Caine

“Can I ask you something?”

“No,” Caine flatly replied, while sitting up in the bed.

I had just woken up, but my mind quickly went back to what had happened the night before. Caine and Liam had left to talk.

They had taken so long, I ended up dozing up. By the time I woke up in the morning, I found Caine already awake, tenderly running the tips of his fingers over my arms.

“You don’t even know what I’m going to ask,” I whined.

“I have an idea.”

“Oh yeah, what am I going to ask?”

“You want to know what Liam and I discussed. I’m not telling you,” he said, making his way towards the bathroom.

I narrowed my eyes as I watched him go.

“Fine, don’t tell me!”

Before shutting the door to the bathroom, Caine turned to face me.

“I wasn’t going to,” he said.

After that episode, I stomped my way downstairs. Liam was in the hallway, and I passed by him on my way down. As soon as he saw me, he grinned.

“Don’t even think about it,” I said, knowing he was going to start taunting me.

“You’re in a mood,” Liam said, wrapping his arm over my shoulders.

“It’s your fault,” I snapped.

“Me? What did I do?” He asked, innocently.

He genuinely looked confused. I sighed and shook my head, just as we entered the kitchen.

“What did you and Caine talk about?”

“Oh, that.”

“Yes, that. What did you want with him?”

“To talk, I told you that last night,” he replied, but his voice had grown slightly serious.

“I want to know what you two discussed? It’s obvious you didn’t fight. Caine didn’t even complain about you today.”

“I thought that would make you happy.”

“I would be happier if you two told me what the hell happened last night. First, you two are trying to kill each other and then suddenly things are fine.”

“Things aren’t fine, but we did smooth things over,” Liam corrected.

“Why? How did you two smooth things over?” I asked, mockingly.

“I confronted him about some things, he confronted me about others. Then we just made a deal,” he shrugged

“What deal?”

“I’m not telling you, at least not yet.”

Liam’s words did nothing to calm me down, but I was glad that he and Caine weren’t fighting anymore. As much as I tried though, I couldn’t make my curiosity go away.

After serving myself a glass of juice and warming up a hot pocket, I went back upstairs. It was going to be a busy day. Alpha Dylan and his Luna were going to arrive in a few hours.

Caine had just gotten out of the shower, and was running one of his hands through his hair, messing it up. He only had a towel wrapped around his waist.

I sighed, while shamelessly roaming my eyes over his almost naked body. He was definitely a sight to see. When my eyes landed on his face, I noticed he was staring at me intently.

“I hope you’re not mad at me,” he said, seriously.

“Liam doesn’t want to tell me either,” I said, going over to sit on the couch.

Caine walked towards me and kneeled in between my legs, placing his hands on my knees. His serious expression gave way to the ghost of a smile.

“You should get ready for today. Someone will be over later on to prepare the rooms for our visitors.”

I nodded at him, and took a drink of the juice.

“You’re not making breakfast?” Caine asked, looking down at the food in my hands.

I offered him some of my hot pocket. He smiled at me, and took a bite out of it from my hand.

“You’re easy to please,” I said, laughing when he took another bite.

In just two bites, he’d managed to eat it all.

“I’m a simple man,” he shrugged, taking a seat beside me.

“That is so not true,” I said, laughing while resting my head on his shoulders.

He wrapped his arm around me, and pressed me to his side. I liked touching his skin. I was running my hand over his muscular chest, enjoying the feel of it.

Caine chuckled huskily, probably guessing my intentions.

“I should get dressed,” he said.

“You’re going to be out all day, aren’t you?” I asked, groaning.

Caine took the glass from my hand, and took a long drink from it. He took his time drinking, and no doubt thinking, before answering my question.

“I will be busy.”

“I want to go see Theo.”

“Charlotte…” Caine said, unsurely.

“I’m not asking, I’m just informing.”

Caine shook his head at me, and got up from the couch. He sighed loudly, and ran his hand through his hair once again. I got up as well, and stood right in front of him.

“I’m not doing it to make you mad. I just want to check on Theo. Macon will come with me.”

“It seems like you already decided,” Caine said.

It wasn’t exactly a ‘yes’ but at least he wasn’t getting upset.

By the time I got showered and dressed, Caine had already left. I settled for some faded jeans and a tank top, with some converse. I figured I would change into something nicer before our guests arrived.

When I got downstairs, I found Liam and Lesley in the living room, sitting very close to each other. Lesley was practically sitting on his lap, and she had her arms wrapped around his neck. Liam had a huge grin on his face.

“Liam?” I called, my eyes not leaving Lesley.

I could feel myself scowling at her, but I couldn’t do anything to stop it. As much as I tried, I couldn’t bring myself to actually like Lesley, especially not for Liam.

“Charlie,” Liam said.

He got up from Lesley’s side, but not before pecking her lips. I frowned at that, but smiled when Liam walked towards me.

“What are your plans for today,” I asked him.

I needed to talk to Caine about Liam. I had yet to make plans on Liam’s arrangement while Alpha Dylan visited.

“Luna,” Lesley nodded at me, and she quietly made her way out of the room.

“Why did you have to pick her?” I asked, after Lesley was gone.

I didn’t actually expect Liam to answer. When I turned my eyes back to him, he was frowning at me.

“Why did you have to pick Caine?”

“Caine is my mate. From the looks of it, Lesley is your flavor of the month.”

Liam shrugged, not confirming or denying my comment.

“We’re not getting into that again. You date who you want and I date who I want,” he said. “Although…”

“What?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest.

“I’d be willing to give Lesley up if you leave Caine, and say that we get to leave this place,” Liam said, grinning at me while raising his eyebrows.

“You’re impossible,” I said, shaking my head at him.

“Thanks for coming with me,” I told Macon.

Lesley had gone back to Liam after nicely asking me for permission. Macon had been angry about it, but after I told Lesley she could stay behind, there wasn’t much Macon could do. He had been shooting daggers at her until we made our way out.

“You shouldn’t give Lesley so many liberties, Luna.”

“She’s just hanging out with Liam.”

“The Alpha won’t like that,” Macon said.

“He’ll like that Liam has a girlfriend,” I replied, laughing.

I was sure Caine would feel more comfortable if Liam had someone. He still didn’t trust Liam alone with me.

“He won’t like that you don’t have a girl around when we’re alone.”

I widened my eyes at that, because I hadn’t thought about it. But I knew what Caine’s thoughts on it were and Macon was right. Caine wasn’t going to like it.

“Hey Char,” Theo said, as soon as he saw me.

“Hey Theo,” I waved.

Tempo had been standing on the cell next to him, and they’d been in the middle of a conversation.

“Tempo,” I said, waving at her as well.

“Luna,” Tempo said, not too kindly.

I chuckled at that, and shrugged.

“I hear that the Alpha is coming,” Theo commented.

“You heard, where?” Macon asked, scowling at Theo.

“I have a connection with my pack. Alpha Derek knows that Alpha Dylan and his mate are on their way,” Theo replied.

Macon stepped away from us after Theo confirmed that Derek pretty much knew the plans. He seemed in deep concentration, like he got when he was mind linking with someone from the pack.

“You’re talking to Caine?”

Macon nodded at me, before turning away. A few other guys from the pack came to stand beside me, since Macon had stepped away.

It wasn’t like it mattered though. Anyone that could have been a threat to me was locked up.

“Did you talk to your mate about Tempo?” Theo asked.

“I don’t need you doing me any favors,” Tempo interrupted.

“I didn’t get a chance to do it, but I’ll do it today,” I answered Theo, ignoring Tempo’s comment.

“Are either of you going to listen to me?” Tempo asked.

“If it makes you feel any better, I’m not doing you the favor. I’m doing this for Theo,” I told her.

I was saying that to give her some peace of mind, so that she wouldn’t feel like she owed me anything, but my words only made her angrier.

“Jeez, don’t make me feel so special,” she sarcastically said.

I laughed, and shook my head at her.

“There’s no way to win with you, is there?” I asked.

“She’s just like you,” Theo commented, grinning over at Tempo.

“No I’m not,” Tempo snapped, at the same time as I said, “I don’t think so.”

“Right…” Theo said, just as Macon walked over to me.

“Everything okay?” I asked him.

Derek was still giving Caine headaches. Caine didn’t want to do anything yet. Even though he didn’t say it, I felt like Caine wanted to make a statement when he finally did kill Derek.

“It is now,” Macon replied.

“Is everything okay out there?” Theo asked.

Tempo seemed interested in my reply, because her eyes focused on me.

“For now, I think we have to wait. As long as Derek doesn’t try anything, it should be fine.”

“He won’t try anything. The Alpha may be a lot of things, but he’s not stupid. Attacking would be suicidal,” Tempo said, sounding very certain.

“You think?” I asked.

“I’m sure. He won’t do anything.”

“We can’t take her word for it,” Macon said, narrowing his eyes at Tempo.

“I think Tempo’s right though,” I said.

“I usually am,” Tempo shrugged, although there was a smug look on her face.

“I’m going to call the Alpha.”

While Macon went down the hall, I stayed behind talking to Theo. Tempo made a few comments here and there in our conversation, but she remained quiet for the most part. I could tell she wasn’t really comfortable with me, or she didn’t trust me yet.

“The Alpha wants to see you,” Macon said, interrupting Theo midsentence.

Theo had been telling me about my parents. A few tears had rolled down my cheeks, which Macon misinterpreted. He’d been about to open Theo’s cell and attack him, until I explained that we were just catching up.

“Theo is a good guy,” I told Macon, on the way to mansion.

Caine had been making sure Derek hadn’t trespassed into Locus territory. When Macon told him Theo and Tempo’s theories, he quickly asked me to go back.

“He’s the enemy.”

“No he’s not,” I sighed, interlacing my arm with Macon’s. “Don’t be so dramatic.”

“He’s considered the enemy for now.”

“Do you think Theo would join our pack?”

“What?” Macon growled.

I laughed when I saw the look on his face.

“Don’t look so freaked out.”

“Alpha Caine will not let the girl go,” Macon said, referring to Tempo.

“I’m curious,” I said, changing the subject. “What happened after Lesley caught me?”

“I thought we already had this conversation.”

“Yes, but you never cleared it up. You never told me what exactly happened.”

“I did. Lesley was demoted.”

“Were you punished?”

“We were all punished.”

“How?”

Macon’s expression grew dark, serious. It didn’t seem like he was going to answer my question. That got me angrier, because it was my fault he got punished in the first place.

“What happened that day, in the cell— it wasn’t your fault. Lesley and the other guys were the ones who caught me. They were the ones who hurt me.”

“I have a higher rank than all of them. I could’ve stopped them.”

“You did. You saved me. Lesley wanted to kill me!”

“I could have done more,” Macon said, guiltily. “I’ll never forgive myself for that.”

After he said that, Macon remained quiet the rest of the way. All of my attempts to get him to talk to talk were met with silence.

By the time I arrived at the mansion, I felt frustrated. Caine was waiting for me. When I passed by his side, I glared at him and stomped all the way up the stairs.

Caine stopped me midstride, and picked me up in his arms.

“Put me down!” I yelled, but Caine ignored me and started carrying me to our room.

“What is this about?” Caine asked when we arrived at our room.

I slapped his chest hard, just because I wanted to get some steam out. It didn’t even faze him.

“Why are you mad? Did someone do something to you?” Caine demanded to know.

“How did you punish Lesley and everybody else after they found me and locked me up?” I asked.

My question made Caine frown.

“Why are you asking?” He said, his voice low but serious.

“Answer my question.”

“Liam gave his word he wouldn’t tell you,” Caine growled.

“Liam didn’t tell me!” I snapped. “I asked him but he wouldn’t tell me. I asked Macon and he doesn’t want to tell me either. I have a right to know!”

Caine narrowed his eyes at me, but he was giving me a calculating look.

“You don’t need to worry about that.”

“I’m the Luna of the pack.”

“But you weren’t when it happened,” Caine retorted.

“I thought you said I became Luna as soon as you set eyes on me.”

Caine had been about to say something, but he closed his mouth, and sighed.

“You say that to your convenience,” he said, shaking his head at me.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“The other day, you got mad because Victor pulled rank on you. I told you that would never happen again, and it hasn’t. But whenever you don’t agree with me, you remind me that you are the Luna of the pack.”

“I thought I was.”

“You are, but you usually use the title whenever it suits you.”

“Caine,” I sighed.

“It’s fine. I’m not arguing with you about it. Just like I won’t tell you how I punished them.”

“Why not?”

“You were furious with Lesley. I understand why because I was angry too. She’s been punished, we can move on.”

His words sounded final, but I wasn’t ready to let it go just yet. I decided to put the subject to rest for now, since I still needed to convince Caine to let Tempo go.

“There’s a girl locked in the prison,” I started to say.

“No,” Caine flatly stated.

“You don’t even know what I’m going to say!” I snapped, remembering that he had done the same exact thing in the morning.

“You want me to release her. I’m not going to do it.”

“She’s a girl.”

“She’s a great fighter. I saw her. She has a strong Wolf.”

“She’s still a girl. Tempo is the only girl that you caught. I talked to Theo and-”

“Theo doesn’t make the decisions around here,” Caine interrupted.

“No, you and I do, right? We both make the decisions,” I said, daring him to contradict me.

Caine narrowed his eyes at me, but he remained quiet.

“Because that is how these things work, right? We’re equals,” I said, in a questioning tone.

“We both make the decisions, and we compromise,” Caine added.

“Okay, that’s good enough for me. Theo and I talked, and I told him we could have someone drop Tempo off near Knight Territory.”

“We can’t do that,” Caine said.

“Why not?”

“It’s too risky on our part. If I send Wolves near Knight Territory, nothing guarantees me that they won’t attack and kill my men.”

“I hadn’t thought about that…”

“I’m not hurting any of the prisoners,” Caine told me.

“But they’re still locked up.”

“If Derek had caught our men, he would’ve done much worse than just lock them up.”

“So we’re not going to compromise about this?” I asked him.

“It should be enough that I’m letting Liam stay.”

I had to close my eyes for a few moments. I hated that he had said that. Liam wasn’t something we compromised about. Liam was like my brother. If I stayed, Liam did too.

“You know what? Whatever,” I said, shaking my head and stalking out of the room.

Caine went after me, and caught me before I made it far

“I don’t want to fight, Charlotte. Not today,” he softly said, wrapping his arms around my waist and nestling his head in my neck.

He was inhaling my scent, and nuzzling his nose against my shoulders. The little shocks of electricity ignited between us as soon as he touched me.

“Why? You want us to appear like the perfect couple in front of Alpha Dylan?” I asked, snappily.

“Dylan is like a brother. I am happy that he is visiting.”

I groaned when said those words. I understood how he felt. He hardly got to see Alpha Dylan and they were making the effort to come to Caine. Caine had shown me how important the trip was for him.

“I don’t want to fight either,” I said, turning to face him. “I just want you to think about it.”

Caine reluctantly nodded. He tightened his arms around my waist, and picked me up. I easily straddled his waist, snuggling myself closer to his body.

“I didn’t think I’d see you all day,” I whispered, feeling Caine’s lips trailing down my neck.

Caine was about to start walking to the bed, but I shook my head at him before he did.

“Don’t,” I said, breathlessly.

He didn’t listen to me. He continued walking, while his fingers lightly dug into my back. Before I got a chance to protest, he started kissing me.

As soon as his lips touched mine, I forgot why I wanted to stop him. I tangled my hands in his hair, and pressed myself closer to him, rubbing myself against his chest.

Caine groaned in appreciation. I didn’t let him get away from me when he finally laid me down in bed. He didn’t seem to mind. Caine slid one of his hands under my shirt, and he began caressing my stomach.

“Caine…”

I felt him tense on top of me. It had been my mistake. I’d brought him out of the daze he had created for both of us.

I wasn’t surprised when he pulled away from me. I kept my hands in his hair, not ready to let him go. Caine softly kissed my lips, before trailing down to my jaw, and finding my neck.

I thought that he was going to continue, but he completely pulled away.

“I should get going,” he said, huskily.

He had been laying down over me, so I was able to feel how excited he had gotten.

“You don’t have to,” I mumbled, bringing his lips down on mine.

He kissed me one last time, before getting up from the bed.

“Are you going to stay here for the rest of the day?” Caine asked.

I rolled my eyes at him, while I ran my hands through my hair. I could feel the knots, not that it mattered since Caine had pushed me away like he always did.

“Those are the plans. I thought Alpha Dylan was supposed to get here a while ago.”

“He’s running late.”

“And you’re leaving already?”

“I have to. I will be back soon.”

Caine gave me one last look. I noticed that his eyes roamed down my body. I grinned at that, even though my happiness was short-lived when I remembered that he was still leaving. Caine shook his head, like if he was trying to let go of his thoughts, which I was guessing were about what we’d been doing.

“Too tempting,” he growled, before closing the door after him.

I broke down laughing, and the loud snarl that I heard from Caine told me he had heard me.

After my episode with Caine, Macon accompanied me on a walk. I hadn’t been able to find Lesley, but Macon had been waiting for me downstairs.

Macon told me that Caine was slightly worried that the Alphas hadn’t arrived. Even though Alpha Dylan had talked to Caine and told him he was just running late, Caine was still worried.

“Were you third in command before or after Caine became Alpha?”

“Alpha Caine got the position before I did,” Macon replied, his eyes shifting to a darker color.

“When was that?”

“I was fifteen when he took over as Alpha, he was almost seventeen.”

I turned to look at him with a confused expression.

“Wasn’t he supposed to take over until he turned eighteen?”

Macon shook his head, and he looked ahead at the trail we were walking through.

“Alpha Caine’s father was killed. Somebody had to take the position and he was the strongest Wolf in the pack, even at a young age.”

“I didn’t know someone had killed his father.”

“Those were dark times for our pack, just like when Andrew betrayed Alpha Caine.”

“Does Caine know who killed his dad? Was it Rogues?”

Macon shook his head, and he looked at me with misty eyes.

“I don’t know the whole story, but back then, Highland Pack existed. You’ve heard of them?”

I nodded, even though I hadn’t heard of Highland Pack until Liam explained that Caine and Alpha Dylan had brought them down.

“Back then, Highland was our enemy. They had a feud going on with Midnight Moon as well. Roderick, the Alpha of Highland Pack, killed our Alpha.”

“He did?” I asked, incredulously.

Macon nodded in reply. He was getting lost in his thoughts, and there was a pained expression on his face. I briefly wondered why Caine hadn’t told me about his father. Macon had also been the one to tell me about Andrew, Caine’s brother.

“But that happened years before Caine and Alpha Dylan attacked them,” I commented.

“Alpha Caine was a pup when his dad died. He was too young to take over, let alone think about attacking another pack. I guess it all built up. When Andrew, Alpha Caine’s twin brother, betrayed us…”

“That’s what triggered it?”

“Alpha Caine has always been stricter than most Alphas. He practically grew up with the Alpha position. He learned the ranks of being Alpha while he was still a pup, which somehow made him more cautious. But after Andrew betrayed and tried to kill him, Alpha Caine changed.”

“How so?

“He grew a lot more serious, and suspicious of every Wolf. He kept to himself most times than not. And his punishments turned a lot more severe. When Alpha Dylan proposed an attack against Highland Pack, Alpha Caine agreed without a thought.”

After Macon told me that load of information, I just wanted to see Caine and jump in his arms. I wanted to make him feel better, and try to make up for all that had happened to him. It wasn’t fair. Life hadn’t been fair to him. I suddenly missed him too much, and my heart started to ache. I wanted to be in his arms.

“Charlotte!” Macon snapped.

I had faintly heard him calling my name before, but I’d been ignoring him because I’d been thinking about Caine.

“Huh?” I asked, distractedly.

“The Alpha has arrived.”

I closed my eyes, and let out a sigh.

“I want to talk to Caine,” I mumbled.

I didn’t think Caine and I were going to have any time alone for a while. He was going to be busy with Alpha Dylan, and catching up with him.

“About what?” Macon asked, slowly.

“I just want to be with him right now.”

Macon nodded his head at me. When he noticed I wasn’t taking a step back to the mansion, he gently grabbed my elbow and started tugging on it to get me to move.

I felt in daze. I wanted to ask Caine so many questions about his past. Every time I found out something about him, it always turned out to be big news. In my opinion, Caine had already seen too much.

I unintentionally took a long time to get back to the mansion. I was walking slow, but because I was lost in thought. I could tell that Macon was trying to hurry me up, while also being gentle with me.

“The Alpha is getting anxious,” he said.

When we arrived at the back patio, I noticed Macon let out a shaky sigh of relief.

“I need to go change,” I told him, looking down at my clothes.

Macon looked towards the front of the house longingly. I didn’t know if he was worried about being late or if he was scared that he would get in trouble with Caine.

“Two minutes,” Macon warned me.

I was surprised when he took a hold of my hand and hurriedly began dragging me into the mansion.

On the way, I made a detour to Liam’s room. Macon was not happy, but I just shrugged off his complaints.

“I’ll go check on things downstairs,” Macon said. “Please hurry up.”

I nodded at him, and entered Liam’s room.

I didn’t expect to find Lesley in his room, lying down under him, while the two were glued to each other.

“Liam!” I snapped.

He grinned up at me, but I could see that his face was flushed.

“Seriously?” I asked, disapprovingly.

“What?”

“Give us a minute,” I said, moving my eyes over to Lesley.

Lesley looked between Liam and me. She didn’t get up from the bed until Liam nodded at her to go.

“It seems like you have her pretty tamed,” I said, disapprovingly.

“Not this again,” Liam said, but he was getting comfortable in the bed, putting his hands behind his head.

“Alpha Dylan is here.”

“Already?”

“He’s hours late. He should’ve been here a while ago.”

“Huh, look at that,” Liam said, smirking.

“I think you should go somewhere. To the apartment maybe,” I suggested.

“To avoid any fights?”

“To avoid him trying to kill you.”

“I can handle Dylan,” Liam said, as he started getting up from the bed.

“You and Lesley don’t have to be so public,” I told him, because it had really been bothering me.

“If you want to leave, we can go. I’ll break things off with her.”

He gave me an expectant look, like if I would suddenly agree to take off with him and leave Caine.

“Are you leaving? I’d feel much better if you’re not here with Alpha Dylan. Caine and I didn’t get a chance to talk about your arrangement while the Alphas are visiting.”

“There’s nothing to talk about. I can leave to the apartment, but I’m going to come over whenever I want. I’m not letting you out of my sight for too long.”

“I know,” I sighed, slumping myself on the bed.

Before Liam could say anything else, Macon knocked on the door.

“Charlotte, Alpha Caine is going to storm in here if we’re not out there soon,” Macon urged, sounding more worried than he did before.

“I’m going, I’m going,” I told him, giving Liam one last look, before making my way out the door.

Liam followed me all the way to my room, keeping a grin on his face the whole time.

“You sure are taking your sweet time to get out there,” he commented.

“I’m not,” I retorted.

“You are. You know, if you don’t want to see them, we can take off to the apartment. We could chill out over there while Dylan and Leila are here.”

“I can’t do that to Caine,” I said, while I looked for a nice casual outfit to slip on.

“But you want to?”

“What?”

“You said that you can’t do that to Caine, not that you didn’t want to. No one’s forcing you to meet them.”

“Liam, just get out of here,” I told him, before he tempted me to go with him.

Liam waited for me in the bedroom, while I changed in the closet. He kept talking, trying to convince me to leave with him to the apartment.

“You should take some guys with you. Derek is still around. I don’t want him to try anything.”

“No,” he flatly said, looking outraged that I had even proposed the idea.

“I’d feel better if you did.”

“I’d feel better if you weren’t an Alpha’s mate, but there’s nothing I can do about that,” Liam retorted.

“Low blow,” I told him, but I chuckled when he grinned at me.

“I’ll be fine. Besides, I’m taking Lesley with me,” Liam said.

“She has to stay. Caine will go crazy if she disappears, and I don’t know how long you’ll keep her busy.”

Lesley walked into the room just then, looking shy all of a sudden.

“Come on Charlie, you’re an Alpha too. You can give Lesley a break, right babe?” Liam asked, as Lesley walked over to him.

Liam wrapped his arm around her shoulders, and tenderly kissed the top of her head.

Lesley blushed. She actually blushed, and Liam grinned down at her.

“Yeah, I guess,” I said, very awkwardly.

“Then that’s settled. I’ll probably be back early in the morning to check on things,” Liam warned me.

“Okay,” I mumbled.

I couldn’t take my eyes off Liam and Lesley. She was always so… tough and serious. And Liam was so, lively and playful. I never imagined they would even turn into a couple.

“Can you call me as soon as you get to the apartment?” I asked him.

“Why?”

“I want to know that you got there safely. Liam, you can’t be all over the place, not yet. Derek is still around, you have to remember that.”

“I won’t. I’ll stay locked inside the apartment,” Liam said, looking down at Lesley suggestively.

“Good, just stay safe, and call me,” I told him.

Liam grinned at me, and disentangled himself from Lesley to come over to me. He crushed me against his chest and wrapped his arms around me.

“Don’t miss me too much,” he said, while fuzzing up my hair.

“Yeah, yeah, just leave,” I said, slapping his hand away.

Liam left out the door laughing, while Lesley had a soft smile on her face. They weren’t mates, I knew that for sure. Liam had a mate, and she’d been killed.

What worried me was that Liam had been right. Lesley seemed really attached to him.

“And leave through the back door!” I yelled, just before they reached the stairs.

I had Macon in my face as soon as I opened the door.

“Charlotte,” Macon said, outstretching my name.

“I’m ready,” I said, and quickly ran my hands through my hair, knowing it was probably messed up.

I had taken too long walking back to the mansion, and then talking to Liam. I didn’t have enough time to actually fix myself up and look at a mirror.

There were a lot of shifters in the front patio. Even though most were scattered, I could tell they were positioned the way Caine had set them up.

Caine was standing tall, with Victor by his side. I hurriedly made my way to him, feeling my face warm up when everyone started facing me.

Macon took his position on Caine’s left side, and I noticed the disapproving look Victor gave him. I would have to talk to Caine and tell him that we were late because of me.

“Charlotte,” Caine called, just as I reached him.

Caine did not seem happy that I was so late. He was tense, but I felt him relaxing when I pressed myself against his side. He wrapped his arm around my waist, and brought me closer to him.

I could feel his eyes on me, and I looked up to give him an innocent smile, hoping he didn’t get too mad with how late I was.

“This is my mate, Charlotte,” Caine said, looking away from me.

I turned to look at who he was talking to. The sight of them left me stunned for a moment. I could easily tell they were Alpha Dylan and his Luna, Leila. I couldn’t take my eyes away from them.

They were so… perfect.