“Huh?”
Nolan’s fist cocked back and straight into my face. He packed enough force and I was caught off guard, so I fell to the ground.
“Did you really just punch me in the face?!” I yelled.
“I did. Punch me back, Cay-berry,” he raised both his fists and danced on the balls of his feet.
“No way.” I wasn’t giving Nolan the reaction that he wanted from me. I was smarter than that.
“Come on, Cay-berry. Fight back. Prove to me that you’re not the pansy you act like.”
My nostrils flared at that.
“Prove that you’re a man, Caeden. Fight me.”
When I still didn’t do anything, he drew his foot back and kicked my side. I had anticipated that, so the blow wasn’t as hard as it could have been. He was really beginning to make me mad now, which was what he wanted.
“Get up, and fight me,” he tilted his head, grinning manically.
I hopped to my feet in one lithe move and punched him in the nose. Blood trickled down to his chin. “That’s more like it,” he laughed. “There’s the fire I want to see.”
“You happy now?”
“Very,” he grabbed a dishtowel off the counter and used it to clean his bloody nose.
I shook my head. “I don’t understand what that was about.”
“I wanted to see if you still had it,” he shrugged.
“Have what?” Why the hell did Nolan always have to speak in damn riddles? Wasn’t it easier to just say whatever you have to say?
“The fire,” he spoke fiercely. “The drive to fight and conquer. You haven’t been acting like a leader these last few months, Caeden. You’ve only thought about Sophie and holed up in your office doing God knows what. I wanted to see that your leader instincts were still there, and they are. So, congratulations, Caeden,” he slow clapped.
“You make absolutely no sense whatsoever,” I shook my head.
“I do make sense,” he countered, “you’re just too dense to see what I’m showing you.”
“And what’s that?”
“Do I really have to spell it out for you? Get with the program, Cay-berry,” he smacked his hands in front of my face like you might do to someone who was staring off into space—only I wasn’t.
Nothing else could be said because Evan chose that moment to step into the kitchen. “Everything alright?” He asked. “It was taking you a while to get the drinks and I heard raised voices…” He trailed off.
“Yeah, sorry,” I shook my head, “the drinks are ready.”
“Cool,” Evan grabbed several of the drinks off the tray and I picked up the remaining few.
I decided to hang out with the guys, even though I felt incredibly awkward. They weren’t my friends, they were Sophie’s, but it would have been rude to ditch them. Nolan didn’t join me. Figures.
I couldn’t for the life of me figure out what he meant by punching me and by a fire, and so on. Nolan needed to come with an instruction book to decipher his alien messages.
“You said Sophie’s napping?” Riley questioned.
I nodded.
“She sick?” He continued his inquisition as all of the guys stared me down. They acted like they thought I’d killed her and stuffed her body in a closet or something.
“Kind of,” I shrugged, relaxing in the leather chair, the picture of ease. “She’s having a hard time with the pregnancy.”
Kyle, one of the guys that never seemed to say much, spat out sweet tea everywhere at my words. “Baby?”
“She’s pregnant?” Evan choked, his eyes bugging out in shock.
“Uh…yeah…you didn’t—uh—know?” I squirmed uncomfortably. Thank God Sophie had surprised me with the news of the baby in front of our whole family, because if telling her friends made me feel this uncomfortable, I hated to think of how I would’ve felt telling her dad.
“She never told us,” Brody piped in. “She doesn’t really talk to any of us that much anymore. I mean, we’re off at college and she’s here,” he looked around at the large room. “I get it, I do. But we miss her.” All the guys nodded in agreement.
His words made me feel bad, because they had been really good friends to Sophie. Human friends, and I knew she treasured them.
“There’s been a lot going on,” I explained. “The pregnancy has been…difficult.” And wasn’t that the understatement of the freakin’ century.
“Is she okay? The baby?” Brody asked.
I nodded. “Yeah. Nothing major is wrong. She’s just exhausted.” And I was too. All the worrying I was doing was really taking a toll on me. I was going to have to get better about leaving Sophie with someone else so I could train with Bryce and Bentley. A lot of strength came with being a shifter, but we still had to exercise to stay in our best shape. And I knew if I ever expected to kill Travis and his mutants I couldn’t slack—and that’s exactly what I’d been doing.
“So,” Evan smirked, “y’all did get married because she was pregnant then.”
I shook my head. “No, that happened after, I promise you,” I chuckled. I really didn’t want to be talking about this with these guys.
I rubbed my hands nervously on my jeans, wishing that a miracle would happen and Sophie would appear so I could disappear from all this awkwardness.
And then, as if conjured by my thoughts alone, I looked out of the family room to see her shakily making her way down the steps.
I hopped up and ran up the steps to her side. Her skin was pale and she was way too frail. This was scaring me more and more with every day that passed. Who would’ve thought that because we’re both Alphas it would complicate the pregnancy? If anything you’d think it’d make it easier.
I placed my arm around her and helped guide her down the steps. She was getting weaker, that much was obvious, and I’d been right before about her losing weight. There was a gaunt hollowness to her cheekbones. It was like the baby was sucking the life right out of her. I didn’t know how we were going to make it through this. The baby wasn’t due until April. We had a good five more months of this and if she was like this now…I hated to think of what she’d be like by the end of the pregnancy.
“I don’t feel good,” she admitted reluctantly, looking at me with defeated brown eyes. I knew it was killing her to admit that to me.
“We have visitors,” I whispered in her ear.
“Who?” She questioned.
“Your soccer buddies.”
Her whole face instantly brightened at that news. Geez, if these guys made her that happy I’d move them in. She spent too much time sulking these days.
“Yeah. Why don’t I get you into the family room and bring you some food?” I suggested.
She nodded. “Sounds good, but—uh—I’m in my pajamas.”
“That won’t do,” I eyed her practically see through white t-shirt. I didn’t want to let her go, because she looked like she was about to fall over, so I held onto her awkwardly as I shrugged out of my green sweatshirt. I wrapped it around her and helped her get her arms through. I promptly zipped it all the way up. I didn’t want any of those guys staring at her.
“Happy now?” She began to laugh but it quickly turned into a cough. Seeing her like this…it felt like I was being stabbed over and over again.
I guided her to the couch and the guys instantly swarmed around her, asking her a million and one questions.
I looked through the pantry for a can of soup. She didn’t look like she’d be able to get anything else down. When I found one that didn’t sound entirely repulsive, I poured it into a pot to let it heat.
I braced my hands on the counter and my shoulders were tense.
I needed to focus on Travis. I needed to watch the life leave his eyes before our baby came into this world. But Sophie—she was my top priority and until she was well, Travis would have to wait. In life, sacrifices have to be made, and this was one of them.
Eleven.
Sophie
“I am never having another baby,” I seeth
ed, glaring up at Caeden as I slouched over the toilet bowl. “If you ever try to impregnate me again I will cut you.”
He didn’t laugh at my warning like most guys would have. Instead, his frown deepened further. “I thought the nausea was supposed to go away.”
“Maybe if you’re a human—” I started to gag and Caeden reached down to pull my hair away from my face. When I had finished retching I began to sob. “I hate this so much. I never thought being pregnant would be like this, Caeden.”
He sat down on the bathroom floor and pulled me into his arms. I tried to pull away with protests of my stinky breath, but he wasn’t having any of it.
“Stinky or smelling like rainbows, I don’t care,” he kissed the top of my head.
“Was that supposed to sound romantic? Because it wasn’t. Your skills are seriously lacking,” I joked.
He chuckled. “Yeah, when you get married you forget how to be charming.”
“At least you’re mine,” I sighed. “I’ll keep you anyway, even if you’re not charming.”
“You love me despite the fact that I’m defective?” He laughed. “Good to know.”
We sat on the floor for a few more minutes before he finally coaxed me to stand up. Since I was so weak, he held onto my waist while I brushed my teeth.
“Thank you,” I told him as the last of the frothy white goo disappeared down the drain.
He helped me back in the bed and tucked the covers around me. Neither of us had said much about the fact that I was getting weaker every day, but we both knew it. I could see the fear in Caeden’s eyes every time he looked at me, and it bothered me that I was the cause.
“I’m going to see Bryce and Bentley,” he told me, bending to press a gentle kiss to the top of my head. “Nolan’s here so if you need anything, holler for him.”
“Okay,” I said, even though I hated being left here with Nolan. But Caeden had been leaving more and more. It was obvious he was working out. He was more bulked up now than I’d ever seen him. His shirts had gotten too tight and strained against his muscular chest.
I reached out to touch him, needing to feel him. My hand landed weakly against his chest and he frowned at how prominent my veins had become.
“Everything will be okay,” I whispered.
His eyes met mine with disbelief.
“It will. Everything always works out in the end, even if we have to struggle to get there. Think about this, we get to find out if the baby is a boy or girl next Monday. That’s exciting, right?”
He nodded, but there was still a shadow clouding his face, and all I wanted to do was chase his storms away.
“I still know it’s Lucy,” he chuckled. “Call it a father’s intuition.”
I rolled my eyes. “I say it’s Beau.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Caeden smiled, “the baby’s going to take after me anyway.”
“Whatever,” I threw a pillow at him. “Get out of here so you can get home to me sooner.”
“I love you,” he said as he paused in the doorway.
“Love you too,” I smiled at him, waving weakly.
I sighed loudly and both dogs were quick to join me on the bed. I rubbed their heads and it helped to calm me. I knew Caeden had better things to do then sit here with me all day, heck I’d pushed him to leave me alone on many occasions, but I was spending more and more time by myself and to put it bluntly, it sucked.
“I’m sorry, baby,” I placed my hand against my stomach. “This may suck, but you’re definitely worth it. I can’t wait to hold you, baby. Mommy loves you.”
* * *
Caeden
Bentley spotted me as I lifted the heavy weight above my head. My arms strained and sweat soaked my body, but I didn’t care. I didn’t even know how much it weighed, but it was heavy, I could tell you that much. I lowered it and lifted it up again, pushing past the burn. My thoughts couldn’t wander when I did this. I had to focus entirely on lifting and lowering the weight.
“You should stop,” Bentley warned trying to take the weight from me and hook it on the bar.
“No,” I growled, tightening my grip.
“You’re going to wear yourself out,” he taunted, stepping back.
“I. Don’t. Care.” I huffed between breaths. I saw him shake his head out of my peripheral vision, but he said no more.
I lifted until my arms felt like limp noodles and I couldn’t continue. The metal bar clanked loudly and I sat up, my breathing was accelerated and my face was probably red. The muscles in my arms were twitching and burning, but I didn’t mind.
“You okay?” Bentley asked.
“Never better,” I reached for a towel to dry my damp face.
“Here,” he tossed me a bottle of water. “If you’re going to go all out you need to keep up your fluids.”
I shook my head at his tone. He was worried about me and Bentley was the kind of guy that never worried about anything, so that was saying something.
I guzzled down the bottle of water and held out my hand so he could toss me another one.
I threw the empty bottles in the recycling bin my mom kept in the basement and ran my fingers through my damp hair. “What’s up with you?” I asked Bentley. I needed to hear about someone else’s life for a change. I was so sick of talking about mine.
He shrugged. “Nothing much to talk about. Chris’ is driving me nuts decorating the apartment. She keeps asking me about coordinating colors. Do I look like I know anything about coordinating colors?” He shook his head. “I love her anyway, though, even when she’s driving me batshit crazy.”
“Yeah, they have that effect on you,” I shrugged.
“How’s Sophie? She didn’t look too good when I saw her on Thanksgiving,” he asked.
Shit. I didn’t avoid talking about my life for long.
“Yeah, she’s fine.”
Bentley gave me a doubtful look, but didn’t push me for more information. That was why we made such good friends. We knew when to leave the other person alone.
“Are you done?” Bentley asked.
I looked around the basement with my hands on my hips. I didn’t want to stop, and while being a shifter meant I’d recover quicker than a human from this amount of exertion, I knew I shouldn’t push it.
“Nah, I’m done,” I tossed the soiled towel into the hamper.
“Want to get something to eat before you head home?”
I thought about it for a moment. “Sure.”
I hadn’t spent much time with Bentley—any of the pack for that matter—in months. I had my reasons, but I did miss them. There was just so much I couldn’t say to them.
Bentley smiled, shaking his dark hair out of his eyes. “That was easier than I thought.”
“Yeah, well…”
“’Bout time we had a guys night. Although, you better shower before we do anything. You smell like a five day old tuna sandwich,” he pinched his nose in exaggeration.
“I was planning on it,” I started towards the showers.
It didn’t take me long to wash the sweat and grime from my skin. Since I’d been spending so much time here, I also had a stash of clean clothes. I sent Sophie a text letting her know I’d be later than I planned. I held my breath for a reply and sighed in relief when she said okay.
It would’ve worried me if I hadn’t heard from her and Bentley would have ended up wanting to punch me.
“Ready?” Bentley asked me as I tugged my shirt down.
“Yeah,” I nodded, my stomach already rumbling.
We each took separate cars and met at the restaurant. It was loud in there and to my sensitive ears it was a killer.
“You couldn’t have picked somewhere else to eat?” I questioned Bentley. “I think my eardrums are going to burst.”
“Hey, I wanted the green bean fries, those things are delicious. And you did tell me I could pick the place,” he continued to scan the menu. “So quit your complaining.”
He had a point.
A
waitress appeared and we placed our order. We both got cheeseburgers and two orders of Bentley’s beloved green bean fries—which sounded gross to me, but he said I’d end up hogging them, hence the two orders.
We chatted about random things. Human things. It was nice to be a normal guy for a change, even if it was only for a night.
By the time we left the restaurant we were laughing and carrying on like we’d drunk a couple of beers, but neither of us had actually had anything to drink.
“We have to do this again soon,” Bentley thumped my back as he passed me on the way to his car. “I need more guy time, and less estrogen.”
I nodded in agreement. I needed to be better at finding balance. That had always been my problem. I went all out, and I forgot to breathe. I scrubbed my hand over my face before I started the car.
I decided to make a pit stop on my way home and got ice cream and toppings so we could make our own sundaes. It wasn’t much, but I thought Sophie would enjoy it.
I’d been gone all day and the house was dark and quiet. I hoped Nolan hadn’t left. I hated to think of Sophie here by herself all that time, but I knew if she had really needed me she would have called.
I grabbed two bowls out of the cabinet and made our sundaes. They weren’t the prettiest things ever created, but we were only going to eat them so I didn’t see how it mattered.
I carried the bowls upstairs and kicked open the bedroom door.
“I’m not hungry,” were the first words out of Sophie’s mouth.
“Good, because this isn’t food. It’s ice cream. Big difference,” I grinned.
She instantly brightened and a huge smile spread across her pretty face. God, I loved that smile, I lived for it actually.
“Ice cream? I haven’t had ice cream in forever,” she pushed herself up and adjusted the pillows behind her back before holding out her hands for a bowl.
I handed it to her and changed into my jammie jams—I couldn’t ever seem to call them pajamas—before climbing into bed beside her.
“This is so yummy,” she moaned, licking the spoon. “You even put sprinkles and whipped cream on it…ooh, is that a brownie mixed in?”
I laughed at her excitement. It didn’t take much to make my girl happy, all the more reason to love her.
Avenger (Outsider Series) Page 9
