CAGED (Mackenzie Grey #2)

by Karina Espinosa

  “Kenz, stop lying to the girl,” Amy said as she extended her hand. “Hi! I’m Amy.”

  Emma looked at the offered hand, then at Amy, and then me. “Is she for real?”

  “What’s wrong?” I asked.

  “She’s human.”

  “Yup, and she’s my best friend, so be nice,” I said.

  Emma did a double take. “Wait, she called you Kenz…are you Mackenzie?”

  “In the flesh,” I grinned. “Ace is an alias.”

  “Doesn’t matter to me,” she said. “Why am I here?”

  “Good question, Kid,” I turned to Jonah. “Why is she here?”

  I could tell by the firm line of his mouth that Jonah was dying to ask me questions about what happened to me. I was sick and tired of retelling it so he’d have to get the scoop from Bash.

  “You said you wanted to see her, make sure she was okay,” he said.

  I did. I had forgotten after finding out who my bio dad was.

  “My father said she could stay with us for as long as either of you wanted. He hasn’t found a suitable Pack for her yet,” he continued.

  “Well then, Kid, what do you say? Want to hang out here for a while?” I asked her.

  Her gaze traveled over the warehouse and the wolves that were watching the exchange.

  “As long as I get my own room and nix the curfew—I’m game.”

  ***

  Everyone went to sleep, but since my night schedule was still wonky, I was wide awake. I was also afraid that I might have gotten a concussion, so I stayed up just in case. When the silence of my room was too much for my ADD-ridden self to bear, I slipped out to the main floor. In all my times coming here, I never asked where the kitchen was. And at this moment, I regretted that. My stomach grumbled and I froze mid-step, as if my belly would wake someone.

  Amy was sleeping with Jackson—ew—and I had no clue where Jonah slept, but I did have an idea where Sebastian might be. I crept down to the basement and to his office. Sure enough, the light was still on and I could hear his strong heartbeat.

  I knocked on the door twice and peeked through the slit of the door. “Can I come in?”

  He looked up from an open book and nodded.

  “What are you doing up?” he asked.

  “I can’t sleep.”

  He grunted. “Same.” He waved me over to one of the chairs in front of his desk. “How are you feeling?”

  “Like a ninety year old woman who needs a hip replacement,” I said as I slid into the seat.

  “You should shift, the wolf will heal you quicker,” he suggested.

  I shook my head. “I’m hoping my ugly mug will deter any other potential suiters.”

  Bash watched me for a moment. “With those eyes—unlikely.”

  I splayed my hands over my heart. “Aw! Did Sebastian Steel just compliment moi?”

  He grinned. “Don’t let it get to your head, Grey.”

  “It already has,” I winked and even that small gesture made my head throb. Maybe shifting wouldn’t be such a bad idea.

  “You don’t look well, Mackenzie,” Bash said as he came around and leaned against his desk in front of me. “Let’s go out. I’ll shift with you.” He extended a hand and I reluctantly took it. Not because I didn’t want to but every time I moved, I hurt. Sebastian’s blue eyes brightened under the florescent lighting, they always looked so much more pigmented in contrast with his black hair. His square jaw and Roman nose made him look like a Greek God. It really was unfair to be that good looking. Especially in the state of disarray I was in at the moment.

  I was on my feet when my knees wobbled. I wasn’t going to fall, but Bash wrapped an arm around me anyway, smashing me against his chest.

  “Bash…” I warned as his heart beat in tandem with my own. I had always assumed that Sebastian Steel only wanted me because I was hard to get—just to say he had me. And that what I felt for him was physical, an insatiable lust that my wolf demanded. Whenever we were in the same room, it was like electricity gravitated me toward him, but that spark could also be our similarities, both stubborn and in need of control. It’s no wonder I felt this pull. He wasn’t perfect—far from it—but I was starting to realize that no matter what, I could count on him. Even if he was a short-tempered, domineering wolf.

  “Just listen to what I have to say Mackenzie,” he whispered, only a hairs’ breath away from me. “I plan to do things much differently this time around. If you’re here to stay, I won’t let you slip away again.”

  “I can’t,” I protested. “Nothing’s changed, Bash.”

  “Why?” a cool smile curled his lips. “Name me one thing that is standing in our way.”

  “I can give you a grocery list of things in our way. Do you not have any consideration for Jonah? I promised I wouldn’t get between you two, and I stand by that decision now,” I said.

  His arm still encircled me, my skin shuddered with his touch. His gaze flared with desire and I had to look away. My body betrayed my words and it kept me rooted in place. My wolf awoke and clawed inside me, demanding to take control—but I couldn’t let her.

  He exhaled. “You’re right. My apologies,” he stepped away and I felt an emptiness that had me reaching for the desk to keep me upright. “It’s not easy being around you, Mackenzie.”

  “Ditto,” I muttered as I tried to get my bearings together. I might have been able to move on from James with Roman, but I couldn’t be a floozy either. I’d just slept with Roman the other day. Boundaries, Kenzie, I thought. Being around all these wolves was going to be the death of me.

  Sebastian squared his shoulders. “We should still go out for a run. If I’m attracted to you with a bruised face, so will any other wolf. Let’s go,” he said as he reached in a drawer for a set of keys.

  With a blank look, I only nodded and followed him out. I was doomed.

  Chapter Eleven

  We were in Central Park in the middle of the night and all I heard was the squealing of brakes a far distance away. I expected to still find people milling around no matter the hour. I kept an eye open for the Fae, remembering this was their territory that the Wolves helped to protect, but didn’t see anyone.

  Further into the woods, Sebastian stopped and pulled off his shirt in one fell swoop. I gulped as I traced the curves and indents of taut muscle on his back with my eyes. I attempted to memorize every inch of him, in case this would be our last time together. At least that was the reason I used trying to convince myself.

  “You’re staring,” he said, his back to me. “I can feel your eyes, Mackenzie.”

  “Right,” I mumbled and began to undress. Taking a hair tie from my pocket, I pulled my dark brown hair into a high pony tail. “Will the Fae mind that we’re here?”

  “As long as we don’t disturb them, it’s okay,” he said as he watched me pull down my jeans. I felt dizzy has he ensnared me in his gaze, those blue eyes following my every move.

  “So how does this work?” I asked, my voice sounded like sand paper. “The healing,” I clarified.

  An idle smile played over Sebastian’s lips and I was positive he knew what his presence was doing to me. So unfair, he had a perfect poker face.

  “We are Lycans, a strain from the actual animal, mixed with magical properties that allow us to shift from human to wolf and vice versa. In those magical properties, we have the ability to heal quicker. It does not fix us right away, but it speeds up the process. What takes humans weeks to recover, can take us no more than twenty four hours.”

  “Well damn, I wish I would have known that sooner,” I snorted. While working with the SIU this would have been a nice tidbit to have had that one time I was chasing a Fire Fae. I’d spent a month trying to regrow my eyebrows.

  “You’ve been hurt like this before?” he squinted.

  “Uh, yeah but it’s no biggie,” I said. My gaze gliding down his body and stopping right at his package. Holy mother of—. My eyes snapped up to his face before he caught me. “
Ready?” I squeaked.

  “Yes, let’s go,” he said and started to run further into the woods. I followed behind him as we sprinted, jumped over rocks and logs, and avoided getting smacked in the face with branches. We ducked and swerved with the swiftness of a wolf as my shoulders arched back and I felt the ripple of my bones shifting. I felt no pain amidst my human body being damaged. On the contrary, the pain in my ribs receded and I exhaled in relief. It had been starting to hurt just to breathe. I craned my neck from side to side and let out a deep howl and dropped on all fours. The wolf was out.

  ***

  “Holy shit, Bash! I thought you were going to run into the lake chasing that damn squirrel,” I laughed as we jogged back to where our clothes were hidden.

  “It was a chipmunk, and of course I wasn’t going in the water. I’m not daft, Mackenzie,” he rolled his eyes.

  “Well excuse me,” I pushed him, teasing. Sebastian’s head snapped to me when he almost fell.

  “Did you just push me?”

  “Ohhh, is the big-bad-wolf angry?” I goaded as I jogged backwards. My arm over my breast to avoid them from bouncing all over the place—not that I had much to bounce.

  “I don’t think you want to play this game, Mackenzie,” Sebastian stalked me like prey and my stomach tightened—in a good way.

  “Oh yeah?” I baited.

  “I like a good chase,” he grinned and I almost stumbled on my own feet. His eyes narrowed as he ran a hand through his ink-like hair. “Run,” he growled.

  “Crap,” I turned around and ran. Sebastian’s loud steps thudded behind me and my body shuddered with excitement. The anticipation of being caught was both terrifying and thrilling. I couldn’t wipe the goofy smile off my face as I felt him get closer—I wanted him to catch me.

  His hand snaked around my middle and lifted me off the ground. A fit of giggles erupted from me as Bash flipped me and threw me over his shoulder, and smacked my bare ass.

  “Did you really think I wouldn’t catch you, Mackenzie?” he paused. “I’ll always catch you.”

  I was face-to-face with Sebastian’s well-sculpted behind, my pony tail swinging, as he walked back to our clearing. I wiggled my ass, feeling too exposed when his palm resonated against my skin again.

  “Keep still,” he growled.

  “Okay Bash,” I gasped, the blood rushing to my head. “You caught me, now put me down!”

  “Oh no,” he chuckled. “You wanted to play, now we’re going to play.”

  I felt my skin warm and my face turn red at his words as I awaited what he would do next. Once he stopped walking, he slid me down the front of his body and I could feel his hardness against my stomach.

  “Bash,” I warned.

  “Mackenzie,” he said as a sly smile crawled over his face. He dug his fingers into my side and tickled me.

  “Shit, shit!” I cackled as he brought me to the ground on my back with him above me—a position that was too dangerous for two people who were way too attracted to one another. “Okay, I surrender!” I called out.

  He rolled off me and laid on the ground beside me with a loud thud. We were on a patch of grass, leaves rustling beneath us with every move. Sebastian’s scent engulfed me and for a moment, it was all I could smell—the familiar smell of the woods after it had rain with a hint of peppermint. My head turned to face him, not expecting to catch him staring back.

  “Did you have a good run?” he asked, his voice horse.

  “Yes.”

  “How does your body feel?” I wanted to hump him like a freakin’ dog, but I couldn’t say that. Get it together, Kenz.

  “Better. My ribs no longer hurt,” I said. “Thank you, I needed this—aside from the physical healing, it helped clear my mind.”

  He nodded. “I understand. It’s not easy to find out you were abandoned.”

  I stilled. My jaw opened and closed as I tried to figure out a response. What was he talking about, I didn’t feel abandoned…did I?

  “I don’t—”

  “I recognize the sadness in your gaze, Mackenzie,” he said. “It’s the same one I had when my father dropped me off at the Cadwell Estate.”

  I jerked up to a sitting position. “What?”

  He shifted to his side and rested his head on his propped up hand. He quieted for a moment and observed me as if contemplating whether to share something about himself. In reality, I didn’t know anything about his past—unlike Jonah.

  “If you don’t want to tell me, its okay, Bash. We’re all entitled to our secrets.”

  He cleared his throat before he said, “My mother was human…and I was a product of rape.”

  A small gasp escaped my lips. I wanted to reach out and comfort him, but Sebastian always had this tough, cold wall around him that stopped me. He spoke without a hint of vulnerability, in such a clinical way, with no emotion laced in his words. It was both disarming and sad.

  “You see, not all wolves are good, Mackenzie, but they’re not all bad either. Like humans, there are always bad apples in the bunch,” he paused. “And my father was a bad apple.

  I was born in Providence, Rhode Island to a Margaret Pierce and Gregory Steel. According to Charles, Greg was visiting a friend in Providence when he decided to go have a night out on the town.”

  “Bash,” I reached for him. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

  “I do—I have to. You need to understand,” he said. “Wolves have a hard time when they don’t get their way—especially from Lunas, but even worse when it comes from a human. We consider humans less than us, so when Margaret turned down his advances, his pride wouldn’t allow it. He left town shortly after, never expecting to have impregnated the woman he forced himself on. Eleven years after his visit, I had a similar run in as you did, with the local Pack. They caught Gregory’s scent on me and informed him that I was his son.”

  Nothing but the sound of Sebastian’s voice and the hard winds of winter were heard in the dead quiet of the night. My heart pounded in my ears as I processed Bash’s story. It made my own family issues miniscule in comparison.

  “He came back. He slaughtered my mother and dropped me off on the front steps of his Alpha’s home—pawned me off. Not once did he speak to me, and I was too scared to try. Anytime I looked at him, he would flash his wolf eyes and I would nearly piss myself. I didn’t know what he was, that this world even existed, but he got what he deserved in the end. Charles made sure of it when he found out the truth.”

  “Is he…dead?”

  “Very much so,” he said. “This is why I will never force you to join the Pack, and why I need you to understand how much danger you’re in, Mackenzie. While I wish you would reconsider, I accept your decision, but there are still many bad apples out in the world and I would lose my mind if they ever got ahold of you.”

  I gulped. A lot of things started to make sense at that moment, and I felt a new found respect for the Alpha. Things were unfair for the Lunas in his Pack, but it could have been a lot worse had it been another leader—had someone else found me. And even if he didn’t realize it, he was changing things within their system as well—starting with me.

  “Thanks,” I whispered. “You’ve been a jerk at times, but I get that it could have been worse.”

  He nodded. “How about we head back? I think you’re getting a little cold,” he smirked as his gaze fell to my breasts.

  I looked down and then slapped my arm over them. “Bash!”

  “Now you want to be modest?” he chuckled and it was as if we hadn’t finished such a heavy conversation. I couldn’t understand how he was able to do that, open himself up and then shut down. If he had a method, I wanted the secret. After finding out where I came from, I didn’t know how much longer I could last before I snapped. With me, it could go either way: either I cried like when I watched the movie P.S. I Love You, or I could get angry and revert to my aggressive ways. Time would tell.

  We found our spot where we had hidden our
clothes, and I began putting my bra and underwear on when we heard twigs snap a few feet to our left. It wouldn’t have been that big a deal except it was loud—which meant a person was headed out way.

  Both of us jumped to attention in our undergarments as Sebastian lifted his nose in the air and sniffed. His ridged body relaxed once he caught the scent. “It’s…”

  “Well look who we have here,” a feminine voice said from between the trees. “It’s been so long, Mackenzie Grey.”

  Her paper-white hair was like a beacon of light as the Fae Queen walked into the clearing in her sheer pink dress, and her long hair trailing on the ground behind her. Two strands of hair on either side were twisted and pulled back, keeping her hair away from her face—her pointy elf-like ears in full display.

  “Drusilla,” I murmured. “How lovely.”

  “Yes,” she smirked. “Lovely indeed. Sebastian? Is that you, love?”

  I growled.

  “Oh simmer down, Mackenzie, I’ve only slept with Jonah,” she waved me off. “He’s a hard habit to kick. While you were gone we—”

  “What do you want, Drusilla?” Sebastian said, his voice gruff with impatience. He moved closer and stood between the queen and I, protecting me. All I could think was, her and Jonah?

  “Always to the point and no foreplay,” she giggled. Her pale gray eyes shifted to me. “Well then, I’ll just grab what I came for and I’ll be on my way. Gentlemen?” she signaled.

  Three male Fae stepped into the clearing, wearing nothing but fitted forest green pants. Each one held a bow and arrow aimed at us. Their shoulder-length hair and pointed ears made me think of Tinkerbell for some reason.

  “What is the meaning of this, Drusilla?” Sebastian barked.

  “This is of no concern to you, Alpha. We just want the girl.”

  He growled. “If you want Mackenzie, then yes it is of my concern. You will not go near her.”

  “What he said,” I jabbed my thumb toward Bash. “I’m not good company anyways, Queen Bee, I tend to talk a lot.”

  Her grin stiffened. “Trust me, Lone-Wolf, you’re the last person I’d go to for entertainment. But you aren’t for me.”