“You’ll have it, sir.”
“Hm, we’ll see. I’ll be in contact.” He turned to Lars as he placed the phone down on the receiver. His assistant was hopping from one foot to the other, like a puppy dog waiting on a treat.
“Well?” Lars asked excitedly.
“Do you have to be right at my back? Go stand on the other side of the room.”
“I take it things aren’t going well.” Lars’s face fell as he inched away from his superior.
“According to our spy everything’s going perfectly well. She’ll be sending the information we need over the next few weeks.”
“And Caia?”
“Integrating into the pack. By the time we get the little bitch, the pack may actually mourn her.”
Lars sneered. “Yes, but by then we’ll have all the information we need to destroy the rest of the mangy mutts … they won’t have time to mourn the abomination.”
A slow, lazy smile spread across his face. He liked it when his lackeys were particularly enthusiastic. “Sometimes, I do like your way with words.”
8 -Secret Worlds
“You nervous about the run tomorrow?” Sebastian asked, as he eased back on her bed. Caia had been hoping to maybe sleep late, what with it being a Saturday and all, but she’d been woken up by Ella, who told her she had visitors coming over. She’d reluctantly got up and showered, had a sleepy breakfast with Ella, while Irini sat sipping cup of coffee after coffee. She was venturing out to an early picnic with Aidan. Caia hoped Aidan liked grumpy for brunch because Irini really wasn’t a morning person.
An hour after she had gotten up Sebastian and Jaeden came strolling in, bright eyed and bushy-tailed. Goddess, they were superhuman.
“I don’t know. A little.” She nodded from her position at her desk. “Especially after the little reminder that we’ll all be nak*d... together.”
Jaeden was on the floor doing sit ups. She smiled in-between them reassuringly. “There is nothing to worry about, I promise. It’s a lot of fun, all of the pack running together, the sound of all those paws pounding into the ground.”
“All those parts bouncing around,” Sebastian teased.
Caia groaned. “There’s a mental image I just didn’t need.”
“Oh come on, Caia, just keep your eyes at face level and you’ll be fine.”
They laughed together for a moment, enjoying Caia’s embarrassment.
“What about the little ones?” Caia frowned. “Who looks after them?”
One thing Caia did know about the pack run, anyone under the age of thirteen was not allowed to take part.
“You mean like Jaela and Sunday and the others?”
Caia had no idea who the kids were, except Jaela, so she just nodded. “I guess I do.”
Jaeden shrugged. “The moms take turns looking after them. For instance, Lucia will look after all of them one run, but for the next one Cera will, and then Imogen.”
She found herself frowning again. “Whose Cera and Imogen?”
“Cera is Lucia’s sister - and Ivan, Joaquin, and Kerianna’s mom. Her husband died a year back … shot,” Jaeden whispered the word.
Caia’s eyes widened. “Shot?”
Jaeden’s eyes teared up. “Some stupid human wanted his wallet and he wouldn’t give it to him. We guess it’s because he thought he could take him, you know if it came to a fight, but he just pulled out the gun and shot Michel in the head. If it hadn’t been such close range he would have been able to change so he could regenerate. ”
“My goddess... how awful.”
They were silent a moment, all feeling awkward, especially Caia for having brought it up. Finally, Sebastian cleared his throat as he sat up on the bed, “Imogen is my mom, by the way,” he offered. “Sunday’s my little sister, she’s five. I have another little sister, Seana. And Isaac’s my dad.”
Caia shook her head. “I’m never going to remember everyone, am I?”
Jaeden stopped exercising. “It’ll take time. There’s a few of us.”
She nodded, and was quiet as Jaeden scolded Sebastian for putting his feet up on the bed.
“Hey, I have a question,” Caia mused interrupting their squabble.
“Yeah?” They both quizzed.
“Where do we run?”
“At the back of your place.” Sebastian shrugged, indicating her window with his a nod of his head.
“Lucien and my father bought acres of the woodland just outside Woodrush,” Jaeden added. “It’s so we have privacy.”
“About that?” Caia leaned towards them, looking from one to the other. “How come you don’t get caught?”
“We haven’t had any trespassers.” Jaeden looked at Sebastian for confirmation.
He nodded and continued for her, “Yeah, even in the past when there have been the occasional sightings, nothing ever came of it. We guessed they just couldn’t believe what they were seeing. There have been teenagers who saw us and told but … ach, everyone just thinks it’s the retelling of the werewolf myth over and over again.”
Jaeden snorted. “We’re safe due to the modern age of cynicism. Thank the gods superstition’s out right?”
Caia didn’t laugh; she had a far more pressing question on her mind. “What about the war?”
Both Jaeden and Sebastian stilled, their entire bodies stiffening in alert, like prey catching the sounds of a hunter.
Sebastian cleared his throat. “Uh, what about it?” he asked nervously.
Caia just shook her head, pleading with her eyes for a response from the two of them. “You never talk about the war-”
“The war doesn’t touch us. There is no need to talk about it.” The three of them turned towards Lucien standing in the doorway. What was with him and doing that? Caia narrowed her eyes. Sebastian jumped up from the bed, reacting to Lucien’s tone. The Alpha’s eyes were glinting dangerously as they flickered over Jaeden and Sebastian. Was he angry at them?
“It’s not their fault. I asked.”
“Well stop asking,” his voice was like ice.
She flinched as if he had struck her. Why was he was being such a jerk when he had been so kind and friendly all week? Now he had all of them acting like they’d been caught with their hand in the cookie jar. They hadn’t done anything wrong, and neither had she for asking. “I have a right to know,” she heard the steel in her own voice, watched her friends react in surprise to the strength she showed him, and it encouraged her to continue, “I withheld from asking Irini because it seemed to upset her, but I have a right to ask now.”
“No, you don’t,” Lucien countered, stepping towards her. “I will not have the war brought up. We are peaceful, and the pack does not need those kinds of memories being dredged up at the moment.”
Caia didn’t back up. Instead she took a step towards him, telling him physically that he didn’t frighten her. “The Hunter was part of the war. He took my parents from me before I had the chance to get to know them. I deserve to know the whys and the hows.”
“I told you all there was to know a week ago, so drop it.”
She glared at him for a moment, her green eyes clashing into his silver ones with heat and anger. She was flushed with the warmth of her annoyance and could feel Lucien’s anger melding into the air around them with hers until it was hard to breathe in the stifling atmosphere. Slowly realizing that Jae and Sebastian were shifting uncomfortably, she backed down, forcing on a tranquil expression. She felt like she had the day she’d encountered Yvana in the kitchen. Just when she was beginning to feel a part of these people...
Lucien must have read something in her eyes because he sighed deeply, running his hand through his hair as if frustrated. “Jae, Seb... give Caia and me a moment please.”
They couldn’t have scrambled out of the room fast enough.
“Caia, I’m sorry,” Lucien said softly, closing the door behind them.
She nodded, a little unsure of him now. “You don’t have to treat me like a child, you know.”
He nodded, lowering himself onto the bed across from her. His eyes were kind, the ice melted. “I know. I am sorry.”
“So, what?” she grimaced. “I’m not allowed to talk about the past? I have questions.”
“I get that. I do. But...” He shook his head. “I don’t know how to say this without hurting your feelings.”
“Why don’t you just rip it off like a band aid.”
His mouth quirked up at the corner, his eyes holding hers fast. “OK. I don’t want you mentioning the past, or the war, or The Hunter, because I want my pack to accept you. Reminding them of all of that will just make things harder on you. No one else.”
“I thought no one blamed me,” her voice was a little unsteady. Had everyone been faking it? Even Jaeden and Sebastian?
“They don’t. But they’ve also gotten past what happened. Refreshing their memories isn’t going to do anyone any good.”
She guessed she understood - but she wasn’t giving up. She’d give them all time to get used to her, and when enough time had passed, she would get the answers she wanted. “OK,” she exhaled.
Lucien smiled widely, breathing a huge sigh of relief. “OK.” He slapped his knees and stood up. “Still friends?” he asked, smiling softly at her, his eyes locking hers to his like a magnet.
Caia felt her heart thump a little irregularly. “Still friends,” it was a miracle her voice came out as strong as it did.
“Good. I’ll send them back in.”
“Wow,” Jaeden whispered when she re-entered the room with Sebastian. They were both smiling like small children. “I’ve never seen anyone stand up to him like that, except for the Elders.”
Sebastian chuckled. “It was pretty awesome.”
Caia laughed at them. “It was nothing. Really, we’re fine.”
Jaeden laughed. “He got his way though, right?”
“For now.”
By eight o’ clock the next evening the pack had gathered outside at the back of Lucien’s home. Caia walked towards them all, Sebastian on her right and Jaeden on her left. Having them beside her was comforting, but it didn’t diminish the flurry of butterflies in her stomach. She took in Lucien, standing tall, straight, and powerful in the middle of his pack, angling his head to listen to whatever Ryder was telling him. Jaeden stopped beside Magnus - deliberately it seemed – and the Elder smiled softly at Caia before coaxing her into his side.
“You’ll be OK,” he whispered, stroking her cheek. “Your eyes give away your panic. Don’t let them see.”
Caia nodded gratefully, taking a deep breath. She squeezed Magnus’ hand, reassuring him she was alright.
“You OK?” Sebastian asked as she returned to them.
“I’m fine. I promise.”
She turned back to the rest of the pack who were gathered in little groups. Irini was cuddling up to Aidan. Ella and Magnus were talking quietly with one another. Dimitri and Julia stood with Christian, but Lucia was nowhere to be seen. She’d obviously gotten babysitting duty this time round. Her eyes swept the circle catching sight of Alexa, Malek, and Finlay standing with their family; Dana and Daniel with theirs.