He drew her a look of annoyed bafflement. “What?”

“Well, something is pissing you off. Your attitude with that guy...” she looked to Ryder for an explanation. “I mean, I know lykans have an issue with temperament but please...”

Alexa sighed and strode over to Lucien, laying a possessive hand on his shoulder. Caia flinched again at the gorgeous picture they made together. Both tall, and dark, and tanned. “Lucien was just being protective,” Alexa purred. “That guy looked at me like I was a whore.”

Caia snorted at that and caught Ryder smothering a grin with his hand. It was nice to know they shared a similar sense of humor.

Lucien shrugged as if it was no big deal. “The guy was a jerk. I don’t sell my furniture to jerks. I have a specific clientele.”

“So what.” Caia shrugged. “I’ve not to serve people you think might be jerks? If so, you’re really going to lose a lot of business.”

Lucien looked uncomfortable. His jaw was clenched and a flush had appeared on his cheekbones.

“Uh.” Ryder coughed. “Why don’t I take you for some lunch, Cy? You haven’t eaten.”

Caia blinked. “Huh? Wha-”

“Come on.” He grabbed her jacket and her elbow, and started guiding her towards the door.

“Um... okaaay.” She glanced back at Lucien, who was still standing tense, his gaze strange on her. Then her eyes drifted to Alexa, who was leaning into him, smiling smugly. She couldn’t believe Lucien had actually lost a customer over that she-devil. Her heart went limp at the thought as she followed Ryder.

Yeah, today was definitely going to be a depressing one.

When Caia related the story to Jaeden later that night at her friend’s home she was assured by her that it was nothing weird for Lucien and Ryder to have acted the way they had if the guy had been even the slightest bit lecherous.

“You know how temperamental we are. Well, males tend to get a little possessive over their womenfolk, even if said womenfolk aren’t their mates.”

“So, that was just testosterone?”

“Yeah.”

Caia grimaced. “How disgusting,” she replied wryly.

Jaeden shrugged, her smile sheepish. “I don’t know. Don’t you think it’s a little hot?”

She guffawed. “No. We live in the twenty-first century. And we’re lykans. We don’t need any man to take care of us.”

Jaeden didn’t look convinced. “Sorry. I just think it’s kind of nice that they care enough to want to smash some human jerk’s face in when he gets a little too friendly.”

“Well it was embarrassing.” Caia sighed. She felt her cheeks turning red at the thought of that poor guy. What must he have thought when Ryder shoved him out of the door? Plus, she mused, biting her lip, he thought she was attractive. It was kind of nice. Her self-esteem wasn’t really up to much lately thanks to the rest of the women in the pack all looking like glamour girls. Her eyes flickered over Jaeden who was beautiful without even having to try.

“I know you don’t want to hear this.” Jaeden was smiling cheekily at her. “But maybe Lucien kicked the guy out because he heard him asking you for your number.”

The thought made her heart kick. It was a nice thought. It was based entirely outside the realm of reality, but it was still nice. She shook her head, her eyes wistful. “I don’t think so.”

“You sound disappointed by that.” Jaeden was grinning, her blue eyes sparkling with mischief. “Am I to assume one has feelings for our glorious leader?”

Oh crap, Caia groaned. In her depression she had let too much show on her face. Trying desperately to cover her slip she shook her head, laughing as if that was the most insane idea on the planet. “Oh please. Of course not.”

Her friend looked unconvinced. “Uh, yeah... sure.”

“I don’t,” she retorted, through gritted teeth.

Jaeden’s expression changed. She slumped and looked serious. “I really think he has feelings for you, Caia.”

“Don’t say that to me.” She got up and grabbed her bag, shoving her feet back into her shoes. Jaeden jumped up, anxiously following her as she made her way out of her bedroom and down her staircase.

“Why? I really think it’s the truth?”

Caia ignored her, her heart beating faster as she rushed down the stairs and out of Jaeden’s front door. Her eyes fastened on her car with relief as she strode towards it.

“Caia.” Jaeden stopped her, spinning her around to face her. “What’s wrong?”

She felt the threat of tears and gulped a lump back down in her throat, holding them at bay. Before returning to the pack she hadn’t cried since she was a little girl. These days it was all she seemed to do. She was so tired today. Shaking her head, she pulled her car door open and threw her bag inside.

“Caia, please.”

She drew to a stop at the worried look on Jaeden’s face. She realized Jae was afraid that she’d offended her somehow. She heaved a sigh. She should trust her; she owed her that much.

“I just...” she stopped, trying to gather her thoughts. “I’m happy here, Jae.”

“So, what’s the problem?”

“The problem is... I’m happy here, and I never have been before. But this... this is all new, and the pack is just getting to know me. If anyone thought, for one second, that I had designs on Lucien...”

Thankfully she watched the light dawn in Jaeden’s eyes. “I see.”

“I don’t have any,” she rushed to explain, “It’s just... he’s been kind. And not everyone is accepting of me as you are.”

Her friend drew her into an unexpected hug. “I won’t tell anyone you like him. I understand. I won’t tell.”

Caia breathed a sigh of relief and hugged her back tightly.

“Why are you calling?” he asked coldly. “I told you not to call me unless it was necessary.”

He heard her sigh sweetly on the other end of the phone. “Well,” she replied breathily, “Last time we talked you seemed anxious that things weren’t progressing as quickly as you would have liked. Today, I have reason to believe that Phase Two won’t be as far off as we thought.”

He smiled into the mirror above his phone table. He liked the sound of that. “Oh?”

“The girl and the leader are becoming attached.”

“You know this for certain?”

He clenched his fist, knowing she was insolently rolling her eyes. She thought he couldn’t see. “Yes,” she said evenly. “My eyes and ears are everywhere.”

Despite her insolence he felt his shoulders relax a little. This was good news indeed. “What about the others?”

“With the exception of one or two, they actually seem to be rather taken with the little abomination.”

“Good. We are depending on that.”

She chuckled. “Yes, we are. How’s my little pet faring by the way?” she purred.

It was his turn to roll his eyes. “My pet, don’t you mean?”

“Well, of course, my lord,”

“I’m enjoying it. I find it is an excellent outlet for all my pent up aggression.”

“I’m sure.”

Actually at this moment he rather felt like visiting it. Bored with her now, he shut down and said, “Call when there is no doubt about their alliance. We’ll move in for Phase Two.”

“Of course, my-”

He hung up before she was finished and gazed into the mirror again. His eyes narrowed at how unkempt his hair was. Smoothing it with his hands and straightening his collar, his eyes brightened with anticipation, thinking of the pet his spy had given him. It was just a bonus in this tense and frustrating business. He strolled through the house until he came to the large kitchen. At the end of the kitchen was a pantry, and in it was another door. The door led down old wooden stairs to a deep, dark pit. At the bottom he stopped and took in a lungful of the air. He winced at the damp earth that attacked his nose.

Damp earth and fear.

With a snap of his fingers a flame appeared in thin air, dancing in front of him, lighting the entire room and waiting for his command. It followed him as he strode to the end of the dark dungeon-like basement, and came to a stop in front of a large cage. He bent down, his eyes lighting up with delight at the creature inside. “Hello again.”

The fear roiling inside of it him hit with full force. He shivered in delight at the tingling warmth of excitement spreading through his body.

“Did you think I’d forgotten you?”

13 - First… Everything

There was a dark cloud over her head for the next week. She would fall out of bed in the mornings, and go through the routine of washing and dressing, having breakfast, and then heading off to school...

And then she’d see Alexa’s triumphant face, and whoosh! The dark cloud burst overhead, drenching her in a self-pity she had only ever read about.

“I don’t like this,” she muttered to Jaeden during their study period.

“What?”

“This.” She indicated herself dramatically with a wave of her hands. “This person I’ve become... dear goddess, I’m like one of them.” She flicked her pencil at the humans in the room.

Jaeden laughed under her breath. “Caia, it’s called a crush. Believe me, Ryder makes me feel the same horrible mixture of happiness and despair. Add a pinch of lykan volatility and you’ve got yourself the teenage hormonal party from Hades.”

She snorted, but Jaeden’s comforting words of assurance didn’t make her feel any better about the fact that all she had been doing for the last few days was moping about Lucien. Last night at the dinner table she had even been reduced to monosyllabic sentences in his presence.

“I heard Alexa’s been visiting his store after school.” Jaeden twisted her face in disgust.

“Who told you that?”