It was a week later that shit went up and down.
I was gobbling up my breakfast in the kitchen when the rogue wolves charged into our backyard. There were three of them and they were pretty huge. My plate dropped to the floor as I charged out, shifting into my wolf, mid-way. My clothes ripped and fell in tatters on the porch.
The largest one was standing up front and the other two flanked his either sides. I noticed one was female. I bared my teeth at them and they growled at me.
From the corner of my eyes, I could see Ethan standing on the second-floor balcony. He launched himself over the railings and landed on his four paws next to me. He growled threateningly at the three of them.
And then, the female wolf launched herself at me. I instantly turned sideways and shoved her with my shoulder; my training kicking in. She fell down on her side and I extended my claws out and placed them against her neck.
I growled menacingly. I decided against killing her and knocked her out with a head-butt. I noticed Ethan fighting off the third wolf and the leader was creeping up behind him. I launched myself at the gray wolf.
I pushed him over sideways and he scratched my midriff. I yelped in pain and in that distracted moment he turned us over. He had his sharp nails on my neck. It punctured my skin.
I looked up at him with wide eyes. He growled lowly at me and I snapped my teeth at his jaw. My canines scraped the region just below his jaw and blood dripped on my snout from the wound.
I growled angrily and scratched his chest. My nails had dug in a bit too deep and he fell to the ground in pain.
I found Ethan standing near me wearing a pair of basketball shorts. He was staring in the direction of the house. He had a long scratch on his cheek and his black Fohawk was in a mess. I turned on my paws to look at who he was staring. Tamara was standing there with a glazed look in her eyes as she stared at Ethan.
I trudged over to Ethan and nudged his shoulder with my snout. Ethan jumped out of his trance and looked at me. His face came over with concern.
"You okay?" He questioned. "Fuck, your stomach."
He held on to my neck and pulled me to the porch, where Mom was waiting with a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. Mac and Ryker dashed outside to pick up the rogues and take them to the pack house. I grabbed them with my teeth and changed behind a tree.
The pain in my abdomen amplified and I groaned. Mom instantly rushed to my side and yelled for Ethan, who picked me up.
Somewhere along the way, I think I passed out from the pain.
About what seemed like years later, I came to. I was lying on the living room sofa, with Layla sitting at me feet. As soon as I woke up, she came over to my side.
"Does it hurt?" she questioned.
I noticed that my midriff was tied up tightly in a bandage. I groaned, unable to say anything.
"It feels numb," I mumbled. I tried to sit up, but Layla pushed my shoulders back down. "Water," I muttered.
A moment Layla returned with a glass of water. She helped me sit up slightly and propped up a cushion under my back. I gulped down the water thirstily.
"Where's Ethan?" I asked, my voice was hoarse.
"In the kitchen," Layla bit her lip. "With Tamara."
"Kay," I bolted to my feet, ignoring the pain in my belly. With a hand pressed against my midriff, I treaded towards the kitchen. I barged in to find both of them sitting next to each other on the bar stools. They looked pretty serious.
And of course I interrupted them.
"So, I see you both are getting along well. A little too well, if I must say so."
Ethan narrowed his eyes at me and Tamara gave me a dirty look.
"I can say the same thing about you and Caine," Ethan said to me.
"God, he never smiles. I never expected such an unhappy Alpha." Layla puts in.
"That's not true," I said, confused. I'd only heard bits and pieces about him before I met him. Apparently he was very strong and feared by most people. "He seems like a happy guy."
Ethan smirked and said, "But that's only when he's around you. Personally, I've never even seen him smiling."
"Personally, I think you should shut up."
"Oh look, she's getting defensive," Tamara giggled and Ethan looked at her with a huge grin.
"But when Caine was fussing over her, it was seriously so damn adorable." Layla said. She was smiling at Ethan with a knowing look. "It may be true, after all."
"Um..." I muttered, but decided to leave it.
It was then that I noticed Ethan looking down at Tamara with a dreamy look on his face.
I choked on my spit and coughed for a while until someone thumped me on my back. It was Layla. She went backwards and took a seat at the dining table.
"Damn." I muttered. A smile slowly lighting up on my face.
"We're going to be having another tomboy in the house." Layla said. She had a bright smile on her face. Tamara's face was flaming. I fist-pumped the air and whooped.
"I missed a lot! How long was I out for? An hour?" I asked, suddenly excited. I pulled them both into huge hug.
"Uh, actually, you were out for two whole days," Ethan said.
"Um. Ha-ha?"
"Seriously," Layla put in from the dining table.
"Wow,"
It was then that I noticed the bite mark on Tamara's neck.
"Holy shit, what's that?" I asked, pointing to the mark. Tamara's hand protectively went to her neck.
"That," Ethan said. "Is a claim mark."
"Is it supposed to look like that?" I questioned.
I knew I'd offended them both.
"Tori!" Three voices yelled in unison.
"Sorry!" I raised up my hands in a surrendering gesture. I'd seen Layla's only once hers was healed so I didn't think it would have looked so. The skin around the mark was red and irritated, but once it healed, it would be a mark of great value, tying you to your soul mate.
I went into the kitchen and rummaged through the refrigerator and found a bowl of meat stew. I grabbed the bowl happily, found myself a spoon and settled down on one of the barstools, opposite Tamara and Ethan.
Ethan grabbed a random spoon of the counter and started spooning some into his mouth. I looked at him in disapproval.
"Ethan, that's disgusting. Ryker could have peed on it for all you know," I said.
"That's too damn disturbing," Tamara put in.
"It Ryker," I shrugged.
"Is that pee I taste?" Ethan put in and I swatted his arm.
"Can you three shut up?" Layla said from the kitchen.
"Hey," Tamara said. Ethan and I looked at her. "Wanna do something that will get us in a lot of trouble?"
"Yes, please!" Ethan and I said at the same time.
Sometime later...
"Okay, I think I'm starting to realize the danger of this situation, but meh."
Tamara and I were stretched on the beach chairs next to each other. Tamara was clad in shorts and a band t-shirt with her red hair up in a messy ponytail/bun sort of thing. Her green eyes were hidden behind a pair of shades.
I was stretched out next to her wearing one of my workout tanks with black ripped jeans. My hair was too short to tie it into a bun, so I decided to just leave it loose.
Ethan had dropped out in the last minute because Dad had called him in for protector duties. So it was just me and Tamara.
"There he is," Tamara muttered. "Two 'o' clock."
I looked towards my right and sure enough, there he was. And this 'He' was Reece Kolton, bully extraordinaire.
He was wearing a pair of swimming shorts and sat down in the grass, soaking up some sun.
"Go on, Tori, work your magic." Tamara muttered some more words of encouragement to me and I nodded.
I took out the bag of cupcakes from Tamara's duffel-bag.
I put on a high energetic smile and skipped over to where Reece was sunbathing. What a wuss.
"Reece," I called out in a high pitched girly voice. "Your mom asked me to send you some cupcakes!" I handed them over to him and skipped back into the Pack House. Tamara quietly followed me. As soon as we were out of earshot, we burst out laughing.
"Did you see that look on his face?" Tamara questioned.
"Oh my god, Tam! That was epic!"
We rushed up to the first floor balcony, where we would sit down and have a nice view of Reece. By now, he was munching on his third cupcake. I had to thank Layla later for those.
A few talking people came to stand out on the balcony and I looked up. It was Dad, Ethan and Caine.
Oh my.
He was wearing one of those tight tank shirts that clung to him, showing off his toned muscles. A few strands of his dark hair hung down on his forehead and he looked absolutely delicious. His dark blue eyes found mine and they lightened a bit, though the stern expression still remained on his face.
He nodded at whatever Dad was saying and turned to look back at him to say something. And then Ethan and Caine headed over to where Tam and I were seated. Ethan plopped down in a chair next to Tam and she instinctively shifted closer to him.
Caine bent down near my side and whispered in my ear, "Can I talk to you?"
"You just did," I grinned at him. He gave me a small smile and hit my shoulder lightly.
He stood up and walked towards the other end of the balcony where it turned and led into another aisle. I followed him. He stood near the corner and I stood a few inches away from him – six or so.
"Long time, no talk," I chirped, looking up at him. It was then that I noticed how short I was compared to him. If I stood straight, my head would be brushing his shoulder. And I was pretty tall for a girl.
"Yeah," he mumbled.
"What is it?" I asked, knowing something was bothering him.
"Okay, well I'm ... having urges."
"Don't we all?" I gave him a weird look.
"It's – well most of these urges revolve around – uh – you." He said. His posture was tense and he was not meeting my gaze.
"Me?" I squeaked. I bit my lip nervously.
"Yes, you, Tori." He looked me right in the eyes and I turned to goo on the spot.
"What kind of urges?"
"Well, two days ago, when you got attacked?" He touched my midriff and my heart started beating faster. "I somehow knew that you were in danger. I kind of ran all the way to your house and barged in. You were unconscious and bleeding and I somehow lost it. I was really pissed a those wolves and ripped them to shreds the next thing I know."
"Oh,"
"Big oh," He quirked his lip up into a crooked smile.
"I'm definitely flattered," I said and he grinned down at me. His moods really were bipolar – one minute he's all tense and angry and the next, he's all happy and flirty.
"I'm positively sure we're mates now," He said. My heart thumped right out of my chest at the way he was looking at me now. I felt it again. It was like how it happened in the kitchen: butterflies erupting, heat spreading through my body.
I was pretty sure my eyes were also glowing the way Caine's were. He slipped his hand around my waist and came to stand in front of me. He carefully lifted me up by hips and placed me on the edge of the railing. His arms came around me, holding me in place.
One wrong move, and I would tumble to the ground, pulling Caine along with me. But then, I trusted him enough not to let me fall.
He moved forward until he was standing between my legs. This was the only time when Caine and I were eye to eye.
He gave me a small peck on the lips, disappointing me as I had expected a passionate one.
He laughed. "I never really noticed how small you are compared to me until now."
"Hey! Be nice!" I snapped. "I'm not that small anyways. I'm just not tall enough."
"What are you? 3'9?" He said mockingly, the smirk playing on his lips.
I mock-glared at him. He pecked my lips again. I could feel my butt slipping a bit and I grabbed his arms for support. He quickly tightened his arms around me again.
And then it was back again. That tingly, hot feeling that I had now come to associate with Caine. He lowered his lips to mine.
Sparks exploded, colors flying everywhere in my mind. His teeth grazed my bottom lip and I held back a moan. His tongue slipped into my mouth, and for a while it was just us and no one else around. He pulled his lips away from mine and I gasped for air.
He resumed placing kisses on my jaw and neck until he reached the base of my neck. My fingers had slipped into his hair and were continuously running through them.
He was continuously licking and kissing the spot at the base of my neck. Fire exploded everywhere.
He momentarily looked up at me, question in his eyes. My eyes widened. We held each other's gaze for a few moments before he dipped his head down to my neck. I could feel his extracted canines graze the spot and I stiffened.
And then he sunk his teeth into my neck, claiming me as his.
:::___:::