Caine

Charlotte POV

“Liam!” I called, running up to the group.

I was weak. I ran a few steps and I felt dizzy. I had not noticed that Caine was behind me. He steadied me, his hands on either side of my waist.

I got distracted by him. As soon as his hands touched me, I felt the electricity between us. Caine’s green eyes were on me, gazing—his face soft.

“Are you okay?” Caine asked in a low voice.

I nodded and pulled away from him. Caine reluctantly let me go. He didn’t move his eyes from me, and he was frowning. “Liam is right. You feel too light.”

“Are you saying I was fat before?” I told him, snappily.

Caine smiled all of a sudden, and his face lit up. He shook his head. “We could go get you something to eat,” he said. “We could go out into town, eat something. Liam can come along with us too—Dylan also, if you want.”

I frowned at his suggestion. Caine wanting for Alpha Dylan to grab dinner with us was not out of the ordinary, mainly because they were cool with each other. If he wanted Liam to tag along, I knew that was for my benefit.

As soon as I thought about Liam, I realized that despite all of the noise in the room, I had gotten distracted with Caine and forgotten that Liam was beating the crap out of Adam.

I pulled away from Caine and broke into the little circle that was surrounding Liam and Adam. It wasn’t too hard, they all moved out of the way when they saw me coming. I did not miss that they were all looking at me worriedly.

“Liam, stop!” I snapped.

He did. He looked up at me, a frown on his face. “I’m done, Charlie. I wasn’t going to kill him, just teach him a lesson,” he said, getting up.

Liam’s hands and knuckles were bloody and bruised. Beating up another shifter would do that to you. The blood though, all belonged to Adam. He was in the floor, groaning. Fortunately, he had not passed out. That did not mean he didn’t look like crap—he did. His face was bruised and swollen already. One of his eyes was closed shut. He kept grabbing his stomach, and I had no doubt he had some cracked ribs. Despite how bad he looked, I could tell Liam had taken it easy.

I had seen Liam fight enough times to know that what he had done to Adam was meant to leave him in pain, not to leave lasting damage.

I kneeled next to Adam, and I was glad that no one stopped me. The little circle started breaking apart, although they were still looking at Adam and hanging out in the open space.

As soon as Liam stepped away, I noticed that Lesley was at his side. I had no idea what was going on there. The last time I had seen them together, it had not been pretty and Lesley had been avoiding Liam like the plague.

Alpha Dylan was standing beside Caine. They were talking, which was a good thing. I didn’t want them angry at each other. Caine and I had our problems, serious now more than ever, but that didn’t mean I wanted him to start picking fights with everyone.

I couldn’t even move Adam to sit up. He was of no help. He was groaning and complaining. His eye that wasn’t closed off was red. He was bleeding from his mouth and his nose.

“Is somebody going to help, or what?” I growled.

Suddenly I was surrounded by Macon, Victor, and Peter—who I had not seen in a long time. He must’ve been there because of Liam. I smiled up at him. I was feeling miserable, but it was good to see people I felt familiar with.

“Hey, Charlotte,” Peter said to me, grinning, not even bothered that Liam had just beat Adam up.

“Hey, Peter,” I said, giving him a playful nod.

Even though he was grinning, I saw his eyes. He was looking at me sadly, worried.

After telling them to take Adam to his room, and making sure that the pack doctor was called, I went up to Liam.

“What the hell was that about?” I snapped at Liam.

He was standing with Lesley, and she had been smiling at him, that smile I had seen from her when she and Liam had something going on. I did not like it. Lesley and I—we were good now. She wasn’t my guard anymore, and I found out that was all it took to make her happy. She was a fighter. She wanted to be fighting and running with the Wolves, not hanging out with me all day.

We were good and I knew that Liam was going to screw that up if he started things up with her. Lesley, it seemed, had not learned how things worked with Liam.

“What?” Liam asked, innocently. He tried to pull me in for a hug, but I slapped his hand away.

“Why the hell did you do that to Adam?”

My question made Liam growl, and his face grew serious, and also seriously pissed off. “Adam was here for one thing—to watch over you.” His voice was low.

Angry Liam came out, but it was not often. Even at his worst, Liam always cracked a joke or poked fun at someone. It did not look he was ready to make fun of what had happened with Adam.

“I come here, seeing you looking this, finding out the asshole killed your friend and Adam did nothing about it,” Liam growled, and I heard somebody else growl behind me—Caine.

He had closed the distance between us, and he was pressing his chest against my back. I was pissed of Caine, but I did not want a fight between him and Liam.

“I already warned you, Wolf,” Caine said, the growls slipping out. “You’re in my territory.”

Liam narrowed his eyes at him. “You should fucking be ashamed of yourself. Charlotte is your mate. We didn’t finish our conversation earlier, but now is as good time as any. You fucking screwed up. You know that before I came along, Charlie’s life was hell in Knight? She fucking hated it there. You know who was the only person that had her back? If you don’t fucking already know, it’s the dude who’s head isn’t attached to his body because you fucking threw a fit and killed him!”

I felt Caine tense beside me. Everyone in the room went quiet. I heard no noise, only loud intakes of breath and people’s heartbeats.

“Liam…” I said.

“No, Charlotte. I’m pissed off at you too. I’m only keeping it chill with you right now because I can obviously see there’s something wrong here. Don’t think I don’t know what you’ve been doing. Adam’s a fucking idiot, but he still kept tabs on you and he gave me a briefing about what you’ve been doing. We’re talking about that later. What Adam didn’t do was inform me that while he was happily living the pack life, you were with a new guard that’s a fucking pup, and Caine was killing off more people.”

“Adam just-” I started to say, before he interrupted me.

“I have shit to do, Charlotte. Caine calls me, tells me that things are wrong and you won’t leave my closet. Your mate—that guy,” Liam said, pointing at Caine. “The man won’t share you, not even with me. Caine calls me to tell me that you won’t leave that tiny little room—calls asking for help on dealing with you, I know things are bad.”

“Adam likes being part of the pack,” I quietly said, and I felt the tears burning in my eyes, but I didn’t want to cry. Liam was pissed, and he was also pissed at me. He was right, but it was still hard hearing him.

I mean, I had wanted to give Liam space. Before he left, he was having a hard time. He broke down in front of me. We had not talked about it, and I had a feeling he just didn’t want to talk about it. But I could tell that whatever he had been doing, he was better now and he was definitely energized.

“He can stay here if he wants. I gave him the choice. He can either come with me or he can stay with Locus. If he comes with me, he knows how it is. I have to make sure I can trust him again.”

I nodded at him.

Everyone in the room was standing around, looking at each other awkwardly.

“I want to go check on Adam,” I said.

The pack doctor chose that moment to arrive and I sighed in relief. I walked upstairs with him and guided him to Adam’s room. After everything that Liam had said, I did not want to face anyone who had been downstairs and heard. If Caine and Liam tried to fight, I was happy that Alpha Dylan was there. I was sure he’d be able to keep them apart.

Adam had cracked ribs, a broken arm, bruises and swollen areas. Despite all that, the first thing he did when the pack doctor and I entered the room was apologize to me.

I had to leave the room once the doctor started on him. I didn’t want to see the blood, and the doctor informed me that what he would be doing wouldn’t be pleasant to witness. Adam had looked worried.

When I walked back downstairs I realized that mostly all of the Wolves had left, or at least they weren’t just hanging around. Caine was waiting for me right by the stairs. I could feel Alpha Dylan, Liam, and Lesley around, but they weren’t there.

“Can I talk to you?” he asked, quietly. When I reached the last steps, Caine held out his hand for me to take. I didn’t. He looked down at his hand, and put it back to his side.

I felt horrible for doing it, but I wasn’t ready for that yet. Touching him—it was too much, more than I felt I could handle.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Dylan is going to leave at midnight. He wants us to go out for dinner,” Caine said.

“Alpha Dylan wants that?” I asked Caine, cocking an eyebrow.

Alpha Dylan chose that moment to appear. “I traveled all this way. The least you two can do is invite me to dinner.”

I smiled at him. Alpha Dylan nodded and he offered a small smile back, very unlike him.

“We could eat,” Liam said, walking over with Lesley by his side.

She was again smiling at him that way—that love-struck way that just gave me a bad feeling.

“I don’t know if I’m up for it. You all can go out, I don’t mind,” I said, smiling at the group around me.

I got a frown from Liam, I got narrowed eyes from Alpha Dylan, I got Caine looking at the ground, and a look from Lesley that said ‘do not screw this up for me’.

“But maybe I’m hungry too,” I added, and that got me smiles and nods.

They were all ready to go. I was the only one who looked like crap, and it wasn’t just because I was wearing the clothes I’d slept in. They didn’t mind giving me time to shower and find something to wear.

It was the first time all week I had walked into the room I shared with Caine. It was the same. Of course it had to be, I had only been gone for a week. It was probably weird, but I had missed it. That room smelled like Caine and me, together. Thinking about that made my chest tighten, and I tried to forget about it. Getting my Wolf to let it go was another thing.

I was slipping into a clean pair of jeans when Lesley walked into the room. I was glad that it was her. I was in the closet, but I hadn’t bothered to close the door.

“Liam wants to leave as soon as he settles this thing with you and Caine,” Lesley told me.

“He’s leaving?” I asked. I hadn’t really thought about it. Liam and I—I felt like we hadn’t talked in so long. It hadn’t been that long, but I felt like I didn’t know what was up with him.

Lesley nodded. “If you want him to stick around, you should tell him.”

“Maybe he has things to do,” I shrugged, although I really didn’t want to see him go.

“I think he’s going to tell you to go with him—he made it sound like that.”

“Oh,” I said, and looked away from her.

Lesley pulled me over to the bed, and she grabbed a brush. I was sure I was not imagining it. I thought I had been going crazy, but it was really happening. Lesley sat me on the edge of the bed and she stood behind me, one of her knees resting on the bed. She really started brushing my hair.

“I know that things suck right now,” Lesley said, sounding awkward and uncomfortable. Mainly because she kept pausing with every word she said. “Alpha Caine can be difficult. But you should set your foot down with Liam. You should tell him that you want to be with him, but you want him to stay here with you.” She was definitely bad at giving advice, because she sounded too pushy.

I was also not stupid. She wanted Liam to stay, so she was trying to make it sound like it was for my benefit. Although I kind of agreed with her—I also didn’t want Liam to go.

“He has things to do—he said so himself. I pulled him away from those things.”

“So?” Lesley said, sharply. “You are his priority. If he wants to make you happy, he should keep his ass here.”

I turned around to look at her, gave her a knowing look, and cocked an eyebrow.

Lesley sighed exasperatedly, and she threw the brush on the bed. “Fine, I want him to stay. Big deal. Everything that I said is still true.”

Lesley and I walked together side by side. She had waited for me upstairs until I was done getting ready. Just before we hit the stairs, Lesley hooked her arm with mine.

Liam, Alpha Dylan, and Caine were downstairs waiting for us. When Liam saw Lesley and me, he smiled at us. I rolled my eyes at him and Lesley. They were so obvious.

“I can drive my car, and Caine can drive the other,” Liam said, pulling me and Lesley to him. I ended up under one of his arms, and Lesley under the other. It brought another eye roll from me.

“I’ll go with you and Lesley,” I told Liam.

I didn’t even turn to look at Caine, but he was standing close to me. I felt the tension rolling off of him.

No one—not Lesley, not Liam, not me—missed when Caine tapped Alpha Dylan’s arm, and Alpha Dylan spoke up.

“It’s a waste to drive two cars. Caine is buying, I’m driving,” he said.

Everything got even more awkward when Caine refused to sit in the front seat with Alpha Dylan. Caine’s explanation was that—he didn’t really have an explanation. For the first time since I met Caine, I heard him mumble. He mumbled out the reason why he couldn’t sit in the front, which none of us understood or heard.

Liam was hungry and he wanted to get going, so he ended up taking the front seat.

Lesley, Caine, and I sat in the back. Lesley was on my right and Caine was on my left. He was huge. He felt even bigger sitting in the back seat because even though I kept pressing myself to Lesley, who kept giving me the stink eye because I had her pressed against the door, Caine kept pressing himself to my side. It was unbelievable.

Liam was just grinning back at us.

“You guys should’ve called shot-gun,” Liam taunted. Even Alpha Dylan smirked. Caine stayed quiet. Lesley was just frowning. I sighed and crossed my arms over my chest.

It was going to be a long drive.

At the restaurant, I took it slow. I ate. I had to. Everyone in the table kept staring at me, making sure I was eating. It was slightly uncomfortable. Since I knew they were doing it because they were worried, I tried to let it go.

Caine was on my side and Alpha Dylan was on the other. I felt small between them, even though we were sitting down.

Most of the conversation in the table was about Tristan and Derek. I stayed quiet. I had nothing to say. Even thinking about Knight Pack brought on horrible memories that I wanted to forget. When Liam noticed that I was sort of freaking out, he changed the subject.

“Did you guys here the rumor that’s been spreading around about a buddy of yours?” Liam asked, his eyes looking between Alpha Dylan and Caine.

“I don’t follow rumors,” Caine said.

I knew that was a lie, but I didn’t call him out of it.

Alpha Dylan repeated the same thing, and added that he also didn’t like gossip. I also knew that for sure that was a lie. Alpha Dylan and I had gossiped a whole lot the last time we had talked on the phone.

I grinned at him after he spoke, and Alpha Dylan blushed. It was funny to watch.

“What’s the rumor?” I asked, still grinning, but focusing my attention on Liam.

“Don’t know how true it is but some of my guys who are waiting for me up north said they spotted Wolves from Highland—specifically, a certain Beta names Valco,” Liam said, sounding really excited.

“Valco?” both Alpha Dylan and Caine growled at the same time.

Valco. Valco. Crap. I kept my mouth shut, but the name kept running through my mind. Liam had just said Valco.

“Valco is dead,” Caine was the first to say.

“Are you sure about that?” Liam said, and he really sounded interested in the conversation.

There were things I knew about Highland, but it wasn’t a lot, and all of it was bad. Caine and Alpha Dylan had brought Highland down. They had killed the pack’s Luna, Irena. Caine and Alpha Dylan thought most, if not all of the Wolves had died.

They had not personally killed Alpha Roderick, but they assumed he was dead. I did not know that the Beta of Highland Pack was named Valco, which happened to be a rare name I had never heard of, and which happened to be the name of a certain Wolf that I had been speaking to in secret. Things were not looking good.

“Charlie, are you okay?” Liam asked, frowning.

I was brought out of my thoughts to realize that everyone in the table was frowning at me or looking worried.

“I’m fine. I just, feel tired, but I’m okay. What about this Valco?” I asked, hoping I wouldn’t sound too nervous and obvious.

“We can go home if you’re feeling sick,” Liam quickly offered, and Caine was nodding in agreement.

“I’m still hungry,” I said, picking up my fork. My plate of food was half-eaten. When they saw I took another bite, they finally seemed to cool off. “What were you saying about this rumor? I like to hear pack rumors,” I told Liam.

He grinned at me. “I do too. No better way to fuck with a pack than with a rumor.”

“So you’re messing with us right now?” Alpha Dylan asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I don’t mess with packs where I’ve made a home,” Liam told Alpha Dylan seriously. I saw the look they gave each other—appreciation from both sides. It was nice to see.

“Valco is dead,” Caine repeated, going back to the topic at hand. “No one could have seen him.”

“Did you kill him?” Liam asked.

Caine frowned, hesitated, before shaking his head. “Dylan did.”

It was a sight to see when Alpha Dylan, with his dominant ways and husky voice said, “Uhh…”

I had never heard, not him or Caine go ‘uh’ or ‘um’ about anything. I took a moment to appreciate how funny it was, and how put in the spot he seemed.

“You killed, Valco, right?” Caine asked Alpha Dylan, frowning.

“I didn’t kill him, personally. I was sure he died with the rest of the Wolves,” Alpha Dylan replied.

But for me, I was already tuned out of the conversation. Valco was the name of the Highland Beta. I had no doubt in my mind it was the same Valco I was secretly meeting with. Valco had a lot of explaining to do—beginning with why he was helping me when everyone knew how much everyone from his pack must’ve hated Locus and Midnight Moon.

“I doubt he’s dead. Now that we’re on the topic, I know it was never confirmed that Roderick died. Is there also a possibility that Wolf is running around with his Beta doing who knows what? This rumor I heard, it came from a solid source. All I’m saying is you two better watch out, especially with how tense shit is right now,” Liam said.

Although Alpha Dylan had planned to leave at Midnight, he ended up taking off after we got back from dinner.

He had travelled with a fairly large group of Wolves from his pack—I was glad for that. The roads were not safe.

Other than him, Caine, Liam, Lesley, Macon, Victor, and some of the guys from the gang were standing outside, saying goodbye to Alpha Dylan and his pack.

“It was good to see you,” Caine told Alpha Dylan.

They had already done the man-hug thing, which I found cute and funny at the same time. I didn’t open my mouth about it, though.

Liam and Lesley were standing more towards the back. His hands were at his side, but Lesley was standing in front of him, her arms around his neck.

I sighed, and wondered if it was possible for my eyes to get tired of rolling every time I saw them together. I knew it was not going to end well.

“My offer stands, Charlotte,” Alpha Dylan said.

As soon as he said the words—I had forgotten he had told me I could go to Midnight Moon for a while—Caine wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pushed me towards his chest.

“Don’t start, Dylan,” Caine told him.

“You and I are good, Caine. I’m only throwing my offer out there,” Alpha Dylan said, coolly, but he did not back off. Obviously, he was not scared of Caine.

I hadn’t noticed that Liam was walking towards us, and he’d been paying attention to the conversation.

“What offer?” Liam asked.

“If she wants to take a break, Charlotte can stay with us in Midnight Moon for a while,” Alpha Dylan repeated his offer, and it earned him another growl from Caine.

“That’s-” Before Liam got out a word, Caine picked me up in his arms, with me whining and complaining because he’d caught me off guard, and he was dragging me into the house.

“Caine!” I snapped.

I noticed that Liam, Alpha Dylan, and the rest of the Wolves in the area were watching us go, mostly with amused eyes.

“That wasn’t funny!” I told Caine as soon as we made it inside the house.

“I wasn’t trying to be. You’re not leaving,” Caine told me.

I narrowed my eyes at him. “I wasn’t even gonna go!”

Caine looked at me, studying me. He looked for a long time, while I was glaring at him, until he finally nodded. “I don’t want you to go. I know you’re mad at me.”

“Talk about the understatement of the century!” I snapped.

Caine smiled. He had the balls to smile after how shitty our situation was.

“Why are you so happy about that? It’s not even funny!”

“You are being snappy and sarcastic. You’re like that, you’re getting better,” he said, looking too happy for my taste.

I continued to glare at him, before stomping all the way upstairs. I was not happy. I was furious. I was thinking about Caine’s words. I was thinking about Liam and Lesley. I was thinking about Valco who was a liar. I was also thinking about poor Adam. And I was thinking about Alpha Dylan’s visit and offer.

Even though Liam was there, I ended up in his room. I didn’t go to the closet, but I did jump on the bed. I wasn’t sleepy. I was still full from eating earlier, and my Wolf was too hyper. I hadn’t run for a week, and that wasn’t normal for me. My Wolf loved running—she was way good at it. I had kept her restrained the entire week.

I had been inside of Liam’s room for only a few minutes before Caine walked in. He knocked once but didn’t wait for me to tell him whether he could walk in or not.

“We need to talk,” Caine told me.

“We do not need to talk.” I was sitting on the bed, resting my back on the headboard, with my arms crossed. The only light in the room had been the lamp on the nightstand. Before walking deeper into the room, Caine flipped the switch to turn on the bigger light.

“I gave you space,” Caine said.

“You were there the entire week. That was not giving me space,” I snapped at him.

Caine nodded. “I gave you space as best as I could.”

His words got to me. Anything he said got to me. If Liam hadn’t gotten there, I knew Caine and I would’ve probably already made up. It was impossible to stay away from him when he was close. I was angry, but I wanted to be with him. Those two feelings combined, it made my mind nearly unbearable.

“I’m not ready for anything else, Caine,” I told him.

“I went too far,” Caine said, quietly, keeping his serious eyes on me.

“You went too far when you killed Shane and Estella. Killing Theo…”

“Charlotte,” Caine said, approaching the bed.

He wasn’t touching me. I was thankful for that. I didn’t want him to touch me. I wanted it too much, and I knew it was wrong. I needed to keep a clear mind. I felt guilty enough for wanting Caine.

“I can’t change what I did,” he said.

“I know. Trust me, I know that. You killed Theo. How could you do that? What…” I said, shaking my head, and closing my eyes. I took a deep breath. I needed to keep calm.

“I wanted to make a statement. I was mad at you too,” he said, quietly. “I thought you would get mad, and then realize that you were wrong, and would promise to behave.”

I stared at him and my mouth dropped open in shock—that was how bad it was.

“I did not think you get like this. I did not think the Wolf was that important to you.”

I shook my head. Even as I spoke, I heard the emotion in my voice. “Before Theo turned thirteen, I always thought he would be my mate,” I said, and it was the first time I felt myself genuinely smile about something with Caine.

Caine did not appreciate my comment. I kept talking. I wanted him to know how important Theo had been. Apparently, I had not made it clear enough when I begged and begged him to let Theo go.

“Theo and I were always together. He got his Wolf, he trained, and he was one of the best. I turned thirteen, I didn’t shift, and soon after that, I was an outcast. I used to have friends. I wasn’t exactly popular in the pack, but I had friends. Everyone dropped me as soon as I turned thirteen and didn’t shift, everyone except Theo. He was pissed off that everyone had just stopped talking to me because of that.”

Caine didn’t speak, but he was listening.

“I had my parents, of course. My mom wasn’t exactly happy that I didn’t get my Wolf, but my dad didn’t care. I actually thought he liked it. I was like him and not like my mom. He loves my mom, but Wolves are Wolves and well, you’ve met my mom,” I told him.

Caine shook his head. “She is a handful,” was the only thing he said.

“Two people have cared for me, loved me, and protected me even though it wasn’t their responsibility—Liam and Theo. You killed one of them,” I told him, and this time, I was not able to hold back the tears.

Caine tried to hold me, but I held up my hand and kept him away. He stood there, beside the bed, watching me with tortured eyes, but he let me be.

I was back to crying, it seemed. He gave me space, or as much space as he was able to give me.

My chest ached again, a headache was starting, and I was cold. I felt when Caine pulled the sheets and tucked them under my neck.

I wasn’t sure when it was that I fell asleep. The last thing I remembered was Caine standing there, looking down at me, his eyes dark. I closed my eyes and tried to stop thinking about everything.

Caine POV

The pack doctor had checked in again. Adam needed a few days of rest. Two medications and the pup was going to be alright. While I didn’t disapprove of Adam’s ideas of wanting to be part of the pack, Liam had put on a good show.

It had been an uneven fight. Liam clearly had the fight won even before it started. Adam took his punishment, and not once complained. I respected that. I had already heard Adam and Liam talking—the pup wanted to go with Liam. He felt guilty.

I was sitting on a chair, looking at my mate. She had been sleeping for an hour. The routine was the same. She slept. It did not look peaceful. Every once in a while Charlotte would start shaking or crying in her sleep. I had never seen anything like it. I never wanted to see it from my mate again. I could not do anything to stop it, and that made it worse.

It was the first time all week I had been allowed to be with her while she slept. Despite how miserable she looked in her sleep, I didn’t wake her up. I was too selfish. I felt that if woke her, she would remember I was there, and would try to hide in Liam’s cupboard of a closet. One week had been too much.

The pack had barely been able to handle me. I was sure Victor and Macon had had enough of me. Miles and Brandon had been watching over the mansion and Charlotte when I was gone—they had also looked fearful of my mood.

It appeared that a week away from Charlotte was not only a hell for me, but everyone who crossed my path. I had seen less Wolves from the pack that week—everyone was trying to steer clear from me.

I was lost in my thoughts and worried about my mate, when Liam walked into the room.

“Ready?” he asked.

I looked at him, and then my eyes drifted to Charlotte. One week. I had been away from her one week. She was within reach, but I had not been able to hold her, to see her. Now I had her laying there, sleeping, and not pushing me away. I did not want to leave the room.

I must’ve stayed gazing at her for too long, Liam made his way into the room. “She’s going to be there when you come back,” Liam told me, nodding down at my mate.

She had gone to bed in her jeans and t-shirt. I had not missed that she had chosen clothes Liam had bought for her, before I found her. I did not like it. Although looking at her in those clothes was better than not looking at her at all.

“I’ll be down in a minute,” I told Liam.

He continued to look at me but I ignored him until he left. He got the message.

I had spoken to Liam. I had not appreciated that he shared with everybody that I had called him—he had given me his word he would not tell Charlotte. But I should have known better. Liam’s loyalties lied with Charlotte, not me.

I was not happy, but at least he had done what I needed from him. Charlotte was out of that room, she had eaten, and I had seen her smile. She was going to get better. I knew it. I had seen it—her eyes, the way she was behaving. She was hurting. But she was also forgiving me. I saw it.

I kissed Charlotte’s cheek before leaving, and I felt the shiver that ran through her body when my lips touched her skin. I thought she had woken up. She moved, but continued her restless sleep. I had been tempted to kiss her lips, but I didn’t want to push it.

Things were too fragile between us—I had to take it slow.

“You’re out of your mind,” Liam told me.

It occurred to me that for a Wolf as strong as Liam, he was too outspoken for my taste. At least the Wolf had the strength to back up every idiotic thought that spilled out of his mouth.

“I want you gone, soon,” I told him. “I will do it once you leave.”

“Yeah, I get that you want me gone. I’m not leaving. In case you haven’t noticed, Charlie’s not in any state for me to leave her with you alone.”

“Every time that you’re here, she leans too much on you.”

“Because she can’t count on you!” he retorted.

I tried to suppress the growl, but it still escaped from my mouth. Liam chuckled, humorlessly. I had to reign in my anger, especially if I wanted him to see things my way.

“I was wrong. I admit it. You were helpful and now I need you gone. I am not asking,” I stated, my voice firm. I was feeling proud of myself for keeping control. Liam had a way of getting on my last nerve.

“Oh, you’re ordering?” I heard the taunt in his voice.

I sighed, and shook my head at him. “I won’t make this move unless you are gone. If I do it, Charlotte will think that it was because of you.”

Liam grinned at my words. “Oh, I get it. You want to take all the credit and you’re scared that with me here, Charlotte won’t see it was all you.”

“Yes,” I stated, bluntly.

Liam waited for me to say more, but there was nothing else to say. I was breaking all of my own rules to pull off what I needed. If Liam was there, it was going to be all for nothing. I knew it. He knew it. He was having too much fun with it.

“Too bad, man. I’m not leaving. I’ll give you this. You set this up, and I’ll be gone for the day. You can take all the credit,” Liam said.

I frowned at him, and growled. His grin grew wider.

“I want you gone.”

“I want for Charlotte to look exactly how she did the last time I left her. It’s clear we can’t get what we want. I’m offering a sweet deal, here. Lesley and I have things to resolve-”

“I thought you and Lesley were through,” I questioned, cocking an eyebrow.

“That’s our business. I’ll stay away. Do what you gotta do. I won’t intervene. Charlie will love it, and she needs something right now,” Liam said, sounding genuine.

I had noticed that it was the only time I could get a serious conversation out of him—when we were discussing Charlotte.

“It’s fixed. Tomorrow morning, I need you gone.”

“I’m sleeping at Lesley’s place. If she needs me, call me,” Liam said, his voice still serious.

“I will. I already set it up.”

Liam nodded. “I will be keeping an eye,” he warned me.

“You wouldn’t be you if you weren’t,” I said, and he laughed.

“Don’t tell her anything until you’re sure it’s a go. I don’t want her to get excited if it doesn’t work out,” Liam told me.

I shook my head at him. “It’s impossible to tell her when she’s barely talking to me,” I told him.

Liam almost felt bad for me. But I could tell he was still too angry to feel bad for me. I didn’t really care. Liam had already served his purpose. I wanted him gone.

The only reason I was getting him to go along with my plan was because Charlotte was in a state and even Liam had never seen her that depressed. Things were clearly bad.

Charlotte POV

I was alone when I woke up. Caine was gone.

I had awoken throughout the night, freaked out and crying. Caine had been there with me. He hadn’t touched me. He tried, but a no from me kept him away each time. I had told him to leave. He hadn’t listened. I had threatened to go, he’d threatened to follow.

I felt tired. I thought that with Liam’s arrival, I would already feel better. I didn’t, however I didn’t feel as bad as I had all week. The headache was gone, my back didn’t hurt from sleeping on the floor, and as much as I hated it, being around Caine settled down my Wolf.

I had expected for Caine to be sitting on the chair, watching me.

I had only been awake for about five minutes when he walked into the room. He had showered and was wearing different clothes from what he’d had on last night. He was dressed up. He was wearing black, smug pants, a gray polo, which made his eyes look more gray than green, and he had combed his hair.

“Hello,” he said, walking over to me.

I swallowed audibly, and that made him frown. “Hey,” I said, bringing up my knees and wrapping my arms around my legs.

Caine took a seat on the bed, beside me. He was getting too comfortable. It was my own fault. I had allowed him to stay with me the night before. I hadn’t been able to help it. I wanted to be near him.

The torn feeling was returning, and it was unpleasant. It always started with a chest ache—always when I pushed him away.

“Get ready, I have a surprise for you,” he said.

“A surprise,” I said, giving him a small, humorless chuckle. “No, thank you.”

“You’re mad-”

“I already told you that being mad-”

“Is the understatement of the century,” he finished for me, interrupting me after I interrupted him.

“Yeah, it is,” I said, just because I wanted to have the last word.

“You can still be mad at me. Just come down.”

I looked at him suspiciously. Caine didn’t give anything away. He reached out his hand, brushed his fingers against my cheek. I let him. I didn’t push him away. I felt the tears coming again, burning in the back of my eyes. I couldn’t push him away. I didn’t want to.

“I’m sorry. I really am. I can’t take back what I did. I can’t change what I did. I want to. I have never wanted to change something as much as I want to change this. I can’t.”

I nodded at him. I had no words. He had apologized. It wasn’t like Caine had never apologized to me in the past. It was just rare for him to do so.

“I know you’re angry with me. I deserve it. Just let me give you this, and I will back off,” he said.

He hand was still touching me. He lowered it from my face and tried to interlace his hand with mine. I looked down at our hands, together, intertwined.

“My chest hurts,” I told him.

“Right now?” he asked.

I shook my head at him. “Not right now. When I push you away. It hurts, a lot. I feel like I can’t breathe.”

Caine nodded. “It happens to me too. It’s the bond.”

It made sense. I stayed quiet. Caine tightened his hand on mine. He began rubbing circles with his thumb over my skin. I took a breath, and allowed myself to enjoy his touch. It was a small thing, but a lot more than I’d been getting all week. It felt good.

Caine stayed quiet too. He was just gazing at me, running his thumb over my skin.

I kept waiting for him to stop the moment to tell me about the surprise he said he had. He didn’t. Time just kept passing, with him and me sitting down, Caine holding my hand.

It was peaceful.

I wasn’t sure how long it was that we sat there. Caine’s eyes were on me, and mine were on our hands. I finally interrupted the silence.

“You have a surprise?”

Caine nodded. “You can see it later. We can stay here a little longer if you want,” he said.

I smiled at him. He would say that. My smile caught him off guard. It made me wonder if I had really worried him so much, a smile from me was apparently now that surprising.

“What is it?” I asked.

His expression had softened. “It’s downstairs.”

“Okay, but what is it?”

Caine chuckled. “It’s a surprise. You might want to change.”

I looked down at my clothes. I didn’t want to change. I actually did not feel like getting ready for anything. I especially was not in the mood for going out, and something told me that’s what Caine had in mind. He was all dressed up, Liam wasn’t around, and he was telling me to change.

Caine walked with me to our room. I showered and changed, because he told me I still had time. I was not happy that he stayed in the room. He claimed he was only making sure I did not change my mind. I told him that if I changed my mind, I could. Caine agreed and did not argue with me.

But I didn’t make him leave. I noticed that his eyes were on me the entire time, although I changed in the bathroom after the shower.

I pulled my hair up in a messy bun, and since he was wearing nice clothes, I put on my nice jeans and a nice blouse. It occurred to me that it was a huge step-up from what I had been wearing the night before. I had no idea how they had not been embarrassed to be dragging me around.

It was probably because Caine had been too worried. Liam had been too focused on making me eat. Alpha Dylan thought I was having a mental break-down. And Lesley had only been focused on Liam.

When I got out of the bathroom, I grabbed some flip-flops and told Caine I was ready.

“You look beautiful,” he told me, giving me one of his smiles that pissed me off because it did things to me that I did not like.

I nodded and turned away from him.

“Ready?” he asked.

I started walking towards the door. Caine easily caught up to me, and he took my hand. When I tried to tug it from his hand, he let it go. He didn’t push. I stopped walking and looked up at Caine.

“I want to hold you. If you are not ready, I understand,” he said.

It was another stab in the chest that brought another wave of aches. “It’s fine,” I said, softly.

I reached out for his hand, slowly, easing myself into it. Caine squeezed my hand in his. He didn’t look at me, and he didn’t taunt me for being weak and wanting him. He simply held me and started walking once again.

We were walking hand in hand, down the stairs. I was wondering what his surprise was. Caine was looking straight ahead, a serious expression on his face. It was nothing out of the ordinary, so his face was of no help except staring too much made me tingly and nervous and I had to look away.

Caine and I were half-way down the stairs when Victor and Macon walked in. I knew, in that moment, that I would totally make a killer tracker. I was fast. I was faster than Caine, and that said a lot. Caine had told me that I still didn’t know north from south too well—my sense of direction and my scene of smell weren’t too sharp. He was wrong.

I had smelled Theo’s blood when we had been standing by the side of the road. Not even Tristan had caught on to it, until they all saw me freaking out.

It was happening again.

“You didn’t…” I whispered.

“I talked to Tristan. I made the worst deal of my life,” Caine said, way too casual for what was happening.

“I… Thank you,” I told him, feeling breathless.

Caine took my hand, and kissed it. “Go,” he said, nodding at the door.

I finished running down the stairs, but I could feel Caine walking behind me, taking his time walking down.

“Outside,” Victor told me, and this time, he was grinning at me. “It’s good to see you better, Luna.”

I grinned at him, nodded, and ran outside.

They were there. My parents were there. My dad had already gotten out of the black SUV, and he was helping my mom, who was whining about something—like she loved to do—and I could not even care that she was complaining.

The tears were already in my eyes, except this time there was also a huge grin on my face. When my dad turned to face me, I couldn’t help it, I ran until I reached him, and then I threw myself into his arms.

When he groaned and we tumbled into the ground, I remembered that he was a human and I was way too strong from him.

Still, he didn’t complain. We were both too busy crying and laughing to even care.