Caeden laughed. "I don"t know. It"s a weird perk of being a shifter," he stood and petted the dog on top of his head.
I cooed softly to the dog in my arms. He was just so cute with his white and black fur and pointy ears.
"What are you going to name him?" asked Caeden.
I held the dog out at arm"s length. "Archie," I said. "His name is Archie."
Caeden laughed and said, "I hope Archie and Murphy get along because if I have my way you"ll be spending most of your time with me."
"Oh is that right?" I asked. I looked at Archie. "Do you think they"ll get along? I mean, Archie"s a small dog and Murphy is the size of a moose."
Caeden eyed me. "He gets along great with Bella so I don"t see why this would be any different."
I set the dog down on the floor and grabbed a bowl from the cabinet. I filled it with water and set it down for him. Within moments he had lapped it all up. "Good boy," I said and stroked his soft fur. "You know this is your home don"t you? Don"t you?" I asked in that gooey voice that most people reserved for babies.
Caeden shook his head and laughed at me. I didn"t care though. This was a new experience for me. I had never had a dog before. I wondered at that. Didn"t my parents have familiars? I"d have to ask Gram about that later.
Caeden sat back down and continued eating his pizza. I was so absorbed in my new dog that all thoughts of finishing my meal were gone.
Chomping on his pizza, a little sauce sitting adorably in the corner of his mouth, Caeden said, "How about tomorrow after work I take you to PetSmart? We can get little Archie some toy"s and what not."
I smiled. "That would be great. My poor little baby doesn"t have anything," I cooed to the dog. I saw Caeden shake his head out of the corner of my eye. I didn"t care though. I was going to have my fun.
I heard Gram"s car pull in the driveway and then a moment later she appeared at the front door. Archie went running to her, his tail wagging.
She smiled and bent down to pet him. "Well, who is this?" she asked.
"Archie," I supplied. "He"s apparently my familiar."
She smiled. "He suits you."
"What does that mean? I"m cute and sweet?" I asked jokingly.
"Of course," said Caeden grinning.
I raised my eyebrows, "So Murphy symbolizes that you"re a giant mess?"
He grinned, his dimple showing. "No, silly. Murphy is my familiar because we have the same traits. Pa.s.sionate, affectionate, easy-going, quiet, fearless, loyal and many other amazing things." He finished with a laugh and a mischievous twinkle in his eye.
"Maybe you should date him?" I said.
"Ugh no thanks," said Caeden and then grinned. "He"s not as good of a kisser as you. I don"t think I could survive off of Murphy"s kisses. But yours... Your kisses are like heaven."
"Glad to know that you"ve made out with your dog, Caeden," I said and punched his leg from where I sat on the floor with Archie who had curled up in a little ball on my lap.
He puckered his lips. "You seem to like the way I kiss. I guess practicing with Murphy paid off." He laughed and moved his legs to avoid another punch from me.
"Ugh, too much information," said Gram. "You"re making me nauseous."
I couldn"t help the laughter that burst forth. Caeden started laughing too. A few tears leaked out of the corners of my eyes.
Gram sat down across from Caeden to eat her pizza. "So how did it go today Sophie? I know you were dreading it."
I groaned and Caeden grinned.
"Sophie was fine up until the point where she fell flat on her face when she got a look at my delicious abs," he said and pulled up his shirt rubbing his chiseled stomach.
I blushed and then mocked him, "Delicious huh?"
"Oh yeah," he said jokingly. "My bas.e.m.e.nt floor is now flooded with your drool."
"That"s not drool that"s your sweat," I chuckled.
"Touche," he replied with a smile. He finished his pizza and stood. "I better get home. I don"t want to worry my mom. I"ll see you tomorrow at school, babe," he said and bent down and kissed my cheek and rubbed Archie behind his ears.
"Bye," I said and smiled at him.
"Bye Lucinda," he said and hugged Gram.
She patted his cheeks. "Be careful," she said.
"I always am," he replied heading out to the living room to put his coat on.
Gram harrumphed and said, "No you"re not."
He chuckled and ducked out the door. I heard his Jeep start and then pull away. "I"m going to head to bed," I said to Gram. "I am absolutely exhausted."
Gram laughed. "What are you going to do, Sophie? We"re going to have to whip you into shape," she said with a quiet chuckle.
I grinned. "I guess I"m not cut out to be a shifter."
"Not many of us are," she said. "You have to be tough as nails. You"ll get there, sweetie," she said patting my hand.
I smiled up at her. "It all still seems so surreal," I said. "It"s become more real since I saw Caeden as a wolf but I don"t think it"ll actually hit me until I change."
Gram sat down on the floor beside me, crossing her legs Indian style. For a moment she said nothing, only petted Archie, then she spoke. "I knew my whole life what I was. I grew up with my husband and our friends, all of us knowing that one day we would come of age and shift into wolves. We"d seen our parents do it many times and had no reason to doubt them but it was still a scary experience." She patted my knee. "Sophie, you"re a strong girl. You"re going to make a great wolf. And you have Caeden to help you through it all. I had no one."
I was quiet, thinking, and then I said, "Why were you alone?"
She sighed and looked at me. An ancient sadness glimmered in her shimmery brown eyes, "I never had a mate. I married your grandfather but he wasn"t my true mate. I loved him dearly but the bond of a mate is different." She sighed and continued, "Despite the idea of a mate turning into nothing more than a legend we still abided by the old rules. The rules clearly state that a female without a mate must make the change alone. I was scared to death. I was only eighteen and the first female to change in my generation pack. I had no one to talk to but my mother and the other elders. It was so frightening but exhilarating at the same time when I first shifted. I felt like for the first time in my life I was coming into my own skin. I felt free but whole at the same time. It was amazing. After that I felt silly for all the worrying that I had done. So, don"t worry Sophie, it"s not necessary. Everything will work out perfectly. And you are so much luckier than the rest of us because you"ll have Caeden to help you through it. He"ll be there to coach you through it." She pulled me against her and began to stroke my hair. "You may be finding out about this after everyone else but you are so much luckier than they are because you have something infinitely more precious, Sophie. You have the gift of the purest, most kind, forgiving, all-consuming, true love. I wish I could have had that. It"s a gift everyone wants and few receive it. Human and shifter alike. For whatever reason you and Caeden have been given this gift, just like your parents, I can only hope that the bonds are coming back because everyone deserves to have it."
"Gram," I said and cuddled closer into her comforting arms. I felt like a little kid again, but in a good way, sitting in her arms. "My feelings for him are so strong Gram. It scares me," I whispered.
"I know sweetie," she said. "It"ll get worse once you"re bonded too."
"Bonded?" I asked. "What does that mean?"
She sighed. "When you find your mate there"s a bonding ceremony. It"s almost like a wedding but only for the two of you. It"s a very powerful, very old, kind of magic."
"Does Caeden know?" I asked.
"Yes," she said. "He probably didn"t tell you because he didn"t want to scare you further. He"s very attuned to your feelings."
"But how do you know all this?" I asked.
"It"s written down in our histories. We stopped believing in mates because for hundreds of years there haven"t been any. Like I"ve told you before, fact turned into legend, and here we are today."
"Oh, right," I said embarra.s.sed.
"It"s okay, sweetie," she said patting my hand. "You"re bound not to remember half of what we tell you. There"s just so much that you don"t know but you"ll get there."
I stood and said, "Thanks for the talk Gram but I really do have to go to bed. I have school tomorrow."
"Oh right," she said. She stood with the grace and agility of someone much younger than her. She kissed my cheek and said, "Goodnight, Sophie."
I picked up Archie and headed to my room. I changed into my pajamas and climbed under the covers. Archie decided to be a pillow hog so I graciously pillowed my head on my hands despite how uncomfortable it was. I"d let the dog have the pillow. He was too cute to say no to. He made a cute little snoring noise that instead of keeping me awake lulled me into a dreamless sleep.
In the morning, for the first time ever, I woke up ready for school. Not necessarily school but the idea of seeing Caeden. Seeing him now would be different than previous times at school, now we were no longer friends, but more. I dressed in a hurry and rushed out the door, with a piece of toast between my teeth, and Archie barking at the door. I only hoped that Caeden was as excited to see me as I was to see him.
I pulled into my parking spot and a moment later Caeden pulled in beside me in his Jeep. The weather here was like a yo-yo going from high to low quicker than you could blink and today was a particularly chilly day. I was bundled up with a jacket and scarf and saw that Caeden was dressed similarly.
I got out of my car a smile already on my face. Caeden smiled when he saw me, said, "Hey," pulled me into a hug and then kissed me quickly on the lips. He inhaled my scent and said, "I love the way you smell, like, cookie dough and icing."
"Thanks," I said and then added, "I think."
"Don"t worry, it"s a good thing." He said and bent to kiss my cheek.
Travis Grimm chose that moment to come skidding into the parking lot. He parked his sports car and sauntered over to us. I felt Caeden"s muscles tense and I had the urge to grab him and run in the opposite direction.
Travis stopped in front of us and sneered at Caeden, "Don"t you think you should date someone within your own species?"
Caeden growled and I tightened my hold on him. He squeezed my hand lightly in a silent reminder to act dumb.
"Travis what are you talking about?" I asked to help ensure that he still believed that I was only a human and not a shifter.
He turned to glare at me. "Stay out of this," he snarled and pushed me out of the way. I could see an evil glint in his eye. He was looking for a fight and he hoped that by insulting me he could get to Caeden.
It worked. Caeden lunged at Travis but suddenly Bentley was there pulling Caeden away saying, "He"s not worth it man. He"s just not worth it."
Travis grinned c.o.c.kily like he had learned something valuable, stuck his hands in his pockets, and strode confidently into the school.
Caeden was doing that weird, vibrating, shimmering around the edges thing. His breathing was heavy and Bentley was trying to calm him down. I batted Bentley away and took Caeden"s face between my hands.
"Calm down," I said looking into his blue eyes. I noticed that his eyes had taken on a distinct wolfish quality. They seemed to glow gold around the edges. Slowly, they began to return to normal. "I"m okay," I added. "He just wanted to get under your skin. You can"t let him do that. You"re an Alpha you have to be the bigger person," I was thoughtful for a moment, "or wolf, I guess I should say."
He laughed at that and returned to himself. He shook his head, "I"m sorry. When he touched you... I"ve never felt like that before. I mean he always goads me but this was different. I just couldn"t stand the thought of him touching you. I"m sorry. I just felt so possessive. You"re my mate and I didn"t want him messing with you. It"s one thing when he messes with me but when he grabbed you, I just lost it. Sorry," he said again.
I kept my hold on his face so he had to look me in the eye. "Caeden, it"s okay. Really. But you need to learn to control yourself around him. You can"t let him win. You"re an Alpha and he"s not so he"s jealous."
"You"re right," he said. "I"ve got to stop thinking like a little boy and be a man, be an Alpha. I have to put you and my pack first." He smiled. "Thanks for being my rock."
I leaned my forehead against his. "You"re my rock."
He kissed me and Bentley gagged. "You guys act like an old married couple."
We both laughed. Bryce pulled into the parking spot next to Caeden"s and hopped out. He looked between the three of us. "I missed something and it was big. I know it," he said.
Caeden ruffled his younger brother"s hair. "Don"t worry. It was just Travis, like always."
Bryce shook his s.h.a.ggy hair, once again reminding me of a dog, and said, "Want me to teach him a lesson?" he did a karate chop in the air. "I can take him," he added.
"Travis would get far too much satisfaction out of that," I said.
"Too bad," said Bryce. "Maybe one day."
Looking at Bryce I was a little worried that one day might be soon, like first period soon, since we had math today. What I wouldn"t give for it to be a day two.
We met up with Logan, Chris, and Charlotte in the cafeteria. They had no idea what had transpired in the parking lot but said they saw Travis come in and take off with the members of his pack and that he looked particularly happy about something. I knew that couldn"t be good. I was dreading math more and more. Too bad I couldn"t just twitch my nose and it would be over.
The bell rang and Bryce and I headed off to math. Walking down the hallway I said to him, "Don"t start anything, Bryce. I mean it. Travis wants a fight so please don"t give him one."
Bryce looked at me with his blue eyes that were similar to Caeden"s only darker. "I hate him so much," he whispered.
"Why?" I asked.
"Well for starters I think he knows something about the night my dad died and he"s always doing something to Caeden. He hates it that Caeden is an Alpha and he"s not. I don"t know why that bothers him so much. I mean he"s the son of an Alpha so he"ll get the position when either his dad dies or steps down. I think he hates that Caeden has so much power. The Grimm Pack is small compared to ours. If you only count the new generation it"s only three wolves. Travis, Robert, and Hannah."
"So, he"s jealous that the Williams Pack is bigger?" I asked.
"I think that"s only part of it. The Williams Pack or should I say the Beaumont Pack has always been the most powerful pack of wolf shifters in the world because the first wolf to shift was a Beaumont. Travis hates that. He craves power; I can smell it on him."
"You can smell it?" I asked.
"Yeah," he said. "It"s a wolf thing. When people have certain thoughts their body gives off a certain scent."
Oh dear lord, what kind of scents did my body produce when I was near Caeden?
We were at the cla.s.sroom now so it made talk impossible. Travis smirked at me and Bryce when we came in. I took my seat which was still, unfortunately, in front of Travis. Like he did every math cla.s.s he played with my hair and touched my skin. The feeling of spiders crawling over my skin appeared at his touch and a sense of wrongness. I always had this feeling when he touched me and I hated it but I was too scared of Mrs. Harding to say anything. She seemed to favor Travis and since she already hated me I didn"t see the point in adding fuel to the fire. When the bell rang I gave Bryce a tight-lipped smile and headed to my history cla.s.s.
Charlotte was already in her seat in the back of the room. She smiled as I took my seat next to her.
"I can"t stand him," I said into my hands.
"Who?" she asked. I gave her a pointed look and she said, "Oh, right. Travis."
"He"s just so awful," I said.
"He is," she agreed. "The whole Grimm Pack is like that," she said and pointed to a particular unpleasant girl in our cla.s.s. "Hannah is just as bad. She"s just more subtle about it."