Alpha (21 page)

I rushed over to Cade, who had spotted me and was already walking toward me. He held his arms open as I rushed to hold him.

“
I’m okay, Scar,” he assured me as he hugged me, lifting me off my feet.

“
I was so scared something would happen to you,” I spoke against his shirt, loving the feel of him warm and alive under my hands.

“
I’m fine,” he reassured me as he settled me back down on my feet and pulled away. With his finger to my chin, he lifted my gaze to his. My eyes glistened with unshed tears. “I need you to keep it together for me.”

I nodded my head and took a deep breath. He pressed a feathered kiss to my forehead.

“
Go back to the house and wait for me. I need to check on Blake and the other wounded werewolves,” he explained gently as he released me. Then I remembered the massive wound across Blake’s stomach and all the blood.

“
Will he be okay?” I asked. If Blake had been human, I was pretty sure he would have died already.

“
Yeah, he’ll be okay,” he assured me. “Remember we heal quickly.”

“
Okay,” I said as I pulled myself together. He gave me one last lingering look before he turned and hurried to the medical center.

I wanted to go with Cade. I didn’t want to be in the way, though, so I turned and headed back to the house with Hank following behind me. It was then that I remembered that the rogues that had ambushed Cade and Blake were the same rogues that were after me and I felt a shiver of fear run up my spine.

Seeing the remains of the attack had made the threat all that more real in my eyes and I had to admit I was scared.

Inside the guest room I’d used before, I sat down on the bed. I felt exhausted. The panic and fear had faded, but I was still struggling to work through what had happened from the time I’d been bundled into the car with Jake.

It had also been one of the first times I’d seen Cade in his alpha role, in charge and giving orders. He’d earned a newfound respect from me. I’d never actually thought before about the responsibility that he held on his broad shoulders. Being responsible for the safety of an entire pack wasn’t an easy job and he seemed to pull it off effortlessly. He’d been born to lead.

I wasn’t sure I was capable of the same. Even though the attack had scared me, I was more determined to fight alongside Cade. I didn’t want to be left behind, wondering what was going to happen, I would never forgive myself if something had happened to him today while I’d been safely guarded in his house.

An hour later, Cade walked into the room.

My eyes lit up at the sight of him. I’d been sitting on the bed, quietly contemplating my thoughts.

He hesitated for a moment a couple of feet away from the bed. I stood up and walked over to him. As I reached him, his hand reached for me and he pulled me close.

“
It’s been a long day,” he sighed as he held me in his strong arms.

“
What happened?” I asked, leaning my head against his chest as I held him tight.

“
We walked straight into a trap,” he began to explain as he rested his chin on my head. “Normally, rogues don’t work together, but for some reason these guys did. We didn’t see it coming.”

“
How many rogues were there?” I asked.

“
There were about twenty of them.”

“
I was so worried about you,” I let out. I usually wasn’t one to talk so openly, but I needed him to know that he meant a lot to me and that what happened today had scared me.

“
It’s one of the reasons we train so hard, to make sure we are prepared for anything. You can also feel my heightened emotions like fear through the link so if I’m ever in any real danger you will feel it,” he said. I lifted my eyes to his.

I’d forgotten about that.

“
I don’t think I can let you go alone if it happens again,” I revealed. I wanted to be honest with him even though he probably didn’t want to hear it.

“
And I don’t think I can let that happen,” he sighed as his lips pressed to mine.

We both wanted to protect each other, but we both had different ideas of how to accomplish that.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Scarlett

A couple of hours later, I went with Cade to check on Blake.

He looked much better, sitting on one of the beds in the medical room. He had sweats on but no shirt and a large bandage covering his stomach. The pale and pained face was gone and he looked a healthy color again. He smiled when he saw us approach.

“
How are you feeling?” Cade asked him as he stopped beside the bed.

“
Much better,” he answered. “Another day and I’ll be as good as new.”

It was hard to believe he had healed so dramatically in just a few hours.

“
Next time you want your ass kicked, I’ll do it,” I offered in a teasing tone as I rocked on the balls of my feet with my hands shoved into the front pockets of my jeans.

He chuckled. Easygoing Blake was so different from Cade. It was sometimes hard to see him as an alpha of his own pack.

“
As if,” he scoffed as he gave me a playful look.

The reality was he’d probably kick my butt. I needed to start training with Hank. The sooner I started, the sooner I’d be able to protect myself. I wasn’t going to be seen as a weak girl who couldn’t protect herself.

I wanted to be Cade’s equal. I wondered what type of training they did and how hectic it was; it was probably a lot more intense than anything I’d covered with Gary.

A sound behind me made me turn to see a young woman in a nurse’s outfit. The outfit looked a little tight, I observed, and I couldn’t help but wonder if she was dressed like that to help with the scenery in the sterile environment.

“
Probably,” Cade confirmed with a grin when I pulled my gaze back to Blake.

Ah, crap!

I was still getting the hang of keeping my thoughts to myself. There were times when I wasn’t concentrating and some of my thoughts would be open for others to hear.

I playfully glared at Cade like it was his fault for invading my thoughts.

“
Hey, it’s not my fault you can’t keep your thoughts to yourself,” he defended as he raised his hands to ward off my glare.

“
Still endless entertainment,” commented Blake as he watched the two of us at it. I turned my glare to him as I put my hand on my hip.

He looked from me to Cade before he shook his head and grinned. Half an hour later, we left Blake so he could rest.

Cade and I were both unusually quiet as we walked back to the main house hand-in-hand. I think we were both too busy, still processing the events from the day to try and make small-talk.

By the time we made it back to the house, dinner was ready. When we entered the dining room, Gary, Jake, Hank and a few others were already seated at the table.

As soon as the food was on our plates and we were seated, I watched as Cade began to discuss the events of the day with our pack members. Gary listened intently as I did.

“
It just doesn’t make any sense,” Jake muttered as he shook his head.

We were discussing the attack and trying to figure out how the rogues had worked together to attack us, since according to Cade this wasn’t normal behavior for rogues.

He’d said that rogues were normally loners, although they did sometimes meet up with other rogues. The most rogues he’d ever seen together had been a handful and nothing like the twenty-strong rogues that had attacked them earlier.

“
Only twenty attacked us today, but what if there are more?” asked Hank with a grim look.

“
We have no way of knowing if they have more than that,” said Cade as he put his knife and fork down and pushed his food away.

I tried to eat but the nervous knot in my stomach was making it difficult, so I did the same with my plate.

“
We need to face the possibility that there might be more,” stated Jake as he ran a hand through his hair. He voiced what everyone was thinking but didn’t want to say out loud.

“
What happens if there are more of them?” I asked Cade. I’d seen their training setup and I was impressed, but then again, I didn’t know a lot about werewolf fighting.

“
We normally only get attacked by a couple of rogues at a time. Everyone is trained so they are able to defend themselves, but we have dedicated fighters who are trained to fight rogues. Rogues don’t normally work together because they don’t like authority. What we experienced today is worrying because we have no idea how someone was able to group together and organize the rogues that attacked us today.”

“
Do we have any idea who it could be?” I asked. It was still puzzling why all of these rogues were hell-bent on trying to attack me. I couldn’t think of a single reason why anyone would want to hurt me.

“
No,” Cade said as he reached for my hand. This new piece of information about the attack had made him nervous and he seemed to relax as his fingers covered mine. It was a comforting peacefulness that came over us when our skin connected.

The rest of dinner was spent trying to strategize a defense to a hypothetical attack by rogues with larger numbers.

“
What about letting the girls fight?” I suggested. Conversation stopped mid-sentence and all eyes swung to me. All but Cade looked at me like I was talking a different language. Cade shook his head at me.

“
No way,” he stated vehemently. His eyes warned me off the subject.

“
You can’t expect us to just sit here and do nothing while you guys go to fight a battle you might lose because you’re outnumbered.”

I was arguing on behalf of all the girls in the pack, whether they wanted me to or not. Exasperation and anger entered my voice as I argued with them.

“
There are other options,” was Cade’s stern reply.

“
And what is that?” I asked as I glared at him. Trust him to come up with an alternative to letting girls from the pack fight.

“
We could join packs with Blake,” he suggested as he scanned our pack members for their reaction.

Jake seemed to mull the idea over for a moment before he announced, “That could work.”

I was so angry that I’d just been dismissed so easily, I wanted to scream, but instead I said, “Are you guys for real?”

Silence descended as the pack members looked to Cade.

“
Like I’ve told you before, it will never happen,” he stated. His eyes darkened with anger as he tightened his hold on my hand.

Trying to discuss it with Cade and our pack members was a waste of time and effort. I’d have to come up with another way to get them to consider it. There had to be a way.

“
And like I told you before, I can’t let you go out to fight without me,” I reminded him as I held his angry gaze.

He was the first to pull his gaze away from me and then he began to discuss the effects of joining a pack. It was like he ignored everything I’d just said and carried on with their conversation.

Angry and annoyed, I pulled my hand from his and pushed my chair back. Cade’s eyes swung to mine. I gave him the angriest look I could muster before I turned and stalked out of the dining room before I did something I regretted, like slapping someone and the closest person to me had been Cade.

I’d slapped him once already that week.

On my way upstairs, I hesitated for a moment. I knew Cade would probably want me in his room tonight, but I was so angry I couldn’t be in the same room with him until I calmed down. Instead, I headed to the guest bedroom I’d previously used.

Once I entered the room, I slammed the door closed. There was a key in the door and I locked it. It would give Cade the clear message that he wasn’t welcome in my room.

With that thought, I leaned against the door and let out a frustrated sigh.

One thing that had been nagging me at the back of my mind was the fact that if I mated with Cade, then I would be able to shift and I’d be able to heal more quickly. It would make me stronger and I’d be in a better position to fight.

On one hand, I wanted to be ready before I took that step with him—I didn’t just want to do it just to be able to fight. It wasn’t like I wasn’t attracted to him, I was. He made my heart race and he made my knees weak with just a few kisses. I could just imagine what effect he would have on me with more.

I cared for him and I knew he cared for me. So I had to ask the question: What was keeping me from mating with Cade? Was it the fact that I didn’t want to be pushed into it by outside influences? That I wanted to make the decision on my own?

I let out a sigh when I thought about the whole fighting thing. As determined as I was, Cade seemed to be just as determined to stand his ground on the subject. It was like I was pushing against a brick wall.