Outsider (Outsider Series) (35 page)

“Change?” I asked confused. “I didn’t know there was any thinking about it. I thought I just turned into a wolf,” I cried.

He chuckled. “That’s not what I meant,” he said. He held up some kind of dark fabric. “You need to change out of your clothes and put this on. Your clothes don’t shift with you, remember?”

“Oh right,” I said embarrassed. My legs still shook
but I thought I could manage.
I took the fabric from him.

“Why don’t you change over there,” he pointed, “and I’ll go this way,” he said and I saw that he had a matching cloak.

He disappeared into the darkness and I made my protesting legs move in the direction
in which he had pointed.

I stripped my clothes and the rasping of the fabric made me feel like my skin was on fire.
The word
Liar
etched into my skin glowed a pearly white in the moonlight.
I pulled on the red velvet cloak and pulled the top clasp together. There were no other clasps and I knew the reason why. Anymore buttons would restrict my movement once I turned into a wolf. I decided to leave my clothes where they were for when
I returned.
I slid the ponytail holder out of my hair and let my chocolate brown hair cascade over my shoulders. I knew Caeden preferred it down.
I held the red cloak tightly against my body. Hand me a picnic basket and call me Red Riding Hood. After all I was about to go meet the big bad wolf.

I tentatively stepped out from the cover of the trees.
He was standing on a rock in the middle of the ri
ver. His feet were bare. His re
d cloak matched the one he had given me. It hugged his muscles and I knew it looked far more exquisite on him than it ever would on me. From the tilt of his shoulders and the twist of his head I knew he heard me but he made no move to turn.
There were several smaller rock slabs leading to the larger one that Caeden was standing on in the center of the river. I hopped from one to the other until finally we were both on the same one. Slowly, he turned to face me.

My breath caught in my throat. The moonlight gleamed off of the smooth, tanned, naked skin of his chest. A light dusting of brown hair trailed down from his navel. I forced my eyes upwards to meet his blue eyed star
e
.

“It’ll be okay, Sophie,” he said.

With him there I knew that the words he spoke were true.

The orb of the full moon reflected in his azure eyes. I was riveted. I began to pant and my skin began to buzz. His strong arms gripped my shoulders.

My muscles clenched and I lost my grip on the cloak. But I didn’t care. The time for modesty had passed.

Pain coursed through my body. A pain like nothing I had ever experienced. My back arched and I thought I screamed but I heard no sound.
Caeden’s arms continued to grip me as my beast tried to break free.

“Caeden,” I whimpered and was surprised that I could speak at all.

“You’re doing great, Soph,” he said.

“It hurts!” I cried as my muscles jerked this way and that. It felt like I was having seizure.

“I know, baby, I know. It’s okay though. This is normal. Just roll with it. Don’t fight it. Fighting it will make it worse.”

I whimpered again and tried to relax my body. It hel
ped, like he said, but not much.
My head arched back against my will taking in even more moonlit rays. A single tear rolled from my eye down my cheek. Caeden’s thumb gently caressed it away.

“Almost there,” he whispered.

My neck twisted in a contortion that didn’t seem humanly possible and I guess it probably wasn’t. I screamed and screamed and screamed. My muscles hurt and twisted into shapes that didn’t seem possible. More tears rolled from my eyes. How anyone made it out of this alive on their own was beyond me.

“Let go,” he murmured.

I snapped the leash on my beast and roared into the night. The periwinkle blue eyes of a gray wolf reflected back at me.

You’re beautiful.
Sounded a voice that I recognized in my head as Caeden’s.

I did it?
I thought but it came out more like a question.

You did it.
He thought.
You’re absolutely exquisite.
He came forward and nuzzled his black nose against my throat.
Mine
. I heard his thought.

I looked down
with completely new eyes and saw
that I was covered in chocolate brown fur with a golden
and red
glint to it.

We can hear each other’s thoughts?
I asked belatedly.

He gave me a wolfy grin, tongue lolling to the side.
Of course.
It’s how we communicate in this form.
Distance isn’t
an
issue and we don’t hear
every
thought. Only the ones we want others to hear.

This is amazing
. I thought.

I knew you’d like it once you got over the shock of it.

I looked down at my furry brown paws and saw the red cloaks lying on the gray rock like a bloodstain.

Can we run?
I asked. I had never liked running in my human form but my wolf form? I thought it might be something I would enjoy.

Race ya.
He thought and then was gone in a flash. But with my new wolf’s eyes I could easily spot him. The power that surged in my muscles surprised me. I
effortlessly
caught up to him. I tackled him easily in this form. What had I been so afraid of? This was amazing.

Our laughs echoed in my head as we rolled around in the dirt, grass, and twigs. He got away from me and took off running again. I knew that if I lost sight of him that I would still be able to find him. His scent, which had been potent
enough
w
hen
I was just human, invaded my senses and I thought it would never leave. The scent of pine
and
cinnamon
was
now joined with a hint of citrus and wood. It was heavenly.

I surged my legs forward and sprinted after him. His laugh echoed into my head.
Amazing isn’t it.
He thought.

Incredible
. I thought back.

I felt his smile in my mind.

I’m so happy that I got to experience this with you.
He thought.

I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I love you.
He thought as I caught back up to him.

We stopped. I nuzzled his wolfy neck like he had done to me.
I love you, too
.

I heard his sigh in my mind as he soaked in my words. He nuzzled my neck and thought,
Cookies, cakes, and icing.

Pine,
cinnamon,
citrus, and wood.
I thought back. I heard his chuckle in my mind.

We took off running again and playfully nipped at each other’s heels. We ran for hours and I never felt tired. I sensed it when Caeden began to lead us back to the river and waterfall. I was amazed that I was able to pick up on such a thing.

I stopped when we reached the river. I saw that he was moving towards the robes.

Caeden.
I thought and my heart pitter patted.

Yes.
He thought turning around to look at me. He was so beautiful as a wolf that I found myself gasping and at a loss for words.
Or…um… thoughts.

How do I change back? I don’t know how to do this.
I thought in a panic.

It’s okay Sophie. It’s not hard at all. You just have to visualize yourself as a human. You can do that right?

I hope so.
I thought.

I heard his chuckle in my mind.
You’ve done everything beautifully tonight. I have no doubt that this will be any different.

I was glad that at least one of us had faith in me. We hopped onto the rocks. He shimmered into his human form and pulled the cloak on. We’d both seen everything. There was no need to be polite now.

I closed my wolf eyes and pictured myself human like he said. I pictured my long brown hair, my slender hands, my knobby knees, and ten toes. My body vibrated and when I opened my eyes I saw human hands instead of wolf paws.
I grabbed the cloak and wrapped it around myself.

“Are we going to do this?” asked Caeden and he sounded out of breath.

I stood and
met his eyes. I knew he was talking about the bonding. “Yes,” I rasped.

He smiled. He took my hands in his large ones and grinned. “Do you, Sophie Noelle Beaumont, take me as your mate? Do you pledge your heart, your soul, your very being to me? Will you bond yourself to me?”

The air around us crackled with electricity and I swore I saw flickers of white light.

“You have my heart. You have my soul. You have my being. I am yours forever. I bond myself to you,” I spoke with confidence. I didn’t know how the words popped into my head but I knew they were the right ones to speak. He smiled.

I swallowed. “Do you, Caeden Henry Williams, take me as your mate? Do you pledge your heart, your soul, your very being to me? Will you bond yourself to me?” I gulped. For a moment I was unsure of his answer.

He smiled hugely. “You have my heart. You have my soul. You have my being. I am yours forever. I bond myself to you,” he said with conviction. His lips pressed against mine. One hand cradled my cheek while the other rested at the small of my back. Purple and white lights twinkled
around us like fireflies. Magic, l
ike he had said. A very old, very powerful, kind of magic was at work here.
I felt a zing on my left wrist and when he broke the kiss I looked down. I saw Caeden look at his own wrist.

Caeden,
was tattooed in elegant script across my wrist. I looked at him in awe and saw that my name was etched onto his wrist as well.

“Amazing,” I murmured. Tonight was just full of amazement.

We held our wrists together and looked at our joined names. A little thrill went through me. My name was forever marked on his body and his on mine. Everyone would know that we had chosen each other. Our love went above and beyond the realm of possible. I had found the man of my dreams and I was only eighteen. How did I get so lucky? Most people had to wait years to find a love like ours, if they ever even found it. We were blessed and I wasn’t about to forget it.

I hugged myself against his sculpted body. I nuzzled his neck much as I had done as a wolf.
The scents of pine,
cinnamon,
citrus, and wood erupted in my nose.
“I love you,” I said.

His hand gently rubbed my arm. “I love you more than words can express. You’
re my other half.”

I sighed blissfully at his words.

“Come on,” he said. “You have to be tired. We’ll sleep in the cave and drive back tomorrow morning.”

Until he said it I didn’t realize how tired I had become. My muscles were sore and my eyes were heavy with fatigue. He led me to the entrance of the cave and told me to go on in and said he was going to grab our clothes. I crawled through and this time the journey hardly bothered me at all. I was growing used to it.

The yellow lanterns were still glowing when I entered the cavern. A minute or so later Caeden crawled through with our clothes. He stuck them in a plastic bag and then began rummaging through the bins. He tossed me a baggy long-sleeved shirt and sweatpants that must have belonged to him. I slipped them on with my back to him as he slid into something similar.
The sleeves and the pants legs were too long so I had to roll them up to be able to walk.
When I turned around he was pulling out sleeping bags and down comforters. He also had a space heater. I didn’t think it would be necessary. Since my shift I felt hotter. Like my skin was on fire. Even the long-sleeved shirt seemed to be too much.

He grabbed two pillows and fluffed them before setting them with the sleeping bags. He pulled out something else and began pumping it. I realized it was an air mattress.

He grinned. “I didn’t think the floor would be too comfortable,” he winked.

“You’ve thought of everything,” I breathed.

“I wanted tonight to be perfect,” he said.

“I has been,” I said and he smiled. My stomach
flipped
at that smile
.

Once the mattress was pumped he covered it with the sleeping bags and
lay
down. He motioned for me to join him. I did and he pulled the down comforter against us. He spooned me against him and kissed my neck.

“Sleep now,” he whispered as his hands gently caressed my cheek and then stroked my hair. I felt his soft lips press against my cheek.

I felt my eyes grow heavy. “I love you, Caeden,” I said with a sleep heavy voice. “I’m glad you were here.”

“Me too,” he said but it sounded like he was in a tunnel. Sleep overcame me and I dreamed of full moons, wolves, and tattoos.