It was long moments later, when he was able to move, that he withdrew from her body and carried her to the bed. She peered at him from sleepy, satisfied eyes. His heart flipped in his chest.
“Mmm. Come on, let’s go to sleep.” She yawned and held a hand out to him.
He got under the warm covers and held her, loving the feel of his mate’s body in his arms.
Lili woke with a jerk. There was shouting going on, and she had no idea why.
“You stupid son of a bitch! What the fuck is wrong with you?”
Was that Brandon? Why was he yelling? Others were talking at the same time, and there was a lot of growling she couldn’t make out.
She sat up in a rush and glanced to the side of the bed next to her but didn’t see Cade. She dashed to the bathroom and winced at the person staring back at her.
“Oh my god I look like I’ve been in an orgy.” Her hair was a wild, tangled mess, her lips were swollen, and she had a hickey. No. She had two hickeys! If Aunt Patty saw her she’d have an apoplexy.
She brushed her teeth, washed her face, and fixed her hair within the blink of an eye. Then she ran to her case and pulled out jeans, a sweater, and boots.
Upon leaving the cabin, she was caught by surprise when she saw Brandon and all of his brothers on one side, and Cade and a large group of men on another.
“What’s going on?”
All eyes turned to her.
“Go inside!” Cade growled.
She lifted her brows at his order.
“I mean, please go inside.”
She grinned. “I don’t think so. What’s going on?”
“Lili, you need to come with me. My brothers and I will take you back to your family. I’m sorry.” He appeared genuinely contrite. “This is all my fault. I had no idea Cade would stoop this low.” He glared at Cade, who just looked at her with a stony face.
Something cold settled into her stomach. “Stoop how low?” She glanced from one man to the other. “What did he do?”
“He,” Brandon spat, “abducted you thinking you were Jaylin.”
She jerked toward Cade. “What?”
“Yes,” Brandon continued. “He was going to keep her locked up so she would miss the wedding. As his own sick way of getting back at me.” His voice deepened to the growling she’d come to know belonged to a werewolf. She gaped at Brandon as he spoke. “He didn’t get Jaylin, so he decided to keep you. Whoever gave him the details obviously messed up when it came to who the bride was.”
The cold block in her stomach expanded until it reached her throat, almost cutting off her oxygen. Slow steps led her to Cade. She looked him in the eyes for a moment. A worried frown covered his face.
“Is it true?” She needed to hear the words come out of his mouth. “Was your plan to abduct Jaylin to stop the wedding?”
He gave a short nod.
Anger, hurt, and sadness clogged her throat. “Why? What do you have against her?”
A flush spread over his cheekbones. “Nothing. This was between me and Brandon.”
“I already told you I didn’t take your fiancée, Cade.” Brandon growled. “You cut my friendship off without even asking me if what Linda had told you was true. She left you, and it was not for me. She left you for an older man who promised her free reign of his money. Something you would not do,” Brandon barked.
“Wait a second,” she interjected. “So you abducted me, kept me here, even after I explained I wasn’t the bride, and all over something that never happened?” she hissed.
“Lili, let me explain—” He made a move to grab her, but she scurried away from him and toward Brandon.
“You’ve explained enough.” Cold seeped through her sweater and mingled with the cold residing in her gut.
“No. You don’t understand—”
“Understand what, Cade? That this was a little joke for you? Have a fun time with me because you wanted to get back at Brandon?” She gulped, pushing down the emotions rising to the surface. “Let me tell you something about Brandon. He is one of the most honorable men I’ve ever met. I don’t know who this Linda is, but I bet you that he never laid a hand on her if she was your girl. That’s the type of man he is. And you were supposed to have been his friend and couldn’t see that?” She shook her head. “What a shame. You lost a really great friend in him.”
“Don’t go,” he whispered, their gazes locked on each other.
“I gave you the opportunity to come clean, but you decided to keep me here and didn’t share the reason why you didn’t want me to go.” She took a deep breath and felt her heart break into pieces, a dull ache taking residence in the center of her chest. “I can’t be with someone who doesn’t tell me the truth.”
He growled. “Fine, you want the truth? I’m a wealthy man who’s sick and tired of women trying to get at my money. That’s the truth.” He fisted his hands at his sides. She could tell he had a hard time holding himself from going to her.
Her heart ached for him. “I’m sorry. It’s a little late for that. If you would’ve gotten to know me better, you’d know that I don’t care for money. It’s not what makes a person.” She stepped closer to Brandon. “Let’s go.”
“Don’t interfere, Cade. She doesn’t want to be here,” Brandon warned. “Get your shit right man. These are people’s lives you’re fucking with.”
Brandon held Lili’s arm as they walked away, his brothers keeping watch behind them. She wanted to turn and glance at Cade again, but knew it would be a mistake, so she walked away and didn’t look back.
Chapter Six
Lili sat on her bed and stared at the wall, a major case of loneliness taking over her heart. She’d left Cade behind and a piece of her heart with him. How in the world had that happened? Now she couldn’t eat, sleep, or stop thinking of him.
“Oh, honey.” Jaylin hugged her. “I’m sure things will be fine.”
Lili glanced at her radiant cousin and smiled. “At least some good came out of this. You and Brandon still got married, and Aunt Patty knows about the baby.”
“Don’t remind me of that episode. When we couldn’t find you I was so worried I got sick to my stomach.” She grabbed Lili’s hand and squeezed. “It was just nerves. It wasn’t your fault that Cade held you captive. Anyway, Brandon was paranoid and told me that he’d bring in a doctor to put me on bed rest if the stress put the baby at risk.” She rolled her eyes. “So you know mom heard, and ay dios mio. She was all crazy about how she wasn’t going to let her first grandchild come into the world to unwed parents. So the minister married us, and that calmed her down.”
Lili grinned. “Thank goodness. Just imagine if you guys would’ve tried to postpone.”
Jay groaned and flopped back on the bed, her arms spread above her head. “Girl if we would’ve mentioned postponing she would have had real, live kittens.”
Lili giggled and leaned back on the bed, gazing up at the ceiling fan.
“Enough about me, Lili. Tell me why you’re so sad. I don’t like seeing you this way.”
“I think I’m getting the flu, I’ve been feeling kind of sick lately. Very feverish.”
“Lili! That’s not what I’m talking about.” Jaylin flipped on her stomach. At only a few months pregnant she could still get away with doing that. “What happened between you and Cade?”
Lili rolled over and laid her face on her folded arms. “Why didn’t you tell me Brandon was a werewolf?”
“Ah. Well prima, because if I had, with your love of horror movies, you would have flipped out and thought he was going to maul me to death.”
That was very possible. OK, it was probably exactly what would have happened. “But you could’ve told me.”
Jaylin lowered her face to rest on her arm. “I was going to, after the wedding and before the baby. I swear. Now tell me what happened with Cade.”
“Nothing. A whole lot of nothing,” she growled.
“‘Nothing’ never put that kind of face on you before, prima
.”
“What do you know about Cade?”
Jaylin scrunched her nose in thought. “Brandon said they had been the best of friends a few years back. But that Cade’s fiancée tore them apart. She told Cade that she and Brandon were having an affair and that she was leaving Cade for his friend. You can imagine how hard that must’ve been for Cade. And of course Brandon had no clue what happened when Cade suddenly didn’t want to be near him. He shut him off and never looked back.”
“He might not have looked back, but he definitely held on. Why do you think the woman did that? Lied to him that way?”
Jaylin grabbed a lock of Lili’s hair and started to braid it. “From what Brandon said, the fiancée had asked Cade put her on his board since she was going to be his future wife. Well Cade asked Brandon his thoughts, and of course Brandon flat out told him it was a stupid move. So Cade said no. The woman found out it was Brandon’s fault she wasn’t getting voted on the board and decided to mess up their friendship.”
“What a bitch!” If Cade had cared about that woman, it was probably the reason he’d never thought she’d lie to him. It was fucked up all around because he’d been hurt, Brandon had lost his friend, and now Lili had been dragged in. She’d been away from him for two days, and all she thought of was finding her way back to him.
“Um-hm.” Both lay there for a few moments in quiet thought. “So, wanna tell me what happened with Cade?”
Lili groaned. “You’re like a persistent little kid, Jay. I’m going to have so much fun when your kid starts doing the same thing to you.”
“Oh shut up and talk.” They both laughed at Jaylin’s words.
“Fine. He’s so thoughtful. Can you believe he cooked for me? And he’s amazing in every single way that counts, but he has this whole macho, dominant thing that needs like a ton of work, because I am nobody’s property, but still he was just…so sweet. And he protected me from his asshole brother.”
Jaylin gasped. “Oh! That’s right. Cyrus. I heard about him.”
“You did?” She jerked up on the bed into a sitting, half-assed lotus position. “So what the heck did you hear?”
Jaylin sat up facing Lili and mimicked her position. “That Cade’s parents had always tried to teach them both to be strong, independent leaders. Their mother apparently favored Cade because he always showed true leadership and Alpha material to boot. When their parents died, it became clear to the group that Cade was the best choice. He was nominated Alpha without the need to fight. No one wanted to have anyone other than Cade in that position. Early on, he’d proven to the pack he’d take care of them.”
Lili nodded. She’d gone on the internet and looked him up. Cade Wynter was a big player in the financial markets and dabbled in everything that caught his attention. He was called Midas because whatever he sponsored or invested in turned to gold. He kept his entire pack’s portfolio well lined, from what Brandon said, and each and every one of his people had enough money that they didn’t have to work for him, but they still chose to.
“But Cyrus is the more problematic brother. He didn’t want to work hard; he wanted things to be easy. He was always angry and working shady schemes. So when their father left all control of the company to Cade, well Cyrus rebelled and took off.”
Lili remembered the man clearly. She’d seen massive amounts of anger in his eyes. “Well I saw him, and let me tell you he’s not going to give up easily. He acted like the pack belonged to him and all he had to do was tell them what do.”
“Yeah, that’s not really how packs work.”
Lili snorted. “Tell me about it. I tried bribing Kevin and Korbin into letting me go. Which, I must say, was really difficult to do since it was freezing and they were walking around buck naked.”
“You didn’t tell me about that!” Jaylin’s eyes widened into saucers. “You saw two men, other than Cade, naked?”
“Well…” She hated sounding like she was boasting, but she did see more than that.
“What? What? Spill it. Don’t be mean.”
“It was more like eight.” She giggled and shushed her cousin when Jay squealed. “Because when Cyrus showed up he had a group of guys that shifted right in front of me, and they were all naked too. And chasing after me.”
Jaylin burst into laughter. “You had a group of naked men chasing you down?” She continued laughing until tears streamed down her face. She wiped at her cheeks. “So what did you do?”
“Well I wasn’t going to stand there and take pictures, I ran toward Cade. Who came to my rescue.” She sighed.
“So are you going to give Cade a chance or what?” Jay asked the question she’d been mentally debating with herself.
“Come on that’s not fair. I’m not the one that lied to him. I’m the innocent party in all this.”
Jay nodded sympathetically. “True. But the reality is that if you don’t see him, maybe talk things out and see where you can go from here, you are not going to be able to handle the emptiness you feel.”
“How do you know?”
“Because sweetheart.” She patted her knee. “One woman in love can recognize another.”
In love? She’d been with the man for what amounted to a day. It couldn’t possibly be love. She had to be sick. There was no other explanation for it. Besides, how many people in love complained of high fevers? None that she knew.
“So tell me about this whole mate business.” She remembered Cade saying she was his mate the first time they’d had sex. It had made for an explosive orgasm. One she’d never forget. Not that she’d forget any of the others, but that one seemed special somehow. As if their first time would always be embedded in the back of her mind.
Jaylin stared at her for a moment before answering. “Werewolves mate through bites. Kind of like marriage but with a more permanent feel.”
Lili didn’t mind permanent.
“Meaning they’re very loyal to their mates?” She’d read that somewhere. Not that she’d been doing research or anything. Oh god, was she considering a permanent relationship with Cade? After what he’d done? She’d need to have a serious conversation with him before she even agreed to a date again.
“Yeah, there are no divorces.” Jay sighed.
“How come you and Brandon haven’t mated?” She gasped. “Or have you?”
Jaylin giggled. “No, we have not. When we were discussing it, I came out pregnant so it will have to wait until the little one is born.”
“Oh. Well when you do, see that you tell a person. I don’t want to be caught unawares next time something important happens to you.”
“I promise, now let’s go get some food. I’m starving,” she groaned.
Lili rolled her eyes. “You’re always starving.”
Cade glanced at the opening elevator and stood to welcome his guest.
“Cade.”
“Brandon. Thanks for coming.”
Brandon nodded and closed the distance. “Your request said it was urgent.”
He motioned around and lowered to a chair once Brandon had taken a seat opposite him. “Look, first I need to apologize.”
Brandon’s brows flew up high. He had clearly not expected those to be Cade’s first words. “OK. What are you apologizing for?”
“I’m sorry for ever doubting your friendship. You never did anything remotely wrong to give me the impression that you’d take my fiancée from me. My only explanation is that I never thought she’d lie to me that way. If she would’ve been in front of me I would have known she lied, but she made it a point to call. I was lost in confusion and hurt that you would do something like that to me.”
“But I didn’t,” Brandon said. “I held our friendship near and dear to my heart. I was really hurt when you wouldn’t see me. When I finally found out what you thought I did wrong, I felt like coming back here and beating your ass just for even thinking it, but I knew you needed to realize it on your own.” He shook his head. “Only you never did. And now you’ve dragged Lili into this.�
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“I need to find a way for her to forgive me.”
Brandon snorted. “Good luck with that. From what I hear, she doesn’t want to see you again. Apparently you have two strikes against you. The fact you lied and the fact you’ve got money.”
“What? Since when is having money a bad thing?”
“Since her father is super wealthy and always trying to control her with it. She’s got a trust fund, but she won’t touch it. She prefers to do without rather than take any money from her dad, so he can’t tell her what to do.” Brandon grinned. “I heard you tried that a few times, telling her what to do. Didn’t work very well, huh?”
Cade shook his head and scratched his five o’clock shadow. Life must be laughing its ass off at him. All this time he’d wanted a woman who didn’t care about money, and when he finally found one, he may not get her back because of it. Adding insult to injury? He’d tried to boss her around enough times he was sure she wouldn’t talk to him again. He was well and truly fucked.
“So what do I do now?” Cade stood, started pacing the length of his living area, and glanced at the falling snow. He wished his mate was there with him, watching the falling white flakes and giving him the chance to hold her. He’d played himself and put what he wanted most in jeopardy when he’d lied. And now he couldn’t even be near her.
“Look, I know you mated her.” Brandon sighed. “But you can’t expect her to just get over what you did without giving her some time to think. I’m sure that when her change takes place she’ll come looking for you.”
“And if she doesn’t? If she decides that it doesn’t matter that we’re not only mates but connected on a much deeper level? That she won’t be with me because she can’t trust me?”
Brandon winced. “Let’s not get drastic. You can’t live your life alone. That would be the result and you know it. Mates are for life and if yours rejects you, you know you won’t want another. I know Lili. She wouldn’t decide to never see you again if she has feelings for you. And from what Jay has been saying, she’s been very sad lately.”
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