"Caeden," I said. "I understand what you"re saying. And I"m not saying I don"t want to marry you. I"m only saying that we"re still in high school. What would people think? I"m not going anywhere. We"re mates. It"s not like we would even get divorced. I just... I need some way to make you mine."
"I"m already yours," he said.
"I want to do this, Caeden. I really do. Like I said before, if you want to wait I will," I said but I wasn"t so sure that I meant my own words.
"I"m more than ready," he said. "But I don"t want to push you."
"You"re not," I said. "This is my choice."
His smile returned. He pressed his lips against mine and breathed, "Sixteen more days and you"re mine forever."
He kissed me again and I heard the cheers in the back ground. The ball had dropped in Times Square. The New Year was here and with it many changes were to come. I could feel it.
sixteen.
Christmas vacation came to an end. Now all anyone could focus on was prom. The babble traveled down the hallway like a high speed train. No one knew of my kidnapping and no one made a comment on the fact that Travis was missing. As were the other two members of his pack Hannah and Robert. I wished I could focus on such petty human problems such as which dress and shoes to wear but my worries were much bigger.
In two weeks I would shed my human skin and transform into the wolf I was always meant to be. I noticed things beginning to change already. I seemed to see things with a new clarity. Everything was sharper, crisper, it was eerie in a way. Even smells were more potent and I knew that it would all only get worse once I changed.
Caeden gave my hand a rea.s.suring squeeze as if he knew where my thoughts had turned. I gave him a small smile. We had reached our lunch table. I sat down and Caeden tossed his backpack down and got in the lunch line. I grabbed my own packed lunch from my backpack. No lunch lady surprise for me.
The others were already seated at the table. I hadn"t seen any of them since my rescue. Bentley bit into his pizza and then said, "So how are you feeling? I see your bruises and everything is gone." Chris, who was sitting next to him smacked his arm. "Ow, what?" he said choking on his pizza.
Chris looked at me, shaking her head, "Boys are so dumb."
Bentley narrowed his eyes at her. "Oh come on! Like you don"t want to know what happened to all the cuts and bruises! The last time we saw her she looked like the incredible hulk. Only without all of the hulkiness and more of the purple and greenness."
Chris shook her head again. "Bentley, don"t you know when to keep your mouth shut?"
"Obviously not," he grumbled.
"What"s all this about?" Caeden asked putting his tray down and slipping into the seat next to mine.
Bentley glared at Chris. "I just want to know what happened to all her bruises," he said pointing to me. "And this thing," he pointed to Chris, "says I"m being rude."
"That"s because you are," said Chris.
Bentley shook his head. "That"s the last time I ask a simple question."
"It"s okay Bentley," I interrupted. "You didn"t offend me. Chris is just trying to be nice."
"So what happened to all of it?" he asked rubbing his hand in front of his face for emphasis.
I looked at Caeden and then back at Bentley. I saw that Bryce, Charlotte, and Logan were now intrigued. "Caeden healed me," I said.
Bentley choked on his pizza again. Chris beat his back. When he finally had control of himself he said, "Really? I thought that was only a legend."
Caeden and I both laughed before he answered. "According to that Sophie and I should be nothing more than legend. But we"re mates. If it"s true then why isn"t that the same for everything?"
"That"s true," said Bentley. "It just makes you think though. Everything we thought was nothing more than legend is real. How much more do we not know?"
I laughed. "This from a group of werewolves, I mean, shifters," I quickly corrected myself. "You guys aren"t supposed to exist but you do. So why shouldn"t this be any different?"
I was surprised when Logan spoke. "You act as if you"re not one of us," he said.
I blushed. "Sorry, I"m still trying to get used to it."
Charlotte glared at him and then turned to me. "It"ll become more real once you actually shift."
"We grew up knowing what we are, you haven"t. It"s been hidden from you for all these years," said Chris. She then slapped the back of her brother"s head.
"What was that for?" asked Logan glaring at his sister.
"For being a freakin" idiot," she said. He rubbed the back of his head and then stared at his tray of food. "So, has anyone else noticed not only Travis missing but his minions as well?" asked Chris.
"Of course," we all said.
"They"re planning something," said Caeden. "I can feel it. We need to be one step ahead of them."
"But what can we do?" asked Bryce ripping his pizza into narrow slivers. "It"s not like we know what they"re planning. I think we have to just wait and see."
"No!" said Caeden slamming his fist on the table. Everyone"s stuff jumped about three inches off the table with the force. "They took Sophie from me once I"m not letting them do it again! We will act first!"
Bentley looked at Caeden, his brown eyes questioning, "Caeden I"ve always admired you and even more so when you took your father"s place but I won"t do this. I will not go on a suicide mission." He looked at Chris and I saw that longing in his eyes just like in hers. "I won"t let you do this."
Caeden"s chest puffed out. "Are you challenging me?" he hissed.
"h.e.l.l no," said Bentley. "But you can"t risk our lives for revenge. That"s just insane and you know it."
Caeden looked at me and I could see the worry there in his eyes. I put my hand on his cheek. "Caeden, in a couple of weeks I will shift too. I"ll be stronger. I won"t be so vulnerable anymore. And remember, they still think I"m human. I"ll have the upper hand."
"That"s true," he said and I could see him calming down.
Bentley let out a relieved breath.
"Now that we"re not contemplating our deaths can we talk about something more normal? Like, say, prom?" asked Chris.
I groaned and Caeden grinned. "Prom..." he mused. "Will I get to see you in a dress?"
I wrinkled my nose. "Prom is still three months away so I don"t know why we"re even talking about it. And if I have my way I won"t be going."
"Oh, we"re going," said Caeden a challenge clear in his eyes.
"Do you enjoy my discomfort?" I asked him.
He shrugged his shoulders. "I just want to see you in a dress and dance the night away with you in my arms."
Bryce laughed. "You sound like some kind of cheesy greeting card," he said.
"I don"t remember them making greeting cards for prom," countered Caeden.
I groaned. "Can we please not talk about this right now? It"s still a ways off and so until then I"d prefer not to talk about the "p" word. Understand?"
Caeden laughed. "Only if you promise to be my date," he challenged.
I rolled my eyes. "If it means none of you will talk about it for the next three months then I"ll go and I"ll even wear a dress like a real live girl."
They all laughed at my words even Logan which surprised me. Noticing the time I quickly scarfed down my sandwich.
The bell rang and Caeden and I headed for study hall. Even though I knew Travis wouldn"t be there I still found my heart stuttering. I walked into the room expecting those bottomless black eyes to be glaring at me but of course he wasn"t there. Caeden tugged me into a corner away from the other kids and the teacher. We sat down but he didn"t let go of my hand. He gently traced the lines and swirls of my hand.
"I want you to know that it"s going to be okay," he said quietly.
"My shift? I know it will Caeden. You"ll be there," I said.
"That"s not what I meant but that will be okay too," he said not meeting my gaze. "I meant with Travis. I will stop him. I won"t let him take you again. I won"t let him hurt you. I won"t let him get close enough to touch you. He got through me once and I won"t let him do it again. He"ll find that I"m better prepared this time. I won"t let you out of one of our sights. I will always have one of us keeping an eye on you. He won"t get through our defenses."
I took his chin in my hand forcing him to look at me. "This is not necessary. I"ll be able to protect myself."
"No," he said shaking his head, "not for another two weeks and even then you will still be weak because you won"t be accustomed to your form. It takes a while to get used to your wolf form. Plus, we need to keep the fact that you"re a shifter hidden from them as long as possible. It"s the only advantage we have."
I sighed. Clearly, I would not be winning this argument. And I wouldn"t tell Caeden this but it did feel good to know that they would be watching out for me. I still felt on edge, like I was ready to jump out of my skin at any moment. I didn"t like this feeling. "Alright fine. Set up guards. Do what it is that you feel you need to do."
He smiled. "Things are so much easier when you see it my way."
"Don"t get used to it," I said.
"Too late," he replied.
After what happened at Gram"s store Caeden didn"t trust me to go there alone so Bentley followed me there while Caeden and Bryce took off to do their rounds. His large black truck hulked behind me like an ominous cloud.
He pulled in beside me and hopped out of his truck and followed me in the back door. He brushed his s.h.a.ggy black hair out of his face as I silently opened the back door. I closed the door behind us and turned to face him.
"I know you"ll be honest with me Bentley," I said looking into his golden brown eyes. "Am I really in that much danger or is Caeden just overreacting?"
He leaned against the counter and crossed his arms. "I"d like to say that Caeden is being a lovesick puppy and just overreacting but that"s not the case. How can you even question that after what they did to you and when they nearly killed Caeden?"
"You"re right," I said. "I shouldn"t have asked. I"m sorry."
"Don"t apologize," Bentley said. "It was a legitimate concern. You don"t know the Grimm"s like we do. You"re new to all this," he said while I bustled around trying to icing the cupcakes Gram had left cooling. "You don"t know what they"re capable of. They killed my little brother," he said and look of pure torture and sadness crossed his face. "And they probably killed Roger. They"re murderers and a disgrace to all shifters."
I stopped what I was doing and looked at Bentley. I wanted to reach out and comfort him but I figured he wasn"t the type to appreciate the gesture. "They killed your brother," I said softly.
"Yeah," he said. "Sam was five and I was eight. He was always following me and Caeden around, a lot like Bryce. So, one day he followed me and Caeden into the woods. I yelled at him. I was so mean," he said and I could see his eyes glimmering, fighting the tears that wanted to fall. "He turned around and I thought he was going home but he didn"t. Sam went wandering and when he got tired he stopped by a little creek in the woods to rest. Travis and Robert found him." He laughed harshly. "Caeden and I heard his scream and went running. Travis was the same age we were, eight, but in that moment he looked much older. His face contorted in rage. His face was turning red and he was strangling Sam even as he held him under the water to drown him. I ran and tackled him while Caeden grabbed Sam. I wanted to beat him to death for what he had been doing and then I heard the words I will never forget Caeden saying, "Bentley, he"s dead," I saw red and then Caeden had to stop me from doing the same thing to Travis that he had done to Sam. Travis and Robert ran away and I went to Sam. But Caeden was right. I had been too late. He had killed my little brother. I vowed that day to protect anyone I could from the Grimm"s. I vowed to never love anyone. I don"t deserve any love or happiness that comes my way. My dad became rigid after Sam"s death, closing in on himself, and my mom never mentions him. It"s like he never existed." He hung his head. "I"m sorry for telling you all of this. I never talk about it. I didn"t mean to dump all of this on you."
"Bentley," I said and this time I did hug him. I was surprised when he hugged me back. "I am so sorry that this had to happen to you. But it"s not your fault. You do deserve happiness and love. I"m sure if Sam was here he"d tell you the same thing. But I do have a question," I said pulling away. "Why didn"t you turn this into the police? They would have arrested him."
Bentley rubbed his face and said, "Because we don"t abide by the same laws that humans do. Shifters have their own laws. We deal with our own. We never involve humans in our skirmishes."
"So, what happened?" I asked. "Did the shifters do something?"
Bentley laughed harshly. "Travis walked away with no more than a slap on the hand. The council didn"t see fit to punish an eight year old too harshly even if he did commit murder."
I shook my head and patted his back. "The Grimm"s are horrible, wretched, despicable people. They don"t deserve to exist," I said vehemently.
"I agree completely," he said. "The council is becoming fed up with them. I think they are close to taking action."
"What will that action be?" I asked.
"Their deaths," he said simply. "They are putting all shifters at risk and that"s something the council can"t turn away from. A dead five year old boy they can ignore but not the fear of our exposure," he hissed with malice.
"I"m sorry," I said again.
Bentley took a deep breath and said, "Thanks for listening. I don"t talk about it. Never really did. But all that has taken place in the past couple of months with the Grimm"s has brought it to the forefront of my mind and I just can"t let it go any more."
"You shouldn"t just let it go," I said, "you"re brother deserves to be remembered."
"I wish my parent"s thought so. I know they blame me for his death and quite frankly, I do too. If I had just let him come with us he"d be here today," he said looking at the floor. His dark hair flopped over his face to hide his eyes.
"Bentley, this is far from your fault and deep down you know it and I"m sure your parents don"t blame you either. When I met your parents they didn"t strike me as the resentful type. They seemed proud of you. I"m sure that they"re still grieving just like you. That"s not something you forget overnight."
"It doesn"t matter," he said shaking his head, "what"s done is done. I may wish that I could change the past but I can"t. The only thing I can do is make sure the Grimm"s hurt no one else."
"You"re a good guy Bentley. I see why you"re Caeden"s best friend. But don"t lock yourself away from love and happiness. You deserve it more than most people. You have a whole pack that cares for you." I wanted to tell him of Chris" feelings but I didn"t feel it was my place and I didn"t want to push him. "You"ll find someone one day. I know it," I said.
"I hope so," he said, "but I don"t know if I"m a good enough man for anyone."
"You are," I said, "trust me."
A smile peeked out on his lips. "I"m glad you"re Caeden"s mate," he said, "you"re insightful."
"Insightful?" I scoffed. I flipped my hair over my shoulder. "More like fabulous," I said trying to get him to smile for real this time. He did. The grin broke out over his face and a light laugh emerged from his lips.
Caeden walked in, slapping his baseball cap on, and said, "What"s so funny? What did I miss?"
"Nothing," Bentley and I said simultaneously.
"Whatever," said Caeden shaking his head with a smile playing on his lips, "don"t tell me." He turned to Bentley, "Thanks man, you can head out now."
"Bye," Bentley called over his shoulder. He paused at the door. "Thanks for the... uh... talk, Sophie," he said and then he was gone.
"I"m glad to see you two becoming friends," said Caeden. "What did you talk about?"
I looked up from the cupcake I was icing and blew a piece of hair out of my face with a breath. "How come you didn"t tell me that Travis killed Bentley"s brother? Why didn"t you even tell me he had a brother?"
Caeden leaned his elbows on the counter. "It"s not my story to tell. He doesn"t like to talk about it and I don"t like to remind him about it. I know he still hurts because of it. He blames himself and so I don"t like to bring it up. He"s my best friend and I don"t want to hurt him."