Scarlett

I closed my eyes as I enjoyed the feel of his skin against mine. He took me by surprise when his lips covered mine and pulled me against him. Enjoying the thrilling touch, I complied and let him kiss me.

I got up and straddled him, running my hands through his silky midnight-black hair as his lips moved against mine with more intensity. He grabbed my ass as his tongue slipped into my mouth and tangled with mine.

I groaned as I pressed my body against his.

He growled against my lips and next I felt the softness of my bed underneath my back as he pressed against me from above.

I slid my hands underneath his shirt to feel his soft skin under my fingertips. He felt so good. He pushed harder against me as our kiss intensified and I wrapped my legs around his waist.

I didn't think, I just acted instinctively. He pulled his lips from mine and rested his forehead against me as he breathed hard.

"We need to stop, otherwise I won't be able to," he warned hoarsely.

I was breathing hard and struggling to rein in my out-of-control hormones.

"Okay," I managed to say as I unwrapped my legs from his waist and he rolled off of me.

As much as I wanted to make out with him and feel him against me, I wasn't ready to take it as far as he wanted and it wasn't fair to expect him to be able to hold his control.

"I'm sorry," I mumbled.

He turned and faced me.

"Don't be sorry, I know you're not ready. I can wait," he assured me.

I gave him a nod. It was this caring and sensitive Cade that was my weakness. It was easy to keep the hard and domineering Cade in his place, but it was harder to fight the caring and sensitive Cade who looked at me with those soft, adoring eyes.

I swallowed the emotion down as he gave me a reassuring smile.

"I need to shower," he told me as he got off the bed. He walked over to the sofa and picked up a duffel bag and, with one more lingering look at me, he disappeared into my bathroom.

I let out a sigh.

I might not have been ready to take that step with him right then, but I knew it wouldn't be long before I would want to go all the way with him.

Still preoccupied with thoughts of Cade and mating, it was a good thing I'd learned to block my thoughts. I tucked myself into my bed and waited for Cade to come out of the bathroom.

There was no chance of me falling asleep. My nerves bounced around my stomach and kept me wide awake. I'd never shared a bed with anyone, and I wasn't sure how much sleep I was going to get if he slept right next to me.

It wasn't long before the bathroom door opened and he appeared with wet hair and only wearing black sweat pants that hung low around his hips. He didn't have a shirt on. How was I supposed to control my raging hormones if he pranced around half-naked?

He switched off the bathroom light and dropped his duffel bag beside the sofa as he walked over to the bed.

I quietly watched as he lifted my bedcovers and slipped into my bed beside me.

Yeah, I won't be getting any sleep tonight.

"Come here," he whispered to me as he held his arms open.

Unsure of myself, I scooted over and he wrapped his arms around me. I laid my head against his chest.

"Go to sleep, Scar," he instructed gently. I loved it when he called me that.

Despite my nervousness at sleeping in the same bed as him, I drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

The next morning I woke up and discovered I was lying across him with my legs tangled with his and my arm wrapped around his waist. I blushed slightly as I tried to shift away from him without waking him.

He looked much younger as he slept, and I took a moment to watch him in that peaceful state.

"You getting all stalkerish on me?" he mumbled with his eyes closed. Trust him to open his mouth and ruin the moment.

"You're my mate, I can stalk all I like," I stated to him as I got out of the bed.

"True," he said with a grin as he watched me disappear into my walk-in closet and select some clothes before I went into my bathroom and closed the door.

I got changed into a pair of black skinny jeans and a red top. I brushed my hair and teeth before I put some lip-gloss on. Cade was still lying in my bed, watching me, when I exited the bathroom.

"Those jeans are too tight," he said as he sat up. I rolled my eyes at him.

"They are fine. They are skinny jeans, they're supposed to look like this," I argued, but he didn't look happy.

"I don't want you to wear them," he insisted as he got out of the bed and walked over to me. "I don't want other guys looking at you like they are going to look at you if you go to school in those jeans."

"You don't have to be jealous," I insisted as I pressed a kiss to his lips. I wasn't interested in getting any attention from anyone else; he was the only one that I wanted.

"I still don't want you to wear the jeans," he continued to argue, but I shook my head.

"I'm going to wear what I want to wear. I don't tell you what you can and can't wear, so you don't get to do that to me," I warned him gently. We'd had such a peaceful night together and the last thing I wanted to do was start another fight, but I didn't want to be one of those girls who was told what I could or couldn't wear.

He let out a sigh as he held me.

"Fine, you can wear them, but you'll be responsible for all fights I'll be getting into today because of the guys checking you out," he teased as he dropped another kiss to my lips.

It was hard to pull away from him, but if we carried on we wouldn't be going anywhere. I went downstairs to the kitchen while Cade stayed upstairs to change for school.

I heard a rowdy noise coming from the kitchen as I descended the stairs. Hank, Jake and a few other werewolves I'd seen before at school were seated at the kitchen table with Gary.

"Morning," I greeted them and they greeted me back.

I got myself a cup of coffee and joined them at the kitchen table. It wasn't hard to work out that Jake was Cade's beta. Cade entered the kitchen not long after that. When I looked at him, I couldn't stop feeling the satisfied possessiveness that he was mine.

Hank stayed behind with Gary while the rest of us left to go to school. I rode with Cade, and the rest of them climbed into the Jeep that Jake drove behind us.

Once we got to school, everyone watched as I got out of the car with Cade. He held my hand as we walked side by side into the school. At my locker, he pressed his lips to mine, leaving me breathless and weak-kneed as he walked off with a smug smile. There was no denying he'd stamped his ownership all over me.

He didn't get into any fights because the werewolves knew I belonged to him and the human boys were too scared of him to even look in my direction.

"I want all the details," said a voice behind me. I turned to see Keri giving me a knowing smile.

I smiled back.

"Yeah," I said back. My brain was already sorting through my existing thoughts, trying to come up with plausible lies that I could tell her because there was no way I could tell her the truth—that we were werewolves and mates.

"Spill," she instructed as I opened up my locker and got some of my books out.

"He likes me and I like him," I explained vaguely as I closed my locker and spun the combination

"Those are definitely not enough details. He is the player of the school and then a couple of days after you arrive he is suddenly holding your hand and looking all loved-up," she said, watching me for a response.

"You do realize I've never seen him hold hands with a girl ever," she added.

"It just kind of happened. He isn't the shy type and he told me that he liked me and I'm attracted to him—any girl would be—so we are dating," I lied with a shrug. We were way more than dating; we were forever.