” Liam said.

“What did he say?”

“That he’s sorry,” Liam shrugged.

He sat in front of me, while I sat cross legged on the ground. His long legs were outstretched by my side, and he was throwing his phone up in the air.

“He is. Adam felt really guilty when it happened. He was scared and he was in really bad shape. I was worried he would do something stupid because of it.”

“He did do something stupid,” Liam harshly said.

“He had good intentions.”

“Good intentions don’t save people, Charlie. Good intentions get you killed, and Adam proved that right. Shane and Estella are dead!”

Macon was at my side when Liam raised his voice at me.

“It’s okay, Macon,” I said, holding out my hand so he wouldn’t try to get me away from Liam.

Liam wouldn’t hurt me. If Macon tried to step between us, it would only piss Liam off. Macon didn’t say anything, but he narrowed his eyes at Liam.

“We should go inside,” I proposed, since there was no use in waiting outside for Caine to come back.

It also helped that if I was inside of the mansion, Macon and Lesley wouldn’t have to be so close to me. Liam wasn’t taking too well the fact that I now had guards.

“I don’t like being here,” Liam told me once we made it inside.

“You’ve only been here a little while,” I said, scolding him, while also trying not to push my luck.

“See? It only takes a little while of being here to drive one insane. I say we hit the road.”

I shook my head, and smiled sadly.

“I want to stay here, Liam.”

“Yeah well, I want to leave. And if I go, I’m taking you with me.”

“You know I would follow you. If you leave, I’d go with you. But are you really going to make me leave Caine?”

I didn’t wait for him to reply. I didn’t want to hear his answer. I made my way out the living room, and upstairs to Caine and my room. I really wanted for my words to make Liam think. I wanted him to like Caine, to get along with him.

Caine’s POV

“You need to calm down,” Victor kept repeating.

“I know,” I grumbled out, distantly.

“You were going to get Derek and Tristan already. There’s no need to hurry up the plans.”

“Derek hurt Charlotte.”

“He’s hurt a lot of people. But going there might not be the smartest plan, Caine. You need to think straight and not rush things.”

“I’ve waited for years to do this,” I growled, feeling my Wolf surfacing.

He wanted out again. It had taken a lot of control to shift back. It had done nothing for me. Even in my human form, my Wolf was pacing inside of me, urging me to go after Knight Pack.

“Then you can wait a few more weeks. We are so close to having everything ready. The plan is flawless. Going beforehand might bring us more casualties.

Victor was right, of course. He was a good voice of reason. But I didn’t want reason. It hadn’t settled in well with both my Wolf and me that Derek and Tristan had kicked Charlotte out of their pathetic pack.

“I don’t know if I can.”

Victor looked at me with worry. He probably thought I would go after Derek on my own. I wouldn’t just leave, not with Charlotte there with me.

“Where is she?”

“Macon said the Luna and her brother are at the mansion,” Victor replied, and he bowed at me.

“Charlotte will decide,” I said, before turning my back at him and making my way out.

I felt Charlotte inside our room when I neared the mansion. She called to my Wolf. He was growling in anticipation of seeing her.

My Wolf had taken over when I left her apartment. I didn’t know if she had been scared. I didn’t mean to scare her, but it wasn’t safe to have my Wolf angry while she was near.

There were no words to describe how I felt after finding out that Derek had thrown her out of Knight Pack. He was scum, a bad Alpha and a bad leader.

“You’re back,” Charlotte said.

There was a smile on her lips, and she closed the distance between us. She had been sitting down on the floor, with a few books scattered around her.

I tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. It had fallen over her face.

“I went for a run,” I said.

I placed my hands on her waist, and pressed her against my chest. I needed to have her close to me, to breathe in her scent.

“Victor told me,” she mumbled.

I wrapped my arms tighter around her when she rested her head on my chest. Her heart was beating faster than usual. I closed my eyes, and gave my full attention to each beat.

“Why didn’t you tell me before?”

“What?” She asked.

I regretted the question, because it made her pull away from me.

“Why didn’t you tell me about Derek? It’s something I needed to know.”

“It’s hard to talk about it,” she replied.

She sounded uncomfortable, so I figured she wasn’t interested in discussing it any further.

“I will kill him for doing this to you,” I swore to her.

“He’s not all bad.”

I growled at her words, and felt my Wolf trying to surface once again. Charlotte shied away from me, so I tightened my hold on her.

“You’re hurting me,” she said.

I released her, but it took a lot from my Wolf to do so.

“Why would you say that?” I asked her, growling unintentionally.

“Derek and Tristan were my Alphas all my life. Well, Tristan was. Derek began having more privileges about five years ago. But they’ve always been there and they weren’t so bad. I just hate their guts because they kicked me out. But my mom loves the pack.”

My Wolf had been close to shifting. Charlotte seemed to be defending Derek and Tristan. But when she brought up her mother, my anger dissipated.

It was rare to hear her talk about her family, or her former life before I found her. She was always so reserved. I found it strange, since she was usually so outspoken about everything. Whenever the subject about her family or her past life came up, she tried to distract me with anything.

“Your parents are still part of the pack?” I asked her, hoping she would give me some more insight about herself.

“Yeah,” she muttered.

I could already see her thinking about a way to catch my attention with something else. I always noticed when she did it, and it made me laugh inwardly. She was clever. I had to give her that.

“Have you talked to Alpha Dylan anymore? Is it okay if Liam stays here? I don’t want the Alpha to be hunting him down,” she said.

I smiled, but she probably didn’t know why. It was because she thought she had once again found a way to distract me.

“Do you want him to stay?”

“I do. Besides, if Liam wants to leave, he’ll want me to go with him.”

“You’re not leaving,” I stated in an order.

She wasn’t. She wasn’t going anywhere, not without me. Every single time she insinuated anything about leaving, my Wolf rose up.

It usually took a few breathes to calm him down, but not in that moment. I was still too worked up about Derek and his useless pack.

“People know that I found my mate, and some already know that it’s you.”

“Relax, will you? I’m not going anywhere. I’m just saying that Liam needs to know it’s safe here.”

“I will talk to Dylan.”

I closed my eyes, and shook my head just at the thought. He wasn’t going to like it. Every conversation Dylan and I had lately, involved details about why Liam needed to be in prison. If he hadn’t been Charlotte’s brother, I would’ve locked him up myself.

“Will it be bad? Will you get in trouble?” Charlotte asked.

She widened her eyes, and was looking at me expectantly. Her body had relaxed against mine. I chuckled at her questions, but enjoyed that she worried. It made my Wolf proud.

“Charlotte, I don’t get in trouble with other Alphas,” I replied.

“Then?” She asked, innocently.

“He’s going to be furious, but he’ll get over it. Liam’s your brother. I will make sure no harm comes to him,” I assured her.

A grin replaced the worry from her features, and her arms wrapped around my neck.

I leaned down to reach her, before figuring out it was just easier to carry her in my arms. When I picked her up from the ground, a small yelp left her lips.

I smiled, and she slapped my chest playfully.

“Thank you,” she said cheerfully, and nuzzled her nose against mine.

I wanted more.

I carried her weight in one of my arms, and placed my hand on the nape of her neck. I wanted to bring her even closer. My Wolf growled out in excitement when her lips touched mine.

I felt my Wolf trying to take control, trying to shift, but I kept him away. In response, I was kissing Charlotte with more fervor, hungrily.

Kissing Charlotte felt good. It was intense, but it wasn’t enough.

I began walking us towards the bed. Charlotte’s legs wrapped around my waist when she felt that I was moving, and she tightened her hold on me. At that point, one of her hands was running through my hair, tugging on it.

I pulled away so that I could lay her down gently on the bed. I took the time to catch my breath, and noticed Charlotte was breathing heavily as well.

She smiled at me, and I caught the blush coming on her cheeks.

“You’re perfect,” I told her, and lowered myself over her body.

My words made her blush deepen, but she grabbed my shirt and pulled me harder against her. She was much smaller than me, and I had to be careful not to put my weight over her.

“You always say that,” she whispered against my neck.

Her voice was muffled, but I was able to understand her.

“It’s true.”

“It’s not, but I’m glad you think so,” she said.

Charlotte placed her hands on either side of my face, and was looking at my lips. I was just about to lean down to kiss her, when I felt Victor trying to get into my mind.

I ignored him the first couple of minutes. I wasn’t ready to let go of Charlotte just yet. When I felt Macon trying to enter my mind, I knew I had to get back to them.

I groaned, and reluctantly pulled away from Charlotte.

“What is it?” She asked.

The disappointment was clear in her voice. It made me chuckle, and that made her frown.

“Are you making fun of me?” Charlotte asked.

She sat up in the bed, and crossed her arms over her chest. I didn’t know if she realized that she was pouting her lower lip.

It was hard to move away from her when she looked like she was ready to continue what we had started.

“I’m not. I need to talk with Victor and Macon. I’ll be back?” I said, in a questioning tone.

“Leave with your buddies. I was going to hang out with Liam anyways,” she said, and jumped off from the bed, completely ignoring me when she passed by my side.

I caught her arm just in time before she left the room.

“No good-bye kiss?” I asked, simply to tease her.

She narrowed her eyes, pulled her arm roughly away from me, and continued on her way. I chuckled at the dramatic exit she made.

I didn’t contact Victor or Macon when Charlotte left. Since Liam was there, I only called Lesley over to keep an eye on Charlotte. I was planning on walking back to the pack prison, since I expected Victor and Macon to be there waiting for me.

After the time I spent with Charlotte, I needed time to calm down. My Wolf and I were both a bit too excited to be discussing pack business. Any of my decisions, after being in bed with Charlotte, would probably be too soft.

“We have bad news. Where were you?” Victor asked as soon as he caught sight of me.

I cocked an eyebrow at the tone he had used with me. Macon took a step back, and he lowered his head. Victor took only seconds to realize his words sounded aggressive, and I wasn’t fond of that.

“I have been calling you and you didn’t reply,” Victor said, lowering his head as well.

“I was with Charlotte,” I replied.

It was hard not to smile when I thought about Charlotte. I had needed her. The time I spent with her had helped put my Wolf at ease.

“What was so urgent that you had to interrupt me?”

For both Victor and Macon’s sake, whatever made them drag me back to the pack prison, it had to be good.

I didn’t run to the prison in my Wolf form, like I usually did. It had taken me a while to calm down, and the walk allowed me to think.

It might have been good that Charlotte and I had been interrupted.

Since the moment I found out that she was only seventeen years old, I decided we wouldn’t mate until she turned eighteen.

It was the right thing to do, but that didn’t mean my Wolf and I had to be happy with the decision.

“We caught a group of Wolves,” Victor said, bringing me out of my thoughts.

I snapped my head in his direction, and waited for him to continue. He didn’t, and Macon didn’t say anything either.

“Rogues?” I asked.

Rogues attacking would’ve been too easy for me. I knew it was more, but it didn’t hurt to think it might have been Rogues.

“No,” Macon said, and Victor shook his head.

“They are Wolves from Knight Pack,” Victor stated.

“Did they think I would let them live?” I asked, and shook my head disapprovingly.

I made my way to the stairs that led to the underground cells. Victor and Macon followed after me.

“They must’ve contacted their Alphas through their mind link,” Victor informed me.

“They sent out threats. Most of them included attacking the pack, and killing our Wolves,” Macon added.

That only made me mad. They thought they had a chance. They were in my land, I had more Wolves, and I had the advantages.

“Caine,” Victor called, his voice rising when he said my name.

I stopped and turned to face him. It had been the second time he’d raised his voice at me.

“Derek already knows that we caught them. He wants them back and he’s coming to get them,” Victor finished, bowing at me.

I laughed, darkly and humorlessly. Derek could care less about his pack members. It was probably an excuse to start the war that was going to set off either way at any moment.

I was going to make sure he died slowly and painfully for what he did to my pack. But more than anything, I was going to get him back for what he did to Charlotte.