Scarlett

And the aggressive asshole was back. I was already missing the easygoing and thoughtful Cade. I couldn't really blame him for being angry with me. He didn't understand why I didn't want him to touch me and he'd jumped to a conclusion that had made him angry.

Keeping my secret was going to be harder than I thought.

When I looked to the entrance of the apartment block, I noticed Blake standing with Gary.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" asked Gary as he stepped forward, oblivious to the strained tension between Cade and me. Blake picked up on it because his gaze flickered between the two of us.

"Better," I answered with a forced smile. I could feel the anger still radiating off Cade who was still standing beside me.

"Cade said he was going to go and check on you," Gary said, surprising me. So Cade had come to check on me. I snuck a side-glance at him as he walked to Blake.

"He offered to show me the compound," I told Gary.

"They really have a good setup here," Gary commented as he walked me inside the front door of the apartment block to where Blake and Cade were waiting for us.

Cade's jaw tightened when his eyes fell on me. He was still angry. I looked to Blake and he smiled at me, a knowing smile. Yeah, I bet he was enjoying this.

This whole werewolf thing was becoming more complicated by the day. Then another thought occurred to me. I wondered how Gary would feel about finding out Cade was my mate. He might not be blood related, but he considered me a surrogate daughter so I couldn't see him being happy about it. It would be another hurdle I'd have to overcome when the time came.

I spent the next hour getting shown around the compound. I had to agree with Gary's comment about it being a good setup because it was. There were various-sized apartments that ranged from one to three bedrooms and, although there was an eating area, each apartment had a small kitchen.

It was like a whole self-sufficient little community hidden on Cade's huge property. Most of the younger werewolves were still at school so it was only the older werewolves that were busy with their day-to-day tasks when we passed by.

The apartment building formed a U-shape that faced a set of iron gates leading directly into the thick forest at the back of the property. I studied the forest for a moment while the guys talked about what type of training the werewolves did.

I couldn't help feeling curious about how it would feel to be able to shift into a werewolf and to run free in the forest. I closed my eyes for a moment to imagine it. I'd have to be patient; I wasn't ready for sex yet, but I looked forward to being able to shift into a werewolf. I wondered if it hurt.

When Cade and Blake shifted, it didn't seem to hurt them. Maybe that was because they'd been shifting for a while already.

"Does it hurt to shift?" My question cut across the conversation.

"Only the first time and a couple of shifts afterward," Cade answered. His eyes met mine and I felt my butterflies flutter in response at his attention being on me. Damn those hormones! It was like when he looked at me, nothing around us existed.

"How bad does it hurt?" I carried on with my questioning and Cade kept his eyes on me.

"I'm not going to sugar-coat it. It hurts like a bitch," he told me. "Some of the older female werewolves compared their first shift to childbirth."

The first time I'd seen a TV program where the mother had screamed while she had given birth had traumatized me. It was the day I swore I'd never have kids. I wasn't the type of person to be scared of anything, but that scared me, just a little bit.

Cade waited for my reaction.

"That sucks," I said, trying to cover up how scared I was.

Gary looked at me with concern. He wasn't happy about that little bit of information either. No parent wanted their children to get hurt. It was another thing to go under the reasons why being a werewolf sucked.

For most of my visit to the compound, I walked with an alpha on each side and Gary tagging along behind us. To make sure there were no accidental touches with Cade, I gravitated closer to Blake.

A couple of times I caught Cade glaring at Blake and Blake would give him a helpless look. Was it possible Cade was getting jealous? Did he think I had a thing for Blake? The more important question was, why was he jealous? He didn't know we were mates. Did he feel the same attraction I felt for him without knowing we were mates?

Curtis greeted me when we walked into the medical office. It was a small building built behind the apartment block to the one side of the gate.

"How are you feeling?" he asked me with a friendly smile.

"Much better, thank you," I answered, matching his smile. Cade glared at him.

Like everything else in the compound, it was a good setup. It was one big room with a big central desk with computers. There were about ten beds with curtains in-between to give patients privacy. It looked like what you'd see in any hospital.

The thought that this was a necessity in the compound made me feel nervous. Did they get hurt a lot? Did they get attacked regularly? This whole tour of the compound was opening my eyes up to the new world I belonged to.

The only time I got really excited on the tour was when we walked into the building that housed the gym. On the top floor, they had state-of-the-art gym equipment and a few guys were working out as we looked around.

I noticed there weren't any female werewolves working out. I wasn't going to be happy if I heard only the guys trained and the girls were expected to cook and clean.

I trained hard so I was able to protect myself and not expect some guy to swoop in and save the day. Although at the moment I was relying on Blake and Cade to keep me safe and it wasn't sitting well with me. Once they trained me, I wouldn't need their protection; I would be able to protect myself. Downstairs was a sparring area similar to the one I had at home, except it was bigger.

A massive bulky-built guy walked out of a small office to the side. His legs were the size of tree trunks and he was the same height as Cade. But where Cade was well defined and etched, this guy was bulging with muscles. Just the sight of him was a little scary. He was the type of guy you wouldn't want to meet in a dark alley.

"This is Hank," Cade said as introduction to the guy.

Hank the tank. It was so fitting because that is what he reminded me of—a tank, indestructible. I had to suppress a laugh and all the guys looked at me a little strangely.

"Nice to meet you, Hank," I said as I held out my hand. He studied me for a moment before he smiled and shook my hand. In that instant, I decided I liked him. Cade introduced him to Gary.

"This is where everyone trains together," Cade said. "And Hank oversees the training."

It was no wonder he was built the way he was if he spent all day and every day in the gym. Personally I didn't like guys that built up; I preferred guys that were nicely built but not bulky.

"Good to hear the girls get to train as well," I quipped, letting my eyes drift around the room.

"Girls can train, but only the guys fight," stated Cade.

Oh, hell no! My eyes shot to Cade as I felt my temper rise.

"Why can't girls fight?" I asked, digging my fingers into the palms of my hands as I tried to rein in my temper. I knew the answer before I even asked the question, but I wanted him to say it out loud.

"Female werewolves are physically weaker than their male counterparts," said Cade.

Don't slap him, I said over and over. If you slap him he'll find out you're his mate. It took everything in me not to give in to the urge. Sexist asshole.

"Just because guys are physically stronger than girls doesn't mean we can't hold our own in a fight," I bit back, standing up for all the female werewolves. It was also hard to believe that they allowed themselves to be dictated to like that.

The truth was I'd never had to fight off anyone, never mind a powerful werewolf. But I refused to believe it wasn't something I could accomplish with the right training.

"Besides, it would be hard for a male werewolf to concentrate on a fight if he has to worry about his mate," said Blake.

I swung my gaze to him. I was in the presence of two sexist assholes, but this one I could slap.