Chapter 24

Caine’s POV

“Where is she?” I growled as soon as I made it back to the mansion.

Macon was waiting for me outside, with a worried look on his face. He had been pacing back and forth in the front area. It angered my Wolf. He should have been watching over our mate. That was his only job.

“Macon!” I snapped loudly.

Adam was there. I was still outside, barely making my way in, but I could feel him. Macon must have called him as well.

“Alpha,” Macon said, breathlessly, bowing his head at me. He started walking beside me. I easily picked up on Charlotte’s scent. She was upstairs.

“I carried her to your room. The pup is with her,” Macon continued.

I took the stairs, and made my way up with inhuman speed. My Wolf wanted to come out. He wanted to take control of the situation. I would have been useless if I shifted, so I pushed him down. He wanted his mate. The only thing he did was make it harder for me to think.

I stormed into the room to find Charlotte lying down on the bed, unconscious. Adam was beside her, holding her hand, and trying to talk to her.

“Get the pack doctor. I want him here in five,” I ordered Macon.

“He’s on his way,” Macon told me. “He will be here soon.”

He damn well better be, my Wolf thought.

“Move,” I told Adam.

I could tell that my voice sounded deeper. It was my Wolf doing that, making changes, wanting out. Adam obeyed, but the look in his eyes told me he was worried.

“I, I’ll go, I will tell Liam,” he nervously said, and started walking out of the room.

I ignored him as soon as I took a seat beside Charlotte.

She was sweating. Her eyes were closed, but her face was strained. I wasn’t sure how the process was going to work for her. I hadn’t been around a Werewolf who shifted at any other age but thirteen. It had been a long time since anyone in our pack had mated with a human.

I took Charlotte’s small hand in mine, and held on to it tightly. I smiled inwardly when I realized there were small claws coming out. It was a good sign. The only thing I didn’t like was all the damn sweating and the fever she was still running. That was not normal.

I lowered my head right beside her ear, and placed a small kiss over the bite-mark of my claim. Whether she was asleep or not, her body reacted to me. A shiver ran through her body, and I faintly noticed her grunts of pain turned into moans.

“Can you hear me?” I asked, nuzzling my nose against her soft skin.

Charlotte whimpered, but she didn’t wake up.

“How is she doing?” Liam asked me.

It had been the third time that he had called in the last two hours. Charlotte had woken up for a few minutes during that time, but the pain had made her go unconscious again. The pack doctor had been useless. Other than giving her a sedative, which her body was more than likely going to burn through, he had done nothing!

“She has not woken up since the last time. Her canines seem fine now,” I answered.

I had been relieved when her canines showed up, until she started bleeding. That was another thing that had not been normal. When I called Liam to ask him about it, he told me it was fine. He claimed it had happened to him as well.

I didn’t want for Charlotte to suffer so many days. She had started the shifting process a few hours ago, and it had already been more than painful to watch her suffering through the change.

I had to admit that having her claws and her canines out so soon was a good sign. Most regular Wolves took a day for each trait to show up.

“Are you sure you can handle it?”

That had been the question that Liam had asked the most. “I can handle it,” I replied, growling unintentionally.

My Wolf was on edge. He wanted out, to be with his mate. I didn’t need Liam questioning my ability to take care of Charlotte.

“Maybe I should go over there,” he suggested, “just in case.”

“In case of what?” I snapped. I was getting irritated with his questions. He kept implying that I couldn’t handle my own mate.

“In case anything happens. Charlotte might wake up, or ask for me. I want to be there for that. I should be there,” he said. His voice started to sound guilty. It made me back off, although I wanted to growl at him because my Wolf was still pissed off.

“Charlotte will understand,” I assured him.

“Yeah, but she shouldn’t have to. She’s my responsibility too,” Liam said, regretfully. “I promised to be there for her, and now I’m stuck here.”

I chuckled, which made Liam growl at me. “I’m just thinking that she might want to run all the way to Midnight Moon once she gets her Wolf.”

Liam laughed at my words. “She is impulsive,” he agreed.

“I know. I will have to look out for that.”

“You will call me if anything happens?”

“You have my word. If she wakes up or asks for you, I’ll get you on the line,” I promised.

I wasn’t senseless. I knew that the bond between Charlotte and Liam, as strange as it was, was strong. Charlotte would get upset with me if I didn’t try to include Liam in what was happening to her.

“Alright, I’ll let you go then.”

The shift slowed down for the rest of the day. Charlotte slept through all of it. In just hours, our room had been filled with medical instruments the doctor thought he would need. He had an IV set up, because he assumed Charlotte’s Wolf would take longer to shift than a regular Wolf.

The first time Charlotte woke up, she complained about it all. But she was too weak to do much about it. The few minutes she had been awake were spent with her saying nonsense for the most part.

I didn’t worry as much during the days Charlotte was out. The times when Charlotte was experiencing pain were the hardest, because my Wolf became violent and restless. I hardly ever allowed anyone in the room. With the exception of Adam, who spent most of his time inside with Charlotte or out in the hall, I didn’t allow anyone inside the house.

Victor had taken charge, and Macon was helping him with anything he needed assistance in. I did not want to be disturbed unless it was absolutely necessary, and I had made that extremely clear to the two of them.

Liam called about ten times every day. I grew used to that. I spent most of my day quietly gazing at Charlotte. I registered any little change that happened to her, in my mind. I felt lucky to be able to be there for her while she was going through something so important. It was rare for mates to get that opportunity.

While I got my chance to absorb every little detail about Charlotte, I was also able to explain every single thing that changed with her to Liam.

On the fifth day of watching her, it finally happened.

I was trying to sleep off some of the tiredness that I felt. I had been restless, already wanting for her Wolf to come in.

Even though small changes had made an appearance in Charlotte’s body, the full shift had not happened, not until the fifth day.

Charlotte sat up on the bed abruptly, crying out in pain. I quickly moved closer to her, taking her in my arms.

“It hurts,” she whined.

“What does? Tell me,” I urged her.

She was running a fever again. When she turned to look at me, I noticed that her usual gray eyes had dimmed to a darker color. That was her Wolf trying to take over.

Adam ran inside the room. The pup looked tired. He hadn’t taken a break during those five days either. I was sure that despite all the calls I received from Liam, Adam had also been checking in with him.

“Get the pack doctor!” I hurriedly told him. My order sounded harsher than I’d intended, but I simply wanted Charlotte to be okay.  

Adam ran out, while I tried to get Charlotte to calm down. She was panicking, which made both her canines and her claws come out.

“It really hurts. It hurts a lot, Caine!”

“I know, I know, but it’ll pass. Breathe,” I said, as softly as I could.

She laid back down on the bed, in the fetal position. I kept running my hand over her back, trying to sooth her as best as I could. It was hard watching her, hearing her say how much it hurt.

When her bones started popping, it grew worse. Charlotte was sobbing, writhing in pain over the bed. There was little I could do.

I kept massaging my claim on her neck. Every time I touched her there, a shiver ran through her body, and it calmed her down. But then another wave of bone popping and shifting started, and Charlotte began crying out again.

There was nothing the pack doctor could do. It had been useless to call for him. I’d kept Charlotte dressed in a loose fitting, light blue night gown. As soon as the change started happening, Charlotte ripped through her clothes.

I had to kick both Adam and the doctor out of the room. I didn’t want them to see her naked.

It had already been too much for my Wolf when they had to be there while she was sleeping and only wearing little clothes. I almost shifted when Adam had first walked in with the pack doctor, and Charlotte had destroyed what she’d been wearing.

“Breathe,” I repeated against her ear.

An hour later, Charlotte had shifted into her Wolf. A dark gray Wolf, with snow white paws. I was looking at her in amazement. One second, Charlotte had been crying out in pain. The next, she had fully shifted into her Wolf.

She was the most beautiful Wolf I had seen. I couldn’t take my eyes off her.

I was mesmerized. Charlotte was moaning in complaint. I had carried her to the floor when I noticed the fur showing up. It had been a good idea. Minutes later, a Wolf had been standing in front of me.

Even in her Wolf form, I was taller than her.

“Perfect,” I whispered. She didn’t move from where she was, but she barked at me.

I slowly made my way towards her, not wanting to scare her off. I wasn’t sure how much control Charlotte had, or how much she might be fighting her Wolf.

I had been dangerous for about a week after I shifted. My Wolf had control, and he had attacked anyone that had gotten too close.

I was about two feet away, and I crouched down in front of her. Charlotte sat on the floor, keeping her eyes steady on me.

“Charlotte?” I called.

She nodded her head at me. Her eyes, I noticed for the first time, were gray. They shouldn’t have been. Every Werewolf had eyes dark as night whenever they shifted into their Wolf. I tried to remember if Liam’s eyes were hazel when he shifted, but I had never really paid attention to that detail, not until I noticed it on Charlotte.

“Can you shift back?” I asked.

I raised my hands up, slowly, trying to show her that I meant no harm. When I moved my hand to touch her, she didn’t pull away. It was a good sign. She had control of her Wolf. I had hated the five day wait it took for her Wolf to come out, but it was good that Charlotte had control. Rare… but good.

“Mind link with me,” I told her. “You can. You are the Luna of the pack, and my mate. Focus on getting inside my mind.”

Charlotte’s Wolf was impressive. She was so beautiful. I couldn’t keep my eyes off her. It helped a lot that she was letting me touch her. Her fur was soft against my fingers. I kept running my hand from her neck, down to her back. Little by little, Charlotte was moving closer to me, snuggling against my body.

Her Wolf was significantly smaller than mine, more or less the size of a regular She-Wolf. My Wolf liked that to. We both liked being dominant. Having Charlotte rubbing herself against me, and being smaller than me even in my human form was thrilling. She was the perfect size for me.

‘I don’t know how to change back.’ My eyes widened in surprise when I heard her voice in my mind.

“That was good,” I told her, hugging her Wolf against my body.

‘My body feels weird,’ she said.

“You will get used to it. You have to shift and practice with your Wolf. Your Wolf knows what to do. She will help you,” I reassured her.

‘I want to shift back.’ I caught the worry in her voice. I had no doubt she thought she wouldn’t be able to shift back.

‘Focus on your human form. Order your Wolf to shift you back. You have control, she doesn’t,’ I told Charlotte, speaking to her through our mind link for the first time.

‘Your voice sounds huskier in my mind,’ Charlotte said, giggling.

I laughed, and nuzzled my nose against her neck. Her Wolf felt so good in my arms. She wanted to shift back, but I didn’t mind having a chance to see her Wolf properly. She was gorgeous.

I could hear the pup outside the door, wanting to come in. I had not allowed him to enter the room. The pack doctor was long gone, although calling him had been a waste of time.

“Stay in your Wolf form while Adam sees you. I will help you shift back after he leaves,” I told Charlotte.

‘I don’t have a choice. I have no idea how to shift back,’ she said.

I could imagine Charlotte pouting. It was what she would have done if she had been in her human form. I smiled, before going to the door and letting the pup in.

“A gray Wolf!” He said, excitedly, quickly making his way towards Charlotte.

Adam had officially become part of Locus Pack after his arrival. I imagined he and Charlotte were mind linking, because he kept nodding and grinning at her. I wanted to know what she was saying to him that had him so happy.

“I love it!” Adam told her, and ran his hand through her fur.

I made my way towards them when he did that, and stepped between the two. I didn’t need the pup touching my mate.

Adam was smart enough to back off. “I will go call Liam.”

“You can take the rest of the day off,” I told him. “I can handle it from here.”

He turned towards my mate, who nodded her head at him. Even while he was walking to the door, Adam looked reluctant to leave. A loud growl unintentionally rumbled through my chest, and that was what finally pushed the pup to go.

‘You are such a bully,’ Charlotte said behind me.

“You can shift back,” I told her firmly, ignoring her previous comment.

‘Right, what do I do?’

“Concentrate on your human form. Think about it really hard, and order your Wolf. You have to learn to control her. That’s important,” I explained.

After a few failed attempts, Charlotte huffed, and she slumped herself on the floor. It hadn’t been as hard, considering she was struggling to walk around the room. I told myself that was due to her Wolf being dormant for so long. She was rusty. But a regular Wolf should have already been walking around.

“Come here,” I told her, sitting on the floor as well.

Charlotte struggled, but she slowly crawled over to me. I outstretched my legs, and Charlotte laid herself over them, resting her head on my thigh. I began running my hand over the fur on her head, and started massaging her.

Charlotte closed her eyes. It still impressed me that they were gray. It filled me with pride.

I distracted myself by running my hands through her fur. When Charlotte began shifting back to her human form, it caught me off guard.

For a few seconds, she was growling and snarling, snapping her teeth at me. A minute later, I had her naked, over my legs, and moaning out.

I couldn’t say that it hadn’t been completely erotic. I felt bad for having those thoughts of her in that moment, but I couldn’t help myself.

“That hurt,” Charlotte complained, sitting up.

She didn’t seem to mind that she was nude. She sat beside me, drawing circles on either side of her head.

“Shifting hurts the first couple of days. You will get used to that,” I told her, trying but failing to keep my eyes away.

I wanted to spend my time staring at her. It felt like it had been an eternity since we had mated, yet it had been less than a week. I couldn’t describe how much I wanted her, how much my body was craving hers, how hard my Wolf wanted to take her.

When Charlotte looked up, and she saw me staring at her, a teasing smile took over her lips.

“What is your sick little mind thinking about?” She asked. Her tone was playful, but it still made my Wolf growl at her.

I couldn’t explain how I went from sitting down beside her, to pinning her down on the ground, placing myself in between her legs.

It wasn’t a good idea. Charlotte had just shifted for the first time, from human to Wolf and back again. But I couldn’t help myself. I wanted her. I needed to be inside of her.

“I can hear your thoughts,” Charlotte said.

Her eyes were swirling between liquid silver and a dark coal color. I found myself fascinated with them.

“Do it,” she pushed, bucking her hips up against mine. “I want you to.”

It was all the permission I needed to crash my lips against hers, while I started fumbling with my clothes.

Charlotte’s POV

“You are such a party pooper,” I told Caine, shaking my head at him.

I’d had my Wolf for a week. Seven very happy, joy filled days. Although I had taken advantage of Caine more than I would’ve liked, and he was being patient with me, my Wolf was getting tired and restless.

I wanted to run outside, roam our territory, and maybe the outskirts of it. Stupid Derek had been caught closer to our territory than other times. Caine had been on alert since Victor told him the news, and I had not been allowed to leave our backyard.

“I am doing this for your safety,” Caine said, trying to hug me against his body.

I gave in, but only because it felt good to be in his arms. I loved Caine. I probably fell in love with him from the first day, even though I liked putting up a fight. But my Wolf… she praised the floor that Caine walked on.

I didn’t know if it was because I was getting my Wolf so late, or if that was how I was supposed to feel now that I had my Wolf, but it was weird.

She wanted to do everything that Caine said, all the time. Caine would tell me something, even if it was a suggestion, and my Wolf was bouncing up and down wanting to do as he said.

That got irritating. She was clouding my judgment. But she was part of me, which made it hard to distinguish what I wanted and what she was making me do.

“Well, do you think I can go with you next time the guys do rounds? I’ve been getting better at running,” I told him.

And he knew that I had. It had taken me a while to get a hang of walking, let alone running. But the first time he let me out to run, I had beaten him to the pack building.

I could tell that it had really disturbed him at first. He had been letting me win. But once he realized that I was outrunning him, for real, he started pushing himself to beat me. He hadn’t been able to. Victor had been there that day, two days ago, and he’d made fun of his Alpha.

Our Wolf had been proud for a second or two, before she started whining about beating her own mate.

“I’ll think about it. But wait a few more days.”

“I’m fast,” I told him.

“I know that you are,” Caine said, running his hands through my hair. He lowered himself, and pecked me on the lips. “We still have to be careful. Your Wolf is a pup. She needs to learn some things before you can go anywhere near pack boundaries.”

He was right. Both my Wolf and I knew that he was right, but that didn’t make me any less disappointed.

I wanted to go out, explore. My Wolf was dying to get in a good run. Ever since I’d beaten Caine in that race, I hadn’t been allowed to run as much. I had shifted. Caine had made me do it several times every day. He said I needed the practice, and my Wolf truly wanted to be let out. She had been caged inside of me for so long.

“Fine, but you’re staying here with me, right?’ I said, tightening my arms around his neck.

Caine picked me up from the ground, putting his hands under my butt, while I wrapped my arms around his neck. I laughed, and started kissing his jaw.

Caine growled playfully, and I felt him biting my claim. He knew it was where he always had me. I was really sensitive in that area.

“I’m staying here the rest of the day,” he stated.

Caine carried me inside the house. I thought he was going to take me upstairs, be he walked us to his study. He had been taking care of most of his work at home.

Every time he was about to leave in the morning, I had found a way to distract him to keep him home. Caine didn’t seem to mind, although there were times when he had to leave because there was a disturbance in the pack.

I always felt lonely when he took off. I missed him, but my Wolf really hated being away from him. It was like she couldn’t handle it, she couldn’t cope.

I had been making Caine feel guilty because of that, even though it wasn’t my intention. He told me my Wolf would grow used to it, but I wasn’t too sure. All I wanted to do was be wrapped up in his arms all day, every day. As it was, he and I were mating every day. Some days, we’d mate multiple times.

My stamina was at an all-time high, and I couldn’t get enough of Caine. I literally threw myself at him. At times, if I thought he was ignoring me for too long, I would end up in his lap, distracting him from whatever he was doing.

It wasn’t hard either. All I had to do was touch him a certain way, rub myself against him, say naughty things to him, and I had him. It was so easy.

“What do you have to do?” I asked, after he placed me in the chair in front of his desk.

He went around his desk, and took a seat as well. I was staring at him, admiring him. I felt completely in love. I felt like mating again.

Caine was wearing a pair of blue basketball shorts, and he had a white muscle shirt on. He’d been dressed like that because we had shifted earlier.

“I’m behind with some documents Victor wanted me to read over.”

“For the pack?” I curiously asked.

“No,” he replied, shaking his head.

He had grown serious. He was concentrating on the papers in front of him. I wasn’t interested in that. I wanted him to pay attention to me.

“Will it take long?” I asked.

“I have to read through it, and decide what I want to do from here,” he vaguely replied, not even looking up to face me while he spoke.

I didn’t like that.

“Caine?” I called.

“Hmm…” He murmured, his eyes still glued to the paper in front of him.

“Can’t you do that later?” I asked.

“It will only take a couple of hours. I haven’t done a lot this past week,” he replied.

He looked up at me, gave me a small smile, probably to shut me up, and turned back to his papers. I did not appreciate it, at all. He was ignoring me. I suddenly felt angry. I was there with him, and all he could think about was his stupid papers.

My Wolf wanted out, and she wanted to growl at him for ignoring us.

Suddenly, I got a brilliant idea. I had been wearing a pair of small gray shorts, with one of Caine’s white undershirts, since I had ripped the tank top I’d been wearing during the shift.

We had both shifted together earlier. I had done it for practice, and Caine had done it to keep an eye on me. There was no need for it though. Even in his human form, Caine seemed to be stronger than me. He was so manly and strong and tempting.

I got up from the chair I was sitting in. I could tell that Caine noticed it, but he barely acknowledged me. He must’ve thought I was simply leaving the room.

“I’m going to go shower,” I told him.

Caine looked up, and nodded at me. He was about to give me a dismissive wave. I could feel it, because he’d done that before.

The moment that I started tugging on the hem of my shirt, to pull it over my head, I had his attention. I wasn’t wearing anything under, we both knew that. I took my time getting it off, trying to prolong my stay, and wanting to get a reaction from him. Once it was off, I threw it over to him.

“Thanks for the shirt,” I said, in a low voice.

I took the shorts off, just because it felt strange to have them on without the shirt. And then, I really had Caine’s attention.

He was no longer looking down at his stupid papers. His eyes were on me the entire time, in that dark color that I loved so much. I had him.

“If you want to join me…” I said, in a sing song voice.

I started walking towards the door. Caine’s eyes didn’t leave my body. I could feel his hard, intense stare on me. But it wasn’t only that. His Wolf was growling, calling out to mine.

The moment I reached the door, I felt Caine behind me. He didn’t allow me to open it. His arms encaged me to the closed door, one on each side of my head. He pushed his length against me, trapping me against the door with his body.

“You’re not going anywhere,” Caine growled against my ear, rubbing himself against my back.

“And who’s going to stop me?” I challenged, knowing that would get him going.

I was completely exposed to him where I was standing. I wasn’t wearing any clothes, and the only thing stopping him from mating with me were his shorts. I smiled when I felt him messing with them.

It was exactly what I wanted him to do.

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