Grayslake: More than Mated: A Bite of Love (Kindle Worlds Novella) (6 page)

12

Cadence

I touched the side of my head. It was tender and swollen and there was a definite lump near my temple. I sat up.
Shit.
I was still in Case’s bed. I cringed, remembering just how awkward things had become last night. I had basically thrown myself at him and he walked away. I was embarrassed. And at the same time my body was flooded with sensation at the memory of his tongue gliding over my skin. I tingled.

Those kisses were the kind a girl would never forget. He said he was a king, but holy hell, he was the king of kissing as far as I was concerned.

I was grateful to be alive. There was no way to thank Case for what he had done for me. He had taken out the old mountaineer without hesitation. As if saving me was as easy as breathing.

And sex wasn’t the payment. No, I’d never do that. But he was right about wanting to feel close after something horrific happened. I wanted closeness with him. I wanted to share that experience with him.

But he held back. It was almost chivalrous. Gallant.

I pulled the covers away as my feet slid to the floor.

The rain had stopped and the early morning light peeked through the faded curtains. I had no idea what time it was.

I was going to have to leave this room eventually. I took a big breath as I reached for the door. I had no idea how to face Case.

I tiptoed down the hall. The front door was open and I could see him sitting on the porch with a cup of coffee. His head turned. He must have heard me. I froze.

“Good morning.”

“Hi.” My voice was small.

I pushed open the screen door to join him.

“How is your head?” he asked.

I could only imagine how horrible I looked. My head was gashed. I hadn’t showered. I tucked my hair behind my ears as if that would help.

“I think it’s going to be fine.” It was only throbbing a little.

“Do you want me to take you to get it checked?” he offered.

“No. I’m fine really. But, I do think we need to call Ty. We have to tell him about what happened with Shepherd last night. He can help us.”

Case’s softened expression became authoritative. His brows knitted together firmly. “There’s no reason to involve anyone else. It’s taken care of.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s not clan business. This was a Tribe issue and I handled it.”

“You’re in Grayslake. Anything that happens here is clan business,” I tried to explain. Did he have any idea what he was saying?

He stopped short of snarling at me. “Cadence, it’s over. There’s nothing else to discuss.”

“How can you say that? You killed someone last night. Clearly justified, I’m not arguing that, but you can’t cover this up.”

His eyes landed on mine and I knew with one look I shouldn’t utter another word about it. Case had made a decision as king. He wasn’t acting in accordance with clan laws—he was the leader of his own clan. With one fierce stare, he made his point. I could either accept that I was dealing with the jaguar king, or start an issue between him and Ty.

I pressed my lips together. “Fine.” King or not, I wanted to get the last word in on the topic.

We sat in silence for a moment.

I didn’t know how two people could experience what we did and have this amount of space between them. I felt incredibly tied to Case, but right now I knew I shouldn’t be here.

He seemed preoccupied. He wasn’t in the same place I was.

“I guess I should go.” I stood to leave.

“I can drive you.” He towered over me when he rose from the step.

“That’s ok. I’m fine. Really.”

The picnic basket I had so carefully planned and packed yesterday was on the edge of the step. Case must have loaded everything back inside when I was sleeping.

“Cadence, about last night…” He ran his hand through his jet-black hair. “I’m glad you’re ok.”

“Oh.”

I thought he was getting ready to make some kind of astonishing confession. Maybe that it meant something to him. That kissing me made him want more kisses. That he loved talking to me. He wanted to get to know more about me. He wanted me back in his bed.

I picked up the basket and started for the car.

I didn’t feel like I needed to say anything about dinner tonight. We both knew I wouldn’t be back.

I slid behind the wheel and started the car. Case watched me drive away, and as hard as I tried I never took my eyes off him in the rear-view mirror until I made the last turn and he was gone.

13

Case

I ran the sander over the top of the counter one last time and stood back to admire what I had done. Two weeks of kitchen construction and it finally looked fucking awesome. I knew my grandmother would be proud.

I wiped off the dust with a heavy cloth, working a shine into the surface. I needed to seal them next and then I could move on to the cabinets.

I tossed the rag in the sink and headed for the workshop. Over the past two weeks I had stocked it with almost every conceivable supply I could think of for the kitchen. The countertops were huge slabs of wood I had reclaimed from an old farmhouse.

Working with my hands wasn’t something I was used to, but it came naturally. I thought I was better at destruction, but I had found something that calmed the darkness when I built with my hands. It channeled the raw hurt I felt.

I walked across the yard, knowing I breathed lighter. I didn’t look for shadows to crawl into. I was focused on getting the house back to the way it should be.

The sealant was in gallon containers against the back wall. The kittens jumped from one pail to another. I scowled at them, but they had stopped running from me.

I hauled two gallons in my hands back to the house. When I was inside, I realized I had left the brushes in the barn. I jogged outside again just as my phone rang.

It was Donovan.

“Tell me.” I stopped outside the doors. One of the kittens tried to bat the laces on my boots.

“We have confirmation. It is the Litchfields.”

I looked at the sky. I knew it. They had been eyeing Charleston too long to let someone else try to engage with me instead.

“I want Eli and Ronan working with you day and night to get a definite count.”

“Got it,” Donovan confirmed. “I have moved my guys to the perimeter of the city to try to see who comes in at night.”

“They are going to attack from the inside out.”

I knew how the Litchfields worked. They would lie low as long as they could. Maybe even years, creating a stronghold inside Charleston and on the border of the city. They would start an attack that ran inside and out. It was tactical brilliance.

What they didn’t recognize was that I had studied more strategies and had training surpassing anything they knew.

I had an army at my disposal. With Donovan as regent, I had another advantage.

“I’m going to send Noah down there.” That meant I was leaving Dare’s city under Trevor’s watch, but things were becoming more serious in Charleston. I could move more guys around if I had to.

My brother was playing house. I could easily pull him into this.

“He’ll be useful here. Caroline is trying to work the perimeter contacts she has.”

I realized I didn’t flinch when he mentioned his panther mate.

“Do you need anything else?”

“No. I wanted to fill you in. Now that we know it’s the Litchfields for sure, I think we can make headway cutting them off.”

“Exactly.”

A second kitten had joined in on the game to grab my boot laces.

I searched the workbench for the brushes I had bought for the counter sealant.

“Thank you, your majesty.”

“No problem, brother.” I smiled. It had been a while since I had felt like using that expression.

“I’ll call you later.”

We hung up. I needed to get Noah on the phone and let him know he had to get to Charleston by nightfall. He also had the responsibility of telling Trev that his party planning business would have to become second to keeping an eye on the town.

He’d groan and complain, but he would do it.

I wondered if Trev and Cadence would want to work together. What would she think about the jag who spent his time designing center pieces? I could only imagine how he would critique her food presentation. I chuckled, thinking about it.

I stopped in the middle of the yard. What in the hell was I thinking? What was I doing going down a road where Candence and Trev would collide?

It had been a couple of weeks since I had seen the pretty blonde. I almost called her a few times. More than a few times.

Last night I fell asleep thinking about her gorgeous eyes and those cute little sounds she made when I kissed her.

I almost called her right then.

But something stopped me.

I wanted to see her again, but it wasn’t the right time. I walked into the kitchen and used a screwdriver to open the sealant.

I didn’t know when I would see her.

14

Cadence

God, how many éclairs could one girl make? I iced another dozen and slouched on the barstool, exhausted and cranky.

Apparently, Keen didn’t know what in the heck he was talking about. The clan had put in another order for this month. I was working my ass off to get the desserts ready before I delivered dinner to them tomorrow night.

I set the timer on the oven and decided I could take a thirty-minute break. I had been on my feet all day. The problem with breaks was they gave me a chance to slow down. And slowing down meant I could think. Think about Case.

It had been almost a month since I left the Maddox house.

And silly me thought Case would come to his senses. He’d figure out that he’d let the best thing in the world walk away. He’d realize he was being an ass and call me.

I had these ridiculous day dreams where he showed up at my door with flowers and a sexy grin, telling me how much he missed me. That after watching me drive away, he realized he was a complete idiot and he needed me.

I sighed. I was the idiot. He was a king. I was a caterer—and a human. Where did I think this could possibly go?

I prepped another batch of pastries. Sitting was bad.

***

I pulled up to the clan den. The van was loaded with all the house favorites. I hopped from the driver’s side and slammed the door.

There were two young guys I hadn’t met before in front of the house.

“Gigi sent us out here to help you.”

I smiled. “Thanks. I have a lot of trays. I can go inside and set up the burners if you want to start bringing them in,” I instructed.

I grabbed the bag that held all of the gel canisters and the frames for the pans. Tonight’s party was particularly spicy. I decided to steer clear from Italian for a while.

The kitchen was empty. I started filling the base pans with water and assembling the frames. I turned and almost dropped the first one on Lauren’s feet.

“Oh, you scared me.” I caught the pan just in time before it hit the floor.

She laughed. “Sorry. I heard you were here and wanted to see if I could help.”

“Thanks. I’m getting the frames set up while the guys bring in the food.”

Lauren assembled one. “Like this, right?”

I nodded. “That’s it. Easy peasy.”

I wasn’t used to seeing Lauren in the main house. She and Van had their own place on the clan compound. I realized this meeting might be pure coincidence, but she was the perfect person to run into. Human, really.

I’d known Lauren most of my life. We were never close friends, but we’d always been friendly. I was getting ready to dive headfirst into something extremely personal.

“Hey, Lauren, can I ask you something?”

“Hmm?” She turned from the silver posts. The guys made another trip from the van and we were alone.

I bit my bottom lip. I didn’t know how to phrase it exactly. “You’re human.”

She laughed. “Sure am.”

“Obviously. Umm, what I mean is … I’m human and we live in a town of weres. And you actually are
with
one.”

Her eyes lit. “Ohh, do you have your eye on someone in the clan?”

I shook my head. “No.”

She looked disappointed. Crap.

“But I do have my eye on someone. I was hoping you wouldn’t mind giving me some shifter advice.”

“Who is he?” She sat forward. Her blond curls bouncing on her shoulders.

“You know the old Maddox place?” I asked.

She nodded. “Him?”

“How did you know someone was there?”

“The Abrams know everything.”

Why should I expect anything less? “Of course. So it’s him. Case.”

Her eyes widened. “The jaguar? Wow.”

“It is wow, isn’t it?”

“So you know him? How far has it gotten?”

It didn’t take long for our friendship to become intimate. We were girls talking about boys. Nothing brought women together faster. I was at work, and this was completely unprofessional, but I needed her perspective. I needed help from one human who had a thing for a were to another.

“I started making dinner for him and delivering it to the house,” I started my story. I told her about the conversations we had. The kiss on the front porch. The make out session on the back porch and in his bed. I conveniently skipped over the part where Case had killed Shepherd.

“But he was hurt badly by a panther. She broke his heart. And I don’t know what to do. Do I give up? Do I pursue it? Am I crazy for wanting to be with him after all this time has passed?” I was desperate for a compass. I needed direction.

I could tell Lauren was considering how to respond. She waited while the bears brought in another few trays of food. I might have overcooked this time. There was more food here than last month.

“That sounds complicated.”

“It is,” I agreed.

“Ok. So here’s what you do.”

Thank, God. I needed advice.

“I’m listening. Anything you suggest I’ll try.” I was eager for wise human relationship tips on how to deal with a jaguar.

“You’re going to have to let him get over the girl.”

I twisted my lips together in a frown. “That’s it?”

“Yep. You don’t want him if he’s still grieving his broken heart. And if you’re talking about two mates—that’s another mess you don’t want to be in the middle of. He needs to be over her before he can even think about claiming you.”

“Claiming me?” I realized how horrified I sounded. I covered my mouth in case someone else in the house heard me.

She giggled. “That is what you want isn’t it? You want him.”

“What does claiming involve?” I sounded like a complete virgin. But shifter rules when it came to this stuff was foreign to me.

“I don’t know anything about jaguars. You’re going to have to ask him.” She eyed me and leaned closer. “But as far as bears go—it’s amazing.” She smiled. “And I wouldn’t want to be with anyone other than Van.” She winked.

“Oh.” I got everything she implied.

Did I want that? Did I want Case to claim me? Did I know after a month that he was someone I wanted that level of commitment with? And what did it mean for a jaguar? My head spun with all the questions.

“And don’t forget, honey.” She leaned in close. “He has to come to this all on his own. If he wants you, you’ll know it. A man will take the mate
he
wants. Does that help?” she asked.

The bears had started to file in for dinner. Our conversation had to be over anyway.

“Yes. Thank you.” I hugged her. It felt like the right ending to our talk.

“Good luck.”

“Thanks, Lauren.”

I made sure the rest of the food was set up, before heading to the van. After our girl chat, I suddenly had a lot to think about.