by Regan Ure
“Thank you,” I said as I leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his lips. The feel of his lips against mine kick-started the butterflies in my stomach. Touching him, in a way, was comforting and volatile at the same time.
He pulled his lips from mine and held my face.
“The training is just to help you defend yourself; it doesn’t mean I’ll allow you to fight,” he spelled out.
I could feel my temper rise.
‘Allow me’? Who the hell does he think he is?
“Allow me?” I repeated, because I couldn’t believe he’d actually said that to me. I pulled free of him.
“Listen—”
“No, you listen to me,” I warned angrily. “You don’t get to tell me what I can and can’t do, do you understand?”
He rolled his eyes at me. I slipped off the bed as he rose up out of the chair he’d been sitting in. I hated the fact that I had to tilt my head up to his to glare at him.
“There is no need to be dramatic.” He sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. My anger began to grow because now he was treating me like I was a child.
“I’m not being dramatic,” I assured him, balling my hands into fists so I wouldn’t be tempted to slap him again. “Just because you’re my mate doesn’t mean you get to tell me what to do.”
“Take it however you want to. You’re not fighting,” he stated firmly, standing in front of me with his arms crossed over his chest. It was like he was a parent calmly dealing with a child who was throwing a tantrum.
The urge to slap him was so strong that I nearly gave in but I remembered how he’d battled to control himself the last time I’d given in to the urge.
“Get out!” I shouted at him. My temper was in full force now. I wanted him out of my sight before I really lost my temper and slapped him.
“Scar, don’t overreact,” he said, shaking his head at me.
“I said get out!” I repeated and pointed to my bedroom door.
“Fine, I’ll be back when you calm down.” He sighed and turned to leave. I watched him walk out of my room and close the door.
I took a deep breath as I tried to calm down. I was still so angry I wanted to throw something.
Was it so wrong that I wanted to be treated as an equal? I didn’t want him to look at me and see a weak mate that he had to protect. I wanted him to look at me and see a mate who was ready to fight alongside him to protect him and our pack.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Scarlett
When I managed to calm down, I went downstairs. I was hungry and I needed food. As I made my way downstairs, I couldn’t help looking for Cade as I walked to the kitchen.
I hadn’t seen nor heard from him since our argument a couple of hours before. He was probably giving me time to cool off, which had probably been a good idea. Conflicting emotions raced through me at the thought of Cade; I’d never wanted to kiss and slap someone at the same time before.
Gary was sitting at the kitchen table and, at the sight of me, his eyes brightened and he smiled. He stood up and walked over to me.
“I’m so glad you’re feeling better,” he said as he pulled me into a hug and I hugged him back. I had to remember that as hard as it was for me to adjust to this new world, Gary had to adjust as well and it had to be pretty scary for him.
“I’m fine,” I assured him as he released me and scanned my face.
“Are you sure?” he asked, still looking concerned.
“Yes. No more thoughts invading my mind,” I assured him as I went over to the food spread across the kitchen counter.
“Where are Cade and the rest of his guys?” I asked, pretending to be interested in the food I was looking at, but I was dying to know where Cade was.
“He went out with them a little while ago. He said something about checking to make sure the surrounding area is safe,” he explained as he went to sit back down at the kitchen table.
It was a reminder that my life was still in danger. Also, the thought of Cade actively searching for the rogue that had tried to kill me made me worry about his safety. As much as he wanted to keep me safe, I wanted to do the same for him.
“He said he wouldn’t be long,” Gary offered.
I tried to act relaxed as I sat down to have something to eat, but I couldn’t help the growing worry that settled in my stomach. Eventually, halfway through my meal, I pushed my plate away. I was too wound up to eat.
“I’m going to have an early night,” I informed Gary as I got up to leave. Getting an early night was probably a good thing because I had school tomorrow.
“Sure,” he said as he watched me leave.
Upstairs in my room, I tried to keep myself busy with the task of getting ready for bed. I still had no idea where Cade was going to sleep. He had told me that he would be sleeping in my room, but I wasn’t sure if he would be sleeping on the sofa or in my bed. I couldn’t help the flutter of apprehension in my stomach at the thought of sharing the same bed as him.
My attraction to him was undeniable and when my eyes settled on my bed, I couldn’t help but think about Cade without his shirt on and how I wanted to run my hands across his well-defined chest.
I bit my bottom lip as I let my fantasy continue. I wondered if his skin felt as soft as it looked, as soft as his lips were. Just remembering what his lips did to me was enough for my teenage hormones to go into overdrive.
I shook my head, trying to dislodge the thoughts of Cade.
I glanced at my beside clock and it was nine in the evening already. I had no idea how long Cade had been gone for and I wondered when he would be coming back.
I’d showered and changed into my pajamas. My room was slightly darkened, with only my side lamp lighting the room.
“Did you miss me?” Cade asked with a smug grin as he strolled into my room an hour later like he owned it. I narrowed my gaze to glare at him, signaling I hadn’t forgotten about our earlier disagreement or the fact that he’d been out for hours and I’d been worrying about him.
“No.” I issued the lie with a straight face, but his grin just widened.
“You do realize that when you became a member of my pack, I can hear your thoughts,” he revealed smugly.
Ah, crap! I’d forgotten about that. Besides, even if I was aware of it, I had no idea how to stop my thoughts from filtering to him.
His smile widened as he stood with his arms crossed, watching me realize that he’d heard my thoughts all day. I couldn’t stop the red tinge to my cheeks when I remembered some of my thoughts about my attraction to him.
I could glare at him all I wanted, but he knew exactly what I was thinking. It was so annoying.
If the werewolves in his pack could block their thoughts from me, then I should be able to block my thoughts from him.
“You’re right,” he confirmed.
“Will you teach me how?” I reluctantly asked. I wanted my thoughts to be private, so at least then I could decide what thoughts he would hear and which ones he wouldn’t.
“I thought you were mad at me,” he reminded as he watched me squirm. I was tempted to switch off my bedroom light and ignore him, but the need to keep my thoughts private made me soften my glare slightly.
“I still am, but I’m asking you nicely to teach me how to block my thoughts from other members of the pack,” I said, and I may have fluttered my eyes a little. All was fair in love and war, wasn’t it?
“You know I’ll do anything you ask,” he said as he walked over to the bed. I was already tucked into my side of my double bed and he sat down beside me.
“Anything?” I asked, thinking back to our argument over his unwillingness to allow me to fight.
“Anything but that,” he said as his eyes held mine. He wasn’t backing down, but I was stubborn enough to keep at it until he compromised.
“Fine,” I stated with a sigh and crossed my arms.
“I’ll teach you how to block your thoughts,” he offered in consolation. I studied him for a moment before I
relented and smiled at him.
“Okay,” I said.
It was disconcerting that he was able to know what I was thinking without me saying the thoughts out loud. Maybe it wouldn’t feel so weird if I could at least hear his thoughts, but just remembering the pain I’d gone through when I’d overloaded on the thoughts from the pack was enough for me to hesitate.
“Think of something,” he instructed.
Trying to keep my thoughts clear of Cade, I thought about my car that had been totaled.
“We’ll get it replaced,” he assured me as he caressed my cheek. I knew it was replaceable but it would take time and I wasn’t the most patient person.
“The next time you think about it, imagine a wall around the thought,” he instructed as he dropped his hand from my face so I could concentrate. His touch was always so distracting.
Naked chest.
He gave me a smug, knowing smile. Annoyed with myself, I pushed the thought from my mind and thought about my car again. But like he instructed, I imagined a tall wall that protected my thought from prying eyes.
He watched me for a few moments and I got distracted and my wall around my thought disappeared.
“You need to hold the wall because otherwise I know exactly what you’re thinking,” he said.
“Okay, let’s try again,” I said, determined not to let him distract me. It was going to be a lot harder to hide my thoughts around him because he had a way of making me think of nothing else but him.
I repeated the exercise and watched as his forehead creased and then he smiled.
“And?” I asked, waiting to find out if I’d managed to succeed.
“I don’t know what you’re thinking,” he revealed. Not entirely convinced, I thought about the two of us on my bed, making out, and I watched him for the smug smile that never appeared.
He had no idea what I was thinking.
“That is awesome,” I said, excited at the fact that now he wouldn’t be able to tell what I was thinking.
“I think I preferred to know what you were thinking,” he said as he trailed his knuckles down my cheek.
I closed my eyes as I enjoyed the feel of his skin against mine. He took me by surprise when his lips covered mine and pulled me against him. Enjoying the thrilling touch, I complied and let him kiss me.
I got up and straddled him, running my hands through his silky midnight-black hair as his lips moved against mine with more intensity. He grabbed my ass as his tongue slipped into my mouth and tangled with mine.
I groaned as I pressed my body against his.
He growled against my lips and next I felt the softness of my bed underneath my back as he pressed against me from above.
I slid my hands underneath his shirt to feel his soft skin under my fingertips. He felt so good. He pushed harder against me as our kiss intensified and I wrapped my legs around his waist.
I didn’t think, I just acted instinctively. He pulled his lips from mine and rested his forehead against me as he breathed hard.
“We need to stop, otherwise I won’t be able to,” he warned hoarsely.
I was breathing hard and struggling to rein in my out-of-control hormones.
“Okay,” I managed to say as I unwrapped my legs from his waist and he rolled off of me.
As much as I wanted to make out with him and feel him against me, I wasn’t ready to take it as far as he wanted and it wasn’t fair to expect him to be able to hold his control.
“I’m sorry,” I mumbled.
He turned and faced me.
“Don’t be sorry, I know you’re not ready. I can wait,” he assured me.
I gave him a nod. It was this caring and sensitive Cade that was my weakness. It was easy to keep the hard and domineering Cade in his place, but it was harder to fight the caring and sensitive Cade who looked at me with those soft, adoring eyes.
I swallowed the emotion down as he gave me a reassuring smile.
“I need to shower,” he told me as he got off the bed. He walked over to the sofa and picked up a duffel bag and, with one more lingering look at me, he disappeared into my bathroom.
I let out a sigh.
I might not have been ready to take that step with him right then, but I knew it wouldn’t be long before I would want to go all the way with him.
Still preoccupied with thoughts of Cade and mating, it was a good thing I’d learned to block my thoughts. I tucked myself into my bed and waited for Cade to come out of the bathroom.
There was no chance of me falling asleep. My nerves bounced around my stomach and kept me wide awake. I’d never shared a bed with anyone, and I wasn’t sure how much sleep I was going to get if he slept right next to me.
It wasn’t long before the bathroom door opened and he appeared with wet hair and only wearing black sweat pants that hung low around his hips. He didn’t have a shirt on. How was I supposed to control my raging hormones if he pranced around half-naked?
He switched off the bathroom light and dropped his duffel bag beside the sofa as he walked over to the bed.
I quietly watched as he lifted my bedcovers and slipped into my bed beside me.
Yeah, I won’t be getting any sleep tonight.
“Come here,” he whispered to me as he held his arms open.
Unsure of myself, I scooted over and he wrapped his arms around me. I laid my head against his chest.
“Go to sleep, Scar,” he instructed gently. I loved it when he called me that.
Despite my nervousness at sleeping in the same bed as him, I drifted off into a peaceful sleep.
The next morning I woke up and discovered I was lying across him with my legs tangled with his and my arm wrapped around his waist. I blushed slightly as I tried to shift away from him without waking him.
He looked much younger as he slept, and I took a moment to watch him in that peaceful state.
“You getting all stalkerish on me?” he mumbled with his eyes closed. Trust him to open his mouth and ruin the moment.
“You’re my mate, I can stalk all I like,” I stated to him as I got out of the bed.
“True,” he said with a grin as he watched me disappear into my walk-in closet and select some clothes before I went into my bathroom and closed the door.
I got changed into a pair of black skinny jeans and a red top. I brushed my hair and teeth before I put some lip-gloss on. Cade was still lying in my bed, watching me, when I exited the bathroom.
“Those jeans are too tight,” he said as he sat up. I rolled my eyes at him.
“They are fine. They are skinny jeans, they’re supposed to look like this,” I argued, but he didn’t look happy.
“I don’t want you to wear them,” he insisted as he got out of the bed and walked over to me. “I don’t want other guys looking at you like they are going to look at you if you go to school in those jeans.”
“You don’t have to be jealous,” I insisted as I pressed a kiss to his lips. I wasn’t interested in getting any attention from anyone else; he was the only one that I wanted.
“I still don’t want you to wear the jeans,” he continued to argue, but I shook my head.
“I’m going to wear what I want to wear. I don’t tell you what you can and can’t wear, so you don’t get to do that to me,” I warned him gently. We’d had such a peaceful night together and the last thing I wanted to do was start another fight, but I didn’t want to be one of those girls who was told what I could or couldn’t wear.
He let out a sigh as he held me.
“Fine, you can wear them, but you’ll be responsible for all fights I’ll be getting into today because of the guys checking you out,” he teased as he dropped another kiss to my lips.
It was hard to pull away from him, but if we carried on we wouldn’t be going anywhere. I went downstairs to the kitchen while Cade stayed upstairs to change for school.
I heard a rowdy noise coming from the kitchen as I descended the stairs. Hank, Jake and a few other werewolves I’d seen before
at school were seated at the kitchen table with Gary.
“Morning,” I greeted them and they greeted me back.
I got myself a cup of coffee and joined them at the kitchen table. It wasn’t hard to work out that Jake was Cade’s beta. Cade entered the kitchen not long after that. When I looked at him, I couldn’t stop feeling the satisfied possessiveness that he was mine.
Hank stayed behind with Gary while the rest of us left to go to school. I rode with Cade, and the rest of them climbed into the Jeep that Jake drove behind us.
Once we got to school, everyone watched as I got out of the car with Cade. He held my hand as we walked side by side into the school. At my locker, he pressed his lips to mine, leaving me breathless and weak-kneed as he walked off with a smug smile. There was no denying he’d stamped his ownership all over me.
He didn’t get into any fights because the werewolves knew I belonged to him and the human boys were too scared of him to even look in my direction.
“I want all the details,” said a voice behind me. I turned to see Keri giving me a knowing smile.
I smiled back.
“Yeah,” I said back. My brain was already sorting through my existing thoughts, trying to come up with plausible lies that I could tell her because there was no way I could tell her the truth—that we were werewolves and mates.
“Spill,” she instructed as I opened up my locker and got some of my books out.
“He likes me and I like him,” I explained vaguely as I closed my locker and spun the combination
“Those are definitely not enough details. He is the player of the school and then a couple of days after you arrive he is suddenly holding your hand and looking all loved-up,” she said, watching me for a response.
“You do realize I’ve never seen him hold hands with a girl ever,” she added.
“It just kind of happened. He isn’t the shy type and he told me that he liked me and I’m attracted to him—any girl would be—so we are dating,” I lied with a shrug. We were way more than dating; we were forever.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN