For the Love of Caden

by Sandrine Gasq-Dion

  Caden closed his eyes as a breeze caressed his face. He could almost feel the spirits around him. “I have missed it here.”

  “I hope you do not stay.” Claire squeezed his hand. “I hope you go to your man.”

  “I wish I could,” Caden looked at Claire with a sad smile. “I really do.”

  ~~ Kellan rolled over and looked at the clock. He sighed and rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands. Another sleepless night. A week had gone by and he still couldn’t sleep or eat. Alexander threatened to set him up with an IV if he didn’t start eating. He rolled onto his back and looked at the ceiling; he missed Caden. He knew he was wasting away and he didn’t care. His cell phone chirped and he looked at the caller ID hoping it was Caden. It wasn’t. He grabbed the phone and flipped it open.

  “Hello?”

  “Kellan?”

  “Grayson?” Kellan sat up on his elbows. “Is

  something wrong?” “I can’t get a hold of Caden. It’s been a week and he won’t answer his phone. He never does that to me. I know he said you guys were dating, so I thought maybe he was so preoccupied with you he kind of just turned it off or something.”

  Kellan sighed and lay back down. “Caden ended it with me, Grayson.” “What?” Grayson looked right at his husband, Taylor, in the kitchen. “What do you mean he ended it? Aren’t you guys mates? I mean when he told me you guys were together I assumed you’d found your mate —”

  “Yes, he is. I mean was.” Kellan wiped his eyes. “He left. I don’t know where he is and all he said was that it was over. No one knows where he is, not even Evangeline.”

  Grayson furrowed his brows. “Something’s not right with this shit; I know he cares about you.”

  “Well, he obviously doesn’t, Grayson. He left and he hasn’t tried to get a hold of me.”

  Grayson looked at the time. “Look, I’m going to find him okay? I’ll call you and let you know what’s going on.”

  Kellan sighed. “How are you going to find him when no one else can?”

  Grayson smiled. “I think I have an idea where he went. I’ll call you Kellan. Just remember one thing, Caden Fournier cares for you, I’d even say he’s in love with you. So don’t give up. I’ll call as soon as I know something.”

  “Okay, bye, Grayson.”

  “Bye, Kellan.” Grayson hung up the phone and looked at Taylor. “Something’s wrong. I know Caden loves Kellan, he wouldn’t just leave.” Grayson picked the phone up again and hit speed dial. He smiled when Riley’s voice came across the line.

  “Grayson, sweetie, how are you?”

  “Hi, Riley, I’m fine. Look, I need a favor.”

  “Anything you need, you know that.”

  “Good,” Grayson smiled. “I need to borrow your jet.”

  ~~Chapter Seven~~ Grayson looked out the window of the cab at Marseilles. France was truly beautiful, it was a shame he was coming on business and not pleasure. There was no way Caden would have broken it off with Kellan; just seeing pictures of them together in the tabloids told Grayson that Caden was in love. He knew Caden would be in Vitrolles, he just knew. When he’d met Caden he could see the look in his eyes when they discussed France; the man would come back here, and Grayson could feel it. As they pulled into Vitrolles, Grayson looked at all the little shops and smiled. He paid the cab driver and got out in front of a bakery. Caden’s house wasn’t too far from it and Grayson was hungry. The bell above the door chimed as he walked in and the smell of almonds invaded his senses. He looked at all the pastries, his mouth watering.

  “Allo?” Grayson looked up to see a short dark-haired woman looking at him. “Hello, do you speak English?”

  “Yes I do. What can I help you with?” Grayson looked at all the pastries. “Wow, I don’t even know where to start.” He laughed.

  “Well, I can recommend a few favorites. There are of course croissants,pain au chocolat, eclairs, profiterole —which is a cream puff— beignet, mille-feuille —”

  “Oh! That one looks good, what is it?” Grayson bent over looking through the glass.

  “Oh, that is a croissant with almond paste inside; it is very good.”

  “I’ll take six of those.” Grayson looked up to see the woman looking at him with an arched brow. “What?” Grayson blushed. “I’m hungry.” The woman laughed and Grayson smiled. “I thought I’d bring one to my friend, Caden.”

  “You are here to see Caden?”

  “Well, yes. He is a good friend of mine.” Grayson looked at the woman. “What is your name?”

  “Claire. Caden and I have been friends for a long time.” Claire eyed the younger man. “You are not the one he loves.”

  “No, my name is Grayson Drake, but I know the man he loves. He’s miserable and I want to know why Caden left him.”

  Claire nodded. “He was just here this morning; he should be at the beach below his house.” Claire smiled. “I hope you can convince him to go home.”

  “I’m not leaving until I do.” Grayson smiled taking the bag from Claire. “Thank you, what do I owe you?”

  “Oh, it is free. Tell Caden I said go home.” Claire winked.

  “I will, thank you very much Claire. You have a good day.”

  “You as well, Grayson Drake.”

  ~~ Grayson stepped onto warm sand and looked down the beach. Just as Claire had said, Caden was facing the water. Grayson smelled the warm sea air and closed his eyes, he already loved it here. The town was quaint and the people were very nice. He smiled looking into his pastry bag; he’d eaten three of the croissants already and was now in love with them. As he got closer to Caden he could see the man was barefoot, his face was tipped up and his hands were out at his sides, his dress shirt flapping open with the ocean breeze rolling off the water.

  “Hello, Caden.” Grayson stood about twenty feet from him.

  Caden turned at the sound of a voice. “Jesus! You scared the shit out of me.”

  “What are you doing here, Caden? Why did you leave Seattle?” Grayson stepped closer. “Don’t say you don’t love Kellan.”

  “I don’t, now, go home.” Caden turned toward the path up the hill.

  “Why are you lying to me? I thought we were friends, Caden!” Grayson shouted.

  “You don’t understand! I can’t tell you! There are some things about Kellan Brady you don’t know and I refuse to hurt him!” Caden trudged up the path to his house.

  “Oh, Caden…” Grayson sing-songed.

  “What?” Caden turned around to see Grayson standing naked on the beach. “What the hell are you doing?”

  “Is that thing about Kellan something like this?” Grayson shifted. He looked at the shocked look on Caden’s face and trotted over to him, smelling the air. Caden wasn’t scared, just shocked. He’d taken a risk in shifting, but the beach was secluded and he didn’t feel anyone else watching them.

  “Mon dieu,” Caden whispered. He crouched down to look at the black wolf with green eyes. “You are one, too.” Caden smiled when Grayson huffed at him, he ran his fingers through the soft fur on Grayson’s neck. He looked around the secluded beach. “Let us go to the house.”

  ~~ Caden waited patiently for Grayson to shift back to his human form and get dressed, his mind going a mile a minute. What did this mean? If Grayson was a werewolf as well, how many more were there? How could this help Kellan? Grayson came back out pulling his shirt over his head and Caden smiled at his friend.

  “Well now, I was not expecting that.” Grayson smiled. “Now, tell me what the hell is going on.”

  “Carson Drake is what’s going on.” Caden rubbed his face with his hands. “He came to me a little over a week ago. He had a video of Kellan shifting into a werewolf and he threatened to go to the news channels with it if I didn’t break it off with Kellan. He wanted to hurt me.” Caden smiled sadly. “It worked. I miss Kellan so much. I love him, Grayson.”

  Grayson sat down on the couch and looked at Caden. “You should have come to me; you could have trusted
me with this.”

  “I trusted no one,” Caden looked at Grayson. “I would never let anyone hurt Kellan. If I go back, Carson will follow through with his threat.”

  “That’s where you’d be wrong.” Grayson stood up. “Carson Drake would never leak that video to the press.”

  “What makes you so sure?” Caden arched a brow.

  “Because he would risk exposing himself as well,” Grayson looked at Caden. “Carson Drake is a werewolf, Caden.”

  Caden sat back on the dining room table. “What?”

  “Taylor, Jagger, Xander, me, the list goes on and on. We are all werewolves Caden, eventually Kellan would have told you. It’s not something you can keep a secret for long, especially during sex.”

  “So he really would not go to the press? What makes you so sure?”

  Grayson leaned against the wall smiling. “Because Wayne Maccon would kill him on the spot, that’s why. And if there’s one thing I know about Carson Drake, it’s that he’s scared shitless of Wayne.”

  “Wayne is?”

  “Not someone you ever want to mess with.” Grayson smiled. “He’s the alpha of the Denali pack and he comes from created werewolves. If he looks at Carson sideways the guy pisses his pants.”

  “What does this mean then?” Caden stood up.

  “It means,” Grayson took Caden by the shoulders. “You, are going home to the man you love.”

  ~~ Wayne hung up the phone looking at Jagger. “We have a problem.”

  “I figured that out when Grayson called you out here from Denali.” Jagger ran a hand through his hair. “What’s he done now?”

  “So, you know it’s your father.” Wayne looked at his beta.

  “Well, he’s the only one who would bring you to the city.” Jagger looked out the window. “Are you going to have to kill him?”

  Wayne stood by Jagger and put a hand on his shoulder. “I won’t, unless it’s absolutely necessary. I don’t want to leave you an orphan.”

  Jagger laughed. “That man wasn’t my father; you are more of a father to me than he ever was.”

  “I’d be proud to call you my son, Jagger.” Wayne looked at the city of Anchorage spread out for miles. “We are going to have to lure him out. He threatened to expose Kellan Brady if Caden didn’t break it off with him; he even showed him a video of Kellan, Scott and Jude shifting.”

  “Son of a bitch.” Jagger sighed. “What do we do?”

  “We go to Seattle; we call in all the packs and nab him.” Wayne looked at Jagger. “And we hope he goes without a fight.”

  “If it comes to that, let me do it, Wayne.” Jagger looked at the man who had become a father to him.

  Wayne nodded. “You have my word.”

  “Good enough.”

  ~~ Kellan came off shift in a daze, his shirt was covered in blood and he just wanted to go home and sleep for twenty four hours straight. Once again, he’d had the power to save a life and had let it slip through his fingers. If he’d taken the time with the grandmother, the grandson would have died. Alexander had a point, who was he to pick and choose? The grandmother was in her eighties and she had pleaded with him to save the grandson instead of her. Life was a crapshoot. It didn’t make me him feel any better; the only thing he could be thankful for was that she’d seen her grandson take a breath before she had passed on.

  The hot water rinsed away the gasoline on his skin and the blood from his hair and face. He scrubbed his skin hard and closed his eyes. Caden’s face was right there, it always was. He would live the rest of his long life loving one man. Kellan turned the water off and stepped out of the shower, toweling himself dry. Scott and Jude were in the office filling out paperwork. He just couldn’t do it today. He dressed, grabbed his bag and walked down the hall to his brothers.

  “I’m going home guys.” “Okay, take care and get some sleep.” Scott smiled. “You did what you had to do Kellan.”

  “Yeah, I know.” Kellan sighed. “See you guys at home.”

  Kellan walked through the emergency room and out the doors, zipping his jacket against the chill. A gust of wind blew his hoodie right off and a very familiar smell wafted up his nostrils. Kellan turned quickly and saw Caden standing by the hospital doors.

  “Caden?” Kellan narrowed his eyes. It was a mirage, he was seeing things.

  “You look good.” Caden smiled, making his way over.

  “So do you.” Kellan straightened up. “What brings you by?”

  “Well, I missed my boyfriend.” Caden smiled and walked closer. “Tell me something, did you smell me just now?”

  “What?” Kellan stammered.

  Caden leaned into Kellan’s ear. “I hear

  werewolves have a fabulous sense of smell.” He whispered.

  Kellan backed up so fast he almost fell over; he ended up holding onto a car parked beside him. “What did you just say?”

  “I think we should take this discussion

  elsewhere.” Caden smiled taking Kellan’s hand. “Don’t you?”

  Kellan nodded and then realized no words were coming out. “Um yes, I’m right down the street.”

  They walked hand in hand, stealing glances at each other. Kellan couldn’t believe it was real; he was still convincing himself he was in bed, asleep and having a wonderful dream. They climbed the stairs to his unit and Kellan unlocked the door then threw the keys on the table. He took his jacket off and looked at Caden; he was standing at the window looking out over the courtyard.

  “I dreamt of this you know.” Caden put his hand on the window. “Coming back here, you still wanting me.”

  “I do still want you Caden, I never stopped.” Kellan came up behind him, wrapping his arms around Caden’s waist.

  “I didn’t want to leave you; I did not go by choice. It is because of what you are that I left to protect you.”

  Kellan turned him around. “And what is it you think I am?”

  “You are a werewolf.” Caden smiled at the look of shock on Kellan’s face. “Carson Drake came to my office; he showed me a video of you and your brothers shifting into werewolves. He told me if I didn’t end it with you, he’d expose you. I couldn’t let that happen, Kellan.” He palmed Kellan’s face. “I am in love with you.”

  Kellan pulled Caden into his arms. “You should have told me, I thought you didn’t want me anymore.”

  “I will always want you Kellan.” Caden wrapped his arms around Kellan’s neck.

  “I love you, too. You should have come to me; Carson would never follow through —”

  “Yes, I know that now. Grayson came to France.” Caden chuckled. “He gave me quite the shock.”

  Kellan chuckled. “Let me guess, he shifted?”

  “Right there on the beach.” Caden nodded. “I would have never left; I felt I had no choice. If Carson had leaked the video,” Caden shivered. “I would have blamed myself for what could have been done to you. They would experiment on you, maybe lock you up.” Caden choked on the words.

  Kellan pulled Caden into his arms. “It’s okay; it’s not going to happen.” He ran his nose through Caden’s hair taking in the scent of the man he loved. “I missed you so much.” Kellan whispered.

  “I have missed you,” Caden looked up. The midnight eyes searched his. “I would love it if you kissed me now.”

  “You don’t have to ask me twice.” Kellan’s hand went directly to Caden’s cheek; he looked into sapphire eyes and took Caden’s mouth.

  They were walking backwards, clothes discarded along the way. The bedroom door was open and Kellan kicked it shut with his foot as he picked Caden up. His hand gripped the soft globes of Caden’s ass as he eased him onto the bed. Lips soft as silk met his and then a warm mouth opened to him. A soft whimper escaped his lips as Caden took over the kiss.

  Kellan found himself on his back as Caden’s tongue investigated him. Soft kisses along his torso and a gentle bite to his nipple and Kellan arched his back as Caden’s strong hand gripped his erection. His eyes
closed as he felt a tongue gliding along the shaft of his penis, licking and teasing. It was as if they’d never been apart, the heat exploded between them and Kellan heard himself crying out as Caden entered him in one thrust. His canines exploded from his gums and claws jetted from his fingertips; there was a soft gasp and he opened his eyes to see Caden smiling at him.

  “Look at how beautiful you are.” Caden whispered. He drew back almost completely before sliding back into Kellan’s warmth. “Does that feel good?”

  “Yes, oh God yes…” Kellan whined. The noises leaving his mouth shocked him - he’d never been so…vocal during sex. “Harder…” Kellan groaned as Caden’s dick slid out almost completely again, the blunt tip sliding in and out to the crown. It was a torturous tease. If he thought Caden was a submissive bottom he couldn’t have been more wrong. The sheer sexual prowess the man showed in bed had Kellan’s mouth wide open and he was actually screaming Caden’s name. He wasnot gentle; in fact, Kellan had an idea that Caden was fucking him through the bed because heknewhe could. His legs spread out to the side, Caden’s fingers gripping his ankles, his whole body moved with the sheer strength of the man’s thrusts. He couldn’t stop staring at him; Caden was biting his bottom lip and grunting as he fucked like a man on a mission. It was want, need and absolute I-have-to-own-you sex and, God help him, Caden owned his ass. He had never been taken with such raw power before. His orgasm hit and Kellan almost flew off the bed. His back arched high and the whole time Caden fisted his cock, milking it. It was crazy and all Kellan could do was watch Caden’s biceps as he hammered himself home, driving into him like he hadn’t hit the end yet. A loud agonizing groan rose from Caden and Kellan’s ass was immediately overcome with a scorching heat; Caden collapsed on top of him and gripped his hair tightly.

  “I love you, Kellan Brady,” Caden growled. “You are mine.”

  “I am yours,” Kellan breathed. “I always will be.”

  They lay in bed for hours, just touching each other - fingers caressing arms, legs, abdomens. Kellan sighed as Caden’s lips covered his again. The pure passion in the kiss took him by surprise and he gasped when Caden bit his bottom lip. Hard.