“Lucien, you can do this. You just have to keep your head on.”
“By that you mean...?”
His friend glanced back inside, a sarcastic tilt to his mouth. “You can start by not getting all dreamy-eyed around her.”
“Pfft! Dreamy-eyed. She’s just a kid, I’m a grown man,” he hissed, looking back inside, hoping their voices weren’t carrying into the kitchen.
“She’s not a kid. She’s almost eighteen. And despite your status as Alpha I don’t know if twenty four qualifies as a grown man.”
Lucien glared at him. “This coming from a twenty four year old.”
“Yeah but I never once stated I was a grown man.” Ryder grinned cheekily making Lucien snort with laughter. Ryder shrugged, still smiling. “My point is… Caia’s… different. And different can be fascinating.”
“The only thing I’m fascinated by is her interaction with my pack. We’re keeping an eye on her, but not that kind of eye. OK.”
Ryder laughed, obviously unconvinced. “Man, whatever you say.”
Lucien leaned casually against the doorframe of Caia’s bedroom. He could hear her moving about in her bathroom, the water running. The laptop he’d bought her was open on the desk, but he couldn’t see the screen from where he was standing. Her bed was neatly made, her room surprisingly tidy. She had placed her things throughout the space, which pleased him. When he’d checked earlier that day her suitcases were, worryingly, still standing at the bottom of the bed, unopened.
“Oh,” her startled voice ripped him from his thoughts.
Lucien looked up and smirked at her. “Just checking you have everything you need.”
She looked around the room and back at him smiling dryly. “More than.”
“Good.” He jammed his hands into his jeans, trying to think of something else to say. But then she moved from behind the bed to put a can of deodorant back by her toiletries and any thought of using actual words left him. His eyes unwillingly travelled down her body. She was wearing girl boxers and a vest. For a lykan who was shorter than most her legs certainly seemed to go on forever.
Suddenly, Caia cleared her throat, bringing his gaze back to her face. She’d scrubbed it clean, patches of her skin red from it. It made her look so young and so innocent. His heart beat harder at the thought of what was to come for her.
“Caia …” Lucien began.
“Yes?” she asked warily
Is she scared of me? He groaned inwardly. That was the last thing he wanted. “I want you to come to me if you need me. That’s my job here.”
She nodded at him, her green eyes round on his. “Thank you.”
“You’ll be OK,” he promised, more for himself than for her.
Again, she nodded mutely, looking bewildered by his seriousness.
“Well.” He heaved up from the wall. “Goodnight.”
“Goodnight. Lucien.”
6 - Unwanted
Caia woke up the next morning feeling a little more optimistic about her return to the pack, and dare she say filled with that dangerous thing they called hope. Caia was calling last night’s dinner a success. There had been a few awkward moments, but in general the mood had been jovial, and the brothers had actually seemed to like her. To her surprise, and perhaps disappointment (she was unused to the feeling, so she wasn’t sure if that was what that little pang had been), Lucien wasn’t at breakfast. With him having already left for the store, and with Irini sleeping late, Caia found herself breakfasting alone with Ella. Caia didn’t mind in the least. In fact, she found the Elder’s presence soothing, despite how anxious the lykan seemed about making sure Caia was OK and that her transition into the pack was going smoothly.
“You know, you have your father’s eyes,” Ella said, her smile bittersweet as she gazed down into her coffee.
“Were you good friends with my dad?” Caia asked curiously. This was really the first time anyone had offered a comment about her parents.
Ella chuckled at her obvious enthusiasm. “Actually, I was friends with Rafe before Albus was.”
“Really?” She hadn’t known that.
“We dated.”