by Regan Ure
I took a deep breath as Gary gave me his undivided attention. It was time to tell him the almost unbelievable secret I’d just found out myself.
“You know that from the time I turned sixteen I started developing stronger senses,” I began and he nodded, still not quite sure where I was headed with this. “Even my physical strength seemed to increase.”
“What has that got to do with you having an accident?” he asked impatiently.
“Well, it seems Cade and Blake know why,” I revealed.
I knew Gary wouldn’t believe me if I just told him, so I needed Cade or Blake to show him.
“Show him,” I instructed Cade and Blake.
“I’ve done my party trick for the night,” said Cade as he stepped back and Blake took a step forward. Then in an instant, the body of Blake was transformed into a huge dark-brown wolf.
“Holy shit!” shouted Gary as he shot up and stood protectively in front of me, putting himself between me and the dangerous animal.
Wincing, I stood up, clutching my injured side and pulled Gary back to look at me. His eyes were still glued to the wolf that was standing on all fours in front of us. Cade stood by, watching Gary’s reaction with a smug half grin.
It took some talking to get Gary to sit back down and Blake shifted back into his normal human form. Thank goodness when they shifted, their clothes shifted with them, otherwise it would be all sorts of awkward with naked bodies. And I had no desire to see Blake or Cade naked.
I sat back down, pulling Gary back down beside me. Wide-eyed, Gary listened to Blake and Cade explain the whole werewolf thing. When they were done, he turned to me.
“You’re a werewolf?” he asked, almost still in denial. But he couldn’t deny what he’d seen with his own two eyes.
“Apparently,” I said. I didn’t feel any different and the fact that I couldn’t really shift into a wolf also didn’t help me feel more like one.
“So what does this have to do with your accident?” Gary asked.
I let Cade and Blake explain that a rogue was after me. They gave him the same rundown about rogues that they’d given me earlier.
I could see the fear grow in Gary’s eyes at the thought of some supernatural creature wanting to hunt me down and kill me for no apparent reason. He was going to make me move.
“We need to move,” were the first words that he spoke to me when Cade and Blake finished telling him about rogues.
“There’s no point. If you run, he’ll just chase you,” Cade warned us.
“But we can’t just do nothing and let him get her!” shouted Gary as he stood up to face Blake and Cade.
“We’re not going to do nothing,” said Cade angrily, glaring at Gary and taking a menacing step forward. Blake put his hand on Cade’s shoulder. Cade took a deep breath and tried to get his temper under control.
The more time I spent around them, the more I noticed that Blake was the one to think before he acted but Cade was the complete opposite. He acted without thinking it through.
It did baffle my mind that two people who were so different were such good friends.
“So what is the plan?” Gary asked, looking to the two alphas.
“She’s going to have to move in here,” Cade said, laying the plan out.
“No way,” I said, shaking my head. There was no way I wanted to spend more time around Cade than I already had. The way he made me feel when I was around him scared me and I knew spending more time around him would only make it worse.
“How long?” Gary asked, ignoring my protest.
“At least until we take care of the rogue,” Cade clarified, shooting a dark look at Blake.
“I said no,” I reinforced, standing up in between them so they couldn’t ignore me.
“I don’t know why you’re fighting us every step of the way. We are trying to keep you safe, but you make it as if we are trying to punish you. I’m not going to beg you to stay, the choice is yours,” Cade said angrily at me.
“We wouldn’t ask you to do it if there was any other choice,” Blake said, trying to reason with me.
My reasonable mind and my fear of the attraction to Cade wrestled with each other and after a little silence my mind won the battle. They were right; I needed their help.
“Okay,” I mumbled to Cade.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Scarlett
It was an hour later and I was standing in the guest bedroom I’d been in earlier.
I still wasn’t happy about this arrangement but there was no use fighting it. They did have a point, though. I knew how to protect myself against an attack from a human, but I’d be useless going up against a vicious werewolf. It was hard to comprehend that the rogue had been powerful enough to go head-to-head with my car and survive.
So, for my own survival, I’d given in and accepted that I’d be staying at Cade’s house until they managed to catch the rogue that was after me. Cade and Blake had assured Gary and me that there were enough werewolves on the property to protect me.
“There is a compound at the back of the property where a lot of the werewolves from my pack live,” Cade had explained.
The fact that there was a huge compound in his backyard was a little weird, but wolves like to live in packs.
He’d briefly explained that Curtis, the doctor and one of the few humans who knew about the werewolves, lived in the compound. I suppose it came in handy, especially when werewolves got injured because in a normal hospital, questions might get raised that might jeopardize their secret.
I didn’t know a hell of a lot about werewolves, but I was sure that if their blood got tested something would be discovered.
I still couldn’t figure out why the rogue was so determined to harm me. I didn’t have a lot of memories of my parents, but from what I could remember, they were kind and loving people. Why would a rogue have murdered them?
Gary was relieved I’d caved in and he’d gone back to my house to get some stuff, like clothes and toiletries, for both of us. I’d wanted to get my own stuff, but Cade had shaken his head at me.
“You’re injured and you need to rest,” he’d reminded me. “And remember, the rogue is still out there somewhere.”
That had scared me enough to back down.
Once Gary and Blake had left, he’d showed me the kitchen so I could help myself if I was hungry and then he’d led me back upstairs to the guest bedroom I was in now.
“Gary can use the guest bedroom next door to yours,” he’d told me.
“Thanks,” I’d muttered.
“If you need anything, I’ll be in my bedroom at the end of the hallway,” he’d informed me before he’d turned and left.
I’d walked over to the bedroom window and looked out over the back of the property and I could see a massive building that was slightly hidden by a bunch of tall trees. I wondered how many werewolves stayed there.
It was a big building, but Cade’s property was massive.
It was the first time it occurred to me that he hadn’t said anything about his parents. I wondered if they stayed in the house with him or maybe they lived in the compound with the other werewolves.
I made a mental note to remember to ask him.
I rubbed my temple as my head began to pound again and my side started to ache again. The painkillers were wearing off. Normally, painkillers worked for a certain amount of time but once I’d started to develop changes they only seemed to last for half the time they used to when I was human.
Wow! It was still sinking in that I wasn’t human anymore.
Knowing I couldn’t let the painkillers fully wear off, I had no option but to walk down the long passage to a set of double wooden doors. Cade’s room.
I knocked on the door and seconds later Cade opened it. He was only wearing a pair of jeans that hung low on his hips. His chest was hard and defined and I couldn’t help but stare.
No matter how hard I fought it, I was physically attracted to him. I wanted to reach out and run my ha
nd over the smooth skin of his chest, but I tightened my hand into a fist and fought the urge.
“Do you need something?” he asked when I was too occupied with fighting my physical attraction to him to tell him that I needed painkillers.
“Y—Yes…” I stuttered. It was like I became a blubbering idiot around him, like my brain stopped working and my hormones went into overdrive. I was acting like a hormonal teenage girl and it revolted me.
“You’re looking at me like you’ve never seen a naked chest before,” he stated with a smirk. I felt mortified. My cheeks darkened with a red blush.
“Oh, please,” I scoffed at him. His ego was unbelievable.
“For God’s sake put some clothes on,” I muttered to him, trying to cover up the fact that I was attracted to him.
He gave me a knowing smile as he stepped back and walked to his bed. I followed him into his room.
It was huge. The color theme of his room wasn’t surprising. It was a dark blue—a very male color. The bed was massive. I was pretty sure it was the biggest one I’d ever seen. I couldn’t help thinking of what probably happened in it.
Cade reached for a discarded shirt on his bed and pulled it over his head. I couldn’t argue the fact that physically he was gorgeous. He was ripped and defined, and it was enough to make any girl’s knees go weak, even mine.
It was as my eyes surveyed him that they fixed on a birthmark on his hip as he turned to pull the shirt down. There were two teardrops side by side, one bigger than the other. They were identical to mine. Shock locked the air in my lungs as I stared openly at the birthmark that confirmed something I didn’t want to believe.
As his birthmark disappeared under the hem of his shirt, I racked my brain trying to remember what Blake had said about them. Slowly the realization sank in and I felt a wave of horror sweep over me.
Mates had matching birthmarks. Mates.
Oh. My. God.
It wasn’t possible. It had to be some sort of joke.
I tried to remember what else Blake had told me about mates. It wasn’t like in the movies or books, since werewolves had to physically touch to discover they were mates. I tried to remember back through the stressful events. Blake had picked me up when I lay injured in the road. The more I cycled through the events, the more I realized that Cade hadn’t touched me at all.
“Are you okay?” he asked, watching me closely.
“Yeah… I’m okay,” I managed to get out as I tucked a piece of hair behind my ear, trying to pull myself together so he didn’t suspect something.
“Well, you came here for something,” he said as something changed in his eyes.
“Was there something you… wanted?” he said. Then it hit me: he thought I’d knocked on his bedroom door because he thought I’d come looking to get better acquainted with him.
“Oh, please,” I scoffed at him and rolled my eyes. He was so conceited it was annoying. “I came to ask for some more painkillers.”
“Sure you did,” he said like he knew better and I wanted to smack him.
I couldn’t believe he was supposed to be my mate. If that was true, I would end up killing him.
He disappeared into his adjoining bathroom and I heard him searching for something in the cupboards before he reappeared with a bottle of painkillers.
“Here,” he said as he handed me the plastic bottle. I made sure I didn’t touch his fingers as I took the bottle from him. I didn’t want him to know that I was his mate until I had time to wrap my mind around it.
I knew I wouldn’t be able to hide it forever, but I was going to try and give myself time to come to grips with all this werewolf stuff before I needed to add an egotistical mate to the equation.
Could the fact that he was my mate explain my unwanted attraction to him?
“Thanks,” I murmured while still deep in thought about werewolves and mates as I turned to walk out of his room. I felt the heat of his gaze as he watched me leave.
By the time I made it back to my room with the painkillers in my hand, I felt the panic at the realization that Cade was my mate.
I was so screwed.
I sat down on the bed, still clutching the bottle of painkillers in my hand, as I tried to calm myself down.
I felt like a cornered animal that was unable to escape. Technically I was a werewolf and I was pretty sure I couldn’t escape the whole mate thing. It was destiny, stuff that was written in the stars, so there was no way to get away from it.
There was no point in entertaining the idea of trying to leave because the rogue that was hell-bent on killing me was enough to keep me in place.
My head began to pound worse than before and I rubbed it, trying to ease the headache that was in full force now.
Some people might have a romantic idea about werewolves and mates—the idea that in an instant everything falls into place when you find your mate, the person you are going to spend the rest of your life with. In that moment, you find the person who is going to love and protect you forever and you in return feel the same about them.
There are no games or backing out. It is final and definitive. Soul mates.
It was hard to consider that I’d feel something other than loathing for him. He had a way of riling me up without even trying.
I hadn’t spent tons of time thinking about boys or falling in love, but never in a million years had I expected this. I’d thought about meeting someone and feeling that instant attraction that after a while would develop into something stronger like love. Not touch someone and instantly I’m in love with someone I can’t stand to be around. I didn’t even like him.
One thing I couldn’t dispute was the fact that I was physically attracted to him, as much as I hated that fact.
When he’d opened up his bedroom door without a shirt on, I’d wanted to run my hands over his perfectly defined abs. I also couldn’t help but wonder if his lips felt as soft as they looked. I’d never felt so attracted to the opposite sex. I, like any other girl, could appreciate a good-looking guy, but this attraction I felt for Cade was something else. I contemplated the whole idea for a moment. Perhaps it would work if he could keep his mouth shut, but I didn’t see that happening.
Cade was a force to be reckoned with. He was all male, strong and dominant, and he wasn’t the type to back down from anything. Despite the fact that I’d never seen him fight in wolf form, I knew he would be vicious.
I knew Cade well enough to know he would try to dominate me totally and it scared me. For so many years I’d been fighting to be independent and the thought of losing that independence in a moment when Cade discovered I was his mate filled me with dread.
I wondered whether his dominance was part and parcel of being an alpha but then I thought about Blake. Blake was also an alpha, but he was very different. From the short time I’d known him, he struck me as the easygoing type who would take people’s feelings into consideration before making a decision, unlike Cade.
Even now I could see the independence I’d fought so hard to get was running like water down the drain.
The pounding in my head brought me out of my thoughts and back to reality. Despondent, I walked to the adjoining bathroom and took two of the tablets and drank them down.
The ache in my side was still so sore. I lifted my shirt and studied the area that hurt and saw a bruise was already starting to form.
Despite all my feelings about Cade being my mate, I couldn’t change what was destined. I could delay it for a while, but that was all I could hope for.
Someone knocked on my door and I opened it to find Gary standing there holding a bag.
“Thanks,” I said as I took the bag from him and walked over to the bed. He followed me inside.
“How are you doing?” he asked with concern.
“As good as can be expected,” I said. “It’s not every day I find out I’m a supernatural creature.”
I let out a sigh and turned to face him.
“Sorry, I don’t mean to be so f
ull of it. It’s been a rough day and I’m sore and tired,” I told him.
“I know,” he said, pulling me into a gentle hug. I rested my head against his chest and closed my eyes for a moment. Gary was the only one who saw me at my most vulnerable. To everyone else I was tough and independent. He was the one who saw the vulnerable and scared little girl who had lost both of her parents.
After a few moments, I pulled away from him.
“I still can’t quite believe that I’m a werewolf. Maybe it might feel more real when I’m able to shift,” I said.
“I was your dad’s best friend and I never suspected anything,” he said, sounding mystified.
I was too young to remember much, so even when I worked through the few memories I had of my parents, I hadn’t noticed anything that would indicate they were anything other than normal parents.
“It is what it is; it doesn’t matter how we got to this,” I muttered as I sat down on the bed, feeling a little drained from the events of the evening.
“All that matters is how we move forward,” I finished.
“Blake and Cade seem to know what they are doing,” he commented, watching me carefully.
“Well, they’d better or else it isn’t going end well for me,” I said with a sigh. It was the truth. My life and survival was in their hands. If they made a mistake, I would end up paying the cost.
It was frightening for my life to be dependent on the actions of others.
“I suppose this means I’d better start being nice to them,” I said as I looked to Gary. A half grin tugged at his lips.
“Probably,” he agreed, like he wasn’t convinced I could do it. I couldn’t help the smile that started to spread across my face.
“Cade said you could use the bedroom next to mine,” I informed him as I tried to suppress a yawn.
“It’s getting late. Go have a shower and try and get some rest,” he instructed before he turned and left.
I had a quick shower before getting into my pajamas that Gary had packed in my bag. My mind was still too busy sorting through the events of the night so it took me a couple of hours before I drifted off to sleep and into a dream.
