"Now where were you?" she demanded, turning to glare at Caeden.
"At Sophie"s," he mumbled.
"All night?" she asked him.
"Yes," he whispered.
"Alright, man!" said Bryce and Caeden punched his younger brother in the shoulder.
"It wasn"t like that," he said. "I just spent the night."
"Why did you "just spend the night" and not call me? I"ve been worried sick," she said.
"She has," said Bryce, "She even wore a hole in the rug."
"Bryce, go do something productive," Amy said.
Bryce picked up his dog, Bella, and sauntered into the kitchen.
"Caeden," I said. "Just tell her. She"s your mom. She"ll find out anyway. Mom"s always do."
Caeden sent me a betrayed look and said, "I don"t want to worry her."
"I was worried all night anyway so tell me what happened," she said waving her hand impatiently.
"Peter attacked me," said Caeden. "That"s why I went to Sophie"s house. I hoped Lucinda would be there but she wasn"t. Luckily, despite her fear of blood, Sophie helped me."
"What did he do to you?" shrieked Amy.
Bryce came back into the foyer. A line of worry puckered his forehead.
Caeden looked at me pleadingly. "Show them," I said.
He shrugged out of his shirt and turned so that his mom and brother could see the five white scars.
Breath hissed through their teeth and then Amy growled. She came forward to touch her son"s scars. "He tried to kill you," she stated.
"He almost did," I said.
Amy looked over at me and pulled me into a bone crushing hug. "You saved my son."
"Hardly," I said. "He had to tell me how to do everything."
"Mom," Caeden whined pulling his shirt back down, "let her go. You"re crushing her."
"It"s okay," I said. Caeden shook his head.
"I"m going to go change and then Sophie and I are leaving," said Caeden. "So, please don"t crush her to death while I"m gone."
Amy let me go and patted my hand. She smiled at me. "Sophie will be just fine," she said.
"Sure, she will," said Caeden going up the stairs.
Amy smiled and pulled me into the kitchen.
The kitchen was large with white cabinets and white marble countertops. The floors were a black and white checkered pattern. There was a large island with three chairs, Bryce was sitting in one feeding Bella pieces of bacon, and then against the far wall was a large bay window with a table and chairs that served as the breakfast nook. The kitchen reminded me of a restaurant with its industrial size refrigerator, large stovetop, and double ovens.
Noticing my perusal of the room Amy supplied, "The pack eats here a lot and with that many hungry wolves you need a lot of food. One wolf is bad enough," she said. She shook her head, "They can eat enough to feed a small army in one sitting." She giggled and pointed to herself, "Me included."
I laughed, "Will I get like that?"
"Once you change, yes. It"ll happen earlier if you start working out with the rest of the pack, which might be a good idea." She felt my arm and said, "Yes, you definitely need to bulk up."
"Bulk up?" I croaked.
Caeden came into the kitchen and said, "Your arms are fine don"t listen to her." He had changed into a longs-sleeved blue shirt and dark jeans. The blue of the shirt brought out his eyes.
Amy let go of my arm and put her hands on her hips, "The girl should be able to protect herself. What if the Grimm"s find out who she really is? Hmm? What then, Caeden?"
He sighed and looked at me. With a sheepish look he said, "She"s right, you should know how to defend yourself especially since you still have several months until you turn eighteen."
I gulped.
"It"ll be fine," he said.
"Do you really think I"m in danger?" I asked.
"No," he scoffed. "It"s just best to be prepared for any situation. Don"t worry we"ll go easy on you."
"Sure, we will," taunted Bryce.
"It was fun chatting with you guys but we"ve got to go," said Caeden taking my hand and towing me from the kitchen.
"It was nice meeting you," I said to Amy.
She pulled me into another hug but Caeden kept a hold on my hand. She patted my cheek and then turned to Caeden, "Now be careful with her."
"Mom," he groaned.
"Caeden," she said sternly.
"We"ll be fine," he said and pulled me to the front door.
From the kitchen his mom said, "No funny business like last night, Caeden, do you understand me?"
"Yes, ma"am," He conceded and then we were out the door.
I started towards my car but Caeden gently pulled me towards the back of the house and to the garage. He punched in a code and the door rose. Inside was a mocha colored, Cadillac SRX, Caeden"s motorcycle, Bryce"s green 1999 Jeep, and then at the far end a new dark red Jeep Grand Cherokee.
Caeden looked longingly at his Honda motorcycle and said, "There"s no chance of me getting you on this is there?"
"Not yet," I said with a smile.
"Not yet," he repeated, "I can live with that." He towed me to the end of the garage and opened the pa.s.senger door of the red Jeep Grand Cherokee. "I guess we"ll take this then."
I shook my head, "A motorcycle and a brand new Jeep." I clucked my tongue, "And you wanted to talk about my car."
He ducked his head, "The Jeep like the motorcycle was my dad"s. I"d trade the cars to have him back any day."
I closed my eyes, "I"m so sorry Caeden. That was so insensitive of me. Please, forgive me."
He gave me a small smile. "There"s nothing to forgive." He pecked me on the cheek and then closed the car door. The car still had the "new" smell to it. Caeden opened the door and climbed in. "Actually," he said. "Before my dad died that was mine," and pointed to Bryce"s Jeep, "and if I was lucky he"d occasionally let me borrow the bike."
"So Stella was yours?"
"Hey," he said in defense, "I didn"t name the car Bryce did, so go poke fun at him."
He started the car and I sank back into the plush beige leather. "So, where are we going?" I asked.
He smiled, "Georgetown." He started driving down the narrow gravel road.
"That sounds good to me," I smiled. "I just want to get away from here." I chuckled, "Pretend I"m normal."
His hand rubbed my arm soothingly before his fingers tangled in mine. "I know this has been tough on you. I can"t imagine if I had grown up not knowing what I was."
"It"s a lot to take in. A lot," I said.
He stopped the car when we came to the gate and had to put some kind of code in so we could get out.
He looked at me sadly, "And then there"s us."
"Yes, there"s that too."
He pulled out onto the road and said regretfully, "It pains me that all of this has been sprung on you." He glanced over at me, "We"ll take things slow."
I smiled and blushed. "I want to be with you," I said and looked out the window. Boldly, I said, "There"s no one else for me. I know that. I can feel it."
His eyes were hopeful as he said, "I want you more than anything. Being away from you is hard. I wanted so badly to tell you about all this when I first saw you but I couldn"t. Then when I told Lucinda that we were mates she said that she thought it would be better if she told you, rather than me telling you. But..." He blushed and studied the road for a moment before continuing. "I feel like... there"s some kind of physical...binding... I have to you. It"s like there"s a rope connecting us. Do you... Do you feel it too? Or am I just crazy?"
I was quiet and let his words sink in. What he was saying made sense. The pull I felt to be with him was like a rubber band. It stretched around us and when we were separated it pulled back but it created a pressure to be with him, like it wanted to snap back into place, and that place was his arms.
"I feel it too," I whispered. "It"s like if I"m not with you there"s this pressure pulling me back to you."
"Incredible," we said in unison.
"I wish we could talk to your parents. Maybe since they"re mates too they could shed some light on the situation."
"Maybe," I murmured still rubbing my chest where Caeden"s heart had been beating next to mine only a moment ago.
Caeden sighed and said, "I can see this is upsetting you. I want us to have fun today. So, from this moment on let"s just be Caeden and Sophie, no shifter talk."
"Sounds good to me," I said.
He smiled and we began to talk about normal, mundane, things to pa.s.s the time.
When we finally made it to Georgetown it was early afternoon. The orange and red leaves created a false sunset. Despite it being the end of October it was fairly warm. A slight breeze had my hair dancing around my shoulders.
We managed to find a parking spot along busy Main Street. Caeden got out and put some money in the parking meter and took my hand. I looked at our intertwined hands and blushed. I looked up and met Caeden"s eyes. He was grinning and the one dimple in his cheek showed prominently.
"Is this okay?" he asked with a glance at our hands.
"Mhmm," I said as my cheeks flamed redder. I wished I could blame my cheeks on the cold but it felt more like spring outside so I knew I would only make myself look sillier.
"Come on," he said pulling me down the street. It was crowded but not overly busy like I had originally thought. The buildings were all older, and I quickly realized they were old row homes, but they all contained high-end shops. I saw stores like, American Apparel, BCBG, Coach, Kate Spade, and many others. Caeden pulled me in and out of different stores. He bought himself couple of shirts and some new pairs of jeans.
"When you"re a shifter you go through a lot of clothes," he shrugged handing the sales girl his credit card. Her eyes roamed over him and I instantly bristled.
As the sun started to go down Caeden"s stomach gave a loud growl and mine followed suit. I giggled, "I guess we"re both hungry," I said.
Caeden rubbed his stomach and said, "I"m starving. I think this may be the longest I"ve ever gone without eating."
I laughed, "That must be quite a feat."
"You have no idea," he replied towing me towards a fancy French restaurant.
"Oh, no, no, no," I said putting on the brakes. "That"s too expensive."
He smiled goofily and said, "Anything for my lovely mate," and boldly kissed my cheek.
"Really," I said, "I"m not a fancy kind of girl." I pointed to the Five Guys down the road. "I"m more of a burgers and fries kind of girl."
Caeden grinned. "I"m falling for you more and more. Could you be more perfect?"
I blushed and ducked my head so he wouldn"t see. I clutched his hand tighter and towed him down the street to the red and white burger goodness.
I ordered a little cheeseburger, fries, and a drink. Much to Caeden"s chagrin I paid for my own meal. As I was getting my drink I heard Caeden order four of their biggest burgers with just about everything on them and two large fries.
I snickered when the girl at the register, who had been checking out Caeden despite the fact that we were obviously together, asked, "Is this to go?"
"No," said Caeden and pointed to me, "I"m on a date." He grinned at me and I blushed down to my neck.
The girl looked peeved but then brightened. "Are others joining you? They must with all that you ordered."
"Nope," said Caeden with a smirk. He rubbed his flat stomach and said, "It"s all for me and I"ll eat every last bite."
"Oh," she said looking slightly disgusted as she handed him back his change. I rolled my eyes and sat down at an empty table that was slightly out of the way. Caeden got his drink, swigged it down quickly, refilled it, and then grabbed a container of malt vinegar before sitting down across from me.