Fighter (Outsider Series)

by Micalea Smeltzer

  Believing that I was still asleep he whispered, “I will fix this. I promise.”

  But at what cost?

  * * *

  We had barely been home an hour and we were being dragged to the bakery.

  “I’m beginning to think this was a bad idea,” I said to Caeden. I drove my car and followed Amy and my mom in the car ahead of us.

  He chuckled. “Can you imagine if the wedding was a year from now? At least we only have to put up with this for a few more days.”

  “Wait!” I said suddenly realizing where we were pulling into. “Ah, hell to the no.”

  Caeden snorted. “Lucinda’s.”

  I parked and leaned my head on the steering wheel. “Are they crazy! Gram makes cupcakes not cakes!”

  “This ought to be fun,” Caeden said as he slipped from the car.

  The store was closed for business but Gram had set up the front for us. Samples covered a table and she motioned for us to sit down.

  “Gram,” I started. “What’s going on?”

  She smiled. “Well, it only seems fitting that I make my only grandbaby’s wedding cake.”

  “But you make cupcakes.”

  She shook her head. “I can make a cake just as easily as cupcakes. This is something I want to do for ya’ll. Besides, no one can bake a better cake than me.”

  “I agree with that,” Caeden lifted an empty plate and I glanced over to see that there were three other empty plates beside him. So much for the samples.

  “Trust me,” Gram said. “I can do this.”

  I sighed. I couldn’t exactly tell my Gram that she couldn’t make my wedding cake. Also, with such short notice, most people wouldn’t want to tackle it.

  I smiled. “You win.”

  “Yes!” She clapped her hands. “Tell me what you’re thinking.”

  I didn’t hesitate. “Red velvet cake with cream cheese icing and fondant poppies.”

  Gram sat back with a piece of paper and began to sketch. When she finished she slid the piece of paper across the table to me.

  She had sketched a four-tier cake with cascading rows of poppies. It was simple, but elegant.

  “That’s exactly what I want.”

  “And do I get any say in this?” Caeden asked around a bite of cake.

  I snorted, “Why should you? You’ll eat anything.”

  “True,” he shrugged.

  “That was easy enough,” Amy said from beside Caeden.

  My mom laughed. “That’s Sophie. No nonsense and straight to the point.”

  Gram cleared her throat, calling for our attention.

  “With the wedding and you two needing to focus on the pack, I’ve hired some new employees.”

  I faked indignation. “You’re firing us?”

  Gram paled and stuttered, “I- um-”

  “No worries, Gram. But who’d you hire?”

  She grinned wickedly. “That hoodlum brother of yours,” she pointed at Caeden, “is going to take care of phone orders and deliver them-”

  “You don’t deliver.”

  “I do now,” Gram said, “and I hired Charlotte and Christian to work here in the store.”

  I looked over at Caeden and we shared a look. Gram was in for it. Bryce, with phone orders? I nearly winced at the thought. This was going to be interesting.

  * * *

  We ended up separating when we left Gram’s. Caeden and his mom were meeting the guys at the tux rental place to get fitted. While my mom and I, were going to the florist.

  She gave me directions and we ended up at the front of a small local flower shop. I parked in front of the store and waited for traffic to pass before hopping out.

  My mom had already disappeared inside.

  I pushed open the door and the bell above chimed pleasantly.

  Mom was already speaking to the woman working there. She motioned me over and rested her hands on my shoulders.

  “This is my daughter, the bride.”

  I smiled shyly and extended my hand. “Nice to meet you.”

  “Congratulations on your upcoming wedding. Your mother said it was on the sixth? As in, this Saturday?”

  “Yes, that’s right.”

  The lady visibly cringed. “What do you have in mind?”

  I could just imagine her internal monologue, ‘Nothing too elaborate, nothing too elaborate, please nothing too elaborate’, I had to bite my lip in order to not giggle.

  “Just poppies.”

  “Just poppies?”

  “Yep,” I nodded. “I want my bouquet to be poppies and I have two bridesmaids, so they’ll need them as well. We’ll need three boutonnieres. And I pictured some poppies in mason jars decorating the tables at the reception.”

  The woman breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s easy enough. We can do that.”

  “Excellent,” I grinned. I couldn’t be happier at how things were coming together. I was starting to feel giddy and the butterflies in my tummy had less to do with nerves and more to do with happiness. Everything was coming together perfectly.

  nine.

  I snuggled against Caeden’s warm chest, exhausted from the whole day. His fingers traced lazy circles on my arm and my eyes grew even heavier. Before I could fall fully asleep I said, “We need to look for a house. I certainly don’t plan on staying with Gram or your mom after we’re married. That would just be weird.”

  He chuckled, causing my body to jump and down. “Don’t worry about it. We’ll look tomorrow.”

  “But-”

  “Soph, don’t worry about it, seriously. I’ve got it covered.” Still sensing my reservations, he added, “Trust me.”

  * * *

  “Where are we going?” I asked as we drove up the mountain. We’d already been on the road a good thirty to forty minutes.

  “To look at a house,” Caeden gave me the same answer he’d given me the last ten times I had asked. I huffed and sat back in the seat. I petted Archie’s head to calm myself.

  Caeden turned right onto a road that was barely visible because of all the tree cover.

  “This place must be in the middle of nowhere,” I grumbled.

  Caeden chuckled and shook his head. “That’s kind of the point.”

  I looked around. “Are you sure this isn’t just an excuse for you to push me off a mountain?”

  His laugh filled the car and he reached over to grab my thigh. “Babe, there’d be easier ways to get rid of you.”

  I smacked his hand away. “I hate you.”

  “No you don’t,” he said as he wound around a particularly windy part of the road. Before I could ask if we were getting close he said, “We’re almost there.”

  “Thank you, sweet baby Jesus! My butt is numb!”

  Caeden snorted. “It’s not that long of a drive.”

  “It is when you were in the car for more than four hours the day before. My butt cheeks haven’t had a chance to recover.”

  A smile quirked his lips. “Your humor amazes me.”

  “I’m not being funny, this is serious.”

  Caeden just shook his head and laughed softly under his breath as he turned into the driveway of a very large home. My eyes widened. “It’s too-”

  He grabbed my chin and forced me to look at him, effectively shutting me up.

  “Big? I know you don’t like big houses, but as Alphas it’s necessary. We never know when pack members might need to stay, or have pack meetings, you get the gist.”

  I looked back at the big house. It had to be more than eight thousand square feet. It was set at an angle with plenty of land and a view to die for. You could see for miles and miles, all the way to the interstate, that was roughly a thirty-minute drive from here. The house was gorgeous with a tan stucco exterior and large windows. A massive dark wood door stood as the entrance with the roofing coming out over it. There was a four-car garage attached to the house with dark brown doors. Despite being large, the house had a homey feel to it that made me feel comfortable.

>   Caeden squirmed in the driver’s seat. “I really hope you like it,” his voice quivered.

  “I do… Why?” I turned to him and away from the house.

  “I kinda already bought it.”

  “What?!” My jaw fell open.

  He shrugged and a pink stain crept up from his neck to his cheeks. “These things take time,” he shrugged.

  “When did you buy it?”

  “Well…” He twisted his fingers together and looked out the window, away from me.

  “Caeden!” I prompted.

  He mumbled something incomprehensible even with my advanced shifter hearing.

  “Caeden, you better tell me in the next few seconds, because I seriously want to hit you right now. When did you buy a house?”

  “Before graduation.”

  “How long before graduation?”

  “A little while.”

  “Caeden.” I warned.

  “After you were kidnapped,” his blue eyes met mine.

  “You bought a house in January! That’s six months ago!”

  He squirmed some more, and for some reason I just wanted to pinch him. “I knew I was going to ask you to marry me when the time was right and that we’d need a house. When I saw this on the market, I knew it was perfect, so I jumped on it.”

  Anger drained from my body and I couldn’t help but giggle. What eighteen-year-old guy researches homes for sale and buys one before he even graduates high school? It was hysterical.

  Tears coursed down my face as I laughed.

  “Why are you laughing at me?”

  “You bought a house before you even graduated high school! I find that pretty funny!”

  Caeden looked worried. “You don’t like the house?”

  “It’s great from the outside but I haven’t actually seen the inside yet.” A thought occurred to me. “Does anyone else know about this or am I the only one that was kept in the dark?”

  “Just my mom. She helped me decorate. I told her what you liked.”

  “Which is what?” I’d never bought a home before, I wasn’t even sure if I had a decorating style. Country? Traditional? Modern? Contemporary?

  He shrugged. “The same as me. Homey.”

  I smiled. “I like the sound of homey.”

  He breathed a sigh of relief. “I really hope you like it.”

  “I’m sure I’ll love it. I mean…” I looked out the car window at the house and tears sprung to my eyes. “This is our home.”

  “It is,” he hopped out of the car and came around to my side. He opened the car door and took my hand. He led me to the front door and dug his hand into his pocket. With a smile, he pulled out a shiny key and held it aloft, a triumphant smile on his face.

  “Welcome home,” he said as the door swung open.

  Taking a deep breath, I stepped inside.

  The foyer was huge with a large curved staircase leading upstairs, much like the one in Caeden’s childhood home that I loved. The ceiling of the foyer was open to the upstairs, making it seem even larger and grander. An oversized lantern hung down and Caeden flipped a switch, making it illuminate the room with its golden hue.

  Next, my eyes sought the floors. A fluffy, round, white rug covered the dark hand-scraped hardwood floors in the foyer. I was pleased to see that the beautiful floors extended to the other rooms as well.

  A small, dresser-like, piece of furniture, sat on the right side of the wall. It was robin’s egg blue colored and an ornate golden mirror hung above it. Somehow, it just worked.

  “Stop gawking,” Caeden took my hand. “You haven’t even seen our bedroom yet.”

  I let him lead me to the right, down two small steps into the dining room. The table was large, large enough to sit twenty-four people if need be. The table was made of dark wood; nearly black, and the chairs were upholstered in a pale gray fabric that matched the walls. I smiled when I saw the chandelier; it was made out of Mason jars.

  The buffet table was the same color as the dining table but the front was painted in a black, white, and gray, chevron pattern.

  “Your mom did an incredible job,” I breathed.

  “Babe, the tour has just started,” he smirked.

  Next, he took me into the large kitchen that was attached to the dining room.

  My jaw dropped open. This was the kind of kitchen every person dreamed of, regardless of whether or not they liked to cook.

  The dark wood floors continued into the kitchen and appeared even darker next to the white cabinets and white and gray marble countertops. The backsplash was in varying shades of gray penny tiles.

  Instead of all the cabinets being closed, some were open storage where Amy had displayed beautiful dishes, cookbooks, and some cute decorative chickens.

  I wandered over to the gas stovetop and flicked the switch. I watched the blue flame dance for a moment before turning it off.

  I ventured over to the bay window, where there was a built-in bench seat with a table and chair set.

  Turning around, I spotted more of the Mason jar lights, this time hanging above the island.

  “What’s next?” I turned to Caeden with wide eyes.

  Grinning, he said, “Follow me.”

  He led me down the hallway and with a flick of his wrist opened the door. “And this is my office.”

  “It suits you,” I smiled, taking in the masculine space.

  The walls were a smoky gray, but despite the darker color, the room was very bright due to a whole wall of windows that overlooked the massive backyard.

  The desk was much like the one in his old room, workbench style, but this one was much larger, with a leather chair. A large computer sat on top of the desk along with a work lamp. Across from the desk were two large couches covered in a dark blue fabric. They were very masculine and definitely Caeden.

  “And across from my office-” he led me out and opened the door directly across the hall, “is your office.”

  My eyes widened. “It’s beautiful,” I breathed as my fingers brushed the metallic damask wallpaper, done in crème and silver. My office didn’t have a wall of windows like Caeden’s, but it did have two small ones that over looked the front of the house. Attached to the windows were flower boxes that were overflowing with purple and yellow pansies.

  The desk was crème colored with hints of teal. A large chair with a silvery fabric sat behind the desk and on the wall there was a huge mirror that made the spacious office appear even larger.

  I inspected the wall across from my desk. It was lined with rows of storage that I certainly wished I never had enough junk to fill.

  Before I could finish taking in the room, Caeden was pulling me to the next.

  He showed me the family room next. Two pillars covered in stone framed the archway and the same stonework decorated the massive fireplace. Above the fireplace hung a large flat screen TV and I snickered to myself. Boys and their toys.

  Large windows lined one whole wall of the family room; overlooking the side yard and the forest beyond. It was so peaceful.

  A large sectional couch, dominated the space. A couple of chairs were placed around the room and a plush brown rug covered the floors. The colors were warm and inviting. It was exactly what I would’ve picked for the space.

  “Try it out babe,” Caeden flopped down on the couch and patted the space beside him. “It’s very comfy.”

  I made my way over to the suede oatmeal colored sectional and sat down. I grabbed one of the blue-gray pillows and smiled at Caeden.

  “You did good. This is-” Emotion choked me. “This is home,” I sat back and noticed the ceiling for the first time. It had the same crisscrossing woodwork that I had fallen in love with at Caeden’s house.

  Caeden twisted on his side on the chaise part of the couch and rested his head on his hand. A small smile quirked his beautiful lips. “You like it?”

  “I love it,” I answered honestly. “It’s more than I could have ever wanted.”

  “And you haven�
�t seen the two best rooms yet,” his blue eyes shone brightly.

  “I don’t want to move yet,” I sunk further into the cushions.

  He chuckled and stood. “You have the rest of your life to get comfy on that couch.”

  “The rest of my life?” I smiled up at him. “I like the sound of that.”

  “Good,” he said. “I plan to make every moment count.”

  Caeden stopped outside a set of closed double doors down the hall from our offices.

  Grinning at me he said, “This is my second favorite room the first being, well, our room,” he winked and my stomach flip-flopped. “Ready?” he asked, but before I could answer he swung the door open.

  “Oh my-” my jaw dropped open; it seemed to be doing that a lot lately. “This is just… Is this real?”

  Caeden’s laugh filled the room. “I assure you, this is real.”

  “Wow,” I said as I took in every surface of the home library. Every wall was covered with built-in shelves stocked with books. Not a single shelf bare.

  Cranberry colored couches sat across from each other, with a leather ottoman in the middle, to rest your feet on.

  “I’m never ever going to leave the house. You realize that right?” I turned to Caeden.

  “That was the plan,” he joked and I lightly punched his arm.

  “I can’t believe this is our house,” I breathed as I took in the cozy décor. Amy and Caeden had done an amazing job. And he was right… it was homey. “Bedroom?” I smiled.

  “I thought you’d never ask,” he grinned mischievously as he took my hand and we ran from the library, out to the hallway, and up the stairs.

  Caeden ignored all the doors we passed and I assumed they were just empty bedrooms.

  Pushing open the double doors just like the ones that led to the library, he said, “Tada,” and waved his hands in a flourish. “Welcome to our bedroom.”

  Our bedroom. I loved the sound of our.

  I stepped inside and my feet sank into the plushest carpet I’d ever felt. I kicked off my flip-flops and sunk my toes into it. The walls were painted a light beige color making the room even airier.