Outsider (Outsider Series) (14 page)

Caeden and Bentley began to taunt and goad one another. Before my eyes I could see their cuts and scrapes heal but both had some serious injuries that were taking longer to heal. Caeden’s whole left side was bruised a hulk-like green and purple and if Bentley didn’t soon set his nose it would heal crooked.

They continued their complicated dance. I could tell they were both beginning to wear down. I looked at my watch and was surprised that they had been going at it for almost an hour. They both took more punches than they blocked, now, and both of their chests were heaving. Bentley through a punch and Caeden fell to the floor. He was slower than normal to get up but I quickly realized it was a show. Bentley didn’t though. Bentley grinned and taunted Caeden.

Like a deadly lighting strike Caeden was up and Bentley was the one on the floor. He didn’t get up.

Bentley rolled over with his face against the mat. “Match,” he muttered into its blue folds.

“Say it,” said Caeden with a grin. He stood over Bentley with his arms crossed over his chest.

“Ugh,” groaned Bentley into the mat.

“And I want you to look at me,” said Caeden, clearly enjoying this.

Bentley groaned and shakily stood. I could see a split in his lip heal before my eyes.
“Oh, mighty Alpha, you are great, you are powerful, and you are unstoppable and undefeatable. You, Alpha, are the strongest wolf and I am but a weakling. You win,” Bentley said. “Happy now?” he added.

“Delighted,” Caeden grinned.

Bentley pulled off his t-shirt and started wiping away the blood with it. I thought Chris would have a heart attack looking at his chest. She gasped and started to breathe heavy. I didn’t know how they were all so oblivious to her crush. It was written all over her face, the poor girl. I shouldn’t say anything though. After all, I fell off
a treadmill looking at Caeden and it wasn’t like I hadn’t seen him shirtless before. True, he had been covered in blood at the time and that kind of ruined the image. I preferred a slick with sweat Caeden to a bloody one any day.

Caeden came over to my side and grinned. He pulled me up off the floor and held me against his naked chest. I tried not to hyperventilate.
“What was that all about?” I asked.

“I won so that was the deal,” he said.

“What if he won?” I asked.

“I would’ve had to rub his feet,” he said wiggling his nose in disgust. “So, I had to win,” he stated.

I laughed and then noticed the bruises that were still on his side. I hesitantly touched his side. He shivered. “Does it hurt?” I asked.

“No,” he said.

“I’m hungry,” said Bryce from across the room, breaking the moment. I moved away from Caeden but he kept a hold on my hand.

“Me too,” said Bentley.

“Mom, should have lunch ready,” Caeden said. He picked his shirt up off the floor and slipped it over his head and then took my hand again. We filed up the steps after the others. Before we entered the house Caeden stopped on the stairs and gave me a quick, toe-tingling, kiss. He grinned and tugged me up the rest of the steps.

Sure enough Amy had prepared a feast for lunch.
She had grilled hotdogs and cheese burgers and made macaroni and cheese, cheesy potatoes, and green beans to go along with it. The boys piled their plates high and I was surprised when Charlotte and Chris took just as much. I came along and got a normal, human-sized, portion and joined them. Bryce scooted over so I could have the seat by Caeden. 

“So,” said Bryce addressing me, “when do you turn eighteen?”

“January sixteenth,” I said.

“Oh, so you’ve got a while yet.” He said. He shrugged his shoulders. “I guess it’s a good thing though. It gives you time to learn about being a wolf.” I paled at the mention of my being a wolf. “Don’t worry,” said Bryce patting my hand. “You’ll love it. It’s the best feeling in the world. It’s like you’re unstoppable.”

“Bryce,” scolded Caeden, “I th
ink you’re scaring her more than
you’re helping.” He gave me a look and asked, “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” I said and smiled to prove that I was. “And he wasn’t scaring me. I’m not as breakable as you think I am.”

He grinned and kissed my cheek to a chorus of “
Aww’s
”.

Bentley shoveled some mac n’ cheese into his mouth, swallowed, and said, “So, Caeden how does it feel to be whipped?”

Caeden rolled his eyes at his best friend. “I’m not whipped,” he said, “you just wait till it’s you.”

Bentley looked
longingly
at Chris and then back at Caeden, “Nope, not a chance. I’m a free spirit.”

“Aren’t we all,” said Charlotte softly almost sadly. They all looked sad and I realized that as much as they embraced being wolves it was still like a curse. I knew that most of the time they genuinely enjoyed being shifters but I also knew that at times it had to be a burden.

“So,” I said trying to lighten the mood, “does anyone have any embarrassing stories about Caeden?”

Everyone brightened at that and Caeden groaned. “Don’t do this to me,” he said to me.

I grinned. “Oh, something you don’t want me to know?”

“No, I’m afraid you’ll decide I’m a complete loser,” he said and hung his head in mock shame.

“Not a chance,” I said and squeezed his hand and gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

“Okay, lovebirds,” said Bentley. He looked at me and said, “Do you want to hear a story or not?”

“Of course,” I said.

“Alright well stop sucking face,” he said with a grin so I’d know he was joking.

“Zipping my lips,” I said a
nd
mimed zipping them closed.

Bentley steepled his fingers in front of his face and said, “Hmm, where to begin? There’s so many.” He was thoughtful for a moment and then said, “How about the time that Caeden and I were just mere pups and we decided to kill a squirrel.”

“Oh no,” groaned Caeden and buried his face in his hands.

“Oh yes,” said Bentley grinning evilly. “Caeden I were about five years old and we got the bright idea to go kill a squirrel with our bare hands. So, we wandered out to the woods and found several squirrels gathering nuts for the winter. We hid in some bushes, bushes that turned out to be infested in poison ivy, and watched the squirrels. We had seen our dad’s on many occasions take down large prey when they were in their wolf forms so we thought we’d surprise them by getting a squirrel.
Well… the squirrels apparently didn’t want to get caught. Caeden and I jumped out of the bushes with our plastic swords, screaming like banshees, and the squirrels fled up into the top branches of the trees. We both tried to climb the tree unsuccessfully
. But the squirrels had a plan.” Bentley laughed and then continues the story. “They started throwing their nuts and acorns at us as hard as they could. By that time we were both starting to itch and getting pinged in the head with tiny projectiles wasn’t helping the situation. So, we ran. Only the squirrels decided to follow. We screamed and ran home with the squirrels right on our heels.” Bentley shuddered. “After that we both look twice when we see a squirrel and give it a wide berth.”

Caeden laughed and said, “You left out the most embarrassing part.”

“Oh, right,” said Bentley. He leaned towards me conspiratorially, “We were both butt naked.”

Caeden looked at me and grinned. “Bentley and I were convinced that if we ran around naked we’d shift into wolves.”

I shook my head and laughed. “That’s a good story.”

“It is now,” said Caeden. “At the time were too preoccupied with all the itching to laugh about it.”

“I learned my lesson,” said Bentley, “never hide, naked, in a bush of poison ivy. The consequences aren’t worth it.”

Amy had come into the room and chuckled. “I’ve got a story,” she said.

Caeden groaned. “Please, no, mom.”

She smiled and said, “When Caeden was seven he got the bright idea to run away. He packed a bag full of cookies and went outside and sat in the woods.”

She paused so I prompted her. “What happened?” I asked.

“I forgot something to drink,” Caeden said. He shrugged his shoulders. “I was seven, my plan wasn’t foolproof. So, I marched my sorry butt back into the house and surrendered to my punishment.”

Amy laughed. “And then all the cookies he ate made him sick.”

Caeden looked at me. “I wouldn’t touch another cookie for a month.”

“So, what did you do to make you want to run away?” I asked.

Caeden grinned. “I made Bryce eat worm pie
so to avoid my punishment I ran away
.”

“Worm pie?” I asked with a smile.

“Yeah, it’s like mud pies only with more worms.”

“It was good too,” said Bryce smacking his lips.

Amy patted Bryce’s shoulder. “My strange child,” she muttered.

Bryce grinned. “Don’t knock it till you try it.”

Amy shook her head. “What will I do with you?” she asked exasperated.

“Sell
me
in the slave trade,” Bryce quipped.

“No one would want you,” said Caeden.

Bryce feigned offense. “I am very desirable, dear brother.”

Caeden pointed his fork at Bryce. “That’s Alpha.”

Bryce rolled his eyes and threw his hands in the air. “You’re still annoying so what difference does it make?”

I found their sibling fights to be very entertaining. I was an only child and had always longed for a sibling to play with. You could tell that the brothers loved each other and that their fights were more at poking fun at one another. It would have been nice to have had a sibling to confide in growing up, especially now, with how much my life had changed.

We finished eating and then Bentley stood. “Come on Christian, it’s time for our patrol,” said Bentley washing his plate.

She smiled and said, “Give me a second.” She finished eating and followed suit.

“I better get going,” I said to Caeden. “I have a lot of homework.”

“Oh, yeah,” he said rather reluctantly. “I’ll walk you to your car.”

Caeden and I walked out the front door. He had stuffed his hands in the pockets of his shorts. I unlocked my car but before I could get in it Caeden had pinned me against its metal frame.

“Caeden,” I said my breath catching. His blue eyes smothered mine.

He leaned towards me. “Don’t go,” he whispered.

“I have to,” I said. “I really do have a lot of homework.
I was going to do it yesterday but then we were gone the whole day.”

“Please don’t go,” he whispered against my lips. “I don’t like being away from you. It makes me anxious, nervous. I imagine all kinds of bad things happening to you.”

I laughed. “You’re the one that showed up bloody on my front porch. Not the other way around.”

“Still,” he said leaning in even clos
er until his blue eyes dominated
my line of vision, “my body doesn’t like it. I’m on edge the entire time your away. Last night nearly killed me.”

“You’ve been away from
me
every night since we met. I think you’ll live,” I said with a smile.

“That was different,” he defended. “That was before we kissed, before we spent the night together, it was before… it was before I knew that you felt the same way about me.”

“Caeden,” I whispered.

“Sophie,” he moaned
and closed those precious few gaps and pressed his lips to mine. He pressed his body against mine. I grabbed the hair at his neck and held on for dear life. Kisses like this should be illegal.
My mouth opened underneath his. I could feel my knees going weak. As if he could sense my weakness his hand wrapped around my waist holding me up.

A voice shouted behind us. “Caeden stop sucking face! We have stuff to do!” yelled Bentley.

Caeden groaned and pulled away. Not taking his eyes off mine he said, “Bentley, I am going to kill you.”

Bentley chuckled and sauntered over, Chris on his heels.

“Come over for dinner?” I asked breathlessly.

He grinned, his dimple showing, “I’ll be there.” He started to pull away. “Uh, Sophie?”

“Yeah?” I asked.

“Can you let go?” he grinned.

Somehow, during our intense kiss my hands had moved from his hair to his shirt. I had the fabric fisted tightly in my hands. My cheeks bloomed red and I let go. Two very distinct wrinkles were left behind.

Caeden leaned down and kissed my cheek. “I’ll see you for dinner,” he said grinning. I watched him follow after Chris and Bentley who were disappearing into the trees. With a burst of speed Caeden jumped on Bentley and both fell to the ground.
I laughed and got in my car driving away.

I could hear the sounds of wolves yowling in play and it put a smile on my face.