He watched as the girls stood and the boys followed them onto the small dance floor.
He jerked as if he wanted to follow and Calder came up beside him, “Isn’t that your girl?”
Cage gave a tight nod, and Calder’s eyebrows lifted, “Are you just going to let her dance with that guy?”
Cage gave another nod and Calder rolled his eyes, “You and Ryke are so dumb. I don’t get it. She is right there. Your mate. You are both of age and you still haven’t claimed her? How are you not over there ripping that guys throat out? I don’t get it. Maybe you deserve to have her dance with that guy.”
Cage rolled his eyes this time. This wasn’t new. Someone always had to spout off their mouth about the fact that he hadn’t claimed his mate.
It wasn’t like he didn’t want to, he just couldn’t. Not with his monster inside him. He didn’t want her to be like him. To end up with a tainted wolf and vampire.
To have two separate voices in your head telling you what to do.
To have one voice yearn for blood and violence.
Yeah. No thanks. He would rather chain that part of himself up than give her a monster like his.
He knew they both wanted to love and protect her and his monster was like a purring kitten when she was around, but he was still terrified.
He wished he could talk to someone about it, but no one had heard of a hybrid before. And he didn’t know any vampires, so it wasn’t like he could ask anyone.
Bobby tried to tell him that she would be fine, but he didn’t have the experience either, so he kept his feelings buried deep.
Calder walked off and Cage watched as Wren carefully danced with Alec.
Still not touching him. Refusing to touch his skin at all. Like it felt wrong to her and he knew why she did.
It was the only thing that kept him from storming over to her.
Ryke on the other hand looked as if he wanted to choke Kirt to death.
His thoughts were full of just that and Cage’s vampire loved the malevolence in Ryke’s thoughts.
He too wanted to rip the guy limb from limb and bathe in his blood. After drinking most of it.
Cage shoved those thoughts down deep, even though he appreciated them to no end.
He looked over at Ryke, and he was trying to be nonchalant, but Cage knew Ryke was anything but.
When the door opened and Logan came back in with his mate, they had a bag of food and Wren abandoned Alec on the dance floor and rushed over to them, taking the bag and hugging Raina.
Then Logan pulled his girl from the bar. Cage watched as Wren pulled Ever away from Kirt and they also left the bar.
He took a deep breath of relief as they got in Wren’s car and drove away.
Ryke also calmed and Cage walked over to him, *That was the worst thing I have ever seen.*
Ryke nodded, “Yeah, that wasn’t my favorite.”
Cage gave a silent snort, *What are we going to do about them? I don’t like it. That they are okay with dancing with other men.*
Ryke shrugged, “I don’t know. I’m always at a loss when it comes to her. Have been from the start. I don’t know how to keep her out of my thoughts and to stay away from her. I’m so lost, Cage.”
Cage put his hand on Ryke’s shoulder, *We will figure it out. Hopefully.*
Ryke snorted, “Yeah. We haven’t so far. I don’t really have much faith in that.”
Cage nodded, knowing Ryke was one hundred percent correct.
They watched as Croy and Tegan finished up their game of pool and then Ryke looked at his watch.
“Hey, we have an early day. Let’s get the fuck out of here.”
Everyone nodded and Deacon pulled out his phone and as they walked out of the bar, they saw Logan kissing his girl.
The guys all watched in awe. No one had ever gotten that close.
Deacon almost had, but his girl left before they actually could kiss and he had never even touched Wren’s skin.
Though he dreamed of it. Every fucking night.
Then they watched Logan as he walked her to the hotel and kissed her again.
Then he got in the truck and Deacon punched his arm and they all joked with Logan about it.
He wasn’t ashamed of kissing her and Cage had never felt so envious.
When Logan told him about meeting his girl at the building she wanted to make into a bakery, he agreed to tag along.
He loved the building they spoke of and knew it could be a showpiece for sure.
When they got back to their cabins, Deacon rushed out of the truck like it was on fire.
Cage watched after him and shook his head. After seeing Logan kiss his girl, he knew Deacon was struggling.
He could read it and not just in Deacon’s thoughts.
He knew Deacon’s smile didn’t touch his eyes and when he went to ask his friend about it, he didn’t get an answer to his knock.
He let his senses fan out a little further and saw that Deacon had changed to his wolf and wouldn’t be back anytime soon.
Cage went to his cabin and looked around it. He had surrounded himself with his girl. He had bought things that Wren would love.
Big fluffy blankets, a ton of those stupid tiny pillows that went on his couches and a ton of girly shit that he hoped she would love.
He had seen stuff in her room, and had bought replicas of her perfume and lotion and had started buying some clothes for her to keep here.
He didn’t know why. He was so stupid. But he felt better having some tiny thing of hers.
She once brought a bag of old shirts and stuff outside to donate or throw away and he had picked it up and kept a few of her shirts.
Okay, he kept the entire bag. He wanted to be surrounded by her. By the clothes that touched her skin.
He slept with one under his pillow.
He doused his blankets in her perfume almost daily and rolled around in her scent like a cat with catnip.
It was his dirty little secret, but it kept him from doing something dumb, like taking her and claiming her in his desperation to be close to her.
He sat on his bed and pulled the shirt from under his pillow, holding it to his nose.
He remembered her wearing the shirt in high school.
He had been so close to touching her that day, because the shirt was a little too small and showed off the skin of her belly and back.
He had had a damn hard on the entire day and his fingers had itched to touch her skin to see if it was as silky as it looked.
It was the hardest thing he had ever done. Keeping his hands to himself.
He was shaken from that memory when he heard Deacon’s door slam shut.
He needed to speak to him.
And what he found out when he spoke with his friend was not what he was expecting.
When he finally came back home, he sat at his counter and went over their conversation.
Deacon was more haunted than anyone realized.
He yearned for his mate and Cage hated that he was in so much pain.
He at least got to see Wren every day. Deacon’s mate was gone and Deacon wasn’t sure if he would ever see her again.
Cage took it for granted. He had to figure this out. To find out if there were other hybrids out there so he could see if he would pass it to his mate.
Or if she would get one or the other.
He was terrified either way.
But he couldn’t keep doing this. Pushing her away because he was scared.
She deserved more. Like Deacon had said. And Calder and Croy and Logan.
Hell, Bobby and Diana told him that all the time.
He needed his mate and that was that.
He would work his ass off to actually make that dream finally a reality.
Chapter Four
Wren
She was tired of the same old, same old and refused to go with Ever to the bar.
She didn’t like the position she had been put in last night.
She didn’t l
ike trying to talk to another guy when her heart was fully set on one man.
And yes, while that one man was stubborn as fuck and didn’t give her the time of day, the heart wanted what the heart wanted.
And her silly heart didn’t seem to want anyone else. Just Cage Langston.
After that disastrous night, she refused to go back to the bar. She had to take a step away from him. And from that situation.
She threw herself into work and got her mom all caught up on clients and paperwork.
She also taught herself a new skill. She learned how to crochet and started making a blanket.
It kept her mind on the task at hand and off of him.
The insufferable, handsome man that she wanted to throw herself at constantly.
His big sexy self. Gah. Nope. She wasn’t doing this. Not today.
That thought made her snicker and she looked back down at her blanket, which now had a few stitches wrong.
She let out a curse and pulled the yarn free, going back to where she had started letting her thoughts go nuts about Cage.
Now wasn’t the time. She turned on her television, needing something to keep her mind off him, and watched a show about sexy firemen.
They didn’t have a thing on her man, but they were cute.
She let out a groan. Her man. Ha. He wasn’t her anything. It was a fun thought though.
She put her crocheting aside, knowing that no matter how hard she tried that she would think of Cage.
She lay back on her bed, pulling up one of the pictures she had taken of Cage on her phone.
She had gotten really sneaky when she had her phone out and could take pictures of him without anyone knowing.
Tonight, she needed to look at them.
Making sure her door was locked, she turned her main light off and then her bedroom lamp on.
Then, she was still on her covers, knowing she was alone, and pushed her fingers down her pants, rubbing her clit softly.
Imagining it was Cage’s hand there instead.
She looked at her album of pictures she had and looked at the one with him brushing his hair out of his eyes.
It was her favorite. He had looked right at her and when she zoomed in the picture, she could see every shade of brown in his eyes.
His handsome face was serious and she could see the scars on his face and his neck.
Those turned her on even more. She let out a moan as she rubbed soft circles around her clit and her body went stiff.
She propped her phone on the pillow beside her and played with her nipples while she touched her clit.
And she studied Cage’s sexy face and let out another moan as her body got closer and closer to orgasm.
She bit her lip, not wanting to be too loud and have Ever try to come in.
And she got closer and closer to the edge, closing her eyes and imagining Cage here, with his body pressing down on hers and his mouth taking hers in a possessive kiss.
She could practically feel his mouth there and almost smell him. Could swear she felt his weight on her.
She came apart at that thought, clamping her mouth shut and turning her face into the pillow.
She pulled her hand from her panties and wiped them on her sheets and then fell back.
That was intense. Like nothing she had ever done.
And when she opened her eyes, she studied his face once again and she gently touched the screen.
“I love you. I wish you knew. That you even saw me. I know I’m a crazy stalker girl that can’t stop, but it feels like I belong to you. And you belong to me. That there is some bond that paired us up before we were even born and I wish that you would do something about it. Like you felt the same. I need you Cage. My body feels hot, and achy and I need you to be here with me. To fill me and to mark me as yours. I don’t understand that part, but lately and since my eighteenth birthday, whenever I see you my neck tingles and aches. Like it wants you to bite me. Which is completely insane. You wouldn’t bite me. I just need you. I wish I could talk to you. That you would talk to me too. That you would tell me your secrets and I could tell you mine. Not that I have many, but I wish for all of this. It’s my biggest secret. Lord I wish you were here.”
She touched his face again and then sighed, shutting the phone off and going to the bathroom to shower and wash her hands.
When she came back out, everything was as she left it, but it had a scent that she had sworn she smelled before.
Just a trace and she went still. Nothing was in here. She rolled her eyes at herself, looking at the window and wishing that she could stop this.
It didn’t do any good to think this way.
She got dressed in a big shirt and some panties and lay down in her bed.
She looked at her pictures of Cage again and fell asleep with his image in her head.
Chapter Five
Cage
He knew it was wrong. Watching as Wren touched herself. While looking at his picture on her phone.
He had taken his cock out of his pants and had come right along with her.
He had to bite his lip to not make noise and then he jumped from the tree, needing to get away from her.
If he had so much as one whiff of her arousal scent, he would have broken through her window and taken her.
Yeah. It wouldn’t have ended well and he knew that much. He ran as far from her house as he could and changed.
He howled his misery into the night.
The next morning, he woke up in the forest. He got up and walked back to his house, knowing he told Logan he would go to town with him today.
But after he had showered and gotten dressed, he came out expecting to ride with Logan and the fucker had already left.
Cage started laughing in his head and got in his truck, pulling into the bakery parking lot, where Logan looked over with guilt on his face.
It was fine really, and he knew Logan hadn’t forgotten him, but he gave him a hard time anyway.
*Thanks for the heads up on leaving. Asshole.*
Logan shrugged.
Cage rolled his eyes and got out of his truck, and Donna looked him up and down.
“Oh, Cage Langston. I knew that was you.”
Cage gave her a nod, and Logan said, “Raina, this is my crew mate Cage Langston. He came so he could help me figure out exactly what we need to do.”
Raina thanked him and he signed to her, “You are welcome. My pleasure.”
Logan let her know that he was mute and Cage held out his hand to her, and Logan’s mate took it.
She was kind and he liked her. She would be good for his friend.
Donna walked over to him, “It’s been a while since I saw you Cage. Wren misses seeing you at school.”
He felt his cheeks heat, and signed, “I miss seeing her too.”
Donna laughed, “Wren is probably going to strangle me for telling you that.”
Cage laughed in his silent way and they walked into the old building.
It still had good bones and a good foundation.
He checked everything out, noting that Logan wasn’t. Logan was just following his girl and while he took a few notes, it wasn’t detailed like his own were.
He made sure the electrical was good, that there wasn’t any water damage anywhere and that everything was solid.
He also took pictures of everything and knew exactly what Tegan would want to do in the kitchen.
He took as many pictures as he could and measured everything out in the kitchen twice, just to be good for Tegan and then took his time with the front, where they would need a display case.
He showed Raina all the ideas he had for it and she excitedly talked to him about what she wanted.
He would sketch out some ideas and she would get even more excited about it.
He could see exactly what Raina envisioned and he knew it would be a welcome and friendly place.
Logan came up to them and Cage finished up, the ideas for everything that Raina wanted fre
sh in his head.
He could see the vision of the place from her thoughts and he loved how inviting it looked and knew he would do his best to help her get her dream.
Donna told Raina she would get the paperwork and he walked outside with her.
She gently touched his arm, “You know she really misses you. You were her best friend for a long time and I know that you went your separate ways when you got older, but she never understood why. It was hard on her and us. We love you Cage. Always have. We only want the best for you.”
Cage gave a soft huff, and then signed, “I know. I had and have my reasons for not talking to Wren anymore. It hasn’t been easy and I miss her more than words can say.”
Donna gave a nod, “I will be okay with that. For now. I do think you need to try to explain it to Wren though.”
He gave a tight nod and went still.
He tilted his head and heard Logan’s fucked up bear chanting in Logan’s head, “Claim her, mark her, change her.”
He had to stop it. They couldn’t have Logan do that here and now. It wouldn’t end pretty. Plus Logan wasn’t sure if he wanted to change her, so Cage hurried over to the building where he saw Logan sucking face with his girl and grinding on her.
He cleared his throat and when Logan looked over at him, he signed, “Um, you want to not, uh, suck face with your girl while Donna and I are here? Because I don’t know about you, but I really don’t want to see your girl naked. Your bear would be pissed and attack my creature and that wouldn’t be good for anyone.”
He had to fight to not roll his eyes and when Logan stepped away from Raina, Cage could hear him starting to growl and he watched as Logan coughed, again and again.
*You alright?*
Logan shook his head, and signed, “My bear is freaking out. He wants to mark her. To claim her.”
He felt his eyebrows raise, *Yeah, he is projecting pretty hard. It’s why I came in here. To break it up. Otherwise, I would have occupied Donna for longer. You were too far gone in kissing her to hear your bear pushing for what you don’t want.*
Logan nodded, signing, “I need to get it under control.”
Cage huffed, *Your bear is a messed up fucker. I can’t seem to get a read on him. Or you. It’s like you are blocked by something and have been since the beginning. I think that block is a big reason why you don’t understand your bear. Why you both don’t click. Normally even a made shifter is in sync with his animal. You aren’t. And I don’t understand it.*
Cage Page 5