I'm really, really, really, uber-doober sorry. I owe all of you a cookie, and a kiss :P This has been written for a while, but I haven't really had the inspiration to write lately. Hopefully, I'll start catching up again soon. AND PEOPLE SHOULD COMMENT!! Pwease? I'm dying to get feedback. Dedicated to MY FIRST EVER FAN!! WOOOT!! ************
Chapter-6
I blushed as the man handed us our tickets after eyeing my bikini. Jack growled quietly, enough so that I was probably the only one to hear, and pulled me into the park. Screams and giggles rang throughout the entire park as kids splashed, teens flirted, and adults worked on their tans. I'd been here before with Trish and Payton plenty of times, so I knew this place like the back of my hand.
A laugh escaped my lips as I dragged him to Thunder River. This one was definitely my favorite. We boarded a two-person, yellow raft and pushed ourselves into the river, passing all of the people that were just lounging without rafts. Yeah, the river ran through the entire park, and you just chilled except in some parts. As if thinking about them summoned them, the rapids appeared. I squealed and Jack gave me an amused look before following my stare. His eyes grew wide as we were thrown into the white water and struggled to gain control. We were tilting on my side while we spun in circles from the current, so he threw himself down to even the weight. That was all she wrote. Our raft capsized and I fell underwater. I gasped when water filled my nose and throat. Clawing my way to the surface, I spluttered.
A hand pulled me onto a raft, and I thought that Jack was my savior, but I heard a cough behind me, causing me to almost fall out again as I turned. Jack's green eyes were wide with terror and amusement as the same time. I guffawed at his shocked expression and turned to see who had helped me. Paul was grinning like there was no tomorrow as he started to paddle away from Jack, leaving him glaring and smothering his humor. I paddled with him until we were floating on the river with Jack out of view. He would find us eventually. We could wait at the end of the ride for him. The fast current ended, and we leaned back to relax. As I started to doze off with the sun warming my skin, I heard a loud splash. Thinking that Paul was splashing around, I opened my eyes to complain.
I gasped when I realized that Paul was gone. If he had gotten off by himself, it definitely wouldn't have been so loud. He could've done it sneakily. Looking for an answer to my predicament, I gazed at the water. The sun danced on the ripples and waves, making them sparkle. The gentle lap against the raft made me begin to doze off. Suddenly, a dark shape moved underneath me. A shriek escaped my lips as the raft fell from under me and I fell in. Water filled my mouth once again, and I was fighting for the surface. Two strong arms wrapped around me, and lifted me from the water. As I began to breathe again, I curled up against the warmth pressing against me.
A vibration from the chest I was pressed against had my eyes flying open. There stood model-worthy material, with cropped blonde hair and hazel eyes. "Heh, oops," I squeaked while freeing myself from his arms. I submerged myself in the river to cool my red face. As I came back out of the water, I glanced around looking for somebody to save me from the embarrassing situation. Thankfully, my mate wasn't far away. "Jack!" I called out to his searching eyes. When they met mine, I immediately felt safer and calmer. He started to tread over, but quickened his pace when he saw the stranger beside me.
"Paul is a dead man. I'm sorry, Lace, I'm just not used to," I knew he was about to say 'human form', but my eyes cautioned him into finishing correctly, "swimming after my... illness." Jack's eyes were going crazy between checking over me to make sure I was alright, searching the stranger for a threat, and looking for Paul. It must've paid off, because moments later, Paul swam over to us with a raft in tow.
"Dude, not cool. You can't just pull people off of- oh. Who's the random guy?" Paul was rambling at Jack when I realized that neither of them knew that it was this person that dragged Paul off of our raft.
"Yeah," I turned to the stranger to glare at him. "Who are you? Seeing as how you dumped my friend here, I think I'm actually curious." I spat at him. What a way to ruin our fun.
My hand itched to slap off the smirk that suddenly appeared on his face. It turned into a full smile when he spotted the scowl that made its way onto my features. His teeth were certainly white, but something was different. Instead of having only his eyeteeth pointed like normal people, all of his were sharp down to the end. I gasped and almost fell backwards when the stench of his breath hit me. It smelt of sewage and decay. Surely this man wasn't a shifter. If he was, what kind of shifter was he? Wolves didn't have totally pointy teeth and breath worthy of a portable potty.
"I am Caden." He answered, directing his response to me alone. Something was definitely off. This man was a shifter, and there was no doubt in my mind now. How could I tell Jack and Paul without Caden noticing? If only I could... Oh wait. Duh. I'm a werewolf. I almost slapped myself when I realized that I could speak telepathically with Jack. Maybe he could speak to Paul.
'He's a shifter, right?' I blinked at Caden as if nothing were going on.
'Yes, but he's not a wolf. I'm not sure what he is.'
'He smells reptilian to me.' I observed. Jack stiffened slightly before letting out a stream of curse words.
'He's a crocodile shifter.' Jack finally responded. I wasn't even aware that such things existed, let alone that I would ever meet one. But, why would he be here in a water park.
'Um, Jack? We're in a park with over 300,000 gallons of water in it. And aren't crocs meaner than gators?' If we weren't in a bad situation, I would've laughed at the look on his face. It was almost as if he was in pain.
'Can I suggest we get out of the water then?' Paul broke in. I was shocked to think that he could hear our conversation. I thought it only worked with mates.
'I'll explain later. For now...' He starting heading for the edge of the river. "Well Caden, we're going to go get some refreshments. Would you care to join us?" I let out a small giggle as Jack's cold eyes contradicted his polite tone. Caden must have mistaken my giggle at Jack for an agreement with his words, so he merely nodded. As Caden began to follow us to the edge, I couldn't help but notice how graceful and comfortable he was in the water.
Jack pulled me up and out of Thunder River before helping Paul. Without a backwards glance, he began to saunter to the food area. I followed quietly, waiting to hear a splash. To my dismay, there wasn't the smallest noise, but when I turned, Caden was already out of the water. Even worse, his eyes were locked on mine, and when he caught my gaze, a wicked smile crossed his face. Shuddering, I stepped closer to Jack.
While I was trying to be sneakily observant about the lizard behind me, Jack had already ordered my favorite snack with the ticket that got us anything in the park to add to a bill at the end: funnel cake. While failing to contain my excitement, I snatched the piece of amazingness from the cashier and did my best to ignore Jack's smirk and Paul's snickering. Without waiting for them to get their own food, and walked over to the nearest table and plopped down on the wooden bench.
Caden apparently wasn't very hungry, so he sat directly in front of me. Jack was the next to come with only a soda in his hand. He took his place next to me and began to glare at the reptilian shifter. Paul was a little too occupied with his hot dog to even notice that he was stuck next to the potty-breath.
'So, um, what now?' I thought to Jack.
'Well, that depends on what he wants.' He replied. "So, Caden, what exactly do you want from us?"
Caden's teeth flashed as he answered, "Well, I have orders to take you to back to Alpha Gordon, and next-in-line Garrett."
Well, that was unexpected to say the least. "But, you're a crocodile. What would you be doing with wolves?" I almost smacked myself as the words tumbled out of my mouth in a calm tone. Out of all the questions to ask... Actually... 'Jack?! I thought your father was filling in for my pack? But Garret's your brother? And only the eldest son can take the trait? Does that mean Paul is Garret's brother, too?'
'Whoa, whoa, whoa. Lacey, calm down. Please don't get worked up here: There are too many people, and you might accidentally access your power. Listen carefully. Garret's father and my father are two different people. Both of them are werewolves, so we both got the gene. My father is my mother's true mate. My mother was forced to marry Gordon by my grandmother, but my dad was able to save her from him. So she had two different lives. Her first was a sad one with Gordon and Garret, and her second is her right one with Dad, Paul, and me. Your father took us in after we were banished from Gordon's pack. My mother was once an alpha female. Understand?'
'Um, yeah. I think I do.' I said shakily. That cleared some things up.
"Well, this way, we're unstoppable. Duh." I almost jumped when Caden answered. I actually forgot that I had asked him a question. Clearly his intelligence wasn't as sharp as his teeth. This might be a long conversation. I frowned and sighed internally as I chowed down on my funnel cake.
"Are you really that naïve? Caden, Gordon and his pack are bad, bad people. Don't you understand that when they're done using you, they'll kill you?" I sighed warily.
"Tiny wolves can't kill crocodiles you silly girl. We're faster, and they can't swim."
"Yeah, well, how good of a chance would you stand on their turf? You meet them, not the other way around." Caden's eyes flashed when he realized the truth of my words, and he bared his teeth with a snarl. "But, I AM a soon-to-be alpha. My pack is stronger, and I wouldn't tolerate betrayal. I am looking for the downfall of Gordon's pack however. Would you join us? You would be free to stay or leave, to accept or refuse"
"If there's one thing about a crocodile you should, it's that we LOVE a fight for revenge. We'll join you." At the moment Caden ended his promise, most of the people around us turned to look at us with pointy smiles and reptilian eyes. They nodded in unison, and I knew we had an ally, even if they were in need of some heavy-duty mouthwash.